Would Jesus call a confused listener a maggot?
I’d like to suggest a new name that pretty much sums up your political stance - Contrarian.
Hello Liberal.
I am just glad that you admitted that Bush is a liberal. He is a fricking liberal on most issues. Bush had better thank God that 9-11 appeared, or else his ass would have been run out of town on a rail. Who am I voting for? Now Bush.
Oops! I meant NOT Bush
Hunh. Not likely, the bleeding heart pacifist pansy.
Nope. For that to happen he’d actually have to HAEV credibility in the first place.
I mean, c’mon, when he says stuff like,
It’s pretty damned hard to take him seriously.
Is this some exercize to see who can construct the cleverest converse accident fallacies? Well, you know, both Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated on Friday in the presence of their wives. Both assassins were Southerners who held extremist views. Both assassins were murdered before they could be brought to trial. The first name of Lincoln’s private secretary was John, the last name of Kennedy’s private secretary was Lincoln. Lincoln and Kennedy each has seven letters.
As I’ve said from the beginning, Bush has defined today’s schism as hate — people who are against him hate America. Whoever does not stand with him stands against him. It is he against the world. Those who protested against Johnson’s administration were his own people — Democrats, disenfranchised Blacks, women, and yes, gays. That’s when “gay” came popularly to mean homosexual.
He called a few “snakes” and “vipers”. But one thing He surely would not do is continue to ask a question of a man who has at last explained why the question distresses him. That’s why you won’t ever hear the question from me again.
Hmm. On the one hand we have a very succinct and compelling case made by Finagle as well as the notion (to me, anyway) that time tends to cycle through the same general pattern. On the other hand we have this post by you, Lib, which is at best a redaction of glurge that any fifth-grader with a brain could tell was a list of coincidences.
I’ma hafta sleep on this one. I’m still trying to figure out how the bleeding fuck Bush is a liberal except in the “he isn’t a traditional republican” sense, but if we’re going by that sense then the Senate is made up of a whole bunch of fiscally liberal social conservative republicans, and I’m not sure I see that…
Pun
First, I’ve already conceded that I was mistaken in labeling Bush a liberal. Please see my post to Choie that says in part
Second, if you want to ponder my argument with Finagle, then please consider the pertinent portion (the portion you did not quote), which described the differences between 2004 and 1968, despite whatever superficial similarities there might be, and said in part
Dear Liberal,
In my garden is a stately globe willow. For as long as I can remember, she has stood as a shield against the hot summer sun and as a whispering screen to the western winds. Floodwaters cannot move the earth in her grasp. Her branches provide tinder and fuel, medicines and remedies, antiseptic mulch, insect repellants. She repairs, without complaint, much of the harm that I cause the air.
Her beauty and promise are unmatched. From afar, she stands as an example of strength, and her reach and symmetry are awe-inspiring. From near, in the shade of her comfort and security, every emerald leaf inspires daydreams of peace, and the lyrics of freedom.
My willow’s former caretakers were neglectful. As the tree grew, unattended and unimpeded, massive networks of branches pulled against each other, until finally, a crack formed at the notch of her limbs. Seasons passed and the fissure grew deeper and longer. To bind the two sides, her trunk was girdled with wires and rude straps, and over the years, more and more were added, cutting ever deeper into her flesh.
The willow is now under my care, and mine is an almost impossible position. On the one hand, the divide is severe and hardened, and will surely split her. On the other, the man-made strictures are slowly strangling her essence, twisting her form into a knobbly perversion of her former splendor.
I am filled with utter dread at that dangerous cleft, and because of my fear, I cannot attack that which is truly killing her. I cannot cut these artificial ties. I cannot make her free again.
Partisanship is tyrants’ tonic. A splintering Republic is mended only with the garrote.
Very truly yours,
El Cid
El Cid, you truly are the Kahlil Gibran of freedom loving men. Even as I engage in the futility of my foolishness, I know you are right.
Such praise should be reserved for my Muse. You, and men like you, are the fire in my heart and the reason in my words. And there is no futility in this struggle, for without You, the tree is bare.
I do appreciate that, sir. Of course, I can’t speak for the other liberals here – I don’t think I’ve seen any Doper libs who find PATRIOT a minor inconvenience, but that might be because I don’t read GD as often as I should. But yes, I promise you that the administration’s insidious erosion of our civil liberties is one of the top concerns most of the liberals I know have about a second term Bush presidency. Especially since without the threat of a looming re-election, a lame duck Bush will be unfettered by political constraints. He’d be one scary mo-fo.
To back up my assertion re: liberals, here are some articles from some of the lefty/liberal communities and individuals who’ve spoken against PATRIOT:
Repeal the PATRIOT Act – Part one in a series of articles delving into PATRIOT by the editor of TruthOut.org, the liberal online magazine. You can get the gist of their opinion by checking out the description:
Another liberal take on PATRIOT is How Far Will They Go? – An editorial from Democratic Underground, the largest and most well-known online community for Dems/liberals.
A Dreadful Act – From CommonDreams.org, which is basically a library of progressive news stories. This is a reprint of an article from the LA Times); similarly, you might be interested in the Times’ account of Al Gore’s speech, in which Gore Urges Repeal of PATRIOT Act.
Bush Calls For Renewal of Patriot Act – From Democracy Now, An extremely well-regarded daily radio & TV news program broadcast on NPR, the liberal Pacifica radio network, and community TV stations. This is a transcript of journalist Amy Goodman’s interview with an ACLU exec.
I could go on, but I’m sure you get the drift. To put it briefly, and admittedly with less picturesque and articulate verbiage than El Cid offers: We think PATRIOT sucks.
Good point, I’ll concede that! 
Woohoo! Thanks, Liberal. Very graciously put. Maybe your headline should’ve read, Conservatives: Why vote for Bush, when he’s betrayed so many of your core values?
Actually, the more I contemplate this, the more I think Bush is almost impossible to categorize – truth is, I don’t believe he’s even all that politically ideological. What guides his views most is a combination of his religious zealotry, sense of entitlement, rigid arrogance, and utter lack of curiosity.
It’s the others in his coterie who are the true neocon ideologues, and even their ideology holds a backseat to their mercenary ambitions. IMO, they’re the ones we freedom-loving individuals need to worry about.