George Bush defined himself, his philosophy, his appeal, and his presidency when he said, “You’re either with us or against us.” He sees life as a struggle between “us” and “them,” and therefore appeals to the part of all of us that cheers John Wayne, Indiana Jones, or Luke Skywalker. When we are attacked, when our home is burglarized, our husband mugged, or our wife raped we instinctively launch our inner John Wayne. It’s only human. Americans fall into this mode easily, because we thrive on competition on the battlefield, in the boardroom, or on the gridiron. After 9-11, we were a nation of John Waynes and every smart country in the world knew to get out of our way.

But George paints every canvas with this one crude, tempting brush. It’s us versus the terrorists; us versus the wimpy United Nations; American business versus foreign business; Christians versus sinners. Everyone who is not “us” is a competitor, someone to be defeated. In the context of sports, war, or business, John Wayne is a good model.

But as one’s primary way of looking at a complex world, it fails. Too easily it becomes we the hard working wealthy versus them the lazy poor, we courageous Americans versus them the cowardly French, us God-fearing Christians versus those extremist Muslims, we freedom loving hawks versus those flipflopping doves, those perverted gay couples versus us good old traditional straights, we the people who love God versus those dangerous people who want separation of church and state.

Liberals, on the other hand, tend to think in terms of “We’re all in this together.” This is an equally noble and longstanding American principal. If one family needed a barn, the entire community showed up to raise a barn for them. When a hurricane hits Florida, people from Maine to Alaska send aid. When a car gets stuck in the snow, people cheerfully volunteer to get wet and cold pushing it clear. We know that we can amplify our goodwill by banding together. We contribute to churches and the Red Cross so they can act as our agents to help in larger tasks. We also expect our government to fill that roll. We can’t each go to the Sudan, but we expect our government to help those folks on our behalf. Sure, we need a federal government to provide for the common defense, to be a national John Wayne when appropriate. But we also need it to be our national Jesus in situations where our churches can’t be. Not to preach the gospel, but to heal the sick, comfort the dying, feed the poor and bring hope to the desperate. Because we’re all in this together and we need to listen to each other and help each other when we can.

When you’re in an “us versus them” mind set, “they” aren’t really quite human and therefore don’t deserve complete respect. One of the first thing we do when we go to war is give the opponent a derisive group name. People who could never shoot a human being were trained to shoot japs, gooks, chinks and reds. In the recent campaign, the Cheney’s called Kerry a “bad man” and conservatives on talk radio called him much worse. They do it with glee and righteousness, because their comments don’t refer to one of “us” but only to one of “them.” Rush Limbaugh has a whole dictionary full of derisive names for those who disagree with him. If you agree with Clinton, you're a Clintonista. Feminists are feminazis. Ann Coulter would never call her least favorite aunt the names she called Democrats this year, because she still thinks of her aunt as part of her family. Clearly she no longer thinks of me that way.

And neither does Bush. To him, I am no longer an American because I’m not “with him” on the war in Iraq. I’m not “with him” on stem cell research or abortion. I don't care what concilliatory language he uses now, because I recognize his mind set. I’ve seen it in bars all across America, and in boardrooms, and in business negotiations and in the stands at sports events. I’m a fan of the wrong team and my beer is going to cost me more money. I’m one of “them.”

If you subscribe to the “we’re all in this together” philosophy, you can’t be as mean back to them as they are to you. They can call me names I can’t call them, they can use tactics I reject. To them, it might be moral to get an illegal wiretap on my phone because it’s in “our” best interest, and I’m only one of “them.” I’m a suspected terrorist, or a muslim, or an Afghan, or at least a guy with an “h” in his name. I can’t do that back to them because we’re all in this together. Everyone has rights.

So we disagree. We liberals think America’s power, like John Wayne’s, derives more from the strength of our character than the size of our gun. The Duke never threw the first (preemptive) punch, he never acted out of fear, he never ignored his friends. Now America is fixated on its fears, it shoots in the dark at threatening sounds, it bulls forward without concern for the council of its allies. Killing even one frozen American embryo is a sin worthy of turning an election, but killing 100,000 Iraqis is nothing, because Iraqis are “them.” Sudanese are “them.” African AIDs victims are ‘them.” Palestinians are them. And now, our European allies are “them.”

Aristotle had an interesting idea. If one thought about a problem correctly one could solve it without any outside information. Logic alone was enough. The Catholic Church loved this idea and shaped it to its purposes. In the church's version, one could understand the universe by applying faith to any situation, no need for direct observation. In fact, direct observation was counterproductive. Galileo’s real crime, and the reason he was prosecuted (while Copernicus had not been for expressing the same ideas seventy years earlier) was not his view that the earth revolved around the sun. His crime was that he employed telescopes to arrive at his conclusion. Copernicus’ quaint model of the solar system posed no threat to the church. But the idea that facts derived from observation could actually replace doctrine set out by the church, that was heresy. The church correctly anticipated the threat of that slippery slope and came down hard on him. When Galileo invited a priest who was visiting him to step out onto the balcony and look through his telescope, the priest declined, saying there was no need. He already knew what he would see.

In a poignant modern corollary, an American soldier wrote home about his experience manning an Iraqi checkpoint. The orders were to stop every vehicle, and if a vehicle would not stop, kill the occupants. So as each vehicle approached, the soldiers held up one hand in the universal signal to stop recognized by every six year old who’s obeyed a crossing guard, palm out, fingers together. To the soldier’s surprise, many Iraqis ignored them and simply kept driving. In the first two days, they killed 32 Iraqis. Only then did someone tell them that in Iraq that hand gesture is a common but rude and insulting form of greeting, similar to our most famous single finger salute, not an order to stop.

Our government had felt no need to research the gesture, because it had complete faith that it already knew. It does not need proof that gay marriages will harm America, it already knows. It already knows that embryonic stem cells won’t cure diseases. Regardless of the failure of Reagan’s tax cuts to stimulate the economy and reduce Carter’s $30 billion deficit (creating a $200 billion dollar deficit instead) they believe they already know that tax cuts will do it this time. No need to check the facts, the history or the logic. It’s a matter of faith. Despite the universal failure of church-states, they already know the more religion in government the better.

They have a right to that opinion, of course, because we’re all in this together. But for those of us who identify more with Galileo, who want to study facts and then make our decisions, who reserve the right to flip flop whenever new information compels us, we feel like we’re looking down the barrel of a new dark age. We recognize the pattern. The people in power don’t need to examine facts to make decisions, they can do it by faith alone. In countless large and small ways, they will be ruthless enforcing their beliefs because they are certain of their correctness. Justice and fairness only apply to “us.”

And I know I’m one of “them.”

clearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writing algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, algebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loats calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the joy of writing sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make thisalgebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loatsclearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writingg algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make this square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. Sorry, no Jill, no wagner. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>
square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Wri</span><span class="style11">ters Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Jill Wagner is the actress in the Mercury Mariner TV commercial. Jill Wagner will become a big star and people will google her. That's Jill Wagner, mercuryvehicles.com, TV actress. She's in Vancouver filming a movie.Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>