There is a reasonable definition of “bullying” in Wikipedia:
bullying often describes a form of harassment perpetrated by an abuser who possesses more physical and/or social power and dominance than the victim. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a target. The harassment can be verbal, physical and/or emotional.
Last week, the Congress was certainly the target for our National Bully, George W. Bush, who used both verbal and emotional harassment (I venture to guess there was no physical harassment, but I have no proof one way or the other) to get his way, expanding his ability to wiretap Americans with no court control or Congressional oversight.
Verbally, the language of fear which Bush and other Republicans working as his “mob” (“mobbing” is indicative of a bullying situation… the goal of the mob is to weed out those who appear different from them) kept up in speeches was the main thrust. We either do more to fight terrorism or it will be ever present on our doorstep. War over there prevents war over here. Emotionally, the verbal harassment leads to real fear on the part of the target. I daresay, threatening to keep Congress going and not letting them take their vacation is also emotional pressure.
A lot has been written on the blogs in the last couple of days criticizing Reid and Pelosi for not pulling off their original promises, but crumpling under Bush’s pressure. The cure for bullying is, unfortunately, not standing up to the provocateur, as we had all hoped the Democrats would do, but the removal of the bully, thus sparing the target.
So… Removing the bully is the real necessity if any change is going to be made. Do we do it by waiting until January of 2009? Do we do it by impeachment (much harder, since it requires standing up to the bully)?
As we watch the debates on both sides during the Presidential primaries, one thing stands out: the Democrats are pushing ideas and change, but the Republicans are pushing fear… competing to be the next bully.
Maybe we should stop the situation before it starts again.