You may want to sit down for this one...
(Please excuse this poorly written post)
This morning while reading my friend Aaron's blog I realized something about myself that I had never known before or ever really thought about--I'm not a Bush supporter.
Wait, hold on! Put that pistol down partner. Let me explain.
When I say that I am not a Bush supporter, please do not take it that I am a Bush detractor--far from it. In fact, you will rarely hear me have a harsh word for Mr. Bush. However, in recent conversations I have found myself less and less supportive of the Bush administration. It is now mainly through my support of the office of the President that I still like his administration.
Last summer I was in the UK playing golf in Scotland. On that day I did not have a partner with me so two gentlemen asked if they could group with me. It was somewhere around the green on the third hole that I found out the two were Members of Parliament. The conversation covered a variety of topics and of course at some point President Bush was mentioned. The comment was made that, being from Texas, I must certainly be a huge Bush fan. Although I voted for him twice, I could not say that I was.
It happened again a few weeks ago in San Francisco, where, casually talking with a man from L.A. it was said that being a Republican from Texas I must love Bush. All that I could express were my reserved doubts about his presidency.
Even last week, while sitting at a bar just outside of Brussels, I was asked a similar question and was forced to give a similar answer.
Do you see a trend? Suddenly I do. I'm not a Bush supporter.
Yet I'm not a detractor, and it is detractors that will keep me voting Republican and for men like Bush for the foreseeable future. Bush and I see eye-to-eye on many issues it is true. Yet we do disagree on others.
Not to join on the "lesser-of-two-evils" bandwagon, but honestly it is the best description of the situation. I feel that the Bush administration has many striking flaws, more than most. Could things have been managed better during Bush's two terms? Sure. But that can be said about any presidency.
But it doesn't really matter because Democrats don't have any inkling of an answer. Instead of offering solutions they want to fling mud, point fingers, whine and complain. I only need to see the name "Nancy Pelosi" or "Harry Reid" on the television before I already know the full content of whatever speech they are about to deliver. Bush is bad, the country is bad, Iraq is bad, everything is bad…and it's all Bush's fault.
The best example of what I'm discussing (Bush's mediocre performance that you can't rejoice over or condemn as well as the Democratic nay-sayers and other finger pointers) is obviously the name you're tired of hearing , Hurricane Katrina. This disaster has brought out each of these points to the fullest extent possible.
This morning while reading my friend Aaron's blog I realized something about myself that I had never known before or ever really thought about--I'm not a Bush supporter.
Wait, hold on! Put that pistol down partner. Let me explain.
When I say that I am not a Bush supporter, please do not take it that I am a Bush detractor--far from it. In fact, you will rarely hear me have a harsh word for Mr. Bush. However, in recent conversations I have found myself less and less supportive of the Bush administration. It is now mainly through my support of the office of the President that I still like his administration.
Last summer I was in the UK playing golf in Scotland. On that day I did not have a partner with me so two gentlemen asked if they could group with me. It was somewhere around the green on the third hole that I found out the two were Members of Parliament. The conversation covered a variety of topics and of course at some point President Bush was mentioned. The comment was made that, being from Texas, I must certainly be a huge Bush fan. Although I voted for him twice, I could not say that I was.
It happened again a few weeks ago in San Francisco, where, casually talking with a man from L.A. it was said that being a Republican from Texas I must love Bush. All that I could express were my reserved doubts about his presidency.
Even last week, while sitting at a bar just outside of Brussels, I was asked a similar question and was forced to give a similar answer.
Do you see a trend? Suddenly I do. I'm not a Bush supporter.
Yet I'm not a detractor, and it is detractors that will keep me voting Republican and for men like Bush for the foreseeable future. Bush and I see eye-to-eye on many issues it is true. Yet we do disagree on others.
Not to join on the "lesser-of-two-evils" bandwagon, but honestly it is the best description of the situation. I feel that the Bush administration has many striking flaws, more than most. Could things have been managed better during Bush's two terms? Sure. But that can be said about any presidency.
But it doesn't really matter because Democrats don't have any inkling of an answer. Instead of offering solutions they want to fling mud, point fingers, whine and complain. I only need to see the name "Nancy Pelosi" or "Harry Reid" on the television before I already know the full content of whatever speech they are about to deliver. Bush is bad, the country is bad, Iraq is bad, everything is bad…and it's all Bush's fault.
The best example of what I'm discussing (Bush's mediocre performance that you can't rejoice over or condemn as well as the Democratic nay-sayers and other finger pointers) is obviously the name you're tired of hearing , Hurricane Katrina. This disaster has brought out each of these points to the fullest extent possible.
posted by Cogito at 11:12 AM
7 Comments:
I believe with virtual certainty that there is not a single person on earth that I would agree 100% with on every conceivable topic (especially politics and religion). Heck, I don't even agree with my wife on everything, and I'm committed to her for the rest of my life! So I don't find it unreasonable for a conservative from Texas that has twice voted for Bush to disagree with him occasionally or question his actions.
There are many people out there that consider Bush to be the savior of our country, and they irrationally "support" him in absolutely everything, no matter how absurd it might be. I have to think that these people have never taken the time to establish their own convictions and therefore are forced to blindly follow others. I find this to be especially true for the Democratic faithful, who have no problem changing positions based on what is popular. Guys like Jesse Jackson are experts at mobilizing these types of people, but I digress...
I think that the people you encountered in Scotland, L.A., and Brussels were all assuming that you blindly follow Bush. Why are people so quick to make this assumption about Republicans and Texans? Is it because the media portrays most Americans as mindless robots that follow the commands of either the Democratic leaders or the Republican leaders (depending on which robot factory you came out of)? Or is it because most Americans actually don't have any well-founded convictions?
Brad
P.S. These words come from a man who unconditionally "supports" Aggie football even though they constantly let me down.
And boy, do they really let us down sometimes....=)
I predict that UT will slaughter the Aggies this year.
Aaron,
Blasphemy!
If you value our friendship, you would mind your words more closely......
Luke, I value our friendship, but friends have to tell the truth. Last time I checked, UT was ranked 2nd in the nation and had a Heisman Trophy candidate for a quarterback. They will be very tough to beat.
t.u. with a Heisman candidate? They haven't been picked yet my friend. You may be unfamiliar with college football being in Kentucky (does Kentucky even have a football team in the state?), but Texas A&M also has a player on the "Heisman watch-list"....
Oh the emotions. I'll guess we'll just have to see in November, as I stand amongst 85,000+ people at Kyle Field, here in the promised land.
UK does have a football team. I think they got beat 58-7 on Saturday. No joke. They really stink.
Basketball is king up here.
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