Yes, I know, this is nothing new, you might argue--folks have been pointing to the personal anger many on the left feel towards George W. Bush for years now. Leftists have even come out and blatantly admitted their hate for the president.
But I was reminded of it again today when, in perusing some recent news magazines that had piled up, I found a reference in TIME to the "swaggering" President Bush (and this was used by a reporter in a news story, not in an opinion piece). Apparently a lot of people see this in him; if you do a google search using the terms "George W. Bush arrogance", you get over 596,000 hits. This seems to be the reality for many. They hate President Bush; they resent him; I've heard and read liberals with whom I'm acquainted literally claim that Bush's entire life and person has been wrong and a fraud, and they claim he's guilty of virtually every sin.
(See what happens, by the way, when you do a google search using the string "I hate George W. Bush.")
What so interests and amazes me about this is the following: think. How often have those whom you know, who are of a more liberal bent, told you that we should vote for candidates based on policies and issues, not on emotions and feelings? That policies and issues are the most important things in evaluating a president? And how often did those same folks, back in the 1990s, loudly condemn what they called the conservative "animus" and "personal dislike" of Bill Clinton? No, they said, we mustn't allow this kind of "politics of personal destruction" to enter our polity.
And now look at what goes on regarding George W. Bush.
I'll leave the cogitations about just why there is this hatred towards the president for another day. What's interesting right now is not just that it exists (we've known that for some time) but the amazing hypocrisy contained in it.
