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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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| WARNING: This essay is rated P - for Political content. Some material may be too intense for some readers. Discretion is advised. If you are not up for a serious discussion on the issues of the day, there are over 300 other pages at BBHQ with nothing but fun and nostalgia; please wander around elsewhere at BBHQ. Our recommended alternative essay is "Just Shoot Me." |
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Fall, 2004: OK, let's put this on the table and get it over with (mouseover the hot spots for brief explanations):
Now.... NONE of those statements is true. Not one of them. Not an ounce of truth in any of them. They are all completely without foundation. But that has not stopped John Kerry and the Democratic Party from making those statements the cornerstone of their campaign. Oh yes... I did not make up any of those; they all come from the Kerry campaign and Democrats trying to defeat George Bush. Rather than showing weaknesses on the part of the president, the absurdidy of these claims shows how desperate the Kerry campaign is.
John Kerry, reporting for duty:
Oh no, you make up your own punch line. What is driving this absurdity? Hate.... pure and plain hate. And why do they do it? Because some people actually believe that crap. They really do. As the election draws closer, it seems we are hearing a lot more from the "Hate Bush" crowd. Apparently a lot of Americans hate George Bush, though I suspect not nearly as many as the press would have you believe. Still, hatred for George Bush seems to drive the political stance of a large number of people. There are two things that bother me about that: the reasons that "they" offer for why they hate Bush, and the concept itself of basing a political philosophy or a vote on an emotion - especially the emotion of hate.
 "How do you ask a goose to be the last goose to die for a campaign stunt? How do you ask a goose to die for a photo op?" (Kudos to Hugh Hewitt.) Cher, reknowned social scientist and member in good standing of the Hate-America First crowd, stirred up the waters in her community recently: "All the gay guys, all my friends, all my gay friends, you guys you have got to vote, alright? If they [Republicans] get any more power, you guys are going to be living in some state by yourselves. So, I hate scare tactics, but I really believe that that's true." Yeah, I'll bet that she really believes that is going to happen. She really does.
 Hate as a Political Foundation Politics, or the leadership of our country's government, if you prefer, is an important issue. It seems foolish, perhaps even dangerous, to base a political stance on an emotion, especially an emotion as strong and vile as hate. Think about it: "I am going to vote for the Democratic candidate because I hate George Bush." Absurd, isn't it. Well, not to those who allow feelings to dictate their course in life, I guess. Hate is a powerful emotion. It can lead people to do dangerous and destructive things. Hitler hated the Jews; so he had six million of them exterminated. Does that make ANY sense at all? Militant Islams hate Americans; so they murder Americans indiscriminately by the thousands. I am not suggesting that voting against George Bush is necessarily dangerous. And I do not mean to group the Bush-hating crowd with murderers. But it does seem terribly wrong to allow hatred to drive one's political beliefs. If you have been following the news closely (generally reports outside of the mainstream press, which has ignored the stories), you will recall that several Republican Party headquarters across the country have been attacked. Orlando, Hollister (California), San Diego, Cincinnati, Flagstaff..... In some cases, computers were stolen; in others, the office was just ransacked. This is evidence of hatred.... yes, if you are so inclined, you might call them hate crimes. Hmmmm..... it appears as though the party of hate is becoming the party of violence. (As far as I have been able to tell, no Democratic Party offices have been attacked.) A week before the election, a Democrat aimed his Cadillac at Republican Congresswoman Katherine Harris and a group of supporters and nearly hit them, claiming he was exercising his right to political speech. This provides evidence of the underlying theme of this essay: generally, Democrats react emotionally and out of emotions, whereas Republicans generally react rationally, based on reality. A lady in Florida, caught on video tape repeatedly ripping up and removing a neighbor's Bush sign, says that she did so.... in the middle of the night, to save her neighbor from being fined by the neighborhood association for displaying a sign on his property. This is another symptom of the Bush haters: a complete disconnect from reality. She actually thought people would believe that. The last paragraph of a recent column in the UK Guardian, a far left British rag, reads, "On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?" The Guardian has removed the last sentence and forced their writer to apologize for revealing his true feelings. But you can read the original essay, which was captured here: http://piratescove.typepad.com/piratescove/2004/10/the_guardian.html So let's see now... the entire civilised world wants to see the president of the United States assassinated. Oh, yeah; that's real classy. I guess that means that the assassination of the president passes the "global test." Yeah, I am eager to embrace the European mindset. Republican hate: Oh, I know that we heard a lot about hating Bill Clinton in the 90s. But again, I suspect that was more the doing of the press. I talked to a lot of people in the 90s. And a lot of them hated what Bill Clinton did and what he represented. Heck, I am one of them; nobody has been more critical of the first boomer president than have I. But I do not hate Bill Clinton. You can find numerous essays here at BBHQ that are severely critical of Bill Clinton and his legacy. But they never employ the word "hate." In fact, I have never talked to anyone who said they hate Bill Clinton. On the Sunday before the election, I did a Google search on "Hate Bush," and another one on "Hate Clinton." 2,050,000 for one 780,000 for the other - about a 3/1 ratio. Now, you take a guess; which is which?
Why They Say They Hate George Bush For the purposes of this discussion, we need to divide "they" into two categories. The "they" I am going to discuss here is the common Democrats... the impressionable voters across the country. As ridiculous as it is to base a philosophy on hate, the reasons they give for hating George Bush are even more absurd. For the most part they hate him for things that are not true, or things over which the president has no control. Most commonly, they say they hate him because he lied. Ha!! If lying were such a big deal to them, they would have hated Bill Clinton to the end of the Earth. But no... they loooooove Bill Clinton. And as much as they talk about President Bush lying, they cannot come up with a single lie that he has told. As their prime example of a Bush lie, the wanna-believers refer to the president's state of the union address in 2003. They repeat what the press reported numerous times: "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." There are two problems with that example. First, it is not a lie; and second, that is not what the president said. What the president actually said was: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." No matter; the Democrats believe that George Bush lied. If you need some clarification on the definition, click here; our "What's a Lie?" primer will pop up in a small browser window. Our "Bush Lied" essay offers a $5,000 reward to anyone who can document a lie thet George Bush has told. Five thousand dollars! Nope; not a one. There are dozens of web sites touting Bush lies. Heck, there is even a book about the Bush lies. So you'd think that somebody would be able to document just one lie he told, wouldn't you? But nope; not one. What does that tell you? Of course, it is not the alleged lie that bothers them. Their hatred is irrational. They use the alleged lie merely as a basis for their hate, albeit a false basis. Lies do not really matter to those who lead with their feelings; neither do facts. But it does make them FEEL better about their hatred. We asked visitors to our site to tell us why they hate George Bush. Here are some of their responses. (Please feel free to read closely.... or to skim them):
Why All this Hate, then? One of the primary differences between Democrats and Republicans is the foundation of their philosophy. Generally, Republicans use facts, logic and reasoning as a basis for their political beliefs. (Admittedly, not always; but generally.) Democrats base their philosophy on feelings; they believe in symbolism over substance. That is why they more eagerly allow an emotion to dictate how they vote. Four trillion dollars fighting poverty, eight years of Bill Clinton, and this year's presidential campaign provide ample evidence of that. So, why do the every day, common, run-of-the-mill Democrats really hate George Bush, then? Well, I am not one of them. But, based on my anecdotal, unscientific evidence, I believe that they do not really hate him at all. They disagree with him, for sure; very strongly, in many cases. But they do not HATE him.... at least, not most of them. Though they will not admit it, I think it irks many of them that this is a president whose faith is genuine and deep, and who uses the Bible as the basis for his values, not as a visual prop for a photo op. I think it bothers them that George Bush is the kind of husband and father they wished Bill Clinton had been. I think that many of them are angry that Bill Clinton, the mourner-in-chief, did not have the opportunity to take center stage after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, and that a man who never thought about being president until he was 40 years old did. Frankly, I think that some of them are angry because George Bush has not told any real whopper lies, as Bill Clinton did. If he had, they could justifiably bring George Bush down to the level of Bill Clinton. Then, everything would be as it should. Their failed attempts at finding any whoppers angers them even more. It really is all about feelings to them.
So they use the false claims of lies, and the smirk, and everything else to justify their feelings. And here is the important part: those whose political philosophy is driven by feelings allowed the Democratic leadership to reach into them and grab their emotions. The Democratic leadership knows that their constituency responds to emotions more so than facts. So, much of their propaganda is aimed at stirring up the emotions of the party faithful. They (the Democratic Party leadership) want to stir up as much emotion as they can, believing that that effort will translate into votes. And, if a few Republican Party offices get trashed in the process... and, if the truth and the facts are buried deep in the process... well, such is the price of victory. And you just wait... if John Kerry loses the election, the Bush haters will be screaming bloody murder for years, like a two year-old. But if George Bush loses, those who support him and his philosophy will just shrug their shoulders, go back to work, and begin planning for the next election.
Post-Election Update:
Our "Talking Dirty in Washington" essay documents numerous emotion-stirring insults and lies directed at the president aimed at stirring up your emotions. We could not find one nasty thing that George Bush has said about his political adversaries. Now, y'all alleged Bush haters can hate all you want. And you can vote for whomever you want. But you should know that you are being manipulated. Your mis-guided leaders have used false propaganda and lies, and appealed to your lowest and most destructive instincts in order to get you to follow them. Hate hides you from the truth. When you hate, you follow something that feels good, and you believe it, because it feeds your hate. In doing so, you push aside the truth. Hate should not be the centerpoint of your political philosophy. Hate should play no part in your political philosophy. I am sorry for those of you for whom it does. You should know one other thing: the negative emotions stirred up in your soul are far more destructive to you than they are helpful to your party. Have a nice day.
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Exploring My Roots: A Chicowitz History
Membership details here.
Terrific boomer memorabilia!!
Remember this?
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BBHQ visitor J demonstrates Hershel's point:
| My emotions drive my politcal [sic] beliefs. Emotions when armed with the proper facts drive the world. For example, Fact: bush has found ZERO weao=pons [sic] of mass destruction in Afghanistan. Fact: he is sepdning [sic] more mony [sic] on the war and sending people to space while there are homeless , aids infested communities here in America as well as other countries. America wants to be the world police but has ended up being the bully everyone laughs at. My emotions, I am embarresed [sic] to be part of this ciricus [sic] show called the United States. I love my fellow Americans I just hate the government. |
Hershel replies:
It may be true that emotions "drive" the world. But that is part of what is wrong with the world. I question what J calls "proper facts." The Bush administration never expected to find weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan. Yes, the Bush administration is "sepdning [sic] more mony [sic] on the war" -- more than, say, the Clinton administration did. Damn right it is! And this is a bad thing?
Clearly J is allowing his emotions to drive his political beliefs to the exclusion of facts and logic.
I might also ask J why he FEELS that "America wants to be the world police"; that has never been the stated goal of any administration in my lifetime. Is that an example of a "proper fact"?
J would not know a "proper fact" if it slapped him across the face.
If I took seriously, for even a moment, the statements that J makes, I might ask for his evidence that "America... has ended up being the bully everyone laughs at." That is just a wild, emotion-based claim, with no facts to back it up. Like most is his ilk, J is exaggerating and just making things up to justify his FEELINGS.
Yes, this is an example of what happens when you allow emotions to drive your political beliefs. J demonstrates our point.
J would do better trading in some of his emotions for a simple dictionary. He is an embarrassment (note the spelling, J) to our society... and especially to English teachers.
Ara writes, in part:
| ...for me Goerge. W. Bush still remains to be a low life, despicable, nerveless, mendacious, conniving, incisive, dissimulating, egotistical son of a bitch he is and will always be to all who know him for what he is: a [expletive deleted], dying bastard. |
What a gem! Proves our point, huh?
But we have more evidence. Luke jumps in, head first:
| Your website is about as ignorant as the president himself. You want to talk about emotions? How about the emotions of the hundereds of innocent Iraqi's who were killed and who are still being killed today? Do they have the right to hate bush? You make me sick. I do hate bush and for all the reasons he has given me and the rest of the American people to. Your attempts to justify the coward and piece [expletive deleted] we call the president are more absurd than anything I have ever read. To hell with his statments. A 4 year old with mild intelligence can easily tell when they are being lied to. Anyone can bend the words around on paper, turn around and say they meant something different. If you cannot agree that George W. Bush is one of the worst presidents to ever serve this country, then not only do I feel sorry for you for being so easily misled, but In my opinion you are nothing but an ignorant, cowardly, [expletive deleted] idiot. May God have mercy on your meaningless, hea! rtless, conservative soul. By the way, Karma is a [expletive deleted]... I can't wait until it comes around to bite you, Bush, and all the other idiots in the [body part deleted]. |
As we told him, Luke just made our day!
Rio demonstrates that Islamo-fascists do not own the market on baseless hate:
"I have never met any people more narrow minded and full of hate than the 'God fearing' denizens of the Texas panhandle. They are the scariest people on Earth. True fascists, in every sense of the word. Die. Die. Die, you fascist [expletive deleted]. Make the world a better place and simply die."
Though, as is typical of many of the bush-haters, Rio showed his cowardice by providing a phony e-mail address.
This is from BBHQ visitor Dank:
"Not at all. I see an IDIOT for what he is and has done as a human being and as a man with power\"leader ship" [sic]. Although emotions may get in the way and cause conflict with others based on differant opinion's [sic]. Lord has blessed me with BooBvision, and at 35 with the true knolege [sic] Iv'e [sic] recieved [sic] I could spot a DORK. Like Mork from Ork." This is why we love hearing from the Hush haters!
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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