Did bush voters who now hate him really not see this coming?

[Philosoraptor]

My brother for example voted for bush twice, and now regrets it, mainly because of Iraq, but let's face it, we all saw this coming, why didn't he? He is a born again, so maybe he can use it as an excuse, but what about all those other now disgruntled bush lovers?

Were they really hoodwinked? Did they really fall for a bill of goods, were they tricked, fair and square, or were they maybe just maybe just being bullheaded?

For me it was like that famous Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrel as bush the bumbler in the oval office, riots in the streets, white house in flames after only two weeks in office. I just knew, and we here just knew that this is how it would all end up, we just didn't guess the particulars or the scope of it.

I've heard a LOT of republicans call in to cspan and say "I voted for bush twice, but I'll never vote republican again till the day I die, I'm voting straight Democratic, throw the bums out". I've heard it again and again, and I've heard it from my own brother.

I guess many were actually fooled, but many more saw what we saw and supported the ape and the neocons, and nine eleven cemented the deal, and in a sense, we were all fooled as a nation, but some of us were not. Some of us have never bought into this madness, never believed a word he said, never were fooled for one minute.

[EvangelOphileBlican]

1. I don't think so. It's now ok to express it though. (Momentum) n/t

[Skittles]

18. it was always OK to express it

unless you were someone who cared about the rat bastard GOP party more than you cared about America

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. In some ways it is nixon redux

you will have truoble finding who voted for Nixon in 72... but people did, enogh to get him elected

20 years from mow you will have trouble finding a Bush voter.

Incidentally three years ago I met an honest to goodness Nixon voter... and that was strange... I told him same thing would happen with Bush. I wish I could remind him

[Mythsaje]

3. I never bought into his crap

My bullshit detector went into overdrive and starting smoking and sputtering the first time I saw him on TV.

Wasn't real fond of Gore either, at the time, but now I know it was his "consultants" that screwed him up.

[wake.up.america]

7. I agree, the first I ever read about the clown, I had a red alert.

[Sugar Smack]

4. Do you know, I started two threads about Congress.org-

and the angry letters to Bush from Repubs who were now voting Democrat. I was happy but I just wanted to smack my forehead. Or somebody's.

[pooja]

5. Some people want to believe in the President and that our country

is good. Its a great delusion. Its hard to wake yourself up out of that when you want to beleive it so much. And this country, under chimpy, became so polarized after his selection that it was hard to talk to one another. And then 9/11 happened and he had a blank check. (I won't even go there)

But at the end of the day, nobody is making more, college is more expensive, the war is never ending, spending is costing so much debt, outsourcing and downsizing has taken away the good jobs. I think parents are seeing how hard it is for the kids to have the American Dream when they are still living at home after college.

[zanne]

6. It's become socially and culturally acceptable to hate Bush.

I always thought alot of it with Bushies was cultural. Bush was (and probably still is) commander-in-chief of the culture wars. Alot of people need social approval to express their true opinions.

[Philosoraptor]

11. remember when you couldn't even criticize him? Or laugh?

I remember after nine eleven it was considered in bad taste to laugh at bush anymore, after laughing at him for over a year. It's definitely is in vogue to hate him now.

[Boston Critic]

20. Maybe Comedy Central

...should bring back "That's My Bush," the short-lived sitcom about the Bush White House. It was pretty funny, but it got yanked quick after 9/11.

[FernBell]

8. there are always too many who will be ready to buy a lie

[radfringe]

9. pigs are flying over minneapolis

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2588674

[Philosoraptor]

12. that's a good one

[and-justice-for-all]

10. I didnt vote for him either time....nt

[acmavm]

13. After Clinton a feeling of disgust (over something that was none

of anyone's business really, except the lying part) the propaganda machine kicked into gear and fired up the republicans by playing to their feelings of arrogance and superiority. Because if you scratch the surface of a repub that's what you find. They know better than anyone else, they ARE better than anyone else, God talks to them only, they are smarter, you name it and they claim the title.

And they were played. But crooks and thugs and moral degenerates. But they were so wrapped up in their fake indignation and moral superiority they didn't take a good look at the criminals that were running 'their party'. And when it started to become apparent, they couldn't admit that to themselves. Because if they did then they would have to consider that maybe they weren't all that they told themselves they were.

[thepurpose]

14. How could they not see what they were encouraging? Each time they voted

for the man they encouraged him to continue on. If democrats don't take one of the houses of congress tomorrow, the American people have enabled him once again.

[lapfog_1]

15. I think its something more akin to Tribalism

kind of like a Sports Team fanatic (aka fan).

They identified with the "winning team" (i.e. the GOP) in much the same way they might identify with the local Pro football or basketball team. After all the team slogans like "government is evil, we are for small government" and "taxes are evil, you can make better decisions than the government about how to spend your money" and "if you have government to do something, it's much better to have the government hire a private firm than to hire government workers"... all those belief systems have been instilled through a generation of propaganda into the masses. So the people that eat this shit up have a sports team fan mentality ("death to the other side... boo boo boo"). Never mind that THEIR team long ago quit any pretense of practicing what was preached. It's still THEIR team, their tribe. Many of the fans are now waking up to the fact that their team stinks... and doesn't practice all of those propaganda points, and, worse, is making horrible decisions about the "game". I only hope they go all the way and quit coming to the contests, and even question WHY they were fans in the first place!

[Disturbed]

17. The top 1% are doing even better than before.

The Middle Class are getting hammered, The Working Poor and The Poor are ignored. Many finally figured that out. The Fundies also figured out that they were being played by the Rethugs. It has taken five shitty years for 65% of Americans to get a whif of this Fascist Imperialist Regime. That sure doesn't mean that more than 50% have converted to being Dems. It just means that they now know that this specific Regime is rotten.

[hadrons]

21. great post

says it all, I got a couple of emails from some hardcore living-in-another-reality and it had the same "rah-rah my team" mentality

[marions ghost]

26. good analogy

"it's still their team...their tribe."

This loyalty is hard to break.

[Skittles]

16. you speak for me, Philosoraptor

I'm thinking a lot of these people are now personally being affected by the disastrous policies of the bush misadministration but they want their conversion to be more profound so they profess it to be their sheer love of America....I call BULLSHIT

[Boston Critic]

19. "9/11 changed everything"

After 9/11 Bush -- who on 9/10 was an idiot -- was suddenly transformed into Winston Churchill. If you couldn't see it, possibly it is because you didn't drink the Kool-aid.

It's the same mix that people took in the '80s when they would see a doddering old fool on TV and refer to him as "the Great Communicator."

[blue cat]

22. My sister who turned on Bush

will still not vote for a democrat "because of what Kerry said about the troops". My dad still can't vote for a democrat so he says that he may stay home.

[seabeyond]

23. my people are smart. no they did not. they truly believed these

people were not only good ole boys but smart. they believed they were "christians". they believed they would be good in office. they believed...

did they allow themselves to be suckered, damn right. they refused to hear anything i said that would contradict that opinion of bushco. allthe evidencewas there and they made sure they did not hear or see it. my dad has turned, and i am ready to tell him,all this shit didnt happen in 2006. the evidence has been there since day 1 and you refused to see.

[JerseygirlCT]

24. It's always puzzled me, too.

It was like a giant train bearing down on you -- how could you miss it?

[leesa]

25. Well, he trashed Texas before he came to the White House. Should have

been a clue. He drove every business he ever had into the dirt. Should have been a clue.

[w4rma]

27. Most conservatives have problems thinking ahead, because they do not understand

the way the world works. Conservatives are usually naive about the world outside their own "safe zone".

[GeorgeGist]

28. "born again"

is a phony excuse.