The No Kool Aid Zone

Why is this man hated so much?

Posted by Byron January 22, 2005 at 11:27 am
Filed Under Conservative/Libertarian Politics | 2 Comments |

I haven’t weighed in on the President’s inauguration, mainly because I don’t think it’s that much of a big deal. People got all worked up about the money spent on it, and I’m somewhere in the middle on that relative non-issue: it’s private money, so it’s really none of people’s business, and all politicians, Republican or Democrat, are willing to spend a lot of money on worthless endeavors, so what’s new. On the other hand, I’m growing more anti-materialistic in general the older I get, and so the excess is annoying, not because of the war in Iraq, but just because Americans are so self-centered that we truly do lavish a lot on ourselves, hang the rest of the world. This inaugurational spending is one symptom of that, but there are plenty of others carried out by people on both sides of the aisle.

What remains the question for me, though, is the unmitigated hatred and contempt that is held for this man by his opponents. A local radio talk guy used to talk about the “Clinton-haters” all the time (people who blindly “hated” Bill Clinton. I never hated Bill Clinton in the least; I wish for him a long and prosperous life, pray he grows closer to God, and all that…I just wish he’d do it in QUIET somewhere). He doesn’t mention “Bush-haters”, but boy, it seems that they are more vociferous than those who opposed Clinton. Question is, “why?” I mean, he just comes off as a decent person who is a good soul to be around, so why the venom?

The Falwells say that it is because Bush is a righteous man who stands up for principle and godliness. I think that that may account for some of it, I really do, but I think that that is too simple an answer. People admire Billy Graham, after all. Some of it is his politics, of course; those who disagree with a person politically are going to be disposed toward disliking him. Some of it is the Iraq war; there are many who believe we’re there illegitimately, and I’m not unsympathetic to some of their arguments myself. I think that plays into it.

But my take is (and I think this is crazy) that the Left has never gotten over the 2000 election, and they sincerely believe that Bush “stole the election”, though of course there is no proof of that–everything that has come out has confirmed that Bush did win Florida, even after CBS did their part (by “calling” Florida for Gore before the polls had closed, which likely adversely affected Bush turnout), even though it was, admittedly, very close. I think that the Democrats believe that Al Gore should have been president, and nothing will convince them otherwise, and thus they’ve hated GWB from the get-go for that reason, and in Kool-Aid drinking fashion, they interpret most everything in light of their pre-conceived opinion.

That’s my take; any others?