The Reluctant Culture Warrior

Bill O'Reilly.com ^ | Mar 11, 2004 | Bill O'Reilly

[7thson]

A new Gallup Poll says George W. Bush is the most polarizing President in the history of its surveys on the subject. It's hard to believe that the good ol' Texas guy is more divisive than, say, Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, but apparently he is.

Gallup says 91% of Republicans like the President, but just 17% of the Democrats do. In a bad news situation for Mr. Bush, Gallup also sees independent voters shifting away from the Chief Executive.

What's in play here, I believe, is the increasing polarization of the country, not just the policies of President Bush. We have entered an age where character assassination in the political arena is handsomely rewarded by media chieftains, and standards of civility in the general debate have declined drastically. Political bombthrowers are everywhere: on the radio, on cable, on the pages of smear books. Everybody's a liar, everybody's a cad or cad-ette, and, unfortunately, some of us are eating this stuff up.

So President Bush shouldn't take the polarization thing personally; it's more about the culture than him. But there is danger here for the President, as it can be difficult to change strong perceptions that can emerge from sensational accusations, proved or not.

Therefore, it is puzzling that the President does not want to do battle in the culture war, which might bring him more supporters. At this point, his "people" believe he can win re-election as a terror warrior and a tax cutter.

I don't believe that will be enough.

Americans are an emotional people, and right now, the emotion is in social issues like job outsourcing, gay marriage and the eviction of God from the public arena. Senator Kerry is hitting the outsourcing thing all day long, so that leaves the President with the "decline of civilization" issues. But he doesn't like them. Neither did his father.

My observation is that George W. Bush is not a confrontational guy unless you disrespect him, his family or the country. Saddam made a huge mistake by trying to pull a Soprano hit on Bush the elder in Kuwait. When riled up, the President is a hard guy to rile down.

But he doesn't rile easily. Do you really believe the President cares if Vinnie marries Eric? Mr. Bush may sabre-rattle against the lawlessness of issuing gay marriage licenses, but, believe me, he couldn't care less what gays are doing as long as they don't do it in Crawford.

As for the crass media culture, well, the President was asleep during the Janet Jackson exposure, and will probably stay in the land of nod on this issue. Steroids are one thing, but mentioning Ludacris and his pals in a presidential speech simply will never happen.

One of the problems that Mr. Bush has (and Senator Kerry has as well) is that he is not down with the folks and never has been. The concerns of parents vis-a-vis the culture are mostly theoretical to him. While campaigning for President the first time around, Mr. Bush could not name the leader of Pakistan. My money says he doesn't know who 50 Cent is either.

That kind of distance from the streets is a big deficit for the President because he is not a snobby guy. He genuinely relates to people and must use that personality trait to his advantage against Kerry if he is to win. Mr. Bush has got to convince the traditional folks, who heavily outnumber the "progressives," that he understands their values and will fight for them.

But we have seen little of that from the President. We know he likes God, but besides the ACLU, who doesn't? We don't know if Mr. Bush will stand and fight against our cultural collapse, or turn in early. We're all tired, Mr. President, but there's a big national brawl going on. Get in it and you might win. Stay away and you can turn out the lights.

[7thson]

As Bill O is often fond of saying - what say you? Do you think President Bush should speak out more on the culture war or stay the course he has set? I kinda think that if he starts hammering away at 50 Cents and the rest of the rappers, than they will call him a racist. I say, he already doesn't have the black vote so why not make it a moral versus immoral comparison. I'll have more to say once I get some comments.

[goldstategop]

I wouldn't pay much attention to polls at this time of the year. Its media manufactured garbage.

[mathluv]

bill will say/do anything to 'appear' middle-of-the-road. He rarely, if ever, has anything good to say about the President. He loves to bash Bush.

[prion]

Nah, this doesn't strike me as particularly insightful stuff. Certainly I, personally, would be more turned off if Bush seemed more interested in the culture war, but I'm from the "mind your own business" side of the Right.

[fatidic]

I disagree with your assessment of both Bill and George. The article mildly puts its finger on a basic deficiency of our President--at his core he is not a culture warrior and that is exactly what his base is yearning for. Without a instinctual understanding of the cosmic conflict between right and wrong and the forces of good and evil that are aligning themselves to do battle for our nation's soul, George cannot be the warrior leader we need at this time, and I write this with deep sadness.

[7thson]

But doesn't President Bush attempt to influence others not by what he says but by what he does? I very rarely hear him insult or bash anyone. Take yesterday for example. Bush is at a 9/11 groundbreaking ceremony, gets choked up during his talk. At the same time, Kerry is lambasting Bush and the Republican Party. The contrast could not be more startling, IMO. I guess if I were the President, I would highlight blacks such as Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Walter Williams, etc. I would invite to the White House guys like Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder - black artists that have real talent and works you can consider art. I would show by my deeds that there are two black Americas - one that wallows in degradation and filth and another that fights to achieve the American Dream. I would shine the spotlight on the later. What say you?

[arasina]

What say I? Excellent! Send your ideas to the GOP! You're right. Shine the spotlight on the latter...the positive approach.

[EAGLE7]

If Bush Hammers away at rappers he will be called racist? Here's a news flash: no matter what republicans say or do they will be called racist, and homophobes, and child killers. Liberals are not happy unless they have someone in the White House who agrees with them on all issues. Bush needs to show that he does side with the majority of the American people. That he is for God in public life, that he opposes Gay marriage. If you recall in the 2000 election the NAACLP put out racist adds implying that black churches will be burned down and that being dragged by a pickup truck would be common practice if Bush were elected. So, no matter what Bush will be called racist. He loses nothing by taking a stand and will gain more respect by people on both sides of the political fence.

[CasearianDaoist]

Ironically, I believe that were he sits in the culture war keeps him from attacking these people on a personal level. He really is a Christian and belives this sort of behavior to be sinful. He seems to feel he needs to lay out who he is and if the voter does not like it then they will vote against him.

Will this win? Probably not, but it eems to be the articulation of the sort of person he is.

[CasearianDaoist]

emms-seems

[7thson]

I agree, but the question now is how do we get Bush and/or his handlers to come to this point of view?

[EAGLE7]

PRAY!

[fatidic]

You make good points--there is a huge difference in the integrity and decency of Bush contrasted with Kerry's liberalism. Unfortunately, Bush does not take advantage of his bully pulpit opportunities because he basically hasn't enlisted in the culture war. He choses to ignore it, but it's not ignoring him.

Yes, I agree with you that he should recognize blacks who have made positive contributions, instead of inviting Muslim terrorists to the White House and pandering to illegal aliens.

Too bad the fight is just not in Bush. He's too much like his dad and mother, decent, but oblivious.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

If Bush Hammers away at rappers he will be called racist? Here's a news flash: no matter what republicans say or do they will be called racist, and homophobes, and child killers. Liberals are not happy unless they have someone in the White House who agrees with them on all issues.

Wrong! Bill Clinton did not agree with everything from the Official Left's agenda. He did NAFTA. He devolved welfare. He dropped bombs. He stood "shoulder to shoulder" with Bush I after he won. He visited Ronald Reagan at the ranch after he won.

Now, don't get me wrong. Toon was a disaster who pee'd away more goodwill than one man could ever hope to do. And 7 out of 10 times he'd do the wrong thing. But, he was no worse than Nixon. Remember Nixon's lefty ideas? He had a few.

Liberals hate Bush only because he's from the other party. It's entirely political. Our guy vs their guy. They don't like to lose.

Why political? Because they've lost the war of ideas.

This is a good thing.

Re-read Ann Coulter's chapter on Packwood. They'll sell-out what principles they have left at the drop of a hat. They'd shrill for Pat Robertson if he had a (D) next to his name.

Like I said, this is wonderful. Implosion will happen before too long for the liberals - it's only a matter of time. I'm gonna loooooove rubbing their face in it (and I won't miss a beat) when W wins again.

Pile on boys. Learn the killer instinct like a boxer who staggers his opponent. The feast begins soon!