Bush Hatred

There is an emerging meme on the right that basically boils down to the notion that there is an irrational hatred of Bush that is so far over the line that the left is actually crumbling in incoherence because the hatred is dominating all discerning reason. Underlying this thought is the idea that Bush's failures are ones that any man could have made, and that this administration, while not perfect, has done its level best to keep America safe and secure. Bill O'Reilly launched a tirade against Mark Cuban for funding Brian DePalma's new movie, "Redacted", which deals with the true story of the rape and murder of a fourteen year old Iraqi teen at the hands of American soldiers. In his tirade, he pins Cuban's treasonous behavior on an irrational hatred of Bush. You can see the entire clip of BillO in all his unhinged glory here.

In the Wall Street Journal today, Peter Berkowitz, a fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford, has an almost incoherent piece entitled "The Insanity of Bush Hatred", which I suppose is trying to make the case that Bush hatred is irrational because it reduces arguments to black and white, and that the traditional hallmarks of progressivism and liberalism are therefore betrayed.

I actually think that the era of real Bush hatred has ebbed, and that in his twilight months, progressive and liberal opinions have morphed into a resigned ambivalence towards the man. I think liberals have moved on from the train wreck of this Presidency towards a harrowing acknowledgment that this man was elected twice. The Bush loathing has become a kind of self-loathing, or at least doubt, wondering how our electorate could have gone so wrong, not to immediately recognize what is now so patently obvious.

If anyone wants to seriously discuss irrational hatred and destructive and insane venom, look no further than the continuing jihad against all things Clinton. Even after eight years of a true assault on our Constitution, an approach to governing that can only be called dangerously radical, one that threatens the fabric of our rights and liberties, the far right continues to view Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions as a sin so grievous that the very mention of his wife's name sends them into paroxysms of horror. Tbogg takes them all to pieces here.

But what Kathryn Jean is actually talking about is the looming threat of a Hillary Clinton presidency that will somehow bring to the surface all of those deeply repressed memories of a period in American life when people (and by people I mean people like Kathryn Jean Lopez) were consumed with that slab of hillbilly ham hock that nestles snugly, but restlessly, in Clinton Crotch Holler. If you were expecting a detailed analysis of The Darkness 1993-2001 (the forced abortions, the all-gay military, the Other Great Depression, Jerry Maguire) , you will be sorely disappointed since it appears that all of woes somehow flowed from the massive manmeat of Cockmaster Bill:

I’ve lived through the blue dress and all the other details. We all lived through that. And while the impeachment was about important public issues — perjury and abuse of power — it all stemmed from, and fed into, that drama that is the Clintons.

Now that's irrational.