GreekChat.com Forums  

Go Back   GreekChat.com Forums > General Chat Topics > News & Politics


Register Now for FREE!
Join GreekChat.com, The Fraternity & Sorority Greek Chat Network. To sign up for your FREE account INSTANTLY fill out the form below!

Username: Password: Confirm Password: E-Mail: Confirm E-Mail:
 
Image Verification
Please enter the six letters or digits that appear in the image opposite.

  I agree to forum rules 

» GC Stats
Members: 325,124
Threads: 115,503
Posts: 2,196,042
Welcome to our newest member, znathanhulzeo24
» Online Users: 1,028
3 members and 1,025 guests
indygphib, PGD-GRAD
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-18-2003, 12:58 AM
Sistermadly Sistermadly is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Libraryland
Posts: 3,134
Send a message via AIM to Sistermadly
Molly Ivins - "Call Me a Bush-hater"

(My name is Sistermadly, and I'm a Bush-Hater.)

Molly Ivins - Call Me a Bush-Hater
http://www.progressive.org/nov03/ivin1103.html

Among the more amusing cluckings from the right lately is their appalled discovery that quite a few Americans actually think George W. Bush is a terrible President.

Robert Novak is quoted as saying in all his forty-four years of covering politics, he has never seen anything like the detestation of Bush. Charles Krauthammer managed to write an entire essay on the topic of "Bush-haters" in Time magazine as though he had never before come across a similiar phenomenon.

Oh, I stretch memory way back, so far back, all the way back to--our last President. Almost lost in the mists of time though it is, I not only remember eight years of relentless attacks from Clinton-haters, I also notice they haven't let up yet. Clinton-haters accused the man of murder, rape, drug-running, sexual harassment, financial chicanery, and official misconduct. And they accuse his wife of even worse. For eight long years, this country was a zoo of Clinton-haters. Any idiot with a big mouth and a conspiracy theory could get a hearing on radio talk shows and "Christian" broadcasts and nutty Internet sites. People with transparent motives, people paid by tabloid magazines, people with known mental problems, ancient Clinton enemies with notoriously racist pasts--all were given hearings, credence, and air time. Sliming Clinton was a sure road to fame and fortune on the right, and many an ambitious young rightwing hit man like David Brock, who has since made full confession, took that golden opportunity.

And these folks didn't stop with verbal and printed attacks. From the day Clinton was elected to office, he was the subject of the politics of personal destruction. They went after him with a multimillion dollar smear campaign funded by Richard Mellon Scaife, the rightwing billionaire. They went after him with lawsuits funded by rightwing legal foundations (Paula Jones), they got special counsels appointed to investigate every nitpicking nothing that ever happened (Filegate, Travelgate), and they never let go of that hardy perennial Whitewater. After all this time and all those millions of dollars wasted, no one has ever proved that the Clintons did a single thing wrong. Bill Clinton lied about a pathetic, squalid affair that was none of anyone else's business anyway, and for that they impeached the man and dragged this country through more than a year of the most tawdry, ridiculous, unnecessary pain. The day President Clinton tried to take out Osama bin Laden with a missile strike, every rightwinger in America said it was a case of "wag the dog." He was supposedly trying to divert our attention from the much more breathtakingly important and serious matter of Monica Lewinsky, and who did he think he was to make us focus on some piffle like bin Laden?

"The puzzle is where this depth of feeling comes from," mused the ineffable Mr. Krauthammer. Gosh, what a puzzle that is. How could anyone not be just crazy about George W. Bush? "Whence the anger?" asks Krauthammer. "It begins of course with the 'stolen' election of 2000 and the perception of Bush's illegitimacy." I'd say so myself, yes, I would. I was in Florida during that chilling post-election fight, and am fully persuaded to this good day that Al Gore actually won Florida, not to mention getting 550,000 more votes than Bush overall. But I also remember thinking, as the scene became eerier and eerier, "Jeez, maybe we should just let them have this one, because Republican wing-nuts are so crazy, their bitterness would poison Gore's whole Presidency." The night Gore conceded the race in one of the most graceful and honorable speeches I have ever heard, I was in a ballroom full of Republican Party flacks who booed and jeered through every word of it.

One thing I acknowledge about the right is that they're much better haters than liberals are. Your basic liberal--milk of human kindness flowing through every vein, and heart bleeding over everyone from the milk-shy Hottentot to the glandular obese--is pretty much a strikeout on the hatred front. Maybe further out on the left you can hit some good righteous anger, but liberals, and I am one, are generally real wusses. Guys like Rush Limbaugh figured that out a long time ago--attack a liberal and the first thing he says is, "You may have a point there."

To tell the truth, I'm kind of proud of us for holding the grudge this long. Normally, we'd remind ourselves that we have to be good sports, it's for the good of the country, we must unite behind the only President we've got, as Lyndon used to remind us. If there are still some of us out here sulking, "Yeah, but theystole that election," well, good. I don't think we should forget that.

But, onward. So George Dubya becomes President, having run as a "compassionate conservative," and what do we get? Hell's own conservative and dick for compassion.

His entire first eight months was tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich, and he lied and said the tax cuts would help average Americans. Again and again, the "average" tax cut would be $1,000. That means you get $100, and the millionaire gets $92,000, and that's how they "averaged" it out. Then came 9/11, and we all rallied. Ready to give blood, get out of our cars and ride bicycles, whatever. Shop, said the President. And more tax cuts for the rich.

By now, we're starting to notice Bush's bait-and-switch. Make a deal with Ted Kennedy to improve education and then fail to put money into it. Promise $15 billion in new money to combat AIDS in Africa (wow!) but it turns out to be a cheap con, almost no new money. Bush comes to praise a job training effort, then cuts the money. Bush says AmeriCorps is great, then cuts the money. Gee, what could we possibly have against this guy? We go along with the war in Afghanistan, and we still don't have bin Laden.

Then suddenly, in the greatest bait-and-switch of all time, Osama bin doesn't matter at all, and we have to go after Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with 9/11. But he does have horrible weapons of mass destruction, and our President "without doubt," without question, knows all about them, even unto the amounts--tons of sarin, pounds of anthrax. So we take out Saddam Hussein, and there are no weapons of mass destruction. Furthermore, the Iraqis are not overjoyed to see us.

By now, quite a few people who aren't even liberal are starting to say, "Wha the hey?" We got no Osama, we got no Saddam, we got no weapons of mass destruction, the road map to peace in the Middle East is blown to hell, we're stuck in this country for $87 billion just for one year and no one knows how long we'll be there. And still poor Mr. Krauthammer is hard-put to conceive how anyone could conclude that George W. Bush is a poor excuse for a President.

Chuck, honey, it ain't just the 2.6 million jobs we've lost: People are losing their pensions, their health insurance, the cost of health insurance is doubling, tripling in price, the Administration wants to cut off their overtime, and Bush was so too little, too late with extending unemployment compensation that one million Americans were left high and dry. And you wonder why we think he's a lousy President?

Sure, all that is just what's happening in people's lives, but what we need is the Big Picture. Well, the Big Picture is that after September 11, we had the sympathy of every nation on Earth. They all signed up, all our old allies volunteered, everybody was with us, and Bush just booted all of that away. Sneering, jeering, bad manners, hideous diplomacy, threats, demands, arrogance, bluster.

"In Afghanistan, Bush rode a popular tide; Iraq, however, was a singular act of Presidential will," says Krauthammer.

You bet your ass it was. We attacked a country that had done nothing to us, had nothing to do with Al Qaeda, and turns out not to have weapons of mass destruction.

It is not necessary to hate George W. Bush to think he's a bad President. Grownups can do that, you know. You can decide someone's policies are a miserable failure without lying awake at night consumed with hatred.

Poor Bush is in way over his head, and the country is in bad shape because of his stupid economic policies.

If that makes me a Bush-hater, then sign me up.

Molly Ivins, a syndicated columnist out of Austin, Texas, writes in this space every month. She is the co-author of "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America."
__________________
I chose the ivy leaf, 'cause nothing else would do...

Last edited by Sistermadly; 11-18-2003 at 01:01 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-18-2003, 03:11 AM
bethany1982 bethany1982 is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,725
Thanks for the laugh.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-18-2003, 04:13 AM
moe.ron moe.ron is offline
Super Moderator
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Southeast Asia
Posts: 9,023
Send a message via AIM to moe.ron
I didn't read it through all the way. I did agree with her assessment of the Clinton era. So much hate for the man.
__________________
Spambot Killer
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-18-2003, 05:08 AM
KSigkid KSigkid is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: New England
Posts: 9,326
I think we're just in an era where the President, whoever he is, is going to receive unprecedented amounts of wrath because of greater media access. While in previous eras a President's personal life was off the record (the population didn't know that FDR was in a wheelchair, let alone that he was cheating on Eleanor), now personal life is 1A on the list of things people know about a candidate.

I don't think it has anything to do with the politics of the president - people make their decision based on what they hear about a guy's personal life.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-18-2003, 09:13 AM
bethany1982 bethany1982 is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,725
Quote:
Originally posted by KSigkid
[B]the population didn't know that FDR was in a wheelchair, let alone that he was cheating on Eleanor
And those were FDR's good points.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-18-2003, 11:57 AM
LXAAlum LXAAlum is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Greeley, CO USA
Posts: 1,194
Send a message via Yahoo to LXAAlum
Re: Molly Ivins - "Call Me a Bush-hater"

Quote:
Originally posted by Sistermadly
(My name is Sistermadly, and I'm a Bush-Hater.)

Molly Ivins - Call Me a Bush-Hater
http://www.progressive.org/nov03/ivin1103.html


His entire first eight months was tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich, tax cuts for the rich, and he lied and said the tax cuts would help average Americans. Again and again, the "average" tax cut would be $1,000. That means you get $100, and the millionaire gets $92,000, and that's how they "averaged" it out. Then came 9/11, and we all rallied. Ready to give blood, get out of our cars and ride bicycles, whatever. Shop, said the President. And more tax cuts for the rich.


Molly Ivins, a syndicated columnist out of Austin, Texas, writes in this space every month. She is the co-author of "Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush's America."
Geez. I guess in her eyes, I'm rich. I wish someone could have informed me that since I received a tax rebate (both times), that I'm "rich", since that's all it went too. For some reason, my creditors and potential creditors didn't get this information as well....
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-18-2003, 12:53 PM
KSigkid KSigkid is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: New England
Posts: 9,326
Quote:
Originally posted by bethany1982
And those were FDR's good points.
It's funny, in my mind he's one of the most overrated presidents in history. Yes, he should get some credit for helping lead the country through World War II, but...

Teddy was the better Roosevelt in the presidency by far; take a look at the era of presidential corruption he stepped into, and the fact that he was able to raise the presidency's importance again is a minor miracle. In addition, I'd say Truman had a tougher job following Roosevelt and did a fantastic job.

FDR almost lost his presidency anyways after his second term with his court-packing scheme and inability to drum up any Congressional support; World War II saved his presidency.

End of hijack.

Collin
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-18-2003, 04:25 PM
bethany1982 bethany1982 is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: California
Posts: 1,725
Quote:
Originally posted by KSigkid
It's funny, in my mind he's one of the most overrated presidents in history. Yes, he should get some credit for helping lead the country through World War II, but...

Teddy was the better Roosevelt in the presidency by far; take a look at the era of presidential corruption he stepped into, and the fact that he was able to raise the presidency's importance again is a minor miracle. In addition, I'd say Truman had a tougher job following Roosevelt and did a fantastic job.

FDR almost lost his presidency anyways after his second term with his court-packing scheme and inability to drum up any Congressional support; World War II saved his presidency.

End of hijack.

Collin
I agree with everything you've said... I think that's a first for my GC experience. FDR is way overrated. Teddy was indeed the better president, except for his Bull Moose fiasco that split the party. FDR's attempt to hijack the Supreme Court was simply an attempt to be god, or perhaps to take our country farther down the path of socialism. The Congressional Record provides some great insight into the era and FDR's relationship with Congress. Anyways, back to the topic. I'm not a Bush hater. I caught an interview with Molly Ivins this morning and was completely unimpressed. The Democrats should stick with the heavy hitters if they want to bash the president. Bring on James Carville, at least he's entertaining. I'd give the president a B so far for his overall job performance.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-27-2003, 01:38 PM
AlphaGamDiva AlphaGamDiva is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: my ol' Kentucky home
Posts: 2,277
Send a message via AIM to AlphaGamDiva Send a message via Yahoo to AlphaGamDiva
all i read was, "blah blah blah, i'd have slept with clinton, too....."
__________________
Proud Sister of Alpha Gamma Delta

My Facebook
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-27-2003, 02:30 PM
sugar and spice sugar and spice is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 4,571
Quote:
Originally posted by bethany1982
The Democrats should stick with the heavy hitters if they want to bash the president.
The thing about Molly Ivins is that she's generally taken as a lightweight because her writing is not so academic as many other Bush-haters. If you've read her books you'd find that they're written in a much more breezy journalistic style than most political books -- sort of like the "pop culture of politics." She usually has some really decent (and in the case of Bush, frightening) statistics mixed up in the fluff, but they're not taken seriously because she surrounds them by bashing instead of overly formal language and analysis.

And Diva -- Ivins isn't a huge fan of Clinton's either. She started out liking him but bailed after he signed the 1996 welfare reform bill. And she's referred to him as the "Rodney Dangerfield of presidents" -- although perhaps in some worlds that could be a compliment.
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 11-30-2003, 03:29 PM
AlphaGamDiva AlphaGamDiva is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: my ol' Kentucky home
Posts: 2,277
Send a message via AIM to AlphaGamDiva Send a message via Yahoo to AlphaGamDiva
Quote:
Originally posted by sugar and spice
And Diva -- Ivins isn't a huge fan of Clinton's either. She started out liking him but bailed after he signed the 1996 welfare reform bill. And she's referred to him as the "Rodney Dangerfield of presidents" -- although perhaps in some worlds that could be a compliment.
excellent...lol
__________________
Proud Sister of Alpha Gamma Delta

My Facebook
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 11-30-2003, 10:52 PM
AGDee AGDee is offline
GreekChat Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 15,390
Re: Re: Molly Ivins - "Call Me a Bush-hater"

Quote:
Originally posted by LXAAlum
Geez. I guess in her eyes, I'm rich. I wish someone could have informed me that since I received a tax rebate (both times), that I'm "rich", since that's all it went too. For some reason, my creditors and potential creditors didn't get this information as well....
The rebate this summer was solely based on how many dependents you had under the age of 17 and it didn't go to anybody who made less than $26,000 in 2002. So, while you may not be rich, you are not below poverty level. My tax withholding from my pay check decreased by about $.32 per pay. That equals $8.32 per year plus the $400 rebate check I got for my daughter's child tax credit. If I didn't have a child to claim on my taxes, my taxes wouldn't have lowered by much!

Dee

ETA: I am anxious to get my numbers into Turbo Tax this year and really compare how much better off I am with the tax cut!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:52 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.