Loving the Bush Haters

The Weekly Standard ^ | 11/07/03 | Noemie Emery

[Pokey78]

Is it wrong to take pleasure in the madness George W. Bush induces in his critics? Nope.

I LOVE GEORGE W. BUSH. I worship the man. I wake up every morning glad he is president. When annoyed by small things--traffic, the weather, an overcharge--I say to myself, "President Bush," and at once feel better. I like his worldview. I like his dogs and his wife and his mother. I think he looks cool in his shorts and his t-shirts. But it isn't these things that make my heart flutter: It's that he drives the people I hate the most nuts.

The Germans created the word schadenfreund to describe the pleasure one might feel at the woes of one's allies, but no one has yet coined a word for the happiness that can come to a person when those who annoy him complain. Open the paper, and there they all are: the hard-faced women who refer to abortion as "choice," the soft-faced male writers who look a little too pampered, the actors, the artists, the faculty hotshots, the with-it, the urbane and the urban, the concerned, the refined, the sincere.

They are enraged that someone unlike them has power; enraged because they think he is dumb, and he always outsmarts them; enraged that he pushed back when the Democrats, backed all the way by the Supreme Court of Florida, flooded the state with lawyers after the 2000 election, armed with game plans to subvert the result.

Above all, they are enraged that they can't sell their wrath to the rest of the country, which calmly remains unenraged. So, they write the same book over and over (and buy it in job lots), write the same pieces over and over, and post the same things on the web. I read them all.

And in them I find a perverse satisfaction. If, as Churchill maintains, it is exhilarating to be shot at and missed, it is also enlivening to have your opponent empty both barrels, to more or less meager effect. I read Sidney Blumenthal's mournful account of the Florida recount. I read junior writers at policy journals proclaim with no proof they are smarter than Bush is. I read them all, and I wickedly grin.

I grin because I have been once where they are, and have stood in their sandals myself. Liberals insist Bush exists in their minds as a vast malign presence, a huge psychic drag on their consciousness. I know, I know--I felt exactly the same way about Clinton, back in l999. Shortly later, I was told by a dentist that during the eight year reign of the Clintons, I had been grinding my molars to dust. "I've been grinding my teeth less since Clinton left office," I said, thinking he'd think it was funny. He didn't. His office is on Capitol Hill, and his practice is filled with political people, all gnashing their teeth in a frenzy of outrage.

It's your turn, now, fellas. Grind on!

Noemie Emery is a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard.

[Pokey78]

Ping.

[sinkspur]

Here, boys.

One for you!

[Flora McDonald]

LOL! I must admit I've had those same feelings from time to time.

[toolbreaker]

HaHaaaaa!

Excellent!

[Adrastus]

I propose that we do all we can to further their discomfort. It fair sends me into transports of joy to hear the mornful Puff Daschall entone, "I'm really disappointed..." Good Lord it's like knowing he's got raging hemerroids and nothing to stop the pain.

[BCrago66]

The emotion she is attempting to describe was best articulated by the Simpson's character Nelson, when he said: Ha-Ha!!

[SkyPilot]

Great read.

[Burkeman1]

I LOVE GEORGE W. BUSH. I worship the man. I wake up every morning glad he is president. When annoyed by small things--traffic, the weather, an overcharge--I say to myself, "President Bush," and at once feel better. I like his worldview. I like his dogs and his wife and his mother. I think he looks cool in his shorts and his t-shirts. But it isn't these things that make my heart flutter

Ughhh! At least she didn't offer to wear knee pads.

[doug from upland]

There was a reason we would grind our teeth over Clinton. He was a criminal, rapist, and perjurer who allowed our technology to be transferred to the ChiComs. He was and is a polarizing figure. He had to be to survive. He had to convince his side that we were out to get him and the VRWC must be stopped. OKC was used to perfection. He and members of his adminstration are still interfering with foreign policy. They had their chance but won't go away.

Bush is a decent guy. They hate him for that. They got used to a despicable piece of human garbage and thought such should be the standard.

[MJY1288]

We were never as angry as these Libs are today! But then again in 1994 we took over Congress, and it's been down hill since for the Libs.

Bush is driving them over the edge because he ignores them as he looks at the horizon and refuses to look in the rear view mirror to where they reside and will for years to come.

The Libs have to be worried about their future when they take into account the 2002 midterm elections and now the 2 Governor seats they lost this past tuesday. You would think now that they have reached rock bottom, they would stop digging?

[MEG33]

LOL!

[MEG33]

You are going to love this.

[hunter112]

You would think now that they have reached rock bottom, they would stop digging?

Only thing I can figure, is they're digging for the light on the other side. Only problem is, they gotta go through hell first!

[Mo1]

[TexasTransplant]

WE may have picked up a few Governors, but we are getting our a$$ kicked in the Judge department and that kinder gentler $hit is getting us Democrats on the Senate Select Committee using us against us (Rockefellar needs to be drop kicked off that Committee, not asked to resign, he needs to be de-briefed in a dark room with a bright light in his face and no recent memory of being able to feel his hands, feet, arms or legs) he can make up his own mind about resigning the Senate, AFTER he gets his mind right.

[bray]

I always thought lemmings were a fable until I witnessed CommiecRats and BJ clinton. These people didn't have parents who warned them about following friends who jump off bridges (to the 21st century)!

Pray for GW and the Truth

[PRND21]

Grind on!

[TexasTransplant]

That sounded a lot harsher than intended, I am happy about not having to say President Gore.

[woofie]

Wow I have had the same experience at my dentists,my teeth are doing great now..