Posted on 10/06/2004 4:06:31 PM PDT by mlmr
Everybody remembers the "Clinton-haters," the people who disliked our libidinous former chief executive so much they not only spread (mostly true) stories about his amorous exploits but spun rumors about various dark conspiracies in Arkansas and elsewhere.
However, Clinton's enemies were pikers compared to today's crop of people who, while they may or may not hate President Bush, certainly seem to dislike him very, very much.
I'm not referring here to people who merely disagree with Bush on one or a number of issues. It's easy to understand partisans getting upset over an opponent's policies, and certainly U.S. history is replete with examples of using political differences as grist for harsh criticism.
But Bush has been simultaneously portrayed as Hitler; as a moronic puppet of his advisors; as an evil genius; and as Satan.
All that and more (much of it unprintable) leaves conservatives in awe of the depth of rage being targeted at such a genial, outgoing guy - who also happens to be waging a serious war on our nation's enemies, just as a president is supposed to do.
It's possible to identify three basic streams feeding into Bush-hatred. One - let's call it the "Moveon.org stream" - is described by John O'Sullivan, editor of The National Interest, in the current issue of The American Enterprise Institute's magazine: "Most of the time (Clinton hatred) was simply the frustration of the Right with an opponent who was just too quick and too clever for them. Bush hatred is something else, something really significant. It's much deeper - a personalized version of American anti-Americanism.
"There is in this country a considerable cultural self-hatred," O'Sullivan continued. "The adversary culture fears and hates American power. So anybody who comes along and defends America's values self-confidently, and even pre-emptively attacks America's enemies, is going to be regarded by this sect as an agent of the Great Satan. The same hatred was directed at Reagan."
Second, "progressivism" tends to produce a conviction about the essential goodness of its causes, almost as if there were no consciousness of natural human imperfection. Leftists really think people are perfectible, and they believe they are the ones who know how to do the perfecting.
If there is something wrong with the world, therefore, it is not because people naturally screw up. It has to be a plot.
And since Reagan's days, Americans have voted for Republicans on a regular basis. Even worse, not the tame business-executive, country-club RINO type, but real social, economic and religious conservatives.
Even after Clinton (hardly a textbook liberal himself) beat Bush 41 in 1992, the GOP took over Congress two years later, and now the right-leaning party holds the presidency, both houses of Congress (though marginally in the Senate), most of the governorships and is even making strides in state legislatures.
But if you're a progressive, conservatives are dumb and you're smart. They're evil and you're good. They're devious and you're honest. (I know, I know, but that's how they think.)
So they can only come to one conclusion - the American people have been tricked, fooled and bamboozled by these devious conservatives. The left thinks it is entitled to rule, and yet people are spurning it - making fun of it, even. How can that be? It must be a plot, a conspiracy.
In their minds, the idea that people have considered their positions and rejected them is an impossibility, because they are right and conservatives are wrong. By definition.
Thus, leftists had to spin a myth of a "stolen" election in Florida, to prove perfidy where none existed. The alternative - that they, the good guys, could have lost fair and square, by the rules - is not credible to them.
Third, we should briefly note that a commitment to serious, historical, orthodox Christianity is another offense that Bush, and many other conservatives, offer to the progressive mentality. The anger relativists hold toward the idea of eternal moral absolutes knows no bounds.
Now, I have no idea who is going to win on Nov. 2. But if Bush should be the victor, what are all his detractors going to do? Wrap their heads in duct tape so they don't explode like the telepaths in "Scanners"?
No, I suspect they'll do what they did in 2000 - create another myth about a "stolen election."
You can already see it taking shape, in recent claims that Gallup polls showing Bush ahead are biased, or that presidential advisor Karl Rove was the one who gave Dan Rather his famously faked-up memos, or that the Bush campaign created and financed the Swift boat ads.
If Bush wins, it will be because a plot involving the "biased conservative media" did in Kerry.
The fact that no such thing exists will deter them not one whit. The left proved in 2000 that mere facts can't stand in the way of a really outstanding conspiracy theory, and this year will be no different - if Bush wins.
If not, well, I'll have plenty of topics for columns.
M.D. Harmon is an editorial page writer and editor. He can be contacted at 791-6482 or at:
mharmon@pressherald.com
We are closer to civil war than we have been in forty years or even more
Of course the left needs to know which side has the guns (it ain't them)
Of course they have guns and power. That is the side which would invite a multinational force in to help them in their "civil" war.
BINGO! Number 3 trumps all other reasons for hating Bush.
Agreed.
What was the line from the Indy Jones movie - his Dad tells him something like that when they go to Berlin and see Hitler.....
"We are in an unholy land..." ??? something like that.
Well, crap - guess I'll have to go watch the movie again.
LVM

NOW you've done it!
They'll be over this thread any moment now!
"We are closer to civil war than we have been in forty years or even more . . ."
No, the leftists won't actually come right out and fight-- although they might very well become terrorists. They're just fundamentally miserable people. Maybe if we legalized pot they would just chill? Hmmmmm.
Here. They. Come!
This is clearly "projecting," as psychologists term it, and indicates that they are getting ready to cheat in very large ways. Let us hope that the DOJ, this time, actually keeps an eye on such things as "wiring" of ballots, double registrations, ineligible alien voters and the like. Every illegal vote deprives us to a degree of our right to vote.
You can bet that that is exactly what the democRATS are planning right now. There are several reports about registrations in rat areas that exceed the total number of people that live there. Election fraud may win the election for the rats if we aren't careful.
LIBERALS SHOULD HELP AMERICA
George Bush will win because Americans like and trust him.
So get your razor blades ready and turn on your ovens.
Do America a favor and get rid of your worthless LIBERAL pathetic ass in a mass protest at midnight - Nov. 2nd.
Liberals are professional protestors and this "PATRIOTIC" act will solve the problem for all of us.
As you know, you Liberals hate America, so be "patriotic" for ONCE in your worthless lifetime and do the right thing.
OK- first the odious "handsome Vietnam War Vet versus 'the chimp'" graphic:

...and then... you know, I read the stuff and it's just too uptown for my poor old countryfied brain to decypher, so I'll just include links to the articles:
-The Night Kerry Surged-Weiss-
-The Night Kerry Surged-Anson-
I think they are seeking a return to the 1960's when they were young, beautiful, and everyone listened to them... kind of overlooking the rough spots back then.
The American people are not following their "leaders".
The American people are marching in the wrong direction.
Hence, America must be destroyed.
Buh-bye...
The lefties hate Bush so much because they are taking out their own self-hatred on the nearest, most visible opposite. The lefties lied for Willie and knew they were lying and knew Willie was lying to them and using them. The anti-Bushies hate themselves for allowing themselves to be used by such a scumbag. They can't beat up on themselves and pick the nearest surrogate, the anti-Willie, in this case, W.
This self-loathing will motivate dems for years, well past the retirement of all the Congressional scumbags who lied for and protected Willie. If we could get a Dr. Phil type to talk to the liberals on both coasts and point out how they could improve their mental health ny abandoning this irrational hatred of Bush/themselves, we'd all be better off!
Your opinion is the nub of the matter. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities in high places.
I run with an 'intellectual' crowd professionally and neither they nor the Dimocrats have a clue. This is, teleologically speaking, a true battle between good and evil. Such things are unspeakable in most public and media environments today.
Driving back from Wash. DC a couple of days ago, I caught a brief PBS (Propaganda Broadcast Services) piece on an 'Evangelical' prayer meeting which broadcast prayers and comments from a spirit-filled community church somewhere relative to the election. The announcer had to advise the radio audience that the strange language to be heard in some of the prayers was the so-called 'speaking in tongues.' I was amazed they put it on the air.
No doubt the piece was aired, because it could paint them as 'balanced' and most secularists in our culture would think this sort of prayer for the election, our republic and President Bush (there were prayers for Kerry - who certainly needs them) absolutely insane. The subtext had to be: "Look just how utterly weird the Christian right is..."
But you are correct: All of the above arguments have a certain logical validity, but the core issue is emnity towards God and His servants.
The truly visceral Bush-haters will know better when they go through life's other door. Pray, pray for our (formerly) Constitutional Republic.
(Such posts qualify the poster for Rubber Room Category V and Napalm Flame Level 10 ratings...I therefore don my asbestos knickers and retire from the keyboard)
There is one huge, vastly overlooked favor Clinton did for us all. He single-handedly wiped out radical feminism, at least the arm that was cramming "hostile workplace" rules and digging through Bob Packwood's and Clarence Thomas' garbage.
Yes, radical feminists are still out there and should not be underestimated, but notice how you just don't hear much about "sexual harassment" anymore...
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