Blasphemy in the Cult of Bush

[Spider]

Two important items today -- an article from the Times and a Dana Milbank column in the Post – highlight the growing (both in terms of numbers and importance) opposition among Republicans to the Administration's illegal eavesdropping program. And yet, as described by Milbank's column, the most blindly loyal Bush followers remain steadfastly intolerant of any criticisms of the Leader.

In that regard, it is noteworthy how true conservative believer Bob Barr -- whose conservative credentials include serving as House Manager of the Clinton Impeachment and being the primary sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act -- was treated like an evil traitor at the Conservative Political Action Conference held this weekend all because he is critical of The President's violations of FISA.

Conservatism in some circles really has morphed into The Cult of George Bush, which is why any criticism of the Leader -- even when the criticism is based on conservative principles -- is deemed to be blasphemous to the Cause. This excerpt from Milbank’s column really tells you all you need to know about what "conservativsm" has come to mean in certain circles:


Barr answered in the affirmative. "Do we truly remain a society that believes that . . . every president must abide by the law of this country?" he posed. "I, as a conservative, say yes. I hope you as conservatives say yes."

But nobody said anything in the deathly quiet audience. Barr merited only polite applause when he finished, and one man, Richard Sorcinelli, booed him loudly. "I can't believe I'm in a conservative hall listening to him say [Bush] is off course trying to defend the United States," Sorcinelli fumed.



For them, even to be subjected to the idea that "Bush is off course" is traumatic and wrong. Such an opinion has no place at a "conservative" event, where only praise and reverence of the Commander-in-Chief is appropriate. One sees this time and again: "conservatism" these days very rarely has anything to do with actual conservative principles of government and has come to be distorted shorthand for "George Bush follower."

The more one agrees with and praises the Commander-in-Chief, the more "conservative" one is, even when his actions aren't even remotely "conservative." That really is the definition of a creepy cult of personality, and it has consumed a large segment of the Republican Party.

--Posted by Glenn Greenwald
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/02/11.html#a7117
the most blindly loyal Bush followers remain steadfastly intolerant of any criticisms of the Leader....Much like alot of posters here .......Bush can do no wrong , in fact the bastard walks on water for sport .......

[baja]

If you were reading a German newspaper in the early 1940's you would find a strikingly similar article.

[baja]

Got save the father land at all costs.

[Spider]

yeah I cant figure out why people that call themselfs American would allow this to continue ...........

[loborugger]

The more I read about his monitoring stuff, the uglier it gets... Pretty soon, Bush will be the lone guy standing there telling us he did it to protect us. No one else seems to want to stand with him.

I have long thought that Bush wasnt all that conservative. Going out to fix another countries domestic problems, ala Jimmy Carter, is very liberal. Using the military to knock out a govt and ouster it (such as Saddam) is just Coocoo. His spending habits arent all that conservative, either.

Hes like Shirley McClaine... out on a Limb... ha ha ha. And someone political is gonna saw him down. They may even be from his own party.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by loborugger

The more I read about his monitoring stuff, the uglier it gets... Pretty soon, Bush will be the lone guy standing there telling us he did it to protect us. No one else seems to want to stand with him.

I have long thought that Bush wasnt all that conservative. Going out to fix another countries domestic problems, ala Jimmy Carter, is very liberal. Using the military to knock out a govt and ouster it (such as Saddam) is just Coocoo. His spending habits arent all that conservative, either.

Hes like Shirley McClaine... out on a Limb... ha ha ha. And someone political is gonna saw him down. They may even be from his own party.

you are right Bush isnt a Conservative , he is a NeoConservative ,basicaly most of the Neo Cons as they are called are Hawkish on foriegn Poicy , strong Christian allies , and they belong to PNAC , and Neo Cons support a welfare state , but very strong against Communism , United nations , prefer to do things alone , and are very Staunch in their support of Civil Equality , take a look @ Bush's admin , and believe in Smaller goverment , most Neo Cons were Democrats @ 1 point of time , Reagan being the most famous , 1 thing I will say For Bush , he toes the Neo Con line , believe it or not , I supported Bush right up to Iraq ........ I have concidered becomming a neo con my self , butthe religious part holds me back ......

[Spider]

there is a world of seperation between a Pat Buchannon Con and a Reagan/ Bush jr con ......

[loborugger]

Originally Posted by §Pide®

most Neo Cons were Democrats @ 1 point of time

That explains the problem!!!!

Gotcha

[Spider]

Originally Posted by loborugger

That explains the problem!!!!

Gotcha

this will realy get you , After WW2 most traditional Republicans were Dixiecrats ........ you guys on the right cant win

[loborugger]

I dont know if I would agree with that one. Nor do I care. I just couldnt pass on catching you saying that all that is wrong with the modern GOP is from the old Dems.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by loborugger

I dont know if I would agree with that one. Nor do I care. I just couldnt pass on catching you saying that all that is wrong with the modern GOP is from the old Dems.

but it is true about the Dixiecrats , they was strong states rights guys anti affirmitive action etc.......What i think is wrong with Neo Cons ? outside of the seperation of Church and state issue , I agree alot with neo Cons but whats Wrong with Bush Jr is he used his office for revenge .......

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by §Pide®

And yet, as described by Milbank's column, the most blindly loyal Bush followers remain steadfastly intolerant of any criticisms of the Leader.

And then they wonder why people compare them to nazis.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Do Bush supporters hate their country?

Sometimes the people who still fervently support George W. Bush seem just plain stupid, and other times it seems they must be dishonest and even malevolent, harboring a hatred for their country that allows them to support misguided ideas and private agendas over the public good. In more reasonable moods, I want to believe that the Bush supporters are just like me in simply wanting what is best for the country safety, security, fairness and a commitment to a government that observes the principles upon which our nation was founded. When I'm thinking that way, I assume we don't disagree on goals and objectives, just on the most effective way to achieve those goals and objectives.

It's hard to keep that thought, though, when the lies keep piling up higher and deeper, and when so much of the energy of Bush supporters goes into evading reality. Is it really possible for there to be an honest difference of opinion about the calamitous Bush decision to invade Iraq? No weapons of mass destruction there, as we were told there were. No link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein, as we were told there was, and as we continue to be urged to believe by deceptive administration rhetoric. Almost no likelihood that a stable democracy will be possible in an Iraq rent by ethnic feuds and anti-democratic traditions. Billions upon billions of dollars squandered in Iraq, and billions more stolen by corrupt U.S. contractors. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security entity Bush created has shown itself to be yet another huge government boondoggle, and utterly witless in responding to a national emergency.

Beyond that, we have the shameful spectacle of Americans who call themselves patriots urging a forfeiture of our rights and liberties as U.S. citizens the rights to due process and the protections devised by the founding fathers to guard against abuses of power.

And beyond that, we have breaches of national security in the outing of a CIA agent for no better reason than spite. We have the staffing of all kinds of highly paid and important government jobs with incompetent administration cronies and partners in crime. We have repeated and massive failures of imagination. No one could have imagined a) people flying planes into U.S. skyscrapers, b) a storm of the magnitude of Katrina, or c) a Palestinian militant group like Hamas winning elections in Palestine these being just a few of the things Condoleezza Rice has said the administration couldn't imagine.

Beyond all of that, we have the growing gap between rich and poor, the exportation of American jobs by the hundreds of thousands, the wasteful and exploitive health care system that continues to bankrupt American industries, the packing of the Supreme Court with judges confirmed despite their stonewalling before the congressional oversight committees charged with vetting them before they assumed lifetime appointments. We have been unable or unwilling to secure our borders. We have seen corruption on an unprecedented scale and massive neglect of dozens of urgent national needs. Science has been disregarded whenever it runs afoul of the profit motive, and we have a foreign policy no one, least of all the people in charge of it, seems to understand.

Our actions in Iraq have fueled the most extreme anti-Western views throughout the Islamic world, and the entire Middle East is less stable than it was when the Bush bunch took office.

Meanwhile, we build for our children and grandchildren a legacy of international hatred, plus a huge debt burden as the Bush administration spends and spends as though there is no tomorrow.

We've squandered our good name and our moral authority in the world as we've watched Rumsfeld and Cheney and other spokesmen for our nation argue to justify torture in the interest of our safety.

At a time when it was absolutely essential that the world know unequivocally just who the good guys were, Bush and Co. have sullied the image of America all over the globe, drawing a portrait of a nation that behaves with arrogance, defies world opinion, ignores planetary environmental concerns, and treats other nations with disdain.

All of this harm has come to our nation and to its image, and still a cluster of supporters insist on tarring anyone who might question this ruinous administration. One of the ignorant nimrods who regularly write to this paper to call me a Marxist argues that those who disagree with the president are delighted to see America fail, that people like me take pleasure in anything that gives comfort to our enemies. He argues that people who question the reckless use of the military are "pacifist military haters." There is no truth to such baseless and childish nonsense, but he seems to think it sounds persuasive, or perhaps he thinks it's a kind of logical argument.

That's one of the reasons it's difficult not to think some of these Bush supporters are just willfully stupid.

These people grow more tiresome as they have less and less with which to argue. Their recourse, it seems, is to tag people they disagree with by calling them "leftists" and "liberals," as if those words cancel out all arguments. These people exploit the nation's soldiers to bolster their arguments.

They claim to support the troops, but you never hear a peep from them about cuts to the Veterans Affairs budget or the shameful number of avoidable deaths and injuries suffered by our soldiers because the Bush administration still has not provided frontline troops with the kind of armored vehicles that could have saved them from many of those deaths and injuries.

But to people who are either stupid or malevolent, hatred of those they would label as "liberals" trumps love of country every time and blinds them to the harm being done to our security, our heritage and our well-being.

http://www.paradisepost.com/columns/ci_3498492