Contributors

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

The frustration of Hate

I finally figured out what is wrong with me. Apparently, I am a “Bush hater.” After reading the latest posts and some previous ones over again, it is all clear to me now: the only reason why I am questioning our current government and its policies is because I just hate Bush.

When it comes to politics, the person that bears the ultimate responsibility is the President. Being the Harry Truman fan that I am, I believe firmly in the sign that he used to have on this desk. I see some absolutely horrible things that are happening right now as a result of country’s actions or inactions. When I question my friends who support Bush about these things, they accuse me of being a Bush hater and being partisan.

I get frustrated and well, downright angry when someone accuses me of my opinion being biased just because I hate Bush or I hate Republicans. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are many Republicans that I admire and even respect a great deal. There are Democrats that I don’t like at all.

But I guess in this age of simplicity (See: The United States, current population 250 million, attention span of 3 seconds, books+learning=the devil’s work) I have been labeled as a Democrat who is just being partisan and hates Bush. It is a simple answer from simple minded people.

I confront many Bush supporters with pesky questions like why are we not at war with Saudi Arabia when most of the 9-11 hijackers came from there? Why are we letting Europe, a group of countries most Bush supporters loathe, handle the continued defiance of Iran against the international community? Does it have anything to do with the fact that they supply us with oil?

When I ask these questions and back them up with facts I get accused of being “overly educated” and part of the liberal indoctrination machine. I have spent much time thinking about what this means and why this is occurring and I have come to the following conclusions.

We live in a very complex time that has many complex issues. This frightens the hell out of people who yearn for a time that was simpler. (See: NEVER) These yearning people are generally considered conservatives and want simple answers where none are forthcoming. They tend to get angry and frustrated at this hard reality and lash out at non-existant threats. These simple anwers don’t exist anymore and we need a leader who understands these issues and can handle a myriad of complex situations. We do not have that leader now.

I want to be clear about something before I continue. I don’t care what side of the aisle the next leader comes from as long as they can handle these problems in a more efficient way. An example of this would be really trying to understand the root of Islamic radicalism so we could not do a half ass…no wait a quarter ass job….of finding the leadership of Al Qaeda .

Speaking of energy, another issue of great complexity, what we don’t need is an administration who thinks the solution to this is to drill for more oil in Alaska. This is simple, short term answer to very intricate problem. Whenever I try to bring up some of the various fine points involved in improving our country’s energy consumption, my friends on the right once again give me the song and dance about how I just an overeducated liberal who is demeaning them.

It seems like that is the classic knee jerk response these days when I try to present facts that are contrary to the wonderful tale of fiction that is currently being woven right now in our country. What’s that? You don’t like high gas prices and you think that our President and his friends are profiting from this? Do you hate America, Mark, or just freedom in general?

China and India are going to be running our world? Why don’t you go live there then if you don’t like it here? You think our President is too busy making sure that he and his partners are wealthy and powerful to notice that our future is being squandered? Mark….Mark….Mark….that’s just liberal propaganda and don’t bother me with any of those so called facts you are presenting because we all know that you are just a Bush Hater!!