Huh. Who knew. In my leaning-towards-hot-pink county — where George Bush won in both 2000 and 2004 — the word “PEACE” is kewler than terr-rssts, and simpler pleas win out over Bush’s December 17 proclamation that “America, our coalition, and Iraqi leaders are working toward the same goal — a democratic Iraq that can defend itself, that will never again be a safe haven for terrorists, and that will serve as a model of freedom for the Middle East.”
Asked “What is your personal wish for the world?,” locals told the Sunday “Speaking Out” newspaper section — I had to type these because the local paper doesn’t post most of its stories on its Web site:
Alberta Marquette, Retired Meat Wrapper, Port Angeles: “Peace. I don’t like the wars and all the killing. Just peace.”
Russ Svec, Tribal Representative, Neah Bay: “Peace in the Middle East and Iraq, and hoping that governments will come together in unity. And hopefully bring our troops home in 2006.”
Timothy Borden, Cook, Port Angeles: “No more wars. Peace on earth. It would be nice if each of the countries in the world would get in harmony with the rest of the earth.”
Jason Roy, College Student, Port Angeles: “First, it’d be peace. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. You don’t see much of that around the world. The hunger for power is a bit much.”
John Green, Welder, Port Townsend: “I wish there weren’t so many greedy people in the world, and that all rich people would give more wealth to poorer countries.”
Pam Dionne, Educational Game Designer, Port Townsend: “I’d like to see us out of the war in Iraq, the invasion of Iraq.”
Megan Meckler, Caregiver, Port Angeles: “For people to not go without the things they need most. People in general need to be more generous and sharing with others.”
There was just one crab apple:
Frances Shapleigh, Homemaker, Sequim: “I wish the media would get off Bush’s back. They don’t realize what he’s doing for the world. Many are trying to crucify him. In my day that was called treason.” (Clearly an Ann Coulter fan.)
Now, the local paper does its darndest to make these “Speaking Out” statements representative of the community. It sounds like the vast majority in this rural, pink county are anti-war and pro-peace. I’ll be damned. And not one of them repeated the Bush meme about spreading democracy.
From Democracy Now! on November 24, 2005:
AMY GOODMAN: So who is warning you against using the word “peace”?
JANE GOODALL: It’s just that some N.G.O.s are being warned that there are certain things which they shouldn’t be using, certain words that will bring them into disrepute. And peace — it can’t be true, can it? That cannot be a political — peace is something we all aspire to. Peace is something every child dreams about. You ask children around the world what are their dreams, and one of the things they’ll say is “Peace.” I don’t believe there’s a single living person who really wants to be involved in a war if there was any way out. … (Full Transcript)
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