The thing I hate most about the Bushies is that they question the patriotism of those who disagree with them. This ad hominem tactic has been used against us on the left for over six years now.
You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror.
George W. Bush 2001
Suggestions, for example, that we should withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq simply feed into that whole notion, validates the strategy of the terrorists.
Dick Cheney 2006
And Bush's supporters bought this tripe without question. But now, in a bittersweet piece of irony, the tactic is being used against them too.
I can almost pinpoint the moment when my disgust of Bush turned to hatred. It wasn't during the 2000 recount in Florida and it wasn't in 2001, although my disgust was pretty high. After 9/11, I was willing to give Bush the benefit of the doubt. I lost a friend at the Word Trade Center and a former girlfriend barely escaped the attacks. I thought:
"Bush would never use this tragedy for political advantage. He will do what is right for this country. He will find and kill Bin Laden. He will make sure that such an attack never happens again."
In hindsight I can say that my thinking [or lack of thinking] was very naive. But at the time, I had not been subjected to the ad hominem attacks for not supporting a Bush policy or initiative. That changed in 2002 during the run-up to the war in Iraq. I noticed a disconnect between what the Bushies were saying about Iraq and the reality of the situation. There was no evidence of WMD in Iraq. There wasn't a chance in hell that Saddam and Al Queda were working together. Iraq did not pose a threat to the United States. Bin Laden is supposed to be the target. Etc. etc. etc.
And when Bush and his loyal cronies started questioning my patriotism for not blinding supporting the Iraq War, I lost it. And now, many on the right are starting to lose it. Peggy Noonan wrote about it in her WSJ column last Friday.
The president has taken to suggesting that opponents of his immigration bill are unpatriotic--they "don't want to do what's right for America." His ally Sen. Lindsey Graham has said, "We're gonna tell the bigots to shut up." On Fox last weekend he vowed to "push back." Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested opponents would prefer illegal immigrants be killed; Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation." Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."
And the reaction from the freepers...
Bush can go pound sand. I supported that jerk at the protests in 2000 and then I campaigned for the SOB in 2004 only to have him turn around and call ME unpatriotic because I don’t support illegal immigration? F*** him.
At the risk of sounding disloyal, I’ll be glad when Bush leaves office.
I just might change my handle to BushedOut!
Bush is completely incompetent. I just wish that he and Cheney would walk away now while there is still a Republican Party left.
It is hard to have to say, "No, Mr. President, it’s YOU who doesn’t want to do what’s right for America."
But I’m getting there.
It's great to finally see them get the "Bush Treatment" that we have been getting for the past 6+ years. Perhaps impeachment isn't out the question if the right wing blogsphere want's them to go too.