It's one thing to disagree with someone because of their positions on the issues. It's an entirely different matter to be filled with a seething hatred for a person. The vast majority of the left hates George W. Bush with a passion that can only be described as primal. His positions on issues are totally secondary to the rage they FEEL for this man. I emphasize "feel" because thinking and logic have little to do with the emotion.
Why do they hate him so? Florida 2000 and revenge for Clinton are two possibilities that keep being tossed about, but I think it goes deeper. I think they actually hate W for being W.
W is unashamedly religious. Not in the Bill Clinton "carry your Bible to church to pick up chicks" kind of way, but in the believing that Jesus was the Son of God and that there is coming a Judgment kind of way that makes secular humanist liberals extremely uncomfortable. People in power aren't supposed to think that way, according to the left.
The left hates W because he is confident in his views and doesn't need polls or focus groups to tell him how he should change them. He considers himself on a mission and knows the righteousness of his mission and that drives the nuance enamored left crazy.
The left also hates W because he seems to ignore them when they attack him. They launch salvo after salvo hoping for a response, the way an annoying child does to another child in school. The President goes on with his tasks and doesn't acknowledge the pests.
The bottom line is that Bush's entire personality is an anathema to everything that the left aspires to and holds dear. His place in the highest office in the land reminds them every day that the people they consider beneath them still have a voice. And THAT is the most maddening part of it all for the left.
3 comments:
Seems to me that what you are saying is that the left leaning liberals hate W because he is an adult who accepts the responsibility inherent in his job. He also admits when he is wrong and doesn't try to hide behind the "I voted for it before I voted against it" type of comment. I am glad we have a president with this attitude instead of one who cannot define "is".
You write with such impact and have an uncanny way of hitting the bullseye, Steve.
The left is finding it hard to deal with GW. He does not stoop to their juvenile idiocy. No matter what they say or do, he keeps his focus. They just get madder and more heated, and the attacks continue. The left has become a vile party.
I agree that the hatred for this president surpasses the hatred for Clinton, and I agree with most of the reasons you gave, with one exception: I don't think Bush is as steadfast in his views as he could be. He tends to bow to pressure in the end, which just adds more fuel to the flames.
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