How sweet it is.... another die-hard conservative abandons Bush.

CanuckAmok

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Mon Apr-03-06 12:47 AM
Original message

How sweet it is.... another die-hard conservative abandons Bush.

Edited on Mon Apr-03-06 12:56 AM by CanuckAmok

Long story, but through no fault of her own, my mom ended-up making friends with this super-wealthy American family who are related to the Bushes.

These people are life-long Republicans, from a long line of conservatives who can trace their ancestry to the Mayflower.

The last generation's patriarch was already insanely rich, but managed to become even more wealthy by being one of the few New York State bankers to survive the Great Depression, and finance other ventures. The result is a family fortune which is in the eight, maybe nine, figure region.

Anyway... my mom was in touch with her old friends, and one of their grandsons is getting married this summer. As he's Bab's grand-nephew, the wedding is being held at the White House.

Which, apparently, doesn't sit well with the current family patriarch. Having been a fanatical Nixon, Reagan and Bush I supporter/fundraiser, as well as a Bush/Cheney voter (both times) you'd think he'd be excited about a big wingding at the WH on the taxpayers' dime. Imagine, if you will, a 78 year old widower resembling an LLBean catalogue model, with a few more age-spots and hairs on his nose. New England accent, Mr. Howell's affectations, etc, etc, etc. Are you imaginging a blue cable-knit sweater hanging over his shoulders, and a pair of leather Top-Siders? Bingo. That's what this chap, this life-long, idle-rich, waspy blue-blood is like. Pretty much the poster boy for elitist, old-monied, ivy-league US Conservative interests.

But, no. He loathes Bush II.

When my mom asked him to elaborate, he apparently went-off on a huge tirade about how he thinks that GWB is certifiably insane, how he allows critical policy issues to be decided by his (and I quote) "invisible playmates in the sky", how he's a complete moron, and how he's dangerous enough to cause WWIII and love it.

But he continued (I'm going to paraphrase because I wasn't there, but this is what my mom related to me in a very long email)... "Conservativism is supposed to be about encouraging the free market, and allowing the resulting increased profits to the corporate sector filter down to the public, and to the economy in general. But it's also about these corporations running as lean as possible and competing with each other for the revenue that's out there. Bush and his cronies are as far from economic conservativism as you can get; they grant sweetheard deals to their friends, who in-turn hoarde the revenue without re-investing it in a tangable way in the economy. They exclude other corporate entities from government contracts, and award them to Haliburton, Carlisle, and dozens more the public hasn't even heard of. They run the economy more like Stalin would, if he ran a 'free market' economy. There's no fair competion in Bush's America; it's all about the power elite (quoting Chomsky!!) becoming more powerful at the expense of national interests. And if it's not enough that he's sold the nation to his golfing buddies, he's breaking the law to keep regular Americans from exposing the truth. It's as if a junta has taken over DC."

"The man is either a religious fanatic, or a damned good liar. In any case, he's allowing national security and military policy to be run by our own home-grown version of the Taliban, and in the process, alienating the US even further than we already have been. He took the events of 9/11, when we had the sympathy of the world community, and used it as a platform to advance his own transparent agenda. We now look like bullies, running around Asia and the Middle East as if we own the place, and you know who's going to pay for it? Me. And you. With taxes, with the erosion of infrastructure, bank failures, and worst of all, more dead Americans overseas AND right here. He is singlehandedly encouraging the largest Jihad in the history of the Arab Region, and he either doesn't know it, or he does and he's waiting for Jesus Christ to come down in his magic sandals and smite the evil-doers. Just when you're convinced the man can't put a complete sentence together without falling off the podium, he makes some faux-intelligent decision that plays on peoples' most base, atavistic instincts; greed, rage, fear. In a way, it's genius."

"But for the first time in my life, I'm not voting Republican this year. I have made it a point to see who among the Republican Party is still alligned with Bush after this NSA thing, and the mess in Iraq, and those people are cut off. Not a dime from me or my family. Ever again. I've been talking to my friends, and they seem polarised on the issue, bus it seems that anyone in my social circle who isn't completely demented has become really disillusioned with Bush. And, I'll admit that many of them are disillusioned because of their own self-interest, but the bottom line is that it's commonly believed that the man is quite likely the worst President in American History! I'd rather have a Labrador Retriever as President; then you could at least count on him to bring your ducks in. And I swear to god, if he's actually at the White House for ********'s wedding, I'm going to walk right out, and take my family with me."

Like I said, "how sweet it is".

edited for typos