an interview with Viggo Mortensen

from The Progressive, Nina Siegal poses a straight-forward question that elicits a sharp response:

Q: Are you anti-Bush, as the pundits say?

Mortensen: No, I'm not anti-Bush; I'm anti-Bush behavior. In other words, I'’m against cheating, greed, cruelty, racism, imperialism, religious fundamentalism, treason, and the seemingly limitless capacity for hypocrisy shown by Bush and his Administration.

Obviously, people will disagree on whether they see these qualities exhibited in the President's and his Administration's behavior. But, if reactionaries can keep their knee-jerk under control for a moment, Mortensen's comments should help them understand why so many people are increasingly upset with the current leadership of our country: it is because lots of different people see some of these same qualities on display. And anyone should agree that cheating, greed, cruelty, treason, and hypocrisy are morally reprehensible. Honesty would go a long way to helping bridge the supposed differences (which I don't believe are as large as some claim) among Americans. For example, we don't have to begin by fighting over environmental legislation. We can begin by agreeing on the fact that calling legislation which will weaken environmental protections of our atmosphere "Clear Skies" legislation is wrong. Then we can talk about whether the need for environmental security overrides the need to give yet another hand-out to certain industries.