Evil is Real

I've had a hard time convincing some of my more stubborn friends that Bush and his Crew are evil and should be impeached.

It might be hard because of how we've been taught to evaluate public figures.

The Corporate Media evaluates political figures based on their "character". Which most often translates to the reporters' (and the Media Elites they hang out with) perception of the political figures' "personality".

From the perspective of past Corporate Media coverage it might be hard to believe George W. Bush and his trusted advisors:

- intentionally lied about WMD in Iraq

- intentionally sent 2,000 US Soldiers to die for a pipe dream (or personal greed), causing tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis to die in the process

- intentionally allowed US Soldiers and US contractors to engage in torture

- willfully neglected to do everything possible to avoid death and misery in the Gulf Coast

- revealed the identity of an undercover operative to punish her husband for telling the truth about WMD

The Corporate Media would have us believe George W. Bush is "not a bad guy". Maybe not the best public speaker, maybe not the quickest on the uptake, but all around an average dude: not the best, not the worst. He must have his reasons.

His advisors play hardball. It's not nice but it's nothing new. His cabinet members have a bold vision for how to conduct the war on terror. They're doing what they think is right.

After all, how can we know what's in their heart of hearts? Let's not play psychic friends network.

But what if, instead of their "character", we evaluate people based on their actions, and the consequences of their actions?

I'm going to bring in my homeboy Jeebus for this one:

Matthew 7:15-20

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Maybe interpreting Bible quotes isn't as easy as interpreting Big Lebowski quotes. But fear of inaccuracy or of jumping to conclusions never stopped me before.

The passage seems to say that you can tell evil people by what they do. They might appear to be OK on the surface, but they produce evil outcomes.

Evil people are people who do evil things and cause evil things to happen. They may have the best intentions, may be the most devout people out there and may have a great fitness regimen, but it doesn't matter. They must be recognized for what they are and they must be stopped. Bad trees are useless to the community and must be cut down.

This is a little blog-prayer (Madonna Ciccone-like) for all the Good People out there and beyond. People like a certain unnamed, but special, prosecutor and Rosa Parks. People who draw out the monsters among us (and inside us) into the light of reason and fight them with courage and stubborn conviction.

UPDATE: I hereby retroactively include in the Good Thoughts for Good Peeps group: RDF (currently in lockdown somewhere on the high plains) and Riggsveda (currently volunteering in New Orleans).

Image: St. George and the Dragon, Paolo Uccello, Italian, b.1397 - d.1475