Lady With A Hummer
 

January 18 2005
Counterbias.com
by Robert J. Nebel

I was walking across a parking lot with my six-year-old daughter one afternoon in an Atlanta-area parking lot when we were almost flattened by a bright yellow Hummer. As we quickly got out of the H2's way, I could not help but notice a couple of things.

The young woman operating this piece of military machinery looked like she was 5'1" with dark sunshades on while speaking into her miniature cell phone. While she was absorbed in her own "I've Got Mine World", I thought to myself, "Does this woman really need this monster of a vehicle that is used for warfare? Is the war in Baghdad or Atlanta?"

Perhaps there is very little difference between the two cities. We are on the same latitude as Baghdad. We get extremely hot like Baghdad. And many times, we suburbanites act almost as uncivilized as those who do not want to be liberated in Baghdad.

I agree with my conservative brethren when they say that we have lost our moral compass. I part company with them when they blame uncivilized behavior and a lack of morals on Howard Stern and Janet Jackson.

The real villain in all of this is self-indulgence brought on by the neo-conservative movement a la the troika of syndicated talk-radio hosts Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Neal Boortz. They are not your "father's
conservative." They indeed have copycats throughout the nation on the radio dial, but it is these three along with their amigos in government who have done much damage to this country's social fabric.

It used to be that being conservative meant being frugal and caring for your family and community. Not today.

How did we get here?

For the past 20 years the neo-conservatives including Richard Mellon Scaife and Lee Atwater have influenced policy which unraveled our society. This element has sold out this nation's principles in favor of anti-community initiatives throughout the country. Runaway development, tax cuts, welfare reform and tinkering with the idea of school voucher systems have pulled us
apart in the name of rugged individualism.

In the 1980s, our government urged us to spend more and save little. After September 11, 2001, we were urged to do that and more by purchasing gas-guzzling vehicles that indirectly support radical terrorists. Those policies are irresponsible.

Today, it is no wonder that in many suburban and urban communities from coast to coast, families are sequestered in their homes in separate rooms with
separate lives. Communication between parent and child is at a minimum. Hyper scheduling has replaced the family dinner and community time. Why should it be surprising when incidents like Columbine and Oklahoma City occur?

When they do happen, Limbaugh, Hannity and Boortz distance themselves in the name of individual choice. Instead, this troika promotes unnecessary military action, violence and hatred. Howard Stern and Janet Jackson are innocent entertainers who have no affect on policy.

I wondered something very ironic after this woman nearly ran us over with her Hummer. Wouldn't it be a truly conservative idea if people like this woman
ditched the Hummer, put down her cell phone down and walked to the store from her home and perhaps spoke with people on the way?

Maybe I am not that different from my conservative brethren after all. I and many across the fruited plain are radically different from neo-conservatives. In this election year, we had the chance to stop them
in their tracks -- but got run over.


Robert J. Nebel is an Atlanta-based writer whose works have appeared on this Web site and in USA Today, The Atlanta Constitution, Alternet.org and many magazines and newspapers. His site is http://bobnebel.tripod.com.

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