Why I HATE bush

[NuBBiN]

[I thought i'd share this with the city. I didn't write this, but I might as well have. As strongly as some feel about Bush positively, I feel just as stongly negatively -- and this article explains it well.....]


Alright, you asked for it. I'll try to keep my wits about me, though the emotional base upon which this argument is built is quite tumultuous.

Why would I say that I "hate" George W. Bush? Isn't that a little strong? Isn't he just your average politician? Isn't this just some natural extension of your overall left-leaning political views?

No, not really.

Before I get to George W. Bush, I need to explain what I think about politicians in general. For the moment, let us stipulate that politicians come in three general flavors:

The first category of politicians I believe to be genuinely honest and noble men committed to the ideal of public service. These are politicians who genuinely care, and strive to improve the Republic they cherish and the lives of its citizens. I believe these politicians to have principles, but I think they also understand reality rather well. They will master the art of compromise in the interests of accomplishment, and they may very well change their minds and their positions as they age or new events and concerns arise. But in the end, they keep one eye on what they sincerely believe to be RIGHT and another eye out for the pitfalls and roadsigns along the way. To our credit, such politicians have been surprisingly common in my lifetime. Who belongs in this category? George H.W. Bush was clearly such a man, and I respected his Presidency at the time, and respect it more in retrospect (despite my use of the convenient term "the first Bush Recession"). Bill Clinton was such a man. Bob Dole. John McCain. Howard Dean. Tom Daschle. George Voinovich. Even Jesse Helms, unlikeable though he may have been, belongs rightly in this category. I dare say, that this IS the most common type of politician in our nation's service.

The next category is where I place the demagogic ideologues. These are individuals who seem to enter politics through the motivation of zealotry rather than for personal gain. They're motives are similar to those of the noble politicians, but they're inability to adapt or to bend within the political process makes them dangerous to our Republic. For them, politics is about specific ends, and the means will always be adapted as needed to attain them. These politicians will lie and distort and accuse and rave. I don't have respect for these kinds of politicians. I fear them. In this category we can place Cynthia McKinney and Newt Gingrich, Dennis Kucinich and Tom DeLay. In present times, there are more prominent politicians on the right than the left whom I would place in this category. I don't believe it's a function of ideology, but rather an accident of history. Unprincipled ideologues can come from any stripe. It's when they conspire and manipulate to seize the levers of power, first within a party, then within a government, that they will rise to prominence. Right now, the DLC is the closest thing to a cabal that the organized left has. And they're substantially less powerful within their party than the RNC is within the Republican camp.

Then, bottom on the totem pole of politicians, I would lump the remainder… the unscrupulous cynics who gravitate to the profession for the love of power. Often, we learn the truth about these politicians in their trials, as with Senator Toricelli or with Richard M. Nixon. Dan Rostenkowski or Gray Davis. And one, one of these scumbags prances before the public eye, nakedly self-aggrandizing… contemptuous of America, contemptuous of Americans, contemptuous of his detractors, contemptuous of his supporters… and nobody seems to notice. And that one, I call him George W. Bush.

I can find very little in the life of George W. Bush to admire or to respect. I can't fault him for having the fortune to be born into a family of wealth, power and privilege. However, all the evidence shows that he never felt any special responsibility came attached to the gifts he received from birth. And I'm not even talking about the responsibility to be some kind of philanthropist or minister to the poor. I'm talking about the responsibility to demonstrate that he was entitled to all that he had by effort as well as by blood. With a special dispensation he was allowed into a top East Coast prep school where he slacked off and took the special efforts exerted on his behalf for granted. Given an unearned shot at an institution allegedly based on merit, he squandered and disdained the opportunity. Then, with mediocre grades he went to Yale on the strength of connections alone, maintaining a C average, far below the standard those who have attained such an opportunity through effort hold themselves to. Somehow, he still managed to fail his way upward into the Harvard MBA program, where again, there is no evidence that he applied himself with any particular diligence. Again and again, through Bush's life, he was handed opportunity that people strive ceaselessly for. Without any effort, he received chances that people work themselves to the bone to never get a shot at. And at each stage, he wasted it, unmindful and seemingly uncaring of the extraordinary exceptions that had been made on his behalf.

Between his stint at Yale and the one at Harvard, Bush "served" in the military. I don't see any particular disgrace in dodging the draft. Many have done it, and many who haven't would have. My own father joined the Marine Corps when his student deferment expired on the sensible theory that it was the branch least likely to send him abroad. Bill Clinton joined the Rhodes Scholar program. Dan Quayle joined the Indiana National Guard. But my father SERVED his term as a Marine. Bill Clinton WENT to Oxford. Dan Quayle PUT IN HIS TIME in the Indiana National Guard. Does it bother me that George W. Bush disappeared from active duty in the Texas Air National Guard? Ceased taking the physical after the institution of a drug-testing policy in 1972? Yes. It really does bother me. And it should bother you too. Because once again, it points straight to the issue of contempt. Contempt for America, for the obligations of citizenship. Our system is set up to grant allowances. But if an allowance is made for you, you should at least feel obligated to HONOR THE TERMS of your dispensation. And George W. Bush demonstrated no such sense of duty. No such sense of honor. Again, granted an opportunity on the basis of connections and fortune, he spurned it… pursued his own selfish ends, his own entertainment, at the expense of his nation.

I find nothing especially worthy of censure in his business career. It does little to enhance my opinion of him, as it demonstrates mostly a capacity to continue reaping, as an adult, the benefits of his more noble father's efforts. But venality and incompetence are neither an advantage nor disadvantage in the world of business, and say little about the true character of a man. At the age of 40, we are led to believe that he found some new inner-strength. It's hard not to look at contempt with a man who can honestly profess that he did not reach adulthood until his 40's. But in such matters, late is always better than never.

But by the standards of his present behavior, the behavior which has marked his rise to national prominence in the last several years, there is no demonstration of a watershed transformation in his character that would render him worthy of respect.

Being a shallow and opportunistic politician isn't an inherently damnable offense, though I would certainly argue he is one. Our country would have been better off had a more noble character been poised to reap the rewards of the Supreme Court's unfortunate choice in 2000, but I cannot fault him too much for his failures of leadership in that moment. His embrace of steel tariffs and agricultural policy more reactionary than those supported by Dick Gephardt doesn't automatically disqualify him from the ranks of men entitled to some mercy.

In the end, it comes down to the simple issue of character.

People love to fulminate about character. My standards are not those of everyone. I don't really hold any feelings against those prone to sins of the appetite, as Bill Clinton was. I have trouble holding poor judgment against those who demonstrate it. All I ask is some evidence of a fundamental respect for the dignity of people. And I don't think George W. Bush has that respect.

The evidence by which I come to this conclusion is unlikely to be compelling to most, gleaned as it is from countless observations of subtle tell-tale signals. The lies obviously bother me. There are those who believe that all politicians lie, and that Bush's are nothing exceptional. I don't know how to rebut such a charge, other than to state firmly and forcefully that I disagree. Watching Bush tell the nation with a straight face that they will receive an "average" tax cut of $1000 when he knows what the average person will actually receive is one of those little acts of disrespect. Sneeringly dismissing the protests of hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions worldwide at his instigation of a war abroad as mere "focus groups" is a telling indicator of the disrespect which created the frustration that propelled them to the streets in the first place (may I remind you, that neither his father nor his immediate predecessor faced anything on a comparable scale). Putting out word that he believed Air Force One to be the target of a terrorist attack to account for his shameful disappearance on September 11th of 2001… that's a kind of falsehood which makes my stomach start to churn in disgust. Untruths and misrepresentations abound in this President's public discourse, when he even bothers to show himself in public. More than usual, even for a politician. And, frankly, more than should be acceptable in the America I thought I knew.

But the final mark of disrespect… the gut-level intuition that leads me to label him an EVIL man, rather than a merely despicable one is his casual contempt for human life. There aren't words to describe the horror I feel when I see Bush look into the nation's television cameras with that sadistic little smirk and tell us euphemistically, as if half-choking on a stifled snort that our enemies… "let's put it this way: they are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies." The barely-suppressed, no not really suppressed at all, look of GLEE at the thought of the death America has inflicted upon it's enemies. I recognize that it is necessary to kill human beings. I recognize that our security demands it. That every president must hold the lives and deaths of strangers in his hands. But the fact that we MUST kill NEVER excuses taking delight THAT we kill. You probably don't believe me. I don't know if you believe Tucker Carlson when he describes Bush's mockery of Karla Faye Tucker [Note: Karla Faye Tucker was executed by the State of Texas.]: "Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me." Maybe some of you don't believe it. Worse, maybe some of you feel the same way, and consider Bush's response… virtuous? I don't know. I look at Bush, taunting the camera, daring America's enemies to "bring it on" and I see a sick and disgusting man – the worst face of America sneering in the spotlight. A man who doesn't bother to care about the enormity of his job, the enormity of its consequences, and the enormity of this glorious Republic we've brought forth.

When I look at George W. Bush, I don't see a patriot. I see a lying, psychopathic narcissist. And it pains me, it grieves me, it WOUNDS me to realize that this puts me not only in the minority… but in the "whacko fringe."

[Bud Head]

Believe it or not I read the whole thing..


And I too agree with the article 100%..

[critter]

l read both,it took that long l got logged off.p.s. lt is scary for the whole world.

[Bud Head]

This doesn't surprise me in the least!!!!!!!!

[cloudman]

i probly should make a theard bout this but im allready hear so. . . . . READ AL FRANKENS BOOK "LIES AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM, a fair and balanced look at the right.

It's really good....

[Mighty Joe Bong]

Anyone seen those "George W Bush, joke that's not really a joke" segments on the Late Show? They're hilarious.

"We visited a park in BOTSWANA".

[relieF]

when i think of tyrants and power hungry underachievers who happened to be at the right place at the right time...

i wonder whether a joint would cool them down.

here's a pic i just made. poor soul rest in peace, great hitler so full of angst. you should have just smoked a doob.

[relieF]

dude, hitler was great just like any tyrant. morality is another issue, but great is great.

like a great cancer that attacked my uncle. it was so great he had to get it removed. i believe most cancers are great.

[KraziHare]

Having lots of power does not make one great. Using the power you have for the benefit of all rather than anything else makes one great.

Ceasar - not great
Hitler - not great
Dubya - unmistakably not great
the maytag repair man - great

[Zylark]

nubbin, zonedude: nice posts. enjoyed reading them very much.

there's supposed to be an election next year right, late 2004. will you let the moron, his controllers and henchmen steal the election again?

even more to the point, will there be an election?

the 2000 fake election was a coup de'etat. people who take power in this way, are not very likely to give it up. afterall their succesors might, should, put them on trial, publicize their dirty deeds, sentence them and throw away the key.

[NuBBiN]

RE ELECT GORE IN 2004!

[relieF]

maybe bush isn't the problem. its probably just a very fucked up america to begin with, of course having a retard for prez doesn't help either.

i... dunno. i'm pretty happy right now. but i'd vote gore over bush any time.

[ugeman420]

everyones got so much beef with the prez.... jeez...
go smoke a doobie or some shit and quick shitting yourselves.

[NuBBiN]

Originally posted by ugeman420
everyones got so much beef with the prez.... jeez...
go smoke a doobie or some shit and quick shitting yourselves.

maybe its because he wasn't even honestly elected president...its easy to turn a blind eye isn't it?

[ugeman420]

wow, why is it that rich white americans always gotta beef and complain about shit? is it cuz they are soooo far above the need for survival that they gotta find something to complain and work at? so since we've mastered feeding ourselves and staying alive,we need to find another problem to fight against?
honestly elected president? so cuz he won the electoral college like its been since georgie was put in office, thats considered dishonest?
blind eye? dude waht are you talking about, theres a difference between turning a blind eye and not looking for shit to complain about, i'm sorry but i actually have other things to worry about instead of bashing hte goddamn prez for doing his fucking job. i didnt know that i was "turning a blind eye" just because i didnt feel like getting rebellious on society.