I Booed Bush

I booed Bush. I stood on the Mall on Inauguration Day in a crowd of two million people and, without a moment's hesitation, booed the forty third president of the United States. That was a first for me.

I was taught that booing was rude, or as Chris Matthews said, "bad form." And I thought:

Bad form is sending young men and women to die in a war built on a lie;

Bad form is torturing people in secret camps;

Bad form is abandoning the people of New Orleans;

Bad form is holding yourself above the law, trashing our freedoms, our environment, our reputation...

Miss Manners says you cannot permit a bravo for an operatic performance without also permitting a boo. Can we extrapolate to politicians on state occasions? Chris Matthews, a man whose tongue has never known restraint, thinks not. Others hope that their booing will be followed by an indictment. I can only tell you that booing felt good and absolutely correct. I felt that we were telling the soon to be ex president exactly what we thought of his actions and policies that have wreaked havoc on our country.

Like probably everybody else standing there on the Mall, I was taught to have respect for the office of the presidency, but I felt no conflict. President Bush himself was our model: he disrespected the office, he disrespected his constituency.

Other than in a voting booth, citizens rarely have any opportunity to tell our leaders directly what we really think. For once, two million of us had an opportunity to tell George W. Bush exactly what we felt about his abuse of power. We the people were telling him. We the people were saying, We censure you. We repudiate you. I never felt more American.

I booed Bush, and I booed Cheney too. Shame on them both.

And then, we the people moved on to a new hopeful day.

Comments

[Querent]

Good work. You did it for a lot of us that weren't there, as well as yourself. I would probably have been yelling cuss words.

[learnsomething]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wish I had been there to boo him too. I would have loved that.

[itmaybetoolate]

You did the work of a patriot. Good job!!

[JiminNC]

I was booing with you at home - I am proud of the boo-ers. P i s s on bushco inc

[bbrecht]

Boos are nothing-- Bush/Cheney and their cohorts belong in prison. If all we have power to do right now is boo, well, that's a start. Just a start.

[berryessence]

OMG you were'nt the only one!

Actually, Our group started to say "Nananana na na na na na HEY HEY HEY GOODBYE"

then when Cheney came in the wheelchair.... we stared to sing the Darth Vader intro

IT WAS FABULOUS

[1will]

Liberals.....always a class act.

[learnsomething]

We have been in a 8 year national nightmare, I think booing is tame compared to what Bush/Cheney did to us.

[Querent]

Of course, everything's always about class with you Repugs.

[Jane Devin - Huffpost Blogger]

After reading the article and comments, I feel like had I been standing where Ms. Burton was, I might have booed as well. So many of us spent the last eight years pleading to be heard by Washington. Our pleas, and even our screams, went unheard. There wasn't even the pretense by Bush or Cheney of listening to "the American people", as evidenced by Cheney's "who cares?" response. Our letters, petitions, marches, articles, and representatives were shut out.

I see the point about respect for the occasion and being the "better person". I attend sporting events where players give it all they've got, make a mistake, and get booed by their own fans, and I've never felt that was appropriate. However, what Bush & Co. did during their reign wasn't a mere fumble -- they wreaked havoc in this country and throughout the world, and there will be repercussions for years to come for billions of people.

A "face-to-face" boo, or at least one we were sure Bush would hear clearly, may have been born not out of disrespect for the office or the occasion, but out of desire to release frustration and bitterness. For this viewer, hearing the boos did not mar the celebration, but made it feel more affirming.

[AbbieXHoffman]

The booing is ridiculous. If you're going to Boo anyone, Boo the American people.

1. A lot people wanted the war (not I).
2. The people voted B*sh in after the war (not I)
3. It was obvious to me that WMDs were a joke, that you're problem if you believed him. It's all of our fault for not making fighting harder before the w*r by pressing B*sh and our representatives for more evidence of WMD.
4. A lot of presidents would have done the same as B*sh (not that its right)

I am ashamed people would Boo any POTUS as the POTUS is always acting with support and his policies where certainly supported by enough people to get him re-elected. While most on this site, including me didn't support B*sh, we still are responsible for this as we were unsuccessful in stopping him.

[bcnu2]

.

...and ironically....we were also responsible for sending him a clear message on January 20th...I was there and I booed as well. Anyone that didn't.....isn't a true American. ..'nuff said.
And don't start with the 'manners' and 'etiquette' garbage...Most of you out there can barely function in a civilized society with your "manners", etc....I know,..I drive with you on the roads, shop with you in stores and watch your ill-reared children act like fcuk-ups everywhere I go.
So, I suppose in the long run...if you were in front of me right now...I'd boo you too...

Saying that WE are responsible FOR not stopping Bush makes it seem as though you're saying, .."Golly,..we are simple victims of vote manipulation,..but that's OK,....Maybe our Republic will be alright anyway".....Funny, I didn't see you in the news as a leader in the New American Revolution when it counted.....

Ashamed?....Indeed.....

[AbbieXHoffman]

You're like medieval street peasants who stands in the streets booing a king like savages.

You fail to realize that we don't have a king but an ELECTED POTUS. We all have blood on our hands, not just Bush. You and I didn't do enough to try to get Kerry elected or fight against this war after the election and I did do a lot--it wasn't enough. Unless you were on TV as the leader of the New American Rev, you are to blame as well. Even if you were the leader, it didn't work. It failed.

We are ALL to blame.

[AbbieXHoffman]

'Golly,..we are simple victims of vote manipulation'

Vote manipulation? There was no vote manipulation in Kerry vs Bush. And being American means you can mobilize against a POTUS through pressure on elected officials, voting out those who don't heed your needs and taking it to the streets, working to educate and convince your fellow Americans. None of that happened SUCCESSFULLY during the last 8 years. A boo after the fact is saying, "I am not responsible, YOU are B*sh.

We have taken action to right these wrongs by voting in BO and that's awesome...but the past is our responsibility too.

So Boo all you want--you're only Booing yourself too.

[JimR]

So... The neocons said anyone who didn't embrace their war plans wasn't a true American. And now you are playing the same sad game by saying anyone who didn't boo bush is not a true American.

Interesting.

[brooklyncitizen]

The booing? Bush asked for it...the last few days of his criminal Administration he trotted around trying to "go out" without any hard feelings: by airing interview after interview that no one watched; byholding psychotic and rambling press conferences that very few in the press attended and most seats had to be filled by white house interns; and his last "address" to the nation which no one watched partly because we were riveted by the story of a real hero saving 155 lives on the hudson rive and mostly becaseu the thought of listenning to more Bush drivel was too much to bear.....then the inauguration and we are forced to look at him and frankly out of respect for Obama and the occasion Bush got off lightly- it could've been raining shoes.

[ThesagaciousOne]

Gabrielle, you stated that one of your reasons for booing former President Bush (43) was:

"Bad form is sending young men and women to die in a war built on a lie."

I believe that the number of American servicemen killed, at this time, is about 4200, and the number of Iraqis is 950,000 to1.3 million. Further, lets postulate that WMD was a lie and not poor inteligence. This is a set of facts that certainly fits you assertion of, "Bad form." About 45 1/2 years ago former President Johnson escalated the Vietnam situation from 16,000 noncombatant military advisors to a war that peaked, in 1968, with 543K servicemen in country. The Vietnam War was built on the Gulf of Tonkin lie and resulted in the deaths of 58,000 servicemen and 3 to 4 million North and South Vietnamese.

If military/civilian deaths are a elemental criteria upon which to base a presidency, than President Johnson must be at least ten times worse. My question to you and others who took righteous delight in actual booing or vicariously rejoicing through those actions is, "Would you have booed former President Johnson?" Second Question; "Therefore, were all of his Civil Rights initiatives and Great Society programs for naught?" I think not.

[brooklyncitizen]

you are missing the point

[realpolitic]

If you booed Bush you are not alone. I have been booing him for eight years.

[Chopin]

Booing GWB is an act that profoundly separates two sides of debate on democracy that goes to heart of t matter. There're 3points:--

1) FormNsubstance
2) CourageNrespect
3) Covernant of Democracy between governing authority and consent of governed

The original 13colonies were wrenched from English monarchNtyrant George3rd, through forceofarms, and expenditure of blood, tears and treasures. Founding fathers formed this "democratic nation" under laws consecrated in the "Constitution". It expresses and stipulates a sacred covenant between power and authority of government and consent of the governed people and institutions. The ONLY thing that holds it all together as functioning nation that separates it from a failed state and anarchy are the letter and spirit of the Constitution. When that is violated, the foundation of this nation and republic is at stake.

It's ONLY SAFEGUARD against despotic tyrant from:--
1"Renditioning" YOU to foreignlands,
2Incarcerating you indefinitely in Guantanamo,
3Seizing your worldly possessions,
4Besmirching your honor,
5Violating your privacy without oversight,
6Torturing you,
7Dispatching your lovedones to die for alie in foreignlands,
8Ordering others to wage war in your name on forged pretext and bogus reasons,
9Bamboozling people into indentured servitude to creditor nations..

When GWBoosh smirked about Constitution being "quaint historical document", and proceeded systematically dismantling its provision, he belied his oathofoffice. He betrayed SUBSTANCE of Constitution, broke national covenant with WeThePeople. Booing GWB is faint "CryOfTheHeart". It's violation of FORM of respect for legitimate authority. It's far cry from Tom Payne's call for COURAGE of conscience to defend the Constitution.

[Jeff Karger]

Being boo'd is the least that should happen to the criminal Bush misadministration.

[Wilson201]

I think the boos were deserved. He was and is a disgrace.