Bush Lied ............ No, Really
By Michael R. Bowen (12/16/03)
The Left's turgid anti-Bush fulminations seemed, at one time, to emanate mainly from the loonier fringes. Lately, however, this mania has gone mainstream and entered the substance of the Democrat Party. It's cropping up now at the highest levels. Once confined to the likes of Cynthia McKinney, Barbra Streisand, and pretty-but-dim Hollywood folk, bizarre conspiracy theory now issues from the mouths of luminaries like Howard Dean. How does a man like Dean, ostensibly grown-up enough to be governor of a state, come to be airing ideas like the possibility that Bush knew in advance about 9/11, but allowed it to happen?
One factor, already well covered elsewhere, is the immutable self-righteousness of the Democrats. In their hyper-politicized worldview, they hold the keys to the kingdom, and no one opposes them except out of malice. To become a Republican, then, is to range yourself on the side of evil, and it follows that everything you do will be done out of dishonorable motives. But even without this kind of childish thinking, the core beliefs of the Democrats were bound to lead to the cry of "Bush Lied!".
Deep down, Democrats believe there is almost never a justification for the use of military force by the United States. For public purposes they will often talk about defending freedom and keeping America strong, but the unspoken understanding is that we would never actually shoot people who threaten us. For Democrats, freedom must be defended, but not against foreign dictators and religious fanatics. It must be defended against Republicans. So when they hear George W. Bush promise to defend America, it means to them anything but a vigorous military response to a foreign threat. When the president goes on to take up arms against our enemies, he then becomes a liar.
Democrats believe that all money and wealth come from the government. When they tell you they are going to end poverty and make America prosperous, what they mean is that they intend to have the government throw lots of money at the problem. Of course, since the government doesn't really have any money, and cannot create any wealth, this means taking your money away and giving it to someone else. It's like a man whose car doesn't have enough power, so he hits on the idea of using some of the engine's power to drive a generator to supply power to …… the engine. Bush attempts to revive the economy by making work more profitable, letting the actual taxpayers keep more of their earnings, and the Democrats feel deceived.
Even Bill Clinton was occasionally seen carrying a Bible. Multicultural toleration of religious faith is a point of pride for the Democrats, but you're supposed to act as if all other religions are as valid as your own. Certainly in no case should a Christian espouse his faith in public, because that would be repression of other faiths. Bush praises religious tolerance, but then turns around and drops the name of God in his speeches, so he couldn't have been sincere.
Bush pushes through the Patriot Act, vowing to fight terrorism while protecting civil liberties, and all the Democrats enthusiastically sign on. The problem is that when you say "civil liberties", Democrats hear "unrestricted pornography and the right to give the finger to Uncle Sam". So when John Ashcroft wants to do some computer snooping, Ted Kennedy sees a threat to porn rights and mans the barricades.
And then there's that Constitution thing. Even Democrat presidents swear to uphold it. But when Democrats say constitution, they don't mean the Constitution; what they are really thinking is more like "What's Happening Now". When Article III, Section 2 says, "The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution", that last word is not supposed to mean the document drawn up and ratified in 1788. To the Democrat mind, taking that oath when you intend to nominate judges who follow the constitution is perjury.
Once you understand that when the Democrats say Constitution, defense, religious tolerance, or freedom, they don't mean Constitution, defense, religious tolerance, or freedom, it's easy to understand how they view President Bush as a liar. The two sides are using the same words, but they're saying opposite things.
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