One Line Jumps Out From Matthew Dowd Defection

You knew the anti-Bush people would jump on this, and I am in that group. The idea that Matthew Dowd, one of Bush's inner campaign circle, has bailed out on the President is news, but it hasn't affected me as much as others. We are so far into tragedy here that an admission of guilt and remorse by one of the people responsible, just makes me slightly more annoyed. It's like hearing drunk drivers say how terribly sorry they are about causing a lethal wreck. It might help a little, but it doesn't help much.

However, I was taken by one sentence in the New York Times article, because it sounded like something I've been saying about Bush supporters for literally years now. See, I don't believe any rational person could look at who President Bush is, or what he has done, and buy it. Dumb doesn't come in that flavor. So my conclusion early on was that Bush fans were in the throes of something irrational. The more I looked at the symptoms the more it became clear: This was teenage puppy love.

I'm not saying they were teenagers - they're mostly adults, and they definitely should have known better, which is why Matthew Dowd is so wracked with guilt now. However, the rest of the syndrome fits as tight as a high school sweater.

Do you remember in the early campaigns when President Bush would talk about his personal charm as a factor in diplomacy? See, as a rich punk with a well-connected father, young George was able to slip through trouble unscathed, and being an arrogant lad with a dull, faulty brain, he interpreted this to be a result of his winning personality.

It seemed crazy, but you know what? He was right to an extent. At least he was able to charm the pants off of many of his supporters. They saw him as a godly man out there clearing brush in his cute blue jeans and they were moved. You have to concede that there is a permanent percentage of the American Public who still gaze into his soft, lying eyes and feel stirrings of affection.

The reason I compared it to high school was that it was reminiscent of an experience most of us witnessed there. Did you ever see a sweet, young teenage girl fall for the wrong guy? I mean everyone in school knows the creep is a shallow, reckless, irresponsible, dumb, lazy, manipulative weasel. Her friends know it. Her family definitely knows it. Hell, even HIS friends and family know it. But the teenage girl goes right on pining away for the affections of this arrogant loser, telling everyone who'll listen how cute and wonderful he is. Meanwhile, the entire high school student body knows it is a disaster unfolding before their eyes.

That is what happend here and they call it puppy love. Those are the Bush supporters. Matthew Dowd is just snapping out of it now. He's the young girl who phones her friends, (in this case the New York Times) and says, "I've been such a fool."

Of course, like the drunk driver who kills someone, this expression of regret doesn't help much now. Those 3,000 plus soldiers are still dead, and their families are still devastated. Those tens of thousands of seriously wounded soldiers are still dealing with their wounds. And those hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are still killed or wounded as well. Not to mention that the entire world is a much worse place because of this chain of fiascos, and could even be heading for true global catastrophe. Oh well. At least there is one more person who has grown up, and seen the truth.

Yes, the Portland Freelancer was convinced that the analogy of the teenage girl in high school, was accurate in describing these pathetic, misguided people, but it's always interesting when one of the teenage girls involved chimes in with some proof. Did you read what Matthew Dowd said to describe his irrational support of the worst President in American History? "It’s almost like you fall in love."