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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html