A Dislike Unlike Any Other? ...Bush-Hating Out of the Closet (Wash Post)

[cthrumatrix]

A Dislike Unlike Any Other?
Writer Jonathan Chait Brings Bush-Hating Out of the Closet
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page D01


The words tumble out, the hands gesture urgently, as Jonathan Chait explains why he hates George W. Bush.

It's Bush's radical policies, says the 31-year-old New Republic writer, and his unfair tax cuts, and his cowboy phoniness, and his favors for corporate cronies, and his heist in Florida, and his dishonesty about his silver-spoon upbringing, and, oh yes, the way he walks and talks.

For some of his friends, Chait says at a corner table in a downtown Starbucks, "just seeing his face or hearing his voice causes a physical reaction -- they have to get away from the TV. My sister-in-law describes Bush's existence as an oppressive force, a constant weight on her shoulder, just knowing that George Bush is president."

Has this unassuming man in a rumpled sports shirt lifted the lid on a boiling caldron of anti-Bush fury in liberal precincts across America? Or is he just an overcaffeinated, irrational liberal, venting to a minority of like-minded readers?

snip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46805-2003Oct18?language=printer

[punpirate]

1. A dislike unlike any other?

Pardon, but if one has encountered the worst president in the country's history, would that not encourage a dislike unlike any other?

Cheers.

[The Zanti Regent]

33. Gee, why was it OK for WHOREWARD to encourage Clinton Haters?

We have a DOUBLE STANDARD problem here, Whoreward!

Why did WHOREWARD encourage and approve Any and ALL bashing against Bill, Hillary and Al Gore?

[grytpype]

2. Nice whoring job, Howard.

Try to be more biased next time.

[aquart]

3. Seems like a fair indication of sanity and common sense.

If you aren't enraged by Bush, you don't love your country and you hate your fellow Americans.

IMHO.

[arcane1]

5. you put it as simply and correctly as it is

there is NO WAY anyone who truly loves this country and constitution can accept what is happening to it thanks to these thugs

[Beam Me Up]

40. Spot on:

You're either with us, or you're with them, the traitors in the White House

[liberalmuse]

4. Anyone know Kurtz' e-mail?

I want to drop him a note and tell him why I despise Bush.

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Write Right Away! :-)

[e-mail]

[Martin Eden]

39. Here's what I wrote:

Does the Left have a dislike for George W. Bush that goes beyond any previous antipathy for a Republican politician?

I'd have to say indeed, yes.

Does this dislike -- or hatred if you will -- represent an emotionalism born of partisan ideology that discredits the criticism being leveled at this president?

Heavens, no!

You say that W. is a likeable guy, and that may be true if he's your golfing partner or if you're sharing a personal moment outside the context of national policy.

But since the vast majority of us have never spent personal "quality time" with the man, our relationship does not exist outside that context. And this particular context is extremely bitter, with Bush personifying the crimes of his administration. We are not merely in disagreement, we are outraged.

Like all Americans, we were deeply affected by the atrocity of 9-11. When it became apparent that this administration was exploiting the grief, fear, and patriotism of the American people to push a radical agenda that existed before the attack, any bond of trust that we may have formed in the aftermath of the tragedy was irrevocably shattered.

The lies of this president sent our nation to war, and those who attempted to expose the truth were denounced as traitors.

Our young people in uniform are being needlessly sacrificed, and our grandchildren will be footing the bill for a destructive foreign policy and the looting of our treasury for the benefit of the rich.

National energy policy was written by polluting industries and swindlers like Enron, and jobs are being shipped overseas to increase corporate profits.

And all of this was made possible by the popularity George W. Bush gleaned from a national tragedy. He attacks our civil liberties at home while wrapping himself in the flag, and kills thousands of innocent civilians overseas in our name while spouting his religious convictions.

The hatred we feel for this president is a rational and healthy response by responsible citizens who make the effort to dig beneath the propaganda being delivered by the likes of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the neocon spin machine.

The issue should be the crimes of this administration, not the anger it has engendered. The Right's effort to make an issue of the latter is a transparent attempt to divert the public's attention. But the crimes of this administration are becoming far to evident to be ignored.

The ranks of the angry will continue to grow.

[dArKeR]

18. CC the editors too. Don't use vulgar language

I believe those are automaticly filtered and deleted.

[e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

[e-mail]+++

[dArKeR]

35. Emailers include this link to: Troops Refuse To Go Back

When you're emailing Kurtz and his management, Especially the Whore Woodward!

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/videoplayer/newVid/video_display_new.html?clip=/media/2003/10/19/video578827.rm&vidId=3420&title=Troops$@$@$@$@&hitboxMLC=eveningnews

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/home/main100.shtml
CBS iVideo

[leftchick]

6. actually, this ties in nicely with my Halloween costume idea...

I thought of getting a boosh* mask and wearing a t-shirt with the statement: "The Most Hated Man on Earth!". Or perhaps: "Worst President Ever!"....so many to choose from....

[kayell]

28. Be careful

you wouldn't want any "overcaffeinated, irrational liberals" to mistakenly beat you up.

[ramapo]

7. Yet another double-standard

Hating the SOB who's President* today is liberal-unpatriotic-craziness.

How about all the RW Clinton haters? Those who had no respect, who threatened his life? That was ok.

[The Magistrate]

8. It Is Impossible For Me To Listen To The Wretch More Than A Few Seconds

[LittleApple81]

11. They had Ponnuru (spelling?) and Chait in C-Span a few days

ago and guess who had the better arguments and fact-backed discussion?
You wouldn't know it from that article in the Washington Post....

[PartyPooper]

9. This undercaffeinated, rational liberal says he forgot to mention

'Chickenhawk Junior's AWOL and desertion during the Vietnam War!

:donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut:

:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

[KC21304]

12. Don't you have to laugh to see all the wingnuts who

could not shut up about how likeable the shrub was, now whining that he is hated so much ?

[ant]

13. this made me laugh

From the article:
The ball is hit back and forth, across the net that divides the media landscape, from those who cheer Fox to those who swear by NPR.

Yes, and thanks to the PIPA study we all now know which side tends to have its facts right.

[alcuno]

14. And Democrats who list NPR/PBS as their primary news source

were at ZERO PERCENT for getting the questions wrong.

[grasswire]

16. this is straight from RNC strategy book

The RNC has been working to characterize criticism of Bush as *hatred* for several weeks. If it's hatred, you see, then it's like the old Clinton hatred -- irrational and perhaps even loony.

It's a clever strategy, and they are spoon-feeding it to the press.

Ho Kurtz found Chait to put a face on it.

If you write to Kurtz, also write to the ombudsman at the paper. [e-mail].

[KC21304]

17. I noticed that too. Everyone got the memo.

I think the left should just ridicule anyone who says that, saying something like, " well you guys should have picked someone a little more likeable. Quit your whining ".

They thought they were so smart touting how likeable he was.

[ant]

23. thanks for pointing that out

I hadn't really questioned the use of the word "hatred," mostly because I *do* hate Bush. It's not the irrational, loony hatred of the anti-Clinton crowd, though - it seems obvious to me that lying about a blow job isn't the same as lying about every single policy issue on the table - but I can see how the strategy works.

I'll be sure to be more careful with my words.

[montana_hazeleyes]

15. I have that same

feeling about *.I just can't stand to see him or hear him. If someone is watching tv and he comes on I tell them to immediately turn it. (Not that anyone in my family likes him either).

[dsc]

19. In addition to everything else

they just had to get anti gay digs in. (that is what a dislike unlike any other and closet refer to). This is utterly dispicable.

[Democat]

20. When did the media ever bash Clinton haters?

Media bias.

[ByeDick]

21. What About W's Penis?

Fascinating how it's okay for conservative leaders and journalists to have a public fascination with other men's penises, but if you don't like the way Bush walks, you, "can never again ask readers to trust your judgment on anything involving Bush."

Why are conservatives so fascinated with controlling the penises of people they don't even know? Does it have something to do with their own penises? …Is there a better example of political perversion?

[ByeDick]

22. Hypocrisy

Nobody's writing about George's penis.

[ant]

27. heh

Nobody's writing about George's penis.

That's because there's nothing that interesting to say about it.

Does Laura look like a happy woman to you?

:evilgrin:

[wildwww2]

32. Laura looks stoned to the bone like Dim Son does. Did you see him

walking in that ceremony in the Phillipines the other day? He looked like he was taking a sobriety test at the side of the road. And failing miserably.
Peace
Wildman
Al Gore is My President

[The Zanti Regent]

34. What About ARNOLD's PENIS, WHOREWARD?

Could it be that Arnold fondled your wife and you got off on that?

[Unknown Known]

24. Bush-hating has NEVER been in the closet, Howie! Ya, moran!

I can't read this clown. Everything he says and writes is utter garbage!

Not in the history of this country has there ever been an inauguration of a President as we had in 2001 with thousands of people out in the streets PROTESTING the thieves!

Go to hell, Howie, you ass-wipe:mad:

[teryang]

25. It is alleged?

<York also notes that Sheldon Drobny, who is arranging financing for a liberal talk radio network, has alleged online that the president's grandfather, Prescott Bush, did business with the Third Reich but that "as in any fascist regime, the press is prevented from publishing it.">

It is a fact.

[CBHagman]

38. Didn't the Boston Globe report on that?

And would someone kindly send the link to Howard?

Oh, and Howard, you get to stay after school FOR NOT DOING YOUR HOMEWORK. :spank:

[screembloodymurder]

26. I can relate

I hate injustice of his being.

[MO_Dem]

29. I dislike his fraudelency

for all the stated reasons, but I think most all Democrats hate him because we love our country and our fellow citizens. W is taking this country down the road to ruin, and cares nothing for the suffering here at home, and then they have the unmitigated gall to call us unpatriotic!

[young_at_heart]

30. Bush II makes me react more than any other

I was born when Roosevelt was prez (1939) and so I've seen a few. I never thought anyone could take the place of Nixon for the "disgust" factor, but Bush has many times over. It's difficult to imagine a more horrible president and when he is on TV I actually feel physical pain!

[NJCher]

31. that could have been a fun article

But it wasn't. Ehhh, give it another month and there will be some no-holds-barred articles on bush hating.

Anyway, may I offer you my card? Feel free to call anytime:




Cher

[samsingh]

36. shrub took away our basic right

to vote and be counted. never forget that.

[CBHagman]

37. Who decided we should all have the same emotional response?

Richard Cohen, of all people, has been going on at length about Bush and Schwarzenegger being just so darn likeable, it's no wonder they're successful! Well, Cohen didn't produce any studies or quotes to back up his claims; he just says that he feels that way and assumes thousands more share his emotional response.

Since when?

For what it's worth, the Post has FINALLY dropped the phrase "popular wartime president" (or so it appears to me) in its coverage of Bush. I guess the casualties in Iraq will do that, to say nothing of Bush's declining ratings.

However, don't expect the Post to start giving extensive coverage of the protests against Bush. Get real! When Newsday and other regional U.S. papers covered the protests, the Post devoted, at most, a line to the same. You'd never know, judging by the WP, that Bush draws protesters at home and abroad, and on a very regular basis.

You'd also never know he was so insulated from anyone who actually disagrees with him. This is the guy who couldn't be bothered to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus or church leaders before the Iraq war. He knew they were opposing his stance, but he snubbed them, only meeting with the Vatican emissary.

We need someone like Clinton in the Oval Office -- someone who actually bothers to have contact with the community and is gracious to his political opponents. If the press doesn't like him, that's too bad.