*** ORBUSMAX GUEST OP/ED ***

Bumper Strip World View - By Warren E. Peterson

May 11, 2004

Walking by a Seattle elementary school, I happened to notice a bumper strip on a mini-van parked next to the school. On closer inspection, I saw a small sticker indicating membership in the Seattle Teacher's Association, which is fine, and three other strips. One was a faded "I (heart) the Virgin of Guadeloupe", also fine, but one of the two remaining strips was not fine. It said "God Bless America" but America was crossed out and an arrow pointed to substitute words: "Humanity (That's all of us)".

I could not help but speculate about the person displaying these bumper strips on their car. A political liberal for sure, a Democrat most likely, or possibly a Bush hater, but my guess is this person holds views only a member of the elite left could espouse. By crossing out America, I see someone who thinks the world would be a better place if America had less power and all of humanity, read United Nations, had more. This person thinks America does some good in the world but it is offset by our capitalist system, arrogance, war mongering, and despite the faded bumper strip, overly religious society. This person sees Israel, in attacking terrorists and their leadership, as guilty as Palestinian and Muslim extremists blowing up crowded buses or killing in cold blood a pregnant Israeli woman and her three children. This person believes mistreatment of a few Iraqi prisoners is equivalent to Saddam's secret torture chambers and mass killings. This person deems the right response to terrorism is not violent, unrelenting war but the international legal system, diplomacy and focus groups trying to understand why they hate us. This person's head nods in agreement when Teddy Kennedy, Robert Byrd and others (almost universally Democrats) rant and rave against the Iraq War and President Bush in terms that make most Americans cringe in embarrassment. This person was outraged that President Bush used images from the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center in his campaign ads but has no problem politicizing the War on Terror in order to defeat Bush. It makes no difference that such positions embolden the terrorist and radicals worldwide and makes the job of our military much harder and more dangerous. Bringing down Bush and his pro America agenda is vastly more important to the Left than the lives of a few American soldiers much less victims of brutal regimes like Saddam's.

I may be a little harsh in my presumptions about the owner of the bumper strips but I bet not by much. In terms of today's vitriolic rhetoric from the Left about President Bush and Republicans in general, I'm not in the same league, thank you very much.

Oh, what was on the third bumper strip? "John Kerry for President."

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Warren E. Peterson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, served three and a half years in the Navy, one term in the Washington State House of Representatives and is now retired after 34 years with Boeing.