[lit-ideas] Re: WTO and War

  • From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 23:18:02 -0800

Right, I have a friend like that as well.  We can talk about art,
literature, poetry, dogs and anything personal, but she is a Bush-hater par
excellence.  

 

This might not be a good time to mention that John Lewis Gaddis, who calls
himself a Democrat, thinks Bush may go down in history as one of our great
presidents.  I heard him speak on C-Span about this & read his Surprise,
Security, and the American Experience.  Gaddis judges Bush in terms of our
Foreign Policy history as do I.  If Iraq survives as a Democracy and if
other countries in the region become democratic as a result (as the head if
Iran's Pasdaran fears) then Gaddis' prediction is probably going to be born
out..  

                               

Bush-hating tends to prevent reasonable criticism from being heard.  When
fangs come out and frothing occurs, one tends to back away rather than
listen.  

 

Lawrence

                                

-----Original Message-----
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Eric
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 10:21 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: WTO and War

 

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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