Cohen: Bush-hating goes haywire

[Shuck and Jive]

"The demonization of Bush is going to cost John Kerry plenty, if it has not done so already. It so overstates the case against Bush that a levelheaded listener would be excused for thinking that there isn't one in the first place. It squeezes the middle, virtually forcing moderates to pick which bunch of nuts they're going to join."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/232364p-199568c.html

We may learn this lesson too late!

[Walt Starr]

1. Bullshit!

ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!

[Sugarbleus]

6. I completely agree!!

I'd like to have a little chat with those that say this kind of shit... I have some "weak democrat" to show them. :grr:

[ClintonTyree]

22. Yeah...................

the GOPukes can attack all they want, but heaven forbid the Dems should fight back. The Dems are finally not going to let the GOP walk all over them and all of the sudden, it isn't fair! Fuck 'em.

[Sugarbleus]

26. Exactly......

I'm writing to my representatives in the House and Senate to let them know how I feel as well....

STEP UP TO THE PLATE, fercrissakes!

[StopTheMorans]

25. what a huge pile of stinking sh*t

while some may hate *, most simply are trying to hold him accountable for all the lies, mistakes, and flat-out evil things he has done. this is just a lame attempt to try and deflect any valid criticism by placing it under the veil of "bush-hating". waste of bandwidth :mad:

[CBHagman]

44. Exactly.

Cohen still doesn't get it that the miscarriage of justice and conflicts of interest in the 2000 election, the false claims about WMDs, letting polluters write policy, cutting spending on worker safety, trying to screw people out of pensions AND overtime, the outright lies about tax policy, multiple smear campaigns, the outing of Valerie Plame, the undoing of the post-Watergate disclosure rules, regressive tax policies, and a vindictive and petulant approach even to other Republicans are not traits of a likeable, honest politician.

The litany above is not Bush hatred. It's a recital of the facts. Anyone with a lick of sense or a moral core has got to be concerned about this.

Doesn't Cohen understand that we want JUSTICE?

[Libby2]

2. shuck bush

the war is on.

[Eric J in MN]

3. He's upset by people he can't name . Not one. (nt)

nt

[Kolesar]

4. Yeah, only 5.5 Billion people hate George Bush ... eom

[Zynx]

5. The sort of thing they are refering to is when people compare Bush to Hitl

er. Comparing Bush to Hitler, or even calling him a fascist badly hurts our case. If we lose this election by a slim margin, I will blame it on those who called Bush another Hitler and turned off the moderates in so doing.

[trumad]

9. Hitler was much much smarter than Bush so that ends the comparison

But I will compare the Dixie Chicking Republicans to the Nazi party. No prob with that.

[unfrigginreal]

10. No, he went further than that

he's using the the old RW line about Democrats hating their own country. The hate he spews toward many in the Democratic Party that believe we haven't done enough to stem terrorism at it's root cause is very telling. Cohen has trouble seeing the bad in Bush because fundamentally he agrees with his approach of settling scores.

This is not the place to examine why Bush is so hated by some people, although the war in Iraq surely takes pride of place. But even before that particular war, I heard people denounce the one in Afghanistan, that Taliban-controlled horror that harbored Osama Bin Laden. These people are infected with a corrosive doubt about their own country.

A recent Pew poll found, for instance, that 51% of Democrats agreed with the proposition that "U.S. wrongdoing" contributed to the attacks of 9/11. (Only 17% of Republicans agreed.)

Those are astounding numbers, an indictment not really of America (for what?) but of those people who compulsively blame their own country for the faults of others. You can believe that America's support of Israel and the stationing of troops in Saudi Arabia played a role in the 9/11 attacks, but the term Pew used was "wrongdoing." In this respect, these people and Bin Laden are in agreement.

So, while you'll blame the comparisons of Bush to Hitler if we are to lose this election, I'll blame the idiots that call the majority of the Democratic Party faithful 'Bin Ladens'.

[Eric J in MN]

11. If you're trying to persuade an undecided voter,

comparing Bush to Hitler isn't the way to go, but WHO is trying to persude undecided voters that way?

[Shuck and Jive]

32. "WHO is trying to persude undecided voters that way?"

Now there's a recipe for victory. SHEESH

We better be.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. Just like it hurts the Repukes so bad

when they refer to Senator Clinton as "Hitlery". I suppose if Bush loses, they will be consumed with soul searching over that sort of behavior, and will finally figure out what turned off the moderates.:eyes:

I'm sorry, the so called moderates don't even seem to notice that sort of thing.

[Lovecrafty]

7. Repukes have demonized Liberals for YEARS!!!

And we still got Clinton reelected! Republicans have used wedge issues like abortion and gay marriage to demonize Democrats and portray us as "without morality" for quite some time. I don't think a little Bush hate is gonna hurt us too much! I mean, it's about time right?!!!

[demnan]

8. I'm so old

I remember when Richard Cohen was actually a effective writer for the liberal cause. He got rich and old and cautious somewhere along the line and he ain't worth squat now.

Cohen retire, please!

[CityDem]

50. Cohen has lost his sack

He used to be progressive and now he is feeling sorry for Bush. Maybe he should spend the weekend with Coello.

[Crunchy Frog]

12. Well, I've just lost the respect

that I used to have for that columnist. Briefly enamored of President Bush?!?

Yes, there are some fringe nutcases like he describes, but they are hardly representative of the oposition, unlike the fringe nutcases on the other side who are all over radio and TV.

If these unnamed "Bush haters" are pushing him in a purple direction, what color does Ann Coulter push him? Did he notice the right wing vitriol that was directed towards the Clintons, or did he somehow miss that? Did he happen to watch any of the Republican convention?

And no, I don't think that a handful of people who compare Bush with Hitler are going to lose the election for Kerry. They are not representatives of Kerry's campaign and he can't be held responsible for them. And anyway, that kind of thing never hurt Republicans when they directed it Democrats, in fact they seem to do quite well with it. We might learn something from them.

[RetroLounge]

13. Bullshit, and don't assume to speak for "We"

RL

[LynnTheDem]

14. Bullshit. The entire world hates bush.

So either half of America and the entire world are "nuts"...or bushCabal are.

As bushCabal are a tiny little wee fringe minority in the world, common sense says they're the nuts.

And OF COURSE our actions are part of what caused the REACTION of the 911 attacks. Again, COMMON SENSE.

If the rightwingnut idiots had their collective hand on a hot stove burner, they'd blame the stove for hating "our freedoms" and while keeping their hand ON the burner, they'd kick and punch and attack the stove.

JUST REMOVE YOUR HAND. But noooooo, that's too LOGICAL for the rightwingnut morons.

[mazzarro]

15. This is the same columnist that recently apologised for doubting

people that opposed W*'s march to war. He has shown his judgement to be wrong a good number of times when it comes to the chimp. I will not pay heed to his claims and cautions. If he wants to cast his vote for his royal boy-king - let him do so and spare us sanctimony.

[colonel odis]

16. but clinton hating for 8 years was acceptable, right?

different set of rules for conservatives and liberals.

f*ckers

[Shuck and Jive]

31. Clinton blew off the comments and was reelected

[agingdem]

17. Have you noticed that...

the opinion columnists (Cohen, Dowd, Fineman, King, etc.) are so part of the Washington Beltway that what they have to say is of no relevance? They are enamored with their inside connections, enamored with their own self-importance, and enamored with their nonsensical verbiage. They play to each other, all the while claiming that they have their fingers on the pulse of country. In effect, they have rendered themselves obsolete.

[unfrigginreal]

20. I have noticed that and that's exactly what I thought while reading this

piece. They can't fathom that "one of their own" could be as wrong and evil as most of the world sees them. They have no clue as to what it takes to live in the real world or the dangerous game that they are playing by pitting American against American.

[agingdem]

24. Exactly ...and

they (op-ed, TV pundits) are so isolated and insulated from the general population that they can't see that the Kerry campaign is a grass-root phenomenon that can attract thousands of people to an open field or a high school gym. The op-ed guys are so self-preening that they have yet to understand that their ability to "turn a phrase" means nothing.

[ihaveaquestion]

19. So Liberals Hate America?

The repukes regularly pat themselves on the back for only hating half of America - the left half. Nice.

[depakid]

21. Yeah, right

Any so called "level headed" person who looks at the Bush administration for what they are is going to be somehow alienated by the Kerry camp pointing that out.

Back to Bed, Cohen. Or back to Therapy. Maybe both.

[kentuck]

23. As the naive little children sit in the corner believing they are secure

because they have George W Bush as their leader. You had better be concerned....

[WI_DEM]

27. I wonder if he spewed this thought about the demonization of Bill Clinton?

or Hillary?

[Shuck and Jive]

30. Clinton was reelected

despite the demonization.

[sadiesworld]

37. Gee, could the peace and prosperity of the Clinton years have

played a role in his reelection????????

[BeyondGeography]

28. What a muddle-headed POS.

He equates Islamic fundamentalism with those who sharply oppose Bush, calling us "fervid hallucinators" who fantasize about Bush's assassination.

For crying out loud, Cohen, we just want the worst President in our lifetimes to lose in November. You're the one who has taken leave of your senses, not us.

[Kolesar]

29. that guilt-by-association arguement is bogus

Cohen must be drinking too much cough syrup. That was a wretched column.

[Cocoa]

33. Cohen wrote one of the dumbest columns on Fahrenheit 9/11

and he had a lot of competition for that title.

[BootinUp]

34. Fuck him. He apparently doesn't know shit about politics.

[a new day]

35. Opening para has "the color of lefties, Commies and the like"

This guy is wanna be McCarthyite.

[DeepModem Mom]

36. Mr. Cohen, I believe, is not our friend --

One example, re. Ron Reagan (and there are many more):

"What I do know is that Ron Reagan is going to speak at the Democratic National Convention because his name is Ron Reagan. He is not a famous Democrat and he is not a well-known ethicist or medical researcher. He will be there just to stick it to the GOP and Bush and to suggest, as do the selfish when they would rather golf than attend a funeral, that they have the permission of the deceased. There's a term for this sort of thing.

Grave robbery."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50501-2004Jul14.html

[Rambis]

38. WHAT A CROCK!

Go try this with Rush and Hannity Zieg Heil!

[dansolo]

39. If people paid attention to what Bush has been doing

A lot more people would be hating him.

[a new day]

41. Yes, and guys like Cohen keep them taking their Soma

[MrBenchley]

40. Now how many people, do you suppose,

have even HEARD OF that guy Baker he's dredged up?

[robbedvoter]

42. Cohen is right!

You puny commoners should bow to the emperor and his Beltway belchers, for they know all and you know none. For only by bowing deep you will get what you want - which is not really what you think you know - Richard Cohen will be nice enough to 'splain it to you after the elections. (and the rest of them too. BOW! (WOW, WOW)

[KurtNYC]

43. Thanks for making my blood boil

so early in the day. His lame argument ignores how much the Right embraces the tactic as other posters have said here.

It also ignores the fact that RWers hate America and say so on a daily basis. I say they hate America because they hate the majority of the population of the USA. They hate women (Limbaugh refers to them as "femi-nazis" -- how's that for "haywire" btw?) and women are more than half the population of the country. They hate African Americans, everyone who voted for Gore, the 400,000+ who were in the street protesting their king 2 weeks ago. You get the idea. When you add up all the groups they hate, it is probably 85% of the country.

Mort Zuckerman's Daily News is like Murdoch's New York Post in drag.

[AngryAmish]

45. Bush IS Hitler

He will kill all of our children in stupid insane wars to make himself and his family richer. Cohen is a filthy shit-eater.

[Cha]

46. Whatever! bush is going to lose

so I don't think stating the truth about him is going to do Kerry any harm.

[kwolf68]

47. Demonization

What the f*** did Bill Clinton have to put up with? Oh that’s right…Nothing…no one ever said anything derogatory about him right Bill? I mean, John Kerry…a man who gave up his posh life to serve his nation and almost die, and receives medals that are then drug through the political mud isn’t being mean is it?

Screw these people…How often has a Liberal been called a Communist? Traitor? Anti-American? Max Cleland was essentially aligned with terrorists in the 2002 election.

And WE are the ones playing mean?

For 24 hours a day, 7 days a week…the most asinine harems of hatred lead by Rush, Sean, Savage Weiner, Laura, Liddy, Oreilly, etc., etc. ad nauseum promote the narrow-minded belief that Democrats want to do harm to America.

We have a media that won’t cover anything news worthy and are hellbent on advancing tabloid politics. We have the most suspect, corrupt election in America’s history calling into question the very fabric of our democracy.

And YOU think we are being mean? You haven’t seen a fucking thing.

[Generator]

48. This is such rich irony

Because many here complain that Kerry doesn't hammer Shrubya's unending evil deeds enough.

Demonizing the man, oh please. The truth is the truth. I used to think it was extreme but then I did a little reading. It's shocking to realize we are in danger of losing our Democracy.

The truth hurts like hell.

And I wonder if America can handle the truth which is why Kerry does have to tread that fine line.

But I swear to you, John Kerry knows just how rotten the Bush cabal is. And he doesn't need to shout that they are evil, all he has to do is say the facts. They speak volumes.

And the rest of us can Kerry on with our "hatefest".

It beats cowering in fear of Al Queda all day long thinking George W. Bunnypants AWOL is going to save your life.

[DrFunkenstein]

49. After The Convention & Swift Boats...It's All 'Retaliation' Baby!!!

The media has accepted into its groupthink that Bush went extraordinarily negative on Bush, and any attack on Bush will be seen as a response to that.

Carte blanche, baby! (The chords to Clapton's "Cocaine" are playing in my head!).