You're With Us or Against Us
by Chip Duncan

"No."

"No?" I asked. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want a President who's going to raise my taxes!" said my 12- year-old nephew. And that was that.
The shortest political discussion I've ever had happened just a few weeks ago when Senator Kerry's visit coincided with that of my brother and nephew. Since we were going out to dinner, I suggested meeting downtown, watching Kerry speak, then hitting an outdoor café. It would be a great civics lesson and a chance for yours truly, an independent, to consider what Kerry had to say.
Let's forget for the moment that my 12-year-old nephew doesn't pay taxes. Let's move beyond whether Kerry, as President, might push to raise taxes on the wealthy. The bottom line, in my little familial moment, was the realization that a 12-year-old, rather than embracing a new experience with his independent-voting uncle, had already closed his mind. He had no political curiosity.
I don't have kids, so maybe his was a normal reaction. But I'd have been far less surprised if he'd simply said "that sounds boring" or "I'd rather play miniature golf." But he's a bright, mature young guy and he'd made up his mind. He was backing George W. Bush.
Later, while choking down a burger on the west side of town, I couldn't help thinking "when did it happen? When did the country become so politically divided? When did lifelong friends and relatives begin walking on egg shells so they wouldn't upset each other with their political position?"
With no weapons of mass destruction and no link between Hussein and Al-Qaeda, the war in Iraq played a role. There's AIDS relief for Africa, the "Axis of Evil," the proposed pull back on military bases in Germany and South Korea, the Israel/Palestinian conflict and the ongoing search for Osama.
And yes, there's the score of domestic issues that divide America - the USA PATRIOT Act, the record breaking federal deficit, tax cuts, unemployment, school choice, energy policy, a woman's right to choose, education policy, health insurance benefits, prescription drug prices, social security benefits, faith-based initiatives, and the ongoing administration effort to drill for oil in the Alaskan wilderness. Did I mention the proposed mission to Mars? And don't forget the assault weapons ban, the trade deficit, immigration, zoning issues, gay rights, racial profiling and the highest poverty rate in more than a decade.
But did these things alone really create the hottest political climate since the 1960s? I don't think so. With the possible exception of the pre-emptive war in Iraq, most of the issues amount to little more than ongoing policy debates that have been with us for years. So just what was it?
"You're either with us or against us!" said President Bush.
Yep, that's it. "You're with us or you're against us." The silent majority just can't get that line off their mind. Why? Because we're all Americans. There is no "with us or against us." For many of us, tolerance is a core value. It's among the reasons our founding fathers fought the revolution more than 200 years ago. Americans support the right to think and act independently. As the fourth branch of government, people have the right to disagree with our elected officials.
I'm paraphrasing here, but Thomas Jefferson once said that it would be a good thing to have a revolution every now and then to keep us on our toes. In a sense, that's what's happening right now. It's been a while since we tried to define ourselves, and doing so is a good thing.
Here's what we know for sure: We like lower taxes but we don't like deficits. We like government services but we're not interested in paying for them (unless it's for defense). We want government out of our lives but we tend to support new bureaucracies and cabinet positions, especially if it makes us feel safe. We want to protect our civil liberties but not necessarily our neighbor's. We like our privacy but we love gossip, reality t.v., and our own fifteen minutes of fame. We tend to forgive politicians for the promises they make but fail to keep because, heck, no one's right all the time.
We believe in family values but more than half of us get divorced. Most of us support the right to choose, especially when an unplanned pregnancy happens to us. We want clean air and water but we're willing to chip away at it with a little pollution here and there as long as it's underground, underwater, in the atmosphere, or far, far away. We like wilderness as long as there's a road into it, it's snowmobile accessible, and it doesn't cost much to maintain. We don't want our government involved in religion unless it happens to support our own point of view. We don't want to fight unjust or unnecessary wars. We really don't (unless we're not paying attention). We don't like negative politics or meaningless sound bites but we love pundits. We prefer the truth. Just ask the ever earnest and very popular John McCain.
Many of us think the Swift Boat guys are yahoos but we're still buying their book. About half of us believe in global warming and, even if we don't, we liked the movie. And yes, some of us aren't even sure we ever really went to the moon.
So if you're a moderate, a liberal or a conservative who happens to disagree with the administration, don't worry. You're really just an average American.
And if you happen to be a 12-year-old in need of a civics lesson, I can tell you this: The higher the deficit goes the more likely it is that you really will have to pay higher taxes when you finally enter the workforce.

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Chip Duncan is an EMMY award-winning documentary filmmaker who presently resides in Wisconsin. Most of the articles that appear on this site were originally printed in Sunday editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel between 2001 and 2004. To contact Chip Duncan, please click here: Chip@DuncanEntertainment.com. Your comments are welcomed.

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