Saturday, October 23

DEMS LIKE WONKS, REPUGS LIKE MORALISTS


David Brooks is an idiot. In his latest column he ponders the question, Why are Americans so polarized? as a way of getting into the issue of why Bush and Kerry are basically tied:

It just so happens that America is evenly divided about what sort of leader we need: the Republican who leads with his soul or the Democrat who leads with his judgment. Even the events of the past four years have not altered that disagreement. That is why we are still tied.

BUSH LEADS WITH HIS SOUL AND KERRY LEADS WITH HIS JUDGMENT? Well, I'll agree that Bush has poor judgment. But leading with his soul? Brooks writes, "Republicans, from Reagan to Bush, particularly admire leaders who are straight-talking men of faith." Bush has faith, all right -- faith in his family's historic ability to bail him out of any mess he gets into as a result of his lack of good jugment. But straight talking? Where has Brooks been as one after another of Furious George's lies and misleading (in the best of interpretations) statements have been disproven? Bush is about as straight a talker as a sidewinder moves.

Brooks: "Republicans admire a president who is elevated above his executive branch colleagues. It is impossible to imagine George W. Bush or Reagan as a cabinet secretary. Instead, they are set apart by virtue of exceptional moral qualities."

EXCEPTIONAL MORAL QUALITIES? Bush is a draft-dodger who couldn't or wouldn't fulfill his National Guard commitment in a time of war. He's a (reputedly former) cocaine-snorting dry drunk who rarely attends church, is clearly unfamiliar with the Bible and the Christ he purports to revere among all human beings, rejects the counsel of his own church and other world religious leaders, doesn't look like much of a father if you judge that by the way Jenna and not-Jenna have turned out, and lies like he breathes. No, I can't see Dubya as a cabinet secretary. They have to be confirmed by Congress, and GWB would never have made the grade since cabinet secretaries are actually supposed to know something.

Brooks: "Democrats from Carter through Mondale, Dukakis, Clinton, Gore and Kerry have all been well versed in the inner workings of government. It is easy to imagine each of them serving as a cabinet secretary."

Imagine having a president who understood the inner workings of government when that's so clearly a disqualification for office in Brooks' mind since it prevents said president from being "exalted" enough for the office. From my perspective, it seems a good idea, especially when considering the results: an "exalted" Bush's totally inept administration.

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