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Closet Bush supporter
This election has shown that our similarities are much more
profound and well entrenched than we had ever realized
November 11, 2004
iranian.com
Here you have it folks, little did I know that I have been a
closet Bush supporter all along. True, I have a weak spot for Old
Europe's Lavazza espresso, I read Robert Fisk ardently, I hold
Maureen Dowd in high regards, and hassle my neo-conish friends
all the time. So imagine my surprise when I find out that I have
been a closet Bush supporter for a long time; perhaps even before
I started to smirk and put quotation marks around the word "liberation",
and while shaving twice (if not three times) before boarding an
airplane.
Suffice to say I was a true Democratic Party aficionado; I attended
Howard Dean's rallies enthusiastically and listened edgily as Kerry
came around on his opinion about the war. I even popped-open my
much-cherished Louis Roederer (vintage 1979) in the euphoric moments
after the first-debate when it seemed like a sure thing; I terribly
regret wasting the Cristal now.
Yet, in the wee hours of November 3rd something profoundly changed
in me as I watched the results come in. I found myself celebrating
with the Republicans; mystified yet cheerful that they won, and
jovial that their team is back for another four years to pursue
their agenda.
You may wonder: why this sudden and drastic change?
Simple. The Republicans made it quite clear that we have been
one and the same all along. That no matter our originating country
or race, we have not parted far from each other on moral and ethical
values.
 You might find this answer to be a bit fuzzy - perhaps even a
bit shocking.
Allow me to elaborate: For hundreds of years it has been an accepted
belief that Eastern civilizations were lagging behind their Western
counterparts. The enlightenment had made the West a more virtuous
and progressive civilization. The Easterners, in turn, suffered
from autocratic regimes that fought aimless wars for worthless
motives, tortured with impunity, and imprisoned without justification.
Religion was used (and abused) to rally the public into a euphoric
state in which dissent was considered unpatriotic, and on occasion,
blasphemous.
Yes, I agree that the West has BlackBerrys, Daisy Cutter bombs
and Britney Spears - and that the East in turn is still absorbed
in the notion of arranged marriage and bewildered by the concept
of paying attention to traffic laws while driving.
But the differences end there and there alone. This election
has shown that our similarities are much more profound and well
entrenched than we had ever realized.
 The East built Abu Ghraib, the West happily became its new tenant.
The East called a Jihad in the name of God and hung enemy soldiers
from a bridge in Falluja; the West called a Crusade in the name
of its God and raised Falluja. The East sent a teenager to blowup
customers in a pizza shop to free a nation; the West raised Jenin
and killed teenagers in Sabra and Shatila camps to safeguard a
nation. The East bombed Pan Am Flight 103; the West downed Iran
Air flight 655.
Gary Wills recently wrote in an op-ed piece for the New York
Times, "It
is often observed that enemies come to resemble each other".
I recently surprised myself by cheering for the Republicans as
that statement came to life before my very eyes.
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