"I search for the language
       that is also yours—
Almost all our language has been taxed by war."
—Allen Ginsberg, from "Wichita Vortex Sutra"

"A patriot is one who wrestles for the soul of her country." —Adrienne Rich, from "An Atlas of the Difficult World"

 

     Thankfully, the defeat of George W. Bush in November is no longer a long shot. Indeed, as this issue goes to press, the leading Democratic Party candidate is currently outpolling Bush by about 6 points, despite the president’s air of invincibility only a few short months ago. In the end, the 2004 election is likely to be another close one, and we wanted to do our small part in the literary world to contribute to the crucial effort ahead.
     The Bush presidency, accompanied by a Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative Supreme Court, has been a disaster both at home and abroad. Its unilateral and militaristic foreign policy has cost the United States much of the widespread global sympathy our nation had garnered after the atrocity of 9/11. With its deplorable doctrine of pre-emptive war, plans to build a new generation of hazardous weapons (mini-nukes, space-based arms, etc.), refusal to participate in major human rights efforts like the International Criminal Court, and complete disregard for the preservation of our ecosystem, the Bush administration has made the world a far more dangerous place.
     When Bush ran for president in 2000, he called himself a “compassionate conservative.” By now, it is clear that this was just one of many lies told by a mean-spirited team willing to bend, stretch, and break the truth on issues ranging from weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to faked numbers for the economy. While Bush’s conservative credentials have been proven time and time again, evidence of social compassion has been difficult to discern. Under George W. Bush, over 2 million jobs have been lost and over 3 million families have lost their health insurance. Contradicting Republican Party claims of an “economic recovery,” hunger and homelessness continue to rise dramatically: According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, emergency food requests in America’s major cities increased by 17% in 2003, and requests for emergency shelter by 13%—a full third of the requests by homeless families went unmet.
     Around the planet, 1 billion people do not even have convenient access to clean water. Imagine the international goodwill that would be gained, and the added sense of safety that would result, from a meaningful American program devoted to alleviating global poverty. After 9/11, some sensible security precautions (respectful of civil liberties) were needed. But with its tunnel-vision prioritizing of military spending and tax cuts for the wealthy, the Bush administration has embraced exactly those social values Martin Luther King, Jr. warned so cogently against when he wrote: “A nation that continues to spend more money on defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” We are indeed in a struggle for the soul of our country.
     The good news is that the extreme nature of the Bush administration has motivated a growing and creative opposition. In unprecedented numbers, millions participated in worldwide rallies to oppose the war in Iraq. Books by progressive authors like Al Franken, Michael Moore, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Greg Palast have become bestsellers. (Check out Ron Suskind’s new book, The Price of Loyalty, to see how extreme the Bush-Cheney agenda appeared even to a conservative insider like Paul O’Neill.) Reliable sources of alternative news and analysis are now widely available on the Internet. And the 10,000-plus who contributed work to poetsagainstthewar.org have demonstrated that a new social commitment has taken hold among American writers, who will not be silenced by the various ways in which administration officials and an ever-consolidating mainstream media have attempted to discourage or marginalize dissent.
     As the global justice movement has eloquently insisted, a better world is possible. This special “Beat Bush” issue of Long Shot is an attempt to contribute to that humane vision. The poems and artwork included here exhibit a wide variety of styles and themes. Some explicitly address the Bush team and its policies. Others deal directly or indirectly with contemporary issues that could hopefully be more effectively addressed by a better president: civil liberties, civil rights, affordable housing, the need for living wage jobs and corporate accountability, women’s rights, gay rights, education and health care, the environment, war and peace, the hope for more honest communication and a more imaginative world-view, the desire to recall and extend America’s most democratic traditions. In addition to poems and artwork, this issue features compelling political articles focused on key aspects of the Bush agenda. We’d like to thank all of our contributors, many of whom have spent years setting profound and inspiring examples of how to combine art and engaged citizenship.
    While Long Shot is going to press before the Democratic Party's nomination process has been settled, any of the Democratic Party candidates, including current frontrunner John Kerry, would be a vast improvement over George W. Bush. Of course, we are also well aware that, even under a Democratic president, many of our nation's most serious problems are likely to remain unaddressed. It will continue to be important for artists and activists to speak out, and to keep building movements for progressive social change, including electoral reforms like instant run-off voting and proportional representation that would make 3rd and 4th party campaigns more viable in the years ahead. But our current president was not legitimately elected the first time, and it is crucial for the well-being of the planet that he be defeated in 2004
     A few words about Long Shot. As you will see from Danny Shot’s editor’s note at the end of this volume, this will be the journal’s final issue. As one of Long Shot’s original cofounders (with Danny) in 1982, I’d like to thank Danny, Nancy Mercado, and Andy Clausen for giving me the chance to help put this final issue together. I’d also like to congratulate Danny and all of Long Shot’s editors through the years for keeping this independent literary journal going for 22 years, a real (and often thankless) labor of love. While previous plans were to end Long Shot after volume 26, it seemed appropriate to come back for one more issue and retire the journal by contributing to an urgent national cause.
     After 9/11, the Bush administration cynically manipulated American fears to promote an unpopular array of right-wing proposals, most of which were on their wish list from the moment they took office: from corporate tax cuts to the war in Iraq, from conservative judicial appointments to oil drilling in Alaska. It is time to reverse this regrettable course and take the U.S. in a new direction—one that reflects our most progressive democratic, egalitarian, ecological, and internationalist principles. We hope this volume adds to that endeavor and we hope you enjoy the read.

— Eliot Katz, Guest Editor