Why We Don't Like Him

That's what Mannion titled his post today about liberals' feelings about George Bush. He doesn't call it "Why We Hate Him," since he doesn't hate him, at least as of November. That's because Mannion's nicer than I am, which is not a news flash. Mannion happens to be a good friend of mine, and proves with regularity that he is nicer than I am. He even says things like "Neat!" when he's excited and "Darn!" when he's mad. I say "Fuck!" in both instances. And I say I hate George Bush.

In fact, I say things like: "You’re goddamned right if you think I found George Bush an insignificant slip of a man who was unprepared for and undeserving of the presidency, whose history as a drunken dullard, constructed aw-shucks shtick, and careful positioning as the ordained man who would marry religious extremists with neocon corporatists made me want to puke from the moment I laid eyes upon his sneering visage. You’re categorically correct if you think that his leadership shames me, that every heh heh which has emanated from his condescending mouth has made my skin crawl, that I am utterly unable to find the merest shadow of anything to like about him, that I fervently long for the day he takes his leave from governance and retreats to Crawford for good, where I won’t give the tiniest, microscopic shit about him whether he is lost in a tragic brush-clearing accident and his body devoured by wild dogs before the search party arrives, or whether he lives out the remainder of his useless life in good health and happiness—either way, I don’t care, as long as I never have to think about him for the rest of my days. You’re right as rain if you think I hated him from the get-go."

Mannion is much nicer than that. And "Why We Don't Like Him" is an outstanding post, and you should read it.