Act One: Heroes and Cons :: Chapter One: Song of the Century

(1671 words long)

May 1st, 2013
Billie Joe Armstrong
Highschool Graduation Essay
Prompt One: Write about the government of today.

The reign of President George W. Bush has lasted us a -- seemingly endless -- 13 years, beginning with a cheating win in 2000, a vast majority vote in 2004, and another vote to keep him in office (until the war is over) in 2008. Thirteen years of one president, and no one has cried heresy or wolf. No one has come out of the grain and tried to denounce this fool for what he is. No one has mentioned that this war -- fought for money and gas -- has been going on for too long. The only people who have tried to bring attention to these hard, cut and dry facts are small revolutionary groups, the most popular of which was called the Underbelly and lead by one girl named Whatsername.

But the way that the progress of the protests created by the Underbelly were halted in immoral, unethical ways that used to be ruled “unconstitutional.” But since the movement began, and was rooted, in the year 2009, the rules were bent to the liking of Bush’s lackeys. The values of the First Amendment -- the freedom of speech and peaceful petition -- were violated as soon as armed forces stepped out to stop the movement. People were killed at multiple peaceful protests, and no one except for the survivors tried to stop it.

It was not just that. Bush began to send out huge, unneeded, drafts of American citizens. Anyone who was healthy, straight and over 18 was sent overseas. Some went willingly. Others didn’t. Not a single person tried to stop this unnecessary loss of life over something as simple as gas, which is something we could drill for right here in the United States of America. In some parts of the country, rich oil is just under out own feet, but everyone is still obsessed with oil from overseas. People are dying in unprecedented numbers each and every day, far away from their homeland, never to see their families again, just to benefit some rich white men in Washington, D.C.

This war shows no chance of ending -- at least, not until we completely crush Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. It should be obvious to everyone by now that this war isn’t because of 9/11. It’s for oil and money, and for George W. Bush to prove his so called ‘worth’ to his pathetic dolt of a father.

It’s sickening that we’re losing so much life so quickly for oil and for bragging rights. Shouldn’t we be trying to improve relationships with other countries, instead of ruining them with all of the Middle East. Last time I checked, we haven’t really made it up to Japan for releasing the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Maybe we shouldn’t even threaten to release another on Iraq until we’ve proved our worth as a country, our strengths as a superpower in the world, over again to disappointed countries.

We don’t really have strength right now, not when political parties that oppose our current president -- read: dictator -- are being oppressed and silenced by that same people who we did not want to become three hundred years ago during the Revolutionary War. In fact, it was George Washington himself who said that political parties will weaken the nation. And didn’t good old Benjamin Franklin say, “united we stand, divided we fall?”

Thomas Jefferson and the other anti-Federalists, or the Democratic-Republicans, created the First Amendment to the Constitution because their opinions and reasoning were being silenced as harmful to the state. And what are we seeing now but that same response, even though we’ve had the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America for over 200 years now.

Isn’t it a shame that the very rights our first president fought to protect are being destroyed by out forty third president, who (quite unfortunately) is named after him? It’s really a disgrace to our country and the people in it that such an imbecilic monkey full of bullshit is running the nation. What we have now is almost a dictatorship, and ‘President’ Bush’s power is nearly unlimited. No one is enforcing what we have written against absolute power and autocracies.

Did I mention that, before his majority vote win in 2004, Bush cheated his way into office? Thirteen years ago, Al Gore should have won the election, and I am not just saying this from a Liberal point of view. He technically did win the 2000 election, but the votes got skewed and Bush was able to weasel his way into office.

George W. Bush was somehow able to cover a war fought for oil with the hasty remark that it was to avenge the bloody deaths on September 11th, 2001. He was able to coercer the British in to giving us troops and help, and he was able to be voted back in to office in 2004. Four years after that, after what should have been the total end of his term, Bush was able to sneak his way in to becoming a dictator over this bloody war.

And America, outwardly, took it without a fight. The people who wanted a fair country tried to stop this madness from occurring, but they were silenced on threat of imprisonment. Protesters, waving their signs and completely defenseless, were taken to jail simply because they thought differently than everyone else. On the other side of the same metaphorical street, supporters with cocked and loaded guns had a blast announcing their victory. They weren’t arrested, even though they could have drunkenly shot and killed somebody.

No, the police were more concerned with the dissenters who weren’t trying to harm anyone. They were with the lunatics who toted heavy guns and wanted to pump lead into the hearts of people that they thought were wrong. Now, those pesky Iraqis would be conquered, America’s power would spread, and we would get more oil to boot!

The way the nation has been run for thirteen years has sickened me. It started when I was five, so not that I had cared much at the time, but as soon as I realized what was going on, I wanted to stop it. For a year or so, I was actually a part of the Underbelly, which was a supportive group of peaceful rebels who just wanted change. I can recall one protest where we all stood in front of a forest that was set for demolition and refused to move, even as the heavy killing machines moved toward us. Whatsername, who was short and didn’t look all that strong, stood at the front of us, shouting our slogans and completely ignoring the buzzing noise of the machines that threatened to kill her and the rest of us.

I just turned 18 in February, and the only reason I have not been drafted yet is on account of my so called ‘mental illnesses’ and my bisexuality. If those are the only things keeping me at home and not in Iraq, killing innocent people, I shudder to think of what people who aren’t ‘anomalies’ like me have to go through with all of the other so called ‘normal’ people.

That protest ended after nearly 100 people were killed as the cutting machines advanced toward us, ignoring the people and going for the trees. Human life was lost, even as we were protesting peacefully. And our government has been condoning this activity since the total Bush takeover that began in 2000 and had sprung into full bloom by 2008.

This essay went off on a huge tangent, but if our president allows and encourages the killing of people for lumber, for oil, for money in general and silences the other opinions -- well, doesn’t that seem a little unreasonable? Over five million Americans have been killed since the so called ‘War on Terror’ started 12 years ago. If this truly is a war against terrorists, doesn’t that mean that we’re sinking into the threats of the terrorists, allowing them to scare us? They want to inspire fear in us and that is why they are called terrorists.

But it isn’t about the terrorists. It is about the oil in Iraq, and it is about Bush trying to increase his own wealth. The mere thought of that is sickening, how much life we’re losing over things as greedy as money and power.

And so, in conclusion, the current government of the United States of America is one run on power and money. Our current government is a autocracy, it seems, and the powers that run us have absolutely no problems with killing supporters of the opposing opinions. This is the kind of government that the United States were created to prevent, not to create. This is the kind of government that the people have a First Amendment right to abolish.

Grade: 72%, C-
Teacher’s Notes: This essay had quite a bit of effort placed into it, and it was fairly well written. The anecdote of the protest at the end was an interesting touch. The same goes for the other little testimonies on your life. You went off on a few tangents, however, and that made you lose a few points. Other factors that made you lose points were the brevity of the overall essay and the rushed feeling it has. In this essay, you answered the prompt and very good except for incorrect facts. Double check some of the reasons for the War on Terror and the definitions of ‘autocracy’ and ‘dictatorship.’ All in all, this is reason enough for a passing grade. With this essay, you have passed 12th grade and you may enter college. Your overall grade for the year, 70%, has left you with an average grade of 71% (a C-), a GPA of approximately 2. Good luck finding a college!
-Ms. Melare, Director of 12th Grade Classes.