# Bushbots, since I can't ask for your brains, get yer asses in here... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669 "2005-01-14T05:24:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/41 "2005-01-14T14:35:00Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > And blah blah blah. Thank you. You’ve confirmed my perception that Bush bashers are basically just a bunch of hate-filled, shitbrained assholes. Oh, the irony. And thank you, **Hentor** --that makes so much sense. I would limit it to the people in power–and add that they want and seek power for it’s own sake. Hence, no repercussions to those whose incompetencies are obvious… It cannot and will not last–but it can leave lasting damage. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/42 "2005-01-14T14:35:33Z")
I can understand to a certain extent why **RedFury** has worked himself up into, well, a red fury, but really, this is all yesterday’s news. I don’t much like the term “Bushbots” (although **Starving Artist** and **Brutus** , in their on-line persona, certainly fit the term), but my take is that the war simply doesn’t affect daily life in the US in a way that causes many people to get all that exercised about it. Yes, US troops are being killed on a daily basis, but in relatively small numbers; yes, the long-term economic and diplomatic costs of this conflict may be brutal, but for now the economy ticks along in a way that most find acceptable. Yeah, the administration is, without any serious question, corrupt and mendacious to a degree not seen since the good old days of Richard Nixon, but hey, corruption in governement we always have with us. The thing is, for most people, the effects of the current cabal of Bible-bashing, pocket-lining freaks who happen to have executive power doesn’t appear to have affected their lives negatively in any way they can measure, and they are careful to mouth the correct platitudes to bive the impression that they actually care about something other than themselves. You and I can realize that our country has been responsible for some pretty horrible things in Iraq, but for many if not most Americans, the Iraqis are simply hotheaded, strange, jabbering ciphers who, if a few happen to be tortured or killed by our troops, really aren’t worth getting worked up over. In fact, according to this view, they ought to be grateful we came over and freed them to be Americans, since they obviously are too stupid and incompetent to have freed themselves. So, thanks for the outrage, but it really is old stuff and makes no difference. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/43 "2005-01-14T14:42:08Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Not pleased. We’ve invested too many dollars and too many souls in a land where the average citizen is most interested in killing someone who doesn’t share his religious beliefs. You know, it’s strange but I think that you somehow believe this. You’re wrong, but that probably doesn’t matter a bit. If it was as easy as our difference in religion, things would be much more simple. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/44 "2005-01-14T14:43:56Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > Ahem…well, for one thing, we aren’t and it isn’t. > > But to answer the question at the heart of your rant, which is to wonder why we can support the war when you can’t, the answer is simple: We’re optimists; you’re pessimists. > > You see the glass as half-empty; we see it as half-full. > > You focus on what’s bad about the war and the negative things that result from it; we focus on what’s good about the war and the positive things that result from it. And of course, we have the advantage of recognizing that much more good will result from it than bad. > > Next question? \ Very well stated, amigo. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/45 "2005-01-14T14:47:11Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > But suddenly **we** became the aggressor, the bully that we used to defend the little guys against. > > That’s **tragic**. And here I thought The American military were defending the little guy. You know the Kurds and Shiites who felt quite let down and vulnerable when George I didn’t go into Iraq right after Gulf I. And I also think that the bully in this case are the Sunni Arabs not the American military, who are valiantly trying to defend the little guys against those bloodthirsty xenophobic bigots. Unfortunately, America is losing the battle. That is the trajedy. Had the fighting actually ended a year ago, very few people would have been upset with the invasion. After all, I can’t recall very much political opposition when America invaded Kuwait. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/46 "2005-01-14T14:48:40Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I can understand to a certain extent why **RedFury** has worked himself up into, well, a red fury, but really, this is all yesterday’s news. > > I don’t much like the term “Bushbots” (although **Starving Artist** and **Brutus** , in their on-line persona, certainly fit the term), but my take is that the war simply doesn’t affect daily life in the US in a way that causes many people to get all that exercised about it. Yes, US troops are being killed on a daily basis, but in relatively small numbers; yes, the long-term economic and diplomatic costs of this conflict may be brutal, but for now the economy ticks along in a way that most find acceptable. Yeah, the administration is, without any serious question, corrupt and mendacious to a degree not seen since the good old days of Richard Nixon, but hey, corruption in governement we always have with us. The thing is, for most people, the effects of the current cabal of Bible-bashing, pocket-lining freaks who happen to have executive power doesn’t appear to have affected their lives negatively in any way they can measure, and they are careful to mouth the correct platitudes to bive the impression that they actually care about something other than themselves. You and I can realize that our country has been responsible for some pretty horrible things in Iraq, but for many if not most Americans, the Iraqis are simply hotheaded, strange, jabbering ciphers who, if a few happen to be tortured or killed by our troops, really aren’t worth getting worked up over. In fact, according to this view, they ought to be grateful we came over and freed them to be Americans, since they obviously are too stupid and incompetent to have freed themselves. Yes. Add to it the arrogance that whatever America wants to do, it should do and for the world’s own good… Does anyone here remember that we, the USA, helped Saddam to power? We knew he wasn’t a Kindergarten teacher–I find the righteousness of us deposing him too much to take. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/47 "2005-01-14T14:51:15Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Do you folks have erectile dysfunction syndrome if a new bleat isn’t posted on a daily basis? You don’t like how things are going. OK. Got it. Opinion received. Your next at-bat is 2008, so give it a rest, already. I’m not delighted either, but I don’t masturbate via my keyboard every other day. :rolleyes: Uh, I seem to recall a lot of stuff going on between 1992 and 2000 that might be called criticism of the incumbent Administration. Should they have just completely shut up until it was time for a presidential election? If so, why didn’t they? Criticism of the incumbent Administration is a part of American freedoms – or at least it was until 2000 A.D. If the rules have been changed, please let me know. I’ve been expecting it, being something of a pessimist about the idea of protecting freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/48 "2005-01-14T14:58:28Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 228 years of American tradition were thrown out in 2003, when we decided that – well, pick your reason; the Bush Administration apparently had a subscription to Justification of the Month Club at that time – was sufficient reason to invade Iraq and throw out the existing, legitimate if despicable, government…But suddenly **we** became the aggressor, the bully that we used to defend the little guys against. Actually, I’d say that “tradition” ended at least as early as 1898 with the Spanish-American War (begun on a not-too-dissimilar suspicious pretext (the _Maine_ explosion, which occurred outside our territorial boundaries and may not have been due to enemy action), and followed up by a quasi-colonialist war against rebels in the Philippines. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/49 "2005-01-14T14:58:28Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > If a rollyeyes smiley is the best you have to offer, you might as well cede the argument right now. You’re not even American; you don’t know or care about the political differences dividing us here in the States. so why should I or any American, Dem or Pub, listen to some foreigner tell us how to run our country? Because someone who doesn’t live in the US may have a more objective viewpoint and may be capable of offering insights that we don’t normally get from people who live in the system being commented upon? Please don’t get me wrong–I’m not arguing the merits of this particular poster in this particular instance, but in general I disagree with the “I don’t care about your opinion 'cause you don’t live here” argument. Unless you were being facetious and I just got wooshed. And I think you’ve been spot-on in pretty much every other post in this thread… ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/50 "2005-01-14T15:05:57Z")
The yo-yo’s in this thread are the same yo-yo’s that absolutely freak if you make generalizations about any other group. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/51 "2005-01-14T15:11:23Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > And blah blah blah. Thank you. You’ve confirmed my perception that Bush bashers are basically just a bunch of hate-filled, shitbrained assholes. Your perception is wrong. I think it’s pointless to for either side to paint the other with a big ass brush. I’d say we need to be a united country and and that hibjazz, but the fact is the US has jumped the shark. The population is becoming more fragmented and “us” vs. “them” by the second. I can’t foresee anything short of an alien invasion that would force us to work past our differences. Nope, from here on out it will be about everyone forcing their agenda down someone else’s throat, and what ever steps are neccessary to reach that goal. We had a decent run though, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/52 "2005-01-14T15:16:55Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Your perception is wrong. I think it’s pointless to for either side to paint the other with a big ass brush. I’d say we need to be a united country and and that hibjazz, but the fact is the US has jumped the shark. The population is becoming more fragmented and “us” vs. “them” by the second. I can’t foresee anything short of an alien invasion that would force us to work past our differences. Nope, from here on out it will be about everyone forcing their agenda down someone else’s throat, and what ever steps are neccessary to reach that goal. > > We had a decent run though, I guess. Well, this time we don’t put McClellan in charge of the Union Army, for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/53 "2005-01-14T15:26:43Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Your perception is wrong. I think it’s pointless to for either side to paint the other with a big ass brush. I’d say we need to be a united country and and that hibjazz, but the fact is the US has jumped the shark. The population is becoming more fragmented and “us” vs. “them” by the second. I can’t foresee anything short of an alien invasion that would force us to work past our differences. Nope, from here on out it will be about everyone forcing their agenda down someone else’s throat, and what ever steps are neccessary to reach that goal. > > We had a decent run though, I guess. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/54 "2005-01-14T15:47:03Z")
Everything changed on Sept. 11, especially Sept. 11. In the post Sept. 11 world of after Sept 11, the policies of the administration previous to Sept 11 were clearly shown to be inadequate the post-Sept 11 world, especially after Sept. 11… ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/55 "2005-01-14T16:02:19Z")
Is everything going to change again next Sept. 11? 'Cause my birthday’s on the 16th, and I’d like to know whether I should maybe have the celebration early. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/56 "2005-01-14T16:19:14Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > The yo-yo’s in this thread are the same yo-yo’s that absolutely freak if you make generalizations about any other group. As far as I can tell, only the OP is truly making sweepingly broad generalizations. Your generalization that those of us who dare question the line of thought behind the people the OP brings up are “yo-yo’s”, is pretty thin. Sam ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/57 "2005-01-14T16:31:10Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Is everything going to change again next Sept. 11? 'Cause my birthday’s on the 16th, and I’d like to know whether I should maybe have the celebration early. Not at all! Its merely intended as a response to those scurrilous liberals who keep contending the the Bushiviks tried to connect **Sept 11 and Iraq**. Our whole world changed on **Sept. 11, and Iraq** is simply part of that world. Middle Easterners were responsible for **Sept. 11, and Iraq** was not, so far as we know, directly connected. But many ME people live in Saudi Arabia and **Iraq, and Sept. 11** was committed by Saudis… ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/58 "2005-01-14T17:06:58Z")
I used to be scurrilous, but a shot of penicillin cleared that right up. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/59 "2005-01-14T17:11:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Yes. But it’s blood. And oil. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669/60 "2005-01-14T17:56:01Z")
Short on time, generic reply for now. As someone pointed out above and this very thread serves as confirmation of, the fact is that you have a divided country – almost neatly fractured down the middle. Does that mean that +/- 50% of your citizens can – or should – be labeled “Bushbots”? Not hard to figure that one out, as The Book many of you so are so fond of wisely says: 'By their actions you shall know them." Substitute “words” for “actions” and there’s your answer with regards to this MB. Naming names, I speak of the Usual Suspects – and they know who they are – the ones that show up in just about any thread that ‘dares’ criticize Fearless Misleader, his cohorts, and the ever-expanding list of their blatant fuck-ups. And my attitude towards them is simply a reflection of their own towards me. I’m neither trying to ‘reach’ them, nor do I expect any semblance of dialogue between us. Why do this? Or more especifically, what’s to gain from doing so? Simple really – sometimes the best way to fight fire is with fire. And I believe w/regards to this Bully-Band one needs to stand up to them in no uncertain terms. Shove facts down their throats once and again, add heavy doses of scorn. Lather, rinse, repeat. Is the scorn really necessary? Well, as I’ve said on this board repeteadly, I’m no Gandhi, for good or bad my blood runs hot, so it seems to me that sugarcoating my responses in some sort of faux ‘civility’ would only make me a hypocrite. No can do. Though I haven’t met any Dopers IRL – I left the US at about the time I joined the SDMB – I’ve met plenty of posters from my own BB. And I think it fair to say that with me, what you see is what you get. Whether that’s good, bad or indifferent to any of you, :::shrug::: , makes no difference to me. Again, not here to win friends and influence people. I’m here to call them as I see them. And for the last time, to those whose only mantra-like reply to me is: You hate America! I’ll again remind them that I’ve spent a good third of my 48 years Stateside, that I was twice married to Americans, and that my only son is US-born and bred and still resides there. Him, and his future, are a huge part of the reason why I am so involved in US politics. His country is a long ways away from the America I once loved and want to see back. So fuck your charges, and fuck you sideways too. No apologies offered, no apologies needed. To quote your Dipshit In Charge: Bring it on. You’ll get it back in spades. Period. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushbots-since-i-cant-ask-for-your-brains-get-yer-asses-in-here/284669.md?page=4)