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Church of Bush: What liberal infidels will never understand about president (FREEPERS quoted)
Village Voice ^ | July 20th, 2004 10:00 AM | Rick Perlstein

Posted on 07/21/2004 6:42:20 AM PDT by dead

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To: Perlstein; Hannity; dead
"...take on all comers"

You'll rue the day, Perlstein!!

LOL...say hello to Hannity when you get out there to Boston...MUD

41 posted on 07/21/2004 10:27:38 AM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH the Butcher of the Balkans!!)
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To: Perlstein; dead
I haven't had the pleasure of making a liberal bleed out the ears since the days I was on alt.impeach.clinton.

I look forward to the 3rd.

Regards, Ivan

42 posted on 07/21/2004 10:43:49 AM PDT by MadIvan (Gothic. Freaky. Conservative. - http://www.rightgoths.com/)
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To: Perlstein
So: when shall we have our throwdown thread? Tuesday, August 3 is perfect for me.

Hmm, Aug 3rd?? Gee I think I have something important penciled in on that date? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to rearrange my sock drawer.

Decisions, decisions - do I watch a leftist get verbally eviscerated or rearrange my socks? Oh well, I guess the socks can wait.

43 posted on 07/21/2004 10:44:56 AM PDT by Condor51 (May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't. -- Gen G. Patton Jr)
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To: dead
"When we think of Bush's character, we're likely to focus on the administration's proposed budget cuts for veterans...

dead,

Please pass this to your leftist buddy and tell him his world view is based on myths.

The source is the following from the non-partisan Annenberg Center.

Funding for Veterans up 27%, But Democrats Call It A Cut

44 posted on 07/21/2004 10:47:18 AM PDT by Ditto ( No trees were killed in sending this message, but billions of electrons were inconvenienced.)
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To: Perlstein
"The founders of our republic CLEARLY intended....not to rely on the inherent goodness of leaders, because no man is inherently good. ...."

I see you got one thing right.

Our Constitution is a "Calvinist document through and through" (look it up) based upon the fact that man is *NOT BASICALLY GOOD*.

They set up our government in such a way -- limited / objective rule of law (based upon the biblical law of love as THE STANDARD) / separated powers -- so as to ensure that no man would be able to obtain the reins of absolute power -- even if he/she professes to be a "Christian".

45 posted on 07/21/2004 10:58:51 AM PDT by Matchett-PI (All DemocRATS are either relativists, libertines or anarchists.)
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To: Perlstein
Rick, good to hear from you again. Honestly, do you actually believe that silly cant or are you just trying to get a rise out of people? It may play well in New York, where conservatives are regarded by the ignorant as an alien species, but it rings like a leaden bell out in the heartland, trust me on that.

Perhaps you ought to get out more. This sort of tribalism isn't particularly conducive to productive political discourse, and I assure you that an auto mechanic in Provo or a welder in Lubbock regards the sort of urban sophisticate that is the Voice's target audience with the same level of entymological fascination as you offer us in that article toward conservatives. The very activity is presumptuous, and if the specimen finds it insulting there's usually a pretty good reason.

46 posted on 07/21/2004 11:03:16 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Matchett-PI

"If he loses in November, the voice of the American people has spoken a devastating verdict on his presidency. If he wins, he stole the election."

My vote for best post of the day! Great analysis.


47 posted on 07/21/2004 11:07:14 AM PDT by proud American in Canada
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To: Perlstein; Miss Marple
Tuesday, August 3 is perfect for me.
Rick, I enjoyed an e-mail discussion with you a while back. It's unlikely that we will ever agree on a great deal, but you do have more openness to conservative opinion than is projected in this article.

I'll be looking forward to explaining your error come Tuesday a week.

Even if circumstances hindered me from attending this, I'd want to catch up the action after the fact. So I'll ping you, Miss Marple, if you don't ping me first when this fun starts!

P.S.: Rick, why don't you open your thread on the fourth with a definition of what a conservative is, in general - and then make that definition specific to what an American conservative is! That is guaranteed to draw a crowd!
48 posted on 07/21/2004 11:08:01 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (Pseudo objective journalism is the noise and smoke brigade of the Democratic Party.)
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To: Perlstein

"Again and again, I see conservatives defending Bush based on a sense of his inherent goodness. This dismays me, because I think the most profound thing conservatism has to offer America is its grasp of man's inherent sinfulness."

While it may be true that man is inherently sinful, and it is certainly true that our freedoms are not safe if they ultimately depend on the inherent goodness of human nature, we are not speaking in generalities here. We are talking about a specific individual, and the nature of a republic requires that we identify specific individuals whose moral judgement we trust and elect them to positions of authority.

There will always be 'cult of personality' types who feel the need to blindly worship their idols, whether GW Bush, Bill Clinton, or even Britney Spears. But if these people are your targets, why do you lump them in with the nuanced voters who may not like his policy regarding stem cells or steel tarriffs but still prefer him to the alternatives? You end up reducing your argument to "People support Bush, even though I consider him evil and dangerous. And they continue to support him even when I explain to them how evil and dangerous he is. Therefore, they must be dimwitted, brainwashed zombies."

You have been watching too much Michael Moore, I fear. Throwing out as many random accusations as possible (He lied about seeing the plane hit the tower! Plus, he used to blow up frogs as a kid! How can you vote for someone like that!) is not going to win over any new converts. Any more than a five minute conversation in which I carefully explained how Bill Clinton is a serial rapist who smuggled cocaine into Mena airfield while he was governor would have convinced you to switch your vote.


49 posted on 07/21/2004 11:11:17 AM PDT by Calvin Coolidge
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To: Perlstein; Miss Marple
on the fourth THIRD
We now return you to the regular thread.

50 posted on 07/21/2004 11:18:00 AM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (Pseudo objective journalism is the noise and smoke brigade of the Democratic Party.)
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To: Perlstein; dead
I took the time to look up your book on Amazon. You are quite correct that you got excellent reviews.

However, almost every review remarks that you are a liberal, and although I have not read your book, all reviews seem to indicate it is a history of the early days of the conservative movement, and a record of how we changed our tactics. I don't believe any review mentions that you were supporting any of the movement's ideas.

So, based on your more recent articles, I stand by my opinion. I, myself, could write a pretty balanced record of how Bill Clinton won the presidency, but it doesn't mean that I support him or have his best interests at heart.

Why are you so interested in having a specific date in which to debate? I find this quite interesting. If you didn't have time to debate, why did you have dead post the article now? Why not wait until after the convention.

My antennae are up, and I remain suspicious. You see, I am one of those conservatives who believes in the sinful nature of man...and that includes you.

51 posted on 07/21/2004 11:34:25 AM PDT by Miss Marple
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To: Perlstein
"not to rely on the inherent goodness of leaders, because no man is inherently good. Again and again, I see conservatives defending Bush based on a sense of his inherent goodness."

Well, overall conservatives are generally just giving President Bush the benefit of the doubt.

He hasn't made a "no new taxes" promise, only to be broken in mere months, for instance...so without an obvious reason to distrust him (unlike our feelings about his father or his direct predecessor), we give him the benefit of the call.

But in all fairness, you raise a valid point or two. No man is inherently, purely, good. We shouldn't depend upon such a person coming around to run our government.

My problem with that valid point, however, is that so far to date there is little or nothing that I would have done differently than President (or even Texas Governor) Bush.

Tax cuts. Ban on partial birth abortion. National missile defense. Preventative, proactive care for our senior citizens (e.g. doctor checkups, prescription drugs, 6 privatization options for Medicare, etc.), killing the nonsensical Kyoto Global Warming treaty, pulling out of the Euro-based International Criminal Court, opening up Alaska to more domestic oil drilling, getting new logging going on in our national forests (esp. to serve as firebreaks), smashing the Taliban in Afghanistan, arresting Hussein in Iraq, etc.

It's as though President Bush is enacting every right wing dream that can remotely be smashed through the girlie-world of our current Congress.

I've never been more impressed with a President than with GWB.

History will record his time in office as the most legislatively and policy productive of all Presidents.

No one has ever gotten this many vast policy changes enacted, much less in such a short amount of time.

So how can we help but give him the benefit of the doubt and defend him from cheap shots or unfounded criticism?!

7 Full Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires

52 posted on 07/21/2004 11:42:50 AM PDT by Southack (Media Bias means that Castro won't be punished for Cuban war crimes against Black Angolans in Africa)
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To: dead
This is great, I have to mark this for latter.

I am surprised at how well he remembers after the fact all the great counter points. He walks away, maybe looks something up and get to print the conversation with his little additions after the fact. But the person he "interviews" never has the chance to "add" to the conversation.

It is supposed to read like a debate, where the writer always wins (see how stupid these conservatives are!) but he never answer their questions and gets to add his "facts" from the comfort of the village.
53 posted on 07/21/2004 12:05:00 PM PDT by CyberCowboy777 (Veritas vos liberabit)
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To: Perlstein
I hope you get your facts straightened out by then, Rick.

You'll go down hard with the tripe you wrote in this article.

Even the newbies can best you against the line of 'reasoning' in this very silly article.

54 posted on 07/21/2004 1:18:34 PM PDT by ohioWfan (BUSH 2004 - Leadership, Integrity, Morality)
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To: CyberCowboy777
It is supposed to read like a debate, where the writer always wins (see how stupid these conservatives are!) but he never answer their questions and gets to add his "facts" from the comfort of the village.

Yep. And my other problem with the writing is the tone of it. Is there a way for somebody who can't stand Bush to fairly write about Bush supporters, and give their opinions a real say? Sure there is, but this column isn't it. From the way this article is written, you would think Bush is some fringe candidate only supported by a various nutcases and idiots, not someone who got half this country's vote. The condecscension oozes here. Let me give you one example:

Larry's wife, Tami Mars, the Republican congressional nominee for Oregon's third district, proposes a Divine Right of Eight-Year Terms: "Let the man finish what he started. Instead of switching out his leadership—because that's what the terrorists are expecting."

Instead of just repeating what she says, he mockingly labels it a "Divine Right of Eight-Year Terms." It reminds the reader of the Divine Right of Kings, and makes you think that this woman is suggesting W is a king who doesn't deserve to lose his throne. Nice work.

As for Perlstein's "debate" with us, I won't be participating. You know it will end up in a Village Voice column, you know it will be selectively edited, and you know it will be written in such a way to make us all look stupid and venal. What's the point?

55 posted on 07/21/2004 1:43:29 PM PDT by NYCVirago
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To: dead
after he insisted Bush couldn't have been lying when he claimed to have witnessed the first plane hit the World Trade Center live on TV,

When did Bush say that?

56 posted on 07/21/2004 1:47:42 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Monthly Donors NEVER need tons click "co-ordinating")
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To: CyberCowboy777

It's an excercise in "Here's what I should have said, but didn't."


57 posted on 07/21/2004 1:48:17 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: TonyRo76
What's in-famous?

Well, that where you're more than famous, you're IN-famous!

(Quoting The Three Amigos from long distant memory)

58 posted on 07/21/2004 1:51:52 PM PDT by Teacher317
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To: SandyInSeattle; Izzy Dunne
after he insisted Bush couldn't have been lying when he claimed to have witnessed the first plane hit the World Trade Center live on TV,

When did Bush say that?

I had no idea what Perlstein was talking about either, so I researched it a bit on the internet. Apparently, there’s a conspiracy out there in looney leftist land that Bush made a gaff that revealed that he knew the attacks were coming before they began. It appears in a CNN transcript:

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/04/se.04.html

QUESTION: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country, and another thing is that how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack?

BUSH: Well. Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my chief of staff, Andy Card -- actually I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. And I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on, and I use to fly myself, and I said, "There's one terrible pilot." And I said, "It must have been a horrible accident."

But I was whisked off there -- I didn't have much time to think about it, and I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my chief who was sitting over here walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower. America's under attack."

The problem is that it can easily be explained if either Bush (who is famous for his garbling of the language) mumbled or left out (or the transcriber of the interview simply didn’t hear) the word “that” in the statement.

In that case, “And I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on” becomes the much less spooky “And I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw that an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on…”

But the conspiracy folks couldn’t have as much fun with that statement. Either way, it’s a rather idiotic thing to even bring up.

59 posted on 07/21/2004 2:08:26 PM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: dead

Thanks. I hadn't heard that, and didn't realize there had been a TV there at the school.


60 posted on 07/21/2004 2:11:05 PM PDT by Not A Snowbird (Monthly Donors NEVER need tons click "co-ordinating")
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