Over the past few days, through the wonder of the Internet, I have looked through many newspaper and magazine articles that were written by Conservatives during their propaganda campaign for the Iraq war, during the early days of the war, and up through Bush's "surge" in 2007.
What's notable to me, especially in light of Gerard Alexander's Washington Post op-ed from the other day, is the level of derision, scorn, contempt and blind rage the Conservatives continually heaped on anybody who opposed Bush's policies.
In many cases, derision and scorn mutated into outright character assassination. Their level of vitriol is astounding. So is their willingness to ruin people's reputations in order to suppress any opposition.
What's even more amazing is that these same people, who ended up being wrong about virtually every aspect of the Iraq war and most other aspects of the Bush presidency, are still writing in the pages of major publications, still spouting their same tired old lines on the same television programs, and, worse yet, still being treated as experts!
Why would the media continue to offer these people the same level of deference and respect? Just because they've been around for so long? Is there really no one else to turn to?
At a later date, I will try to post specific links to specific writers, and create a side-by-side comparison of what was said and what actually occurred in "reality" - that realm of experience the Conservatives also heaped contempt upon.
For now, here is a short list of writers and politicians to search, if you are so inclined:
Charles Krauthammer
Bill Kristol
Michael Gerson
Fred Barnes
John McCain
Dick Cheney
Liz Cheney
Newt Gingrich
Anyone on Fox News
Conservatives must forgive me for not crying over my beer because they feel hurt by so-called liberal condescension.
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