Democrats, Expecting Bush's Re-election, Prepare to Flee America
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 4:29 p.m. EDT
Democrats, Expecting Bush's Re-election, Prepare to Flee America
SALT LAKE CITY - Happiness and joy: What made a recent vacation perfect was the first sign of dour Democrats packing their French suitcases at the prospect of President Bush’s re-election.
Having escaped Florida's dog days and Hurricane Frances, we were passing through beautiful Utah when, to check a restaurant listing, we picked up something called City Weekly, one of those free left-wing yuppie tabloids that infest most sizable cities.
Our heart soared when we took a gander at this item, even though we realize that of course most limousine leftists will remain as firmly ensconced in America as Alec Baldwin:
Flight From Bushland
Canada. Costa Rica. New Zealand. They’ve all come up in conversation as a variety of people ask the pressing question, "Where can we go?”
They’re not talking about an idyllic vacation. They’re talking about an escape hatch, a Plan B in case the elections don’t go as they hope. It’s a question I hear asked frequently these days from people of various political persuasions. They aren’t the young and disillusioned with nothing to lose. They are mainstream, thoughtful, well-established people who own their homes, have good paying jobs, dutifully pay their taxes and vote in every election. But they’re nervous about what might happen come November and beyond.
"You know how Fortune comes out with the ‘10 Best Places to Live in America?’ Well, we need a list of the ‘10 Best Places for Disgusted Americans,’” a well-heeled gentleman who owns his own business told me over lunch. "Vancouver is too cold, but I don’t like the tropics. They make me too lazy. There must be a place like Oregon that’s outside the grasp of George Bush.”
Like most who toy with the idea, it’s doubtful he’ll move out of the country. He has too much invested in his life and career here, as do so many of his generation. Of those who have threatened to flee, I know of only one couple that has followed through. Charles and Marilyn, who asked that I not use their last names, have sold their East Bench home, given away expensive appliances, tools, and furniture, and found a place in western Canada outside the rain zone.
The two retired professionals say they have lost faith in the direction America is taking. "It’s not just Bush,” says Charles. "The wealthy and powerful have essentially bought the government, the Congress, the presidency for George Bush, the Supreme Court, and, in states where courts are elected, they’ve bought courts. They’ve bought legislatures in every state capital. And there’s no way that these people are going to go against business. It doesn’t matter if Kerry or Bush or Nader is elected. The courts will do what pleases business. The problem I have is that half the people in this country think that’s right. People are totally irrational.”
"I don’t understand why people aren’t rising up,” says Marilyn. "But the materialistic culture keeps people so busy acquiring stuff and taking care of stuff that they’re too busy to fight.”
"They’re inert,” adds Charles.
Worse than a materialistic culture too sated to respond to big business hijacking its government, Marilyn sees a culture in decline. She cites parallels to the way the Roman Empire fell: "Things are too far gone to be corrected. There’s going to be real unpleasantness.”
Their decision to leave has elicited a wide range of responses, from indignation and charges of paranoia to envy. "We’ve been approached by people who want to pick our brains on how to do it,” says Marilyn. "It’s not simple to pick up and leave. All the things you have to deal with in a measured way take some planning.”
The couple is still working out the details, but they plan to go into Canada as "seasonal visitors” and hold onto their U.S. citizenship for Medicare and Social Security purposes.
"You only get one shot at life,” says Marilyn, who has worked on many social causes. "People say we should stay and fight, but when you see the tide coming in, you move. You have to know when to hold and know when to fold.”
Marilyn and Charles have decided it’s time to fold.
'Made Me Puke'
After a great hiking trip in Idaho, Oregon and northern Utah, we passed through Salt Lake two weeks later and picked up another issue of City Weekly. Among the letters to the editor was this rib tickler:
Blowing Chunks in Their Trunks
The story of Americans "Charles and Marilyn” fleeing to Canada because of problems here in the United States made me puke ["Flight From Bushland,” Voices, Sept. 2, City Weekly]. They have an "East Bench” home containing "expensive appliances, tools, and furniture,” yet they somehow condemn American culture for becoming too "materialistic.”
But the thing really causing me to blow chunks is Charles and Marilyn are gonna be hiding deep in a bunker in western Canada while still collecting Social Security and Medicare checks from good ole Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam will still be feeding and protecting Charles and Marilyn—just as he always has—and no matter how wrong-headed they have become.
Steven Morgan
Holladay
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2...3/163235.shtml
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