I wish someone would just come right out and say it. Go on! SAY IT!!! The president of the United States of America has the IQ of a half-eaten box of milk duds. And the citizens of this country (about half of them anyway) are too dumb to know the difference. I can't believe it's come to this.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

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Absolutely! Bush is a dry drunk! He exhibits all the signs of having given up the booze but hasn't show an ounce of sobriety. He is rigid, judgemental, isolationist from other's points of view, and is all about "me". He once said that he was "cured" of his alcoholism. There is no "cure" of this dis-ease and he is a prime example of that fact. He's on a mission that he identifies as tantamount to having a messianic complex. And, his cronies around him, are living in an alcoholic household with him. Everyone around and near him, including Congress and the media, are being affected by this alcoholic man. They tip toe around him out of deference to his single-mindedness and, what some call, his simply, boyish style. Well, he is an adolescent who has yet to go through the next stage of developmental maturity. He is dangerous to this country, not just to himself. His salvation is at risk and he is in denial.

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Who would have believed that when Mad Magazine unveiled Alfred E. Newman & his "what? Me worry?", view of life that he would actually end up as president? I don't remember who said it, but he was right..."never underestimate the stupidity of the electorate". "Is this a great country or what?"

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God! The fog and puzzlement has finally been lifted. I now understand boy George! Thank you, Stephen Pizzo! You deserve a Pulitzer for this simple and clear article.

Jerry Warsing

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He's a fucking faker. He's not born-again. It's all a transparent ruse which no one seems to be able to see through.
Evangelicals, though self-righteous hypocrites that that are, and as simple-minded as the article implies, can also express "compassion".
Bush absolutely cannot. He has not one iota.
He is truely an EVIL man who has sold his soul to the devil, NOT given it up to Christ.
For Christ's sake - get a clue.

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If you buy into this premise, then you let him off the hook. You give him JUSTIFICATION.
There is no justification for this dumb fuck who worships at the feet of the almighty DOLLAR.
If you're looking for simplification - that's it and you've got it.

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Under Reagan, we had the absurd "trickle-down economics" policies; now we have "trickle-down religion" which has turned into a flood of religious zealots infiltrating all levels of government and governing bodies, both nationally and locally (i.e. school boards, evolution vs. creationism). I am starting to feel the "with us or against us" mentality from fellow employees when they discover that I don't share their Christian beliefs. I remember when the Moral Majority first came into the limelight and the general consensus was "what a bunch of religious nuts" and they were easily dismissed. Unfortunately, these folks meet every Sunday and Whoa! do they have big plans for these United States of America. For more insight into the dominionist movement, read the great article from May 2005, in Harper's Magazine here's an example excerpt, "Pastor Ted, who talks to President George W. Bush or his advisers every Monday..."
There is another article in the same issue that investigates the issue further.

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George Bush didn't win the elections. They were stolen from Amercans and he was given the Presidency just like he has been given every advantage in life afforded to almost every spoiled rich kid in Amerca. He's probably never had an honest moment of self-reflection.
Why people who are not part of the Konservative Kristian Kult vote for him baffles me. Just the idea of having a guy who pickled his brain with alchohol and cocaine as President ought to be enouhg for any sane person to just say "no." He's a decietful sonofabitch who deserves top spend a few years in prison for his crime. He is surely a sinner.

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I've always felt, you never get rid of additction. You just replace an old addiction with a new one. George is no longer addicted to alchohol and other stuff. Now, he's addicted to religion.

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Follow the money was the tip Deep Throat gave Woodward and Burnstein during the Watergate investigations. It holds true for the dire Dubbya mess today.

Under Islamic banking laws, charging interest is prohibited, as are investments in immoral ventures such as tobacco, porn, etc. By the 1980's private "investment" groups like Carlyle developed units to handle oil revenues from these countries for US investments.

There is a clear line from these investment objectives to policy. Nothing initiates US military threats faster than the nationalization of oil under a regime which will end the flow of revenues to the Washington inner circle and Russell Trust membership.

No one has had more success than Dubbya in spreading this corporate capitalist freedom to plunder. As a worshiper and evangilist in the Temple of Profitability the spread of enlightment has been one heck of a successful run for George.

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the outcome (believing you're always right) is undisputed... the analysis (born-again) makes sense... however, i've learned over many years that attempting to apply rational thinking to irrational behavior is often a sure recipe for a major headache...

for me, the essence of true spirituality (as opposed to religiosity), does indeed lead to a major simplification of life's choices... i do not believe, however, in abdicating the ability to think for ourselves or in relinquishing the authorship of our own lives to a body of external authority that is often promulgated by those who are either self-serving or who are speaking from a flawed perspective... i do not believe that was jesus' message and i certainly don't believe that there is anything in his message that condones war, intolerance, or hate...

http://www.takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

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It should be pretty obvious to anyone whose ever done any Twelve Step work, as either an addict or family member, that George has probably not done any work, ever. There are some steps that would be anathema to him, such as the fourth step: Did a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Or perhaps the eighth step: Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. And of course, he doesn't practice the tenth step: Continue to take personal inventory and when we are wrong, promptly admit it. It's pretty damn scary to know that we have an addict with his "finger on the trigger" and he hasn't done any sort of recovery work (that we know about), except "coming to Jesus"!

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Jesus was subtle, abstract, absurdly empathic, "contradictory"--anything but simple. George Bush is not "saved", he is not a Christian if by Christian you mean someone who has read the New Testament with some semblance of comprehension (led by God's Spirit, of course). Faith in something outside & beyond oneself is probably necessary--doubtless a problem for George. Jesus said that a person following God is like the wind, you don't know which way he or she will go from moment to moment. That's not simple. George Bush's problems--which are now the world's problems thanks to Americans craving simplicity?--have much more to do with his personality. That appears to have remained quite stable before, during, & after his drinking years & "salvation".
God help us. We cry out for your saving & merciful Light.

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Years from now, if we are lucky, we will look back on this presidency as a dark night of near-fascism. If we are unlucky we will see it as the beginning of the end of an experiment in democracy that began in 1776.

And maybe, considering Dubya's environmental policies, the beginning of the end of the planet itself.

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Right on to those who have already pointed out "the emperor's new clothes." Mr. Pizzo's piece makes entertaining reading; there may even be some plausible truth in it but I believe, as others have more eloquently stated, that the real truth is Bush and his handlers want us to believe the pious ruse-it plays so well with a large voting bloc but is such bullshit. There has never, in my estimation, been a less compassionate, less sacred, less theologically motivated inhabitant of the white house. This clown and his band of neocon thugs are motivated by money, oil and power, nothing else! No adherent to Christ's teachings could stand by and watch the butchery and human suffering, in Iraq, Afghanistan and others, being delivered at the hands of the U.S. military, much less give the orders to do so and then gloat at the result. I am sickened everytime I think of this being carried out in our name. I am also sickened by the lack of real words and action by the mainstream denominations against what is so clearly against Christ's teachings. True believers ought to be in the streets calling for an end to the war now.

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bush a born-again? wouldn't be surprised even though i think he's too stupid to know anything other than what dick and rove drive into his nugget. i used to know a born-again. he worked at one of my earlier jobs. first week was ok, then we came in one day and found a little book on each of our desks that he placed. it was like a comic book that basically said all of the world's religions were wrong and evil except for his love for christ. everyone one of us collected those books and we gave them back to him and said if we saw them again we would burn them. this is the mentality in the white house now. it's our way or the highway. either with us or against us. this administration used a planned attack to declare war on everyone, clearly including the american public. this war against terrorism is really against the global general welfare and to promote corporate profits. like the old saying goes, just follow the money.

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Having had an up-close and very disturbing encounter with the evangelical mind and its rigidity, I do agree with the writer's premise. But I believe Bush's mental limitations are inborn, and the evangelical template just happened to be a perfect match for the way his brain works. The clue is his utter incapacity with complicated language. His vocabulary and sentence structure is that of a sixth-grade boy - and not a very promising boy, either.

As a former teacher of composition and rhetoric(freshman/sophomore, college-level), I can tell you for certain that those who don't use language fluently don't think clearly. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to reason their way to a conclusion. Invariably, their tactic in argument is to simply take up a position, define that position with a slogan, and repeat the slogan ad nauseum. (Sound like anyone you know?) There wasn't much I could do to help these people, because they lacked the all-important tool - language - to advance to reasoned discourse. I remember Bush's language and reading difficulties being mentioned in 1999 (by Molly Ivins, I believe) and dismissed in a nanosecond by the MSM. To me, though, the prospect of an unread and linguistically handicapped president boded very ill - and those ills have all come to pass.

In short, when Bush says that he doesn't "do nuance," it's actually because he can't. He doesn't comprehend nuance. To him, argument is so much noise because he lacks the mental skills to sort it out. It's no wonder that he (and so many others) adopted evangelicalism - the slogan-based, black-or-white mental filter it provides gives them certainty in a world where they aren't equipped to cope with fact and ambiguity.

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Stephen Pizzo's description of Bush's simplistic worldview is exactly right, but he goes too far in ascribing it to evangelical Christianity, and he is outright offensive in his characterization of evangelical Christianity. An evangelical is one who believes in spreading the good news of Jesus's life and resurrection. Not only is this not synonymous with narrow-mindedness and ideological bullying; if properly understood and applied it is the very antithesis of that. As a politically and intellectually progressive Christian evangelical, I refuse to cede the territory to the right wing. Read the Gospels. Here is a teaching that scathingly undercuts self-righteousness and simplistic thinking, and teaches forgiveness, tolerance, inclusiveness and a surprising and refreshing take on reality. I for one would rather purvey this teaching enthusiastically (evangelically) as the basis of the values that Pizzo would have us embrace. Pizzo instead seeks to teach nuance and tolerance resting on a dismissive opposition to what he clearly does not understand. Not a very good demonstration of liberality.

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Bush is not only an evangelical, he is one of the most dangerous tpyes, a Dominionist, or Latter Rain. For more info, check http://www.discernment.org/restorat.htm
I find it frightening

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With all due respect, Mr. P., I write as a recovering alcoholic familiar with the "Keep it Simple" motto, and as an Episcopal priest, that is a non-fundamentalist Christian who numbers evangelical Christians among friends and family. Your remarks about Bush's behavior betray ignorance about the process of recovery, which requires rigorous honesty to start with, about evangelical Christians, and about George Bush. I would love to attribute his behavior to his simple-mindedness, but I see more cynicism than that. Perhaps his simplistic message is designed to win the hearts and minds of people with short attention spans, who prefer simple answers to nuance, and who think that being Christian means adhering to a rigid set of teachings rather than acting like the self-giving love of God animates their entire being. Your assessment of his recovery prompting Bush's behavior assumes that prior to recovering from his addiction to alcohol and other drugs, young George had a more complex, intellectual outlook. Excuse me.
Peace

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Forget God saving us. Using His name is what got us here. We need to save ourselves. The only way we can do that is to get rid of the C student in the White House. He's committed enough crimes that anybody with half a brain in Congress could start the impeachment process. If we could just catch him having sex in the oval office we'd have him.

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This article is nothing new. No offense Mr Pizzo. A good article about a deeply important problem with the highest elected official in the nation with the biggest military and a pivotal position in the world economy.

We knew this back in 2000. What has been done about it? Only horrible things like backing him for 2 pre-emptive wars. Allowing him to side -step his responsibility for his failure on 9/11, lying to the nation for the purpose of empire building war and multiple other acts of treason.

Never doubt he does this for his faith. I believe he acts in honest accordance with his faith. A faith that supports murder for profits, murder for empire and murder for God. It's common amoung many of these 'faithful' to allow the killing of innocent people towards their perceived ends.
He is a liar. A liar for his faith. A faith that perceives America as a God appointed nation to direct the world into a disturbed and destruction world vision.
Peace has nothing to do with it. Unless it's the peace of control over those who discent and coversion of the rest. As with any empire.

We have many sick people in the upper eschelons of our government. The sane ones flee the onslaught. It's been 5 years (longer for many) that we have known the terrible truth. How many millions must die before we change how we handle domestic and foriegn policies?

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It is important to understand that a psychiatric condition provides a better understanding of Bush behavior. See DSM-IV. He has a narcissitic personality disorder. I recommend Scott Peck's book "People of the Lie." Erick Fromm in attempting to understand the behavoir of the fascists. His conclusion--malignent narcissim. Bush lies, is unable to empathize, and has a grandious sense of entitlement. He will kill to protect his image of self. This dynamic underlies all the descriptions on this page and is more fundamental.
lee

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Make no mistake here, these evangelicals and other fundamentalist right wingers are here to stay and very dangerous. Case in point, just recently the Airforce Academy finished a report about born agians who inflitrated the academy's staff, faculty and student body. they were promoting born again tripe and harassing other christians and jews, including referring to one jewish cadet as "Chist killer".

And guess what, just outside the academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado is the home of Pastor Ted Haggarty and James Dobson (so called Dr.) of Focus on the Family whose radio stations, books, publications reach more that 200 milion people world wide! Make no mistake, it was no concidence that born agains were found excerting "inapropriate influence" in the academy. They meant to take it over....produce real soldiers for christwith access to nukes and shiny fast planes and missles. Please note, the whole thing is being hushed up and swept under the rug. To the malevolent leadership of the religious thugs this is only a minor set back in their drive for secular power...their drive to control this country absolutely and prepare us all for Armagedon and the coming of Jesus. And amen to all that.

Get ready to fight back everybody and dont just write off these "people of faith" as they like to refer to themselves as quaint kooks. They mean business!


"There are bonfires on a lot of hillsides tonight, the sound of drums and wild hooting, people with serious scores to settle muttering at each other in the darkness. The yahoos are out there, and they think thier time has come."

Hunter S. Thompson in " Generation of Swine"

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George W. is truly one of the most repulsive people I know. His kind of thinking is not only egregiously wrong, it is DANGEROUS. He like the Taliban, knows what is right for everyone and anyone who gets in the way is ridiculed and eradicated, if possible. Will George W's facist regime eventually come to shooting gay people in public football stadiums as the Taliban's did to women in Afghanistan? Each facist regime needs a scapegoat; the Taliban chose women; the far right wing fundamentalist "christian" idiots choose the gay people; the Nazis chose jews; etc. But the thinking is the same: we are right. everyone else is wrong. anyone who gets in our way and won't support us, we will annihilate and destroy. Folks, right wing fundamental religious thinking IS right wing fundamental religious thinking and is deeply flawed, whether it takes place in Afghanistan, in Germany, or in the United States of America. George W. and the right wing fundamental "christian" loonies ARE POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS TO OUR DEMOCRACY. yogi, tucson

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The Soviet Union is alive in well, right here in the Grand Old USSA. We are no different than the former regimes that went around the world and took whatever they wanted. There is a flaw for us, however. The only hold we have on anyone is the threat of force. If tomorrow, the rest of the world decided to trade in Euro's rather than dollars, our economy would be gone faster than last night's bath water. The only reason the rest of the world doesn't make the change is that they know we can and will blow them up if they try such a thing. The forementioned flaw? We don't have the military might to handle it anymore. No one wants to join to get their heads blown off in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, or anywhere else, so we are out of boys and girls to go play. It's over, folks. You can elect whoever you want, Rep or Dem and it makes no difference. It is too late to save the empire!

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Sociopaths don't look like Dick Tracy villians. Dubya is one of the few in a direct position to order a war (even if there is legislative cover). Corporate sociopaths are plentiful and usually blend enough that we don't hang labels on them. People with no soul, no true feeling for any other human being or animal. Creatures whose only desire is to win, win and win and only for one's own self and regardless of the cost to individuals and communities around them. For Dubya, blowing up frogs as a kid was just a start. He is still that vicious little kid hiding behind a wicked smirk. "Look at me. I'm cute so I must be innocent," he seems to say. Now he ads simplicity?

The simplicity of authority-insistent, slogan-based ideology facilitates social pathologies. These are groups who see themselves as selected by God and all the rest as condemned. Forget all the ideologies and religions and any other excuses. Forget psychology. All that is left is "men beat men" as Loren Eiseley wrote. Dominance.

1984, Winston, the end: "The long awaited bullet was entering his brain ... ... ... He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother"

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I agree that Pizzo, and other writers, have attacked Evangelical Christians as a whole. However, it is the "your either with us or against us" mentality that comes from the fundamentalist evangelical movement that now represents the evangelicals as a whole. Christians, and everyone for that matter, need to take God back from these groups. The assumption that "If you are not coming to my church, you must be a sinner" is prevalent throughout the ministry. Of course, experience prior to the writing of our Constitution necessitated the First Amendment. Most religions that have come from the lineage Abraham suffer from a "we know better than you" attitude. The true spirit is lost in repeated grabs for power and control of the masses. George observed this power during his early political career and has parleyed that knowledge into a presidency. Sadly, I cannot give him credit for all his achievements. Herr Rove deserves much of the credit for our predicament. Ironically, I believe he has little or no spiritual experience. I think he is more along the lines of a "Man can do all things" kind of thinker. More of a "Non"-compassionate secular humanist than a compassionate conservative. The movement we need to fear most fuels itself with religiosity, it is not religion itself. Power! Power! Power! That is what we need to fear. Those who seek power as an end in itself, i.e. Rove, Cheney, W. and the power behind them are who we should fear. The religous right(wrong) are just a means to an end in this story.

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I would not honour the walking abortion named Bush with this accolade in solo; rather, his ugly demeanor and 'fruits' mirror many anti-Christ's leading the world deeper into the pits of hell and, through the atrocious use of napalm in Iraq (as one example) we are truly feeling the heat.

This entity claims to serve gd, yessir! This is the ultimate blasphemy which is typical of an anti-Christ. I do not hold with the opinion that his venemous spewing has anything at all to do with Christianity or the One GOD. Rather, the little gd he and others of his kin refer to is Lucifer, plain and simple.

Risking contradiction, I think that hell must be a very cold place indeed as these creatures are so far from creation that they lack any notion of com-passion, empathy or emotional intelligence - it simply ain't in them. Perhaps that's why sub-humans like Bush crave alcohol so much, war so much - they need outside-generated heat to feel 'alive'. Blood-sucking vampyres, one and all.

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Ed Lammers, in a comment above, said that No adherent to Christ's teachings could stand by and watch the butchery and human suffering, in Iraq, Afghanistan and others, being delivered at the hands of the U.S. military, much less give the orders to do so and then gloat at the result. He is absolutely right. True Christians should be outraged by this war, and many are. The problem is that Evangelicals aren't true Christians. They are cultists who have taken a pretty decent religion (as religions go) and corrupted it to the point where it is nearly unrecognizable. The fact that many Evangelicals vote Republican should tip you off that these aren't people who follow the undeniably socialist example of Christ.

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This article is more of a rant than anything and I'm not sure it sheds any light on anything we don't already suspect or believe. I agree with the writer. The quote by the President is so typical of those who use religious beliefs in order to simplify their schemas. ''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe­ I believe what I believe is right." Aside from being guilty of delivering a sentence like Porky Pig, when a person says this they are essentially saying: "this is what I FEEL is right, even though I can't justify or prove it." What's unbelievable is how the highest public official in the land and his press Secretary aren't taken to task for this paternalistic/Father-knows-best 'logic'. The continued corporatization of the press and their willingness to barter access for hard, pointed questions allows buffoons like Bush to stay free from accountability. Watch C-SPAN on the weekends where they cover Tony Blair answering questions on the floor. Wow! Very presidential. It's still 'We the people' right?

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Only one thing drives G.W. Bush..
one guiding principle:

MAKE MONEY FOR HIS FRIENDS

To hell with the country.

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The ironies brought out in this piece are fabulous. I feel that they extend deeply into the military mess going on in Iraq now, and it's hurting our soldiers and our morale more than anything.

Check out:

www.acatastrophicsuccess.com

This explores the rhetoric of what "defending our flag" can do to the ambiguity of what kind of killing is acceptable. Speak out!

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I don't know about anyone else, but after reading that article, I need a drink.

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Know that Christ's hands had nothing to do with a 'Shock and Awe' campaign. Thou shalt not Kill. How many executions in Texas? How many innocents have died in an illegal war based on faulty intelligence(lies)?

Christ who washed the feet of His disciples would not be too proud to deny any mistakes. Bush landing on the USS Lincoln in a flight jacket under the banner of 'Mission Accomplished' was the most arrogant expression I can remember a president making. Funny how things worked out? Not really.

Does Bush embody the words: 'blessed are the sick', or blessed are the meek'? His domestic agenda plays right into the hands of his base, Corporate America. Good luck getting that camel through the eye of a needle Bush.

The only thing I see Bush doing with religion is use it for is own purposes. I see him speaking of God, I see him praying openly. His reward for praying openly for vanity's sake is on earth, not in Heaven.

People, I assure you that Bush's principals are as far from God's righteousness as can be. Please do not confuse Bush's evangelism for God's truth. God is love. Bush's administration is not in servitude of love. It serves greed, power, oppression, persecution, fear, and hate.

PRAY FOR PEACE

www.commondreams.org/views04/1025-25.htm

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....and I'm afraid I'm becoming a bit of zealot myself on this point as I roam the blogs and reiterate it time and time again....

BLAMING BUSH IS POINTLESS. The real problem is a nation half-filled with people who DON'T see the wisdom and eloquence of Pizzo's truly great piece. Fully half of the U.S. is populated with people so intellectually dim, incurious and unquestioning that they couldn't even recognize a totally transparent, nakedly obvious freak and failure like George Bush! I mean, think about that. Exactly half of us knew, the very first time we ever laid eyes on him and heard him stumble through some inane sentence, EXACTLY what he is. We've all known a thousand losers just like him - they populate public schools and churches and college campuses all over the globe. Bush is the archetype representing this breed of American - spoiled, ignorant, mean, petty, selfish, etc. etc.

But many thousands of people in this country not only didn't see it, but refuse to acknowledge it still. In Bush, we see behavior that any honest person would admit that, if they saw it in their own children, they'd feel like an utter failure as a parent. And yet an ultimately decent guy like John Kerry - the differences between him and Bush strictly as men and as public servants are so obvious as to be staggering - couldn't win that election. The real issue is, how did we get to be a nation full of people so intellectually moribund that they support the likes of George Bush? To me, that's a much scarier issue to ponder than anything having to do with his easily recognized "zeal of the converted" behavior. Bush will eventually be gone from the White House, but if this country doesn't get its shit together, if our citizens don't get real interested REAL quick in informing themselves, in taking an active role in our own fate vis-a-vis the people we elect to lead us, we're done for. Myself, I don't see a lot around me to give me much hope, either.....

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“On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
-H.L. Mencken, writing in 1920
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“At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political ideas.”
-Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
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“It's possible to fight intolerance, stupidity and fanaticism when they come separately. When you get all three together it's probably wiser to get out, if only to preserve your sanity.”
-P.D. James (1920- ), British novelist

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Evangelical is a word whose meaning is contested territory. All religions have these problems, radical literalists clouding the core meaning of the faith.

Jesus was anything but narrow and judgemental and vengeful and exclusionary. His teaching and work specifically addressed these attitudes, rebuking them as betrayal of God, not fulfillment.

Blame George W. Bush's mean-spiritedness on his family, on his class background, on his specific experiences with warped views of the Gospel, on whatever you want. But please, don't hold Christians in general to account for this man's policies and practices.

To do so is the same as saying that Osama represents all Muslims. It just isn't helpful or accurate.

He and his cronies are all too willing to hijack the Cross for their own ends, but they don't, and never will, own or change its meaning.

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As a left/center, born-again Christian, let me tell you folks, Bush is playing the good simple minded churchgoers like a harp to garner power.

How do I know...?

Because anyone who has truly been "saved" will walk with the Lord, follow his teachings and certainly not gloat before executing a brethren (Karla Faye Tucker); and before sending thousands of his fellow Americans to die in a war, with a yapping battle cry "I'm a war president" as reason enough.

Indeed, the Bible says of Christians and their walk with the Lord the following:

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, [and] faith." (Matthew 5:44)

"If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14-15)

“'Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'” (Matthew 18:21)

Nah, Dubya ain't no Christian. He fits the profile of Pharisee, boasting of his righteousness, to a "T."

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive." (Matthew 23:15)

And indeed he shall receive. But in the meantime, let's pray enough Republicans soon lose at the polls to set right his evil policies.

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for "real" Christians, Bush has effectively hijacked the entire notion of Christianity for the time being, and maybe for the immediate future as well. It's very difficult NOT to associate evangelical Christianity with the disasters of the Bush Administration, given that he is their reigning poster child. It's up to evangelicals themselves to reject this cretin - and to begin denouncing him LOUDLY for all to hear. Although I doubt the mainstream press would notice even if they did such a thing.

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while i think the author has a good point, i also think he missed the chance to point out the rampant nationalism in this brand of christianity. listen to the language of the right and our president: we are a "special nation" "specially blest by God". we are to bring "our way of life" to others in the world because our way of life, our "judeo-christian heritage" is spoken of as the ultimate in governmental systems. capitalism is disquised as "the american way" and brought as the saving grace to others in the world. note to reader: democracy and capitalism are not one in the same, yet they are spoken of as the same. and because we are this special nation, our actions and attitudes and responses to the world are all "correct" and "grounded in sound principles" "directed by God for his purposes". God has especially blest this nation, so the rational goes, because he likes us so much better than all the other nations, or peoples, so whatever we do is ok. somehow no one else on the planet is as worthy as we are, as gifted as we are, their government systems or world views are lesser than ours, etc.
this belief, which is found no where in the bible i read, or spoken of in the teachings of the master i follow (jesus), or expressed in my church community, is what i have heard called a "civil religion". when spirituality is used to as a cover for nationalism, it ceases to be spritual. redemtive violence takes over (i have to occupy you, kill you, toture you, deny you your system of government, to bring you the "truth"), injustice prevails, hate is encouraged, revenge becomes the law of the land. i'd like the readers to listen for the nationalism and encourage others to do so. perhaps if we recognize the nationalism, we can truely see that our emperor has no clothes.

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that a nation full of people whose critical thinking skills are intact and functioning would see the bamboozlery inherent in all this nationalism for what it is. But sadly, we are not that nation. The only reason all that jingoism and dogma go over so well is because Americans are no longer holding up their end of democracy's bargain - i.e., "democracy requires an informed electorate." This is an issue that I think the Dems should face head-on in their coming election efforts. How about a bumper sticker that says, "REAL PATRIOTS BOTHER TO KNOW THE FACTS." Solid, rational thinking is mindless nationalism's sure demise.

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Hi all,

Love your country. Hate your government.

But claiming that George holds "the highest office on earth" is representative of the mentality that creates these problems. A little humility might help your global popularity problems.

Besides I'm sure there are a few billion catholics on this planet who would disagree with that statement.

Tone
Brisbane, Australia

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a sure sign of a useless article (and a useless writer) is if it doesn't offer any solutions to a problem. This is a peice written by a guy who has a deep dislike for Christians and republicans, so he decided to lump them together and call them names for a while. Get a life man.

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It's true, as some on this board have pointed out, that not all evangelicals are right-wing extremists. Many are political and religious moderates or progressives who fear the right's political and social agenda as much as the rest of us do.

In fact, the secular left might be surprised to discover how many values of social justice and tolerance it shares in common with those evangelicals and similar Christians. Even more important, religious moderates and progressives can be the most powerful allies in fighting the religious right, because they present a religious and moral authority the religious right cannot easily attack or dismiss. In other words, the most effective antidote to the venomous religious right is the religious left.

Although the religious right has dominated the public debate on values for the last few decades, the religious left has always been present to some degree, and now shows strong signs of becoming more active. To show what I mean, here are just a few of the politically active religious left's sites:

Christian Alliance for Progress

The Interfaith Alliance

Center for Progressive Christianity

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You are right about blaming Bush being a waste of time. The common feelings of the thinking Americans should be enough kindling to get the fire going. It has to start somewhere, why not with disgust. We should be close enough to critical mass (flash point if you want to follow my previous metaphor) to propel us to action. I disagree with changing those who cannot see through the spin right now. They don't want to see through the spin. They are happy with the results. We might find that insane, but it is a fact. Some Americans like war. Some for the profit. Some for the sport. Most just want to feel part of something strong and powerful. It takes twice the person to seek non-violent solutions. We all should know that through our own experiences. Most people's first reaction to fear is fight or flight. Correct? Well, we have had the luxury of time to sort out and settle our fear of 9/11. Some of us are intelligent and open enough to realize that once the direct threat was over, possible solutions could include something other than violence. That is when the innate response of fight or flight should end. (Note: I said after the immediate threat was over. So Rove can cool his rhetoric and name calling. Being liberal is not a label that includes weakness. It takes courage to break the status quo) Sure Bush and his cronies have kept the fear level artificially elevated. Do not allow that to be a full excuse for those still clamoring for more death. They want it that way. (cont. in next post)

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If he is so simple why hasn't he volunteered his daughters to fight the war? He is asking for our daughters (at least he is asking for mine and other middle class and worse off people's) to join the armed forces? Where is the courage of his convictions? If he has "seen the the light" and all is clear, then this should be just as clear and as simple:

"If I want other's children to volunteer to die, I must expect my children to volunteer to die. "

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The problem is The Bush team have dropped the "simple" part and are just "keeping it stupid" on all the issues.

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hey guy, i appreciate your point of view, but you have absolutely no idea what being a born-again christian means and you probably do not want to find out. if bush were muslim, i'm sure that you would not dare publish such ignorant and awful things about his belief system.

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Sunset Health Advocacy NEwsletter
“Access to Quality and Affordable Health Care is a Human Right. Not a Market Commodity! "

May 2005 / Volume 1, Issue 02 Editor: Pierre FRAYSSE

Editorial: So we learned last month from a new AARP study, that in 2004 the cost of prescription drugs had increased by 7.1%, almost 3 times as fast as all others goods (2004 CPI increase:2.7%) You wonder why? Should free market competition put a lid on drugs price increases, like for others goods and services? The TRUTH is, new drugs – called BRAND names – are protected from competition for 20 years! The drug companies can charge whatever price they wishes for 20 years, until the drug become a “GENERIC”. Then, the “drug formula” is made public, and everyone can manufacture and sale it. As a result, the same study “found manufacturers’ list prices for 75 generic drugs commonly used by seniors rose just 0.5% in 2004”! Source AARP Public Policy Institute, April 2005

Health Facts from the Sunset: Many of our elderly, here in the Sunset, suffer for blood circulation problems. The #1 BRAND name drug prescribed for this condition is plavix, a drug which price has increased 34.8% in 3 years (PLAVIX 75MG TABLETS $125.99 for 30 days). There is no generic yet for this drug. So, next time you see your doctor, for whatever good reason, ask him “IS THERE A GENERIC DRUG FOR THIS TREATMENT?”. Generic drugs are as good as brand names and much cheaper. You may even pay less than your insurance co-pay

Source: Families USA at http://www.familiesusa.org and FDA at http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/

Health Facts from the Nation: In 2004, more than 50% of all US drug prescriptions were for generic drugs. What about yours? The FDA (Federal Drug Administration) Office of Generic Drug is keeping records of all brand and generic drugs authorized for sale in the US in a file called the “ORANGE BOOK”. You can access this file at http://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/default.htm to find the GENERIC name of your medicine. If you don’t have a computer, ask for help at your local library.
A peek at prices of brand-name drugs most used by elderly
Drug List 2001 2004 Price Change in Percent
Lipitor 40mg tablets 30 EA $89.75 $113.99 27.0%
Zocor 40mg tablets 30 EA $114.77 $131.99 15.0%

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I prefer to call Bush a religious fundamentalist (not a Christian) to show how much he resembles those whom he hates: Islamic fundamentalists. Same intolerance, love of violence, desire for theocracy. Evangelicals are not all fundamentalists! Many evangelicals in this country promote a gospel of love, peace, reverence for nature, and care of the poor. Not Bush's "gospel" of wealth and empire. Their voices need to be heard; their agenda is progressive. Don't tar all Christians with the same brush.

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LisaK makes a good point! Right-wing zealouts now "own" the "evangelical" label and we on the so-called left have given it to them. "Evangelicals" exist on all sides as well as "in between" the political spectrum(s and certainly aren't confined to christianity. For some reason people need to galvanize around labels and this "evangelical" label has become particularly pernicious and prejudicial. It doesn't serve us well to lamblast others, especially when doing so with definitions incorrectly applied. Thanks.

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GW Bush is a selfish, greedy, arrogant, lazy, dull-witted frat-boy-son-of-a-rich-man. I don't know why he thinks or behaves the way he does and I don't want to spend any of my time trying to figure out what his motives are. I just know that he is bad for our country, and bad for our world, and should be removed as soon as possible.

He has committed many impeachable offenses; why don't the Dems get off their chairs and get going on this?

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A nail-on-the-head article. If anyone is interested in reading more in this vein, check out "Bush on the Couch" by Joseph Frank. You can read both a review and an excerpt at Amazon.com, and it is available at deeply discounted prices around the internet (try half.com for one). This book should be required reading for every American.

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This was insightful to read. I went through a painful period at church where evangelicals dominated the rest of us and wanted to toss out the minister. It took us normal people a long period of trying to understand them and to compromise with them before we realized that they were making their own reality and forcing it on the rest of us. If only I had read an article like this it would've saved a lot of time and money. Our church even brought in costly councilers who declared the evangelicals unreasonable and complaining about the rest of us with no good cause. It didn't help. We should've just given the money to the poor instead. The evangelicals didn't care about the rest of us or the church one bit. One person who had tried to be nice to them died and they didn't even go to his funderal because he hadn't joined them. That is how cold hearted and self-centered they are.
Beware. The new conservative blog comment must be that "You don't have any solutions and are just complaining." Hey conservatives. Sometimes you don't need a solution. You just need some information and insight. In this case, the insight was "Yes THEY are crazy. It's not me." That's all the solution I needed in order to be able to walk away from and avoid the evangelicals at my church and to warn my children about them.

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Religion is simply a convenient distraction to keep people chatting about right to life, gay marriage, etc.
Though these are important issues in and of themselves they are much easier battlegrounds than defending the obvious crimes perpetrated by this administration daily.
Social mores are often a grey area that allow debate but no real solutions.
I seriously doubt George W. is on his knees every night at 9:00pm when he goes to sleep hoping God will guide him.
There is a much bigger picture to be seen.

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Well... I see nothing has changed here at alternet in the few months I stopped coming here. People are STILL really down on God and Christianity... George Bush is NOT a good example of a Christian... Also, You guys are preaching to the choir... yeah, let's get together and bash Christians... stupid. You guys have no idea what you're talking about... "Oh it's just classic crutch"... bah. FOOLS! And the other thing I notice (though I just briefly skimmed the comments), is that Christians are not being represented here still... in fact, the last christian that really stood up and defended their faith here had their account deleted by Alternet. So much for discussion. Ah well. Fuck Alternet.

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