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We have a very low capacity for self-criticism.
One of the media narratives I've found incredibly irritating over the past year is the implication, given Bush's historic low approval ratings, of "How'd this happen?" Apparently we have no idea.
My question is: where are all these people who voted for Bush?
In a different media universe, you might think there'd be more stories (I don't think I've seen any) trying to find people who voted for Bush but have now soured on him, and going into detail about why that is. But I suspect such a story wouldn't reflect very well on the American character, as the likely answers would reveal a lot of ignorance, selfishness, and bovine herd mentality (He was kicking Arab butt! My gas prices went way too high last summer! My preacher told me to vote for him!).
So what the media have done is largely ignore the question of how Bush went from 51% of the popular vote in 2004 to the lowest approval ratings ever recorded. But of course, we're not going to learn anything from our history if we're too afraid to - ahem - interrogate it.
