Lawrence: Why do you say I’m from the far right?
Believing in National Defense doesn’t put me on
the far right.
That's just the way Andreas thinks. I have to
attribute it to his personal experience and life
situation, and move on.
I have several friends who HAVE to hate Bush--not
merely strongly disagree with individual policies,
but actively hate Bush--and anything else is
apostasy, is tergiversation, is personal betrayal.
That's how they think. I can speculate as to
whether it's father issues, or their image of
themselves, or something in their personal life
that makes this particular Republican into the
Father of All Lies. It doesn't matter. As long as
I don't press their "Bush" button, these friends
are charming, lovable, and devoted. When the
"Bush" button is on, their postures change, their
speech patterns change, and one either shares
their hate or is pariah, the "rightwing fanatic"
tattoo slowly healing on one's bicep.
From my perspective, I'm more of a Scoop Jackson
Democrat. I admire FDR. I think national defense
takes many forms and some of it is military and
should be used. I believe we sometimes have to
bring the hammer down. But in the presence of my
Mandatory Bush Hating friends, I am often silent,
because if I stand up for classic New Deal values,
they will burn that "rightwing fanatic" tattoo on
my arm. And that may explain in part why so many
complain that the Democrats have no real ideas to
offer--many are sitting on the sidelines trying to
remove their tattoos.
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