[Lunatic Fringe]

One simple word: power.

[So Cal Rocket]

Leftists detest anything that gets in their way of their "ideal Socialist state".

[Puppage]

the same people that can unconditionally love a President who tried to fix a U.S. court case against an American citizen are the often the same people who hate Bush

The tolerance of the left only goes one way.

[FastCoyote]

Part of the definition of hate (versus animosity, or dislike) may well be the unknowing emotion that is involved. Kennedy and Biden and Kerry are all 2020 in hindsight.

[mewzilla]

Intellectual amd moral bankruptcy.

[dirtboy]

Liberals hate traditional American values. Bush stands for those values, and, even worse, acts on those values. Therefore, liberals hate Bush.

[counterpunch]

They hate George Bush because he is a Republican president and they are partisan Democrats.

[Paradox]

There was a similar hatred of Clinton, but only among the most die hard conservatives (well, some liberals pretty much hated him too). It was pretty evident here on FR, still is to this day (I am not one of the haters however.) As much hatred as I saw for Clinton, I NEVER saw it as "mainstreamed" as the hatred for Bush has become. It comes down to partisanship. "The other side" hates it when your guy wins, and then does "well". They then invent or distort reasons to HATE him. It catches on especially well in groups that are prone to believing in Conspiracies, thus the Left REALLY gets into it.

[Dr. Frank fan]

He has the gall to be a President while having an (R) after his name. Only by having Presidents with a (D) after their name, can we remain on the one true path to utopia.

Isn't it obvious?

[RightWhale]

They don't. They don't like {fill in the blank}, a Republican, in the White House.

[blackdog]

It's what they've been conditioned to do.

[MississippiMan]

I too have been surprised by the vitriolic hatred the left has for Bush, especially considering how liberal he is for a Republican. I mean, it's easy to understand how Clinton was so despised by the right, but this hatred for Bush shocked me. I think we may have entered an era of extreme polarization, where any candidate for the opposing side draws a fervent, often illogical ire. I of course think this tendency to despise will be stronger on the left, since liberalism is essentially based on the backward equation of emotion over intellect.

MM

[A CA Guy]

Bush is a man of Christian faith who is not a reflection of them. When they don't see themselves in power they get all bent. They don't have the podium to push their agenda and that is the core of the issue IMO!

Their (HATE) stems from terrible lack of tolerance they suffer.

[walden]

They hate him because he's a good man. It's just that simple. They like people who are morally lax, because it makes them feel better about themselves.

BTW, they also hated Ronald Reagan.

[jwalsh07]

Bush engenders hate from the left not because he is a Rpeublican but because he is a social conservative who is public about his faith.

They see him as a danger to their way of life and their drive to secularize and socialize America.

There is no other explanation because the Presidents' fiscal conservative bona fides are just not there.

[LS]

Hank, I've thought about this a lot, and written about it here on FR a few times (don't have the links, but I'm sure you could find them).

I think the hatred breaks down into two categories: faith and success.

Bush's faith is a HUGE sticking point to unfaithful Christians, "unchurched," and modern-day atheists. My scripture fails me, but I recall the Bible saying that a righteous man exposes the unrighteousness of others merely by his EXISTENCE. (This is, at root, what I see happening with the terrorists: they hate us because of who we are---and it's more than our wealth and "material culture." Ultimately, we are on the RIGHT SIDE of God, and in their hearts, they know it.) Bush repeatedly acts with a firmness of resolve based on his faith, and this horrifies modern liberals, who can't believe ANYONE can "be that sure" of himself or his faith. There is more to it, but that's the essence.

Bush is also successful in achieving all the things that Clinton could not: prosecute an attack against the enemies of America; pass education "reform" (I disagree with it, but he did pass it); and "reform" Medicare. Bush gets NO CREDIT from liberals for passing these, mind you. Quite the contrary, he just EXPOSES THEM MORE every time he does something Clinton promised to do, and didn't.

It all boils down to this: Bush, in every way, exposes their hypocrisy, and they know it. Liberals are the modern equivalent of the Sanhedrin: "Crucify him." (And I'm not likening Bush to Christ, so chill).

[Ramonan]

G.W. Bush is the Antithesis of everything the Liberals stand for.
He stands for morals and adhering to the 10 Commandments of Judeo-Christian Ethics. They abhor the 10 Commandments, and send their ACLU attack dogs wherever they are displayed.
G.W stands for personal responsibilty. They stand for irresponsibility and Government dependence.

You see, if he is right--they have to admit that they are WRONG. That will not happen.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

By President Bush's decisive actions against terrorism and reducing taxes, he has shown the dims as being girly men.

The dims are embarrased at their own impotence.......thus their haterd.

[Tijeras_Slim]

At their core, leftists are pathological narcissists, one of the traits of which is a "boundless repressed rage" for those who thwart their whims. Since the wholesale liberal infiltration of many of society's institutions such as the schools and the media, the need to repress that rage to function in society has greatly diminished. They have been told it is alright to hate certain catagories of people and individuals.

On top of that, that W is basically a decent guy only enrages them further.

Their hatred is a deep pathology at work, welling up from the core of their being (I hesitate to say soul in this case) in a manner that is so immediate and intense that they need not be able to explain or articulate it for they so powerfully feel it to be true.

[bond7]

I like to give "The News Test" to people who don't like Bush. They never know 1/10 of the news they should to make such decisions. They also don't see 9/11 as the level of attack that it was - War on America. In short, they are not serious students of news, or history, and simplistically think we should be able to get along with everyone, no matter what.

They are usually ignorant people and unfit voters.