but when there is so much deviltry in the details, more time and attention are required.

The Insanity of Bush Hatred

Our politics suffer when passions overcome reason and vitriol becomes virtue.

Yes, I would agree, and I would only edit the above to read "Bush's" hatred. In particular, let us note his hatred of anything having to do with FDR's New Deal, SSI, or any other pink-tinged policies. Our politics have truly suffered as his passions have overcome his own reason and a corrosive vitriol became the hallmark of his maladministration (as has become increasingly evident as more of his retainers leave).

To get the conversation rolling at that D.C. dinner--and perhaps mischievously--I wondered aloud whether Bush hatred had not made rational discussion of politics in Washington all but impossible. One guest responded in a loud, seething, in-your-face voice, "What's irrational about hating George W. Bush?" His vehemence caused his fellow progressives to gather around and lean in, like kids on a playground who see a fight brewing.

In this example [with my bolded emphases] Berkowitz reveals himself to have an agenda, not unlike that of an "unreliable narrator." If only this were a piece of fiction, and we could all wake up from it.

Reluctant to see the dinner fall apart before drinks had been served, I sought to ease the tension. I said, gently, [perhaps this was really condescendingly?] that I rarely found hatred a rational force in politics, but, who knows, perhaps this was a special case. And then I tried to change the subject.

But my dinner companion wouldn't allow it. "No," he said, angrily. "You started it. You make the case that it's not rational to hate Bush." I looked around the table for help. Instead, I found faces keen for my response. So, for several minutes, I held forth, suggesting that however wrongheaded or harmful to the national interest the president's policies may have seemed to my progressive colleagues, hatred tended to cloud judgment, and therefore was a passion that a citizen should not be proud of being in the grips of and should avoid bringing to public debate. Propositions, one might have thought, that would not be controversial among intellectuals devoted to thinking and writing about politics.

Seemed? By any objective measure, Bush's policies have been worse than wrong-headed, which would imply that reason might have been a useful mitigating influence. But Reason was not to be admitted to Bush's maladministration, where a "senior adviser" admitted long ago that they prefer to create their own Reality.

[snip]Finally, another guest, a man I had long admired, an incisive thinker and a political moderate, cleared his throat, and asked if he could interject. I welcomed his intervention, confident that he would ease the tension by lending his authority in support of the sole claim that I was defending, namely, that Bush hatred subverted sound thinking. He cleared his throat for a second time. Then, with all eyes on him, and measuring every word, he proclaimed, "I . . . hate . . . the . . . way . . . Bush . . . talks."

Of course he does. Such a visceral reaction to the pure, unadulterated sound of his illiterate articulations of the evils he chooses to "decide," should be acknowledged as the normal, healthy reaction of a thinking adult.

And now I've run out of time... and the preview page will not load. Apologies in advance for any errors.

I did the only thing I could think of (and that I usually reserve for those I care about).

I added GWB to a prayer list that lasts for a month of 24/7, and requested for him an "epiphany" that would put him in touch with Reality.

Harsh, I know, but what else could I do? The idea of a war with Iran should be a total no-brainer, but apparently, it is not.

[full disclosure: This does not mean that I am a "believer," only that I recognize there is some power in prayer when performed by people who really know how... which is why I outsource it.]

Paul D... I have to agree, though I would go ahead and use the word hatred, and add, too, that it can sometimes bring a laser-like focus.

Bebop-o and jkalos... Count me in on your cleaning spree. I am willing to offer up some much needed cleaning of my own as a sacrifice. Perhaps we could conclude with a smudging ceremony? I still have a stick of sage that has been only partially used for such a purpose.

I didn't see your comment until after I just posted one to you and Bebop-o. Thank you. I am humbled.

I thought it might be about another "recess" or interim appointment, not for the FDA, but maybe for one protecting consumers?

Gosh! There was a time when that would have seemed like a really big deal. These days... not so much.

Another thought about this so-called "BDS" ...

One of the reasons that I like to frequent GG's comment threads over so many others is that no one here (well, very few, anyway) does very much to minimize the harm done by Bush, et al. Hardly anyone here wears blinders.

However, in my non-cyber life there are people who think that politics is too important to me. And that I care too passionately about the actions of this maladministration. I don't know Berkowitz, but if I did, he would be the worst of them. Because he is an admitted mischief-maker... just trying to get a little of his own back... but at the expense of those with fewer privileges than he has, not more, and who (presumably) have a lot more skin in the game than he does.