Elonka wrote:
] ] It defies reason, in much the same way that 52% of the
] nation
] ] does. -k]
]
] Do you really believe that 52% of the nation is just clueless?

[ No, i said they defied reason. They may well have put a lot of thought into it, but that doesn't change facts, only their interpretation of them. Am I saying their interpretation is wrong? Of course I am. If I thought their analysis was correct, we'd have voted the same way.

Honestly, though, the president talks about being a uniter, then unrepentantly exploits the wedge issues of gay marriage and abortion in order to win re-election. He talks about fiscal responsibility while behaving in a manner which is completely contrary to the principles thereof (and that's not my analysis, the Cato institute, among others, agrees). He was willfully ignorant about the realities in Iraq, and pushed a cooked up rationale for war, ignoring his generals and undermining the search for Bin Laden. If the president had said, "Saddam is a dangerous person and while the sanctions are containing him, they won't be tenable forever, and in the meantime, the Iraqis are suffering tremendously." I may well have reluctantly agreed to the invasion, but that's not how it happened.

Bush won on nationalism and swagger, because there is just no way to argue that his *actual record* points to success. It is 100% clear that vague notions of character and the impression of being a "good guy" is what the american voting public prefers (slightly), but that, to me, defies reason. I require some degree of proof that a person will a) do what they say and b) do it well, or try to. I see primarily stubbornness (which they'll tell you is "resolve") and a moral certitude that tiptoes around the edge of oppressive. Just because this generation of americans seems to want a return to religion in government doesn't change history, and it doesn't make it a good idea. But that's democracy isn't it? The best doesn't always win... the most popular wins... it's both the best and the worst feature of the system, and we'll have to deal with it.

Then, to be truthful, 52% of the american public probably is clueless. over 40% of them didn't even bother to vote, and i don't think it's a stretch to say there's 6% or more on either side that voted a party line without thinking. So yes, 52% of americans are clueless. But no, I don't think all Bush supporters were clueless. Just wrong. -k]

RE: MSNBC - Rove tells conservatives to chill out