"To trash Bush was to belong"

"And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:22) Above image found in google image search unattributed.

"To trash Bush was to belong," writes Debra J. Saunders, putting her finger on the primal tribal imperative that underlies the relentless scapegoating of our 43rd president by his political adversaries gadding the corridors of power these last eight years, together with their allies in the media, here and abroad. First a few excerpts from Saunders's column, and then on to Glenn C. Lowry's extremely thought-provoking, not unrelated "The Call of the Tribe: The role of identity in our politics and our lives" [via Maggie's Farm]. First Saunders on the etiology of BDS:

From the day President Bush took office, the long knives were out for him — in ways they will not (and should not) be out for President-elect Barack Obama. The chattering class saw Dubya as a walking style crime in a cowboy suit. They hit Bush for everything — for the way he mangled syntax, for the books he read, because he worked out too much.

Note now that the buff Obama is taking office, stories gushing about Obama's daily workouts flood the channels. Oh, yes, and the same people who belittled Bush for sending troops to war even though he only served in the National Guard somehow do not seem to notice Obama's utter lack of military experience …

There was little upside in supporting Bush, even if you had supported his agenda [Yes YOU, Northeast Corridor Conservatives].

"We all hear the call of some tribe or another," writes Glenn C. Lowry in the article referenced above, expanding upon the same theme — our own perennial obsession,  "the importance of being noticed" — from another angle:

[T]here are times when the call of the tribe just might be a siren’s call and when an excessive focus on “identity” could lead one badly astray. What is more, I firmly believe that now is just such a time.

At the close of what by all accounts has been a most extraordinary national political campaign — one in which questions of identity have played a huge role — I believe it is important to at least raise (if not answer!), in a gentle and nonpartisan way, the question of what role “identity” ought to play in our politics and in our lives.

Do read the whole thing. Here's a taste of the existential moment of choice the author is grappling with:

Evidently, Woody’s family had also been passing for white in pre-integration Park Manor. The neighborhood’s changing racial composition had forced them to choose between staying and raising their children among “their own kind.” This was a fateful decision for Woody who, as he matured, became determined not simply to live among blacks but, perhaps in atonement for his parents’ sins, unambiguously to become one. The boys in the neighborhood did not make this easy. Many delighted in teasing him about being a “white boy,” and most simply refused to credit his insistent, often-repeated claim: “I’m a brother, too!”

"Growing into intellectual maturity has been, for me, largely a process of becoming free of the need to have my choices validated by the brothers," concludes Lowry:

After many years I have come to understand that, until I became willing to risk the derision of the crowd, I had no chance to discover the most important truths about myself or about life — to know my calling, to perceive my deepest value commitments, and to recognize the goals most worth striving toward.

Would that members of the reflexively Bush-bashing community would have such insight about "the goals most worth striving toward."

Update: The totally awesome Ed Driscoll links.

Update II: "I've got over two dozen posts on the subject - by far my most favoritest topic — under Cultural Tribes," writes the totally awesome Assistant Village Idiot. Our most favoritest too.

Update III: Awesomeness squared: The professor links!

Update IV: Maggie's joins the party.

Update V: More shock and awe from Protein Wisdom!

Update VI: "Now they notice," headlines Kate of Small Dead Animals.

Update VII: Harassment and interdiction fires from Argghhh!

Update VIII: Fausta links.

Update IX: "Got Bush-hate? You’re so cool!" blogs The Anchoress.

Update X: "I’ve often wondered if I were the only one who could see the spiritual side of the fight that President Bush has had to endure in his sacrificial presidency to protect and defend our nation but no, there are some who do," writes Laura Lee, linking Paul Kengor's "Bush at the Stone Table: The Sacrificial Presidency of George W. Bush," at The American Thinker, comparing GWs sacrifice to that of Aslan/Christ.

Comments

[goomp]

Lowry has it right. People who yearn too much for the approbation of the tribe without questioning the judgement of the crowd may be wildly popular, but that can lead to poor results.

[Beau Toxx]

I had though a long time about the drivers for the Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS). This hypothesis comes closest to reason that I've heard so far. It seemed the media and Hollywood crowd would make gratuitous remarks about Bush for no really good reason. It seem they were signaling they were part of the far left crowd. It seemed they were "paying dues" to enjoy the special privileges of the "in crowd. Thought provoking.

[Tollhouse]

FYI, hot-linking an image from someone that may frequent 4chan, based on the naming of the directory containing the image, is not a prudent thing to do.

[Tom Grey]

"The Circle Dance", there was a post similar to this by neo-neocon.

Not just part of the tribe, but in 'unity' with a greater social group.

Unfortunately, unity in hate against something is much easier to achieve than positive unity in creating or building something.

Note the Arabs countries who hate each other ... but are most united in Jew hate.

Note the academics, especially the verbally oriented ones, who are often united in a hatred of capitalism.

[Sissy Willis]

Tom Grey . . . Good points. Related posts from years past you might find of interest:

We all want to dance in a ring, which includes a link to neo's circle-dancing post.

He knows if you've been bad or good

Is consciousness the same as spirit?

[David Ross]

To me your heading was to resemble "to trash, Bush was to belong".

To the inflected languages English was no longer to belong. To your readers your heading was to be confusing.

[MarkJ]

What's sad, and terrifying is that folks with the above-described mindset, in another time and place, eagerly put on uniforms and dutifully marched to Nuremberg every September. How nice it was, I'm sure, to belong to something bigger than oneself and be in a place where everyone thought the same... and knew they were right.

[abe]

You forgot the part where Bush did an appalling job as president, leaving the country in terrible shape. After 8 years, 6 with full republican majorities in congress, there's no one else to blame. Unless you are a complete wingnut deadender. a

[willis]

Abe,
The author did not attempt to defend Bush. The article was about being compelled to slander Bush in order to be identified with your (leftest) group of choice. I, too, think Bush did a bad job as president. I also think the Republican congress did a terrible job of representing us as well. I hope Obama does a good job as president, good enough to get elected. I don't hold out similar hopes for the democrats in congress and fear that they will be a major problem for Obama. Notice that I've just expressed opinions and didn't even have to call anyone Hitler, but then I'm not a liberal.

[Michael S]

Ah abe, you are a true believer. Will your leader do the right thing today and call for all of you to lay down your hate, as Honest Abe did in the Gettysburg Address? I am not holding my breath.

[Michael S]

Actually I meant the second inaugural address: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds"

[Kelly]

Sissy, great post. The widespread BDS has been disturbing to watch for these eight years. Doesn't reflect well on us as a functioning civic society.

What has bothered me even more, especially during the last 2-3 years, was the disloyalty from many Republicans to President Bush. I'm active with my local town Republican committee, and during the last two elections here in MA, we were told NOT to hold any Bush signs next to our candidates' signs. Quite a few national Repubs dissed President Bush during the presidential campaign. Snivelling weasels. Worse than BDS in some ways.

[bl]

Abe, what do you believe Sandy Berger stole from the archives? Remember, he was doing "research" for the 9/11 hearings. Was the wall of separation between CIA/FBI created during Clinton admin. a large factor in not preparing for terrorism against the US? Also, discuss how Democrats in 2003 were bribed by Fannie to dismiss the need to investigate practices and policies of the "sub-prime" mortgage mess. Those oh so ethical Dems like Maxine Waters, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank seem to be above any ethics inquiries. Why? Why did the congress overwhelmingly support the invasion of Iraq? That answer would require that you have a memory of the Saddam years of terror on his people, and the region. Many revisionists like yourself, seem to think Saddam was an innocent leader who wouldn't harm anyone. To know the real Saddam, one has to educate oneself. That is a lot to ask isn't it? By focusing on the failures of others, do you not avoid seeing your own failures, Abe?

[Andrea]

Whatever it's cause, the left's chronic complaining has now become a nasty habit.

Is there no end in sight to their threats, complaints and general bitterness?

Maybe Obama can get them to clean up their acts.

[Ben]

You almost have it right: to trash Bush was to show that you were smart enough to realise that he was an abysmal president, and weren't infected by the dead-end neo-con mythologies (the Laffer curve, the cult of non-government, invading the wrong country).

Now of course, showing that also shows that you are cool - or at least, in touch with basic political reality.

[Assistant Village Idiot]

Thanks for the link. You must have many more regular readers than I, because I got an enormous traffic jump on 1/19.