ABQjournal: Rough and Tumble of Politics Now Spawns Hatred By John Dendahl, For the Journal

The surprise now is the pure hatred Bush’s opponents have mobilized, beginning at the conclusion of the 2000 election. Bush is clearly not hateful personally, and he has done nothing to disgrace his office as did his predecessor.

Yet hatred, rather than spirited disagreement, has been a staple of the opposition for nearly four years.

It was harsh of the “liberal” Albuquerque Journal to publish Dimdahl the day after the day after. It’s like sending Vlad the Impaler to tend to the injured on the battlefield — and handing him a box of salt as he slithers out the door.

Dimdahl, the mother of all angry white males, the master of viciousness, is still shocked at the antipathy of half the nation towards a president who puts the Bible above the Constitution (itself an impeachable offense). How could anybody dislike such a nice guy, whose loyalists did everything they could to demonize Kerry. Such a nice guy, whose supporters believe dissent is treason, maybe blasphemy. A decent man whose victory depended on hiding the rising abortion rate in his “culture of life” and his playing into the hands of an enemy whose goal is to bankrupt the country. A fine fellow who can’t think of a single mistake he’s made. A simple man who is in a bit over his head but willing to resolutely wreak the world. What’s to dislike?

In a column that reads like 3 bad columns instead of the usual one, Dimdahl expresses admiration for the prior misguided war-mongering president from Texas (is it in the water down there?), through a curious … what? not really a defense of the Hammer, Tom Delay, more of a rebuke of Delay’s weakness (here we see the inevitable self-destruction of a pack of mean people), ending with the beatification of Duhbya. Of course, he manages another swipe at Clinton in the process, which makes me remember Nixon, who resigned in shame — is that why Republicans don’t name buildings after him?

As for uniting and forgiving, you’ll see me reach out to Dimdahl when it’s time to feed him crow. Won’t be long now. mjh

PS: Some will say it is unfair to call the Journal conservative for publishing Dimdahl (and endorsing Bush). Afterall, look at the balance provided by printing the liberal Ellen Goodman’s column, in which she explains what was wrong with Kerry. I’m looking for the column that says more people voted against Bush than have ever voted against any president.