Hot Bean Paste

The Moose does not hate George W. Bush. That is a very controversial statement in almost all of the left and in much of the Democratic Party. In fact, Bush hatred is the ticket for entry into the progressive movement. Bush loathing goes beyond mere opposition to Bush policies. It requires rejecting anything the Administration supports. It is certainly the defining belief of the blogosphere and it infects much of the Democratic Party. The implicit party discipline of the left is to punish all those who do not subscribe to hatred of all things Bush. That is what is required to be on the "team."

Don't I know it, buddy.

the standard to to be a member in good standing of the liberal/left community is hatred of Bush. The Moose opposes most of the economic agenda of the Administration. However, he critically supports the President in the war on terror - including the NSA program.

I'm with ya, man, on both the economy and the war on Islamic terror.

This has won the Moose the visceral opprobrium of the left. Because in the left wing universe, one must oppose everything the President supports. The truth is that a good part of the left believes that George W. Bush is a greater threat to America than Osama bin Laden.

That has been my experience and my observation as well.

There is far too much ideological conformity in both parties. That is why the Moose belongs to neither. It would be far better if both sides of the ideological spectrum had more introspection and self-knowledge.But it is far easier to accuse the other side of rigidity than encourage diversity on your own "team." The right is slowly moving beyond Bush. The left remains obsessed with him.

I'm still a registered Democrat but find myself unable to support most Democrats because of their stand on foreign policy. I often wonder how the left will fill the void when Bush leaves office. Will be very interesting to see how they react to the next president, who for better or worse, will probably be another Republican.