Why many of us couldn't stand Bush from the moment we first

[pnwmom]

encountered him. How come everybody couldn't see him for the pig he is?

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/051706.html

"Bush: Alpha Male on a Cruise Ship"

"When future historians scratch their heads and wonder how George W. Bush came to lead the world’s most powerful nation at the start of the Twenty-First Century, it might help them to know that many Americans found his type familiar – and thus reassuring. Bush was the alpha male on the cruise ship.

"He was like the wise-cracking guy leading a pack of vacationers out of the elevator toward the all-you-can-eat buffet bar, while poking fun at Charlie for getting too much sun on his bald head or at Mildred for putting on a few extra pounds. The others in the group titter with nervous amusement, fearing their ribbing will come next.

"Like that dominant male on the cruise ship, Bush exhibits a freedom to mock the appearance of almost anyone, holding up both American citizens and foreign leaders to public ridicule for how they look."

SNIP

Some of those nasty, bullying, "popular" kids in junior high never grow up . . . they just become presidents.

[eleny]

1. And in the old movies...

They were the odious guys. Not necessarily the bad guy. Just someone injected for viewers to hate on sight.

[mdmc]

2. to be honest

I grouped him into a corporate, pro drug war and death penalty group that I really disliked. The dems were in this group along with w. I really didn't like him any more or less then quayle.

[pnwmom]

7. I think he's got far more smirk and swagger than Quayle,

though the IQ's might be similar.

[mdmc]

10. yup

but at least he is authentic. "Science out on global warming" plus, he was gung ho for the drug war and death penalty. Gore would always waffle:mad:

At least Nader was sayin the things I needed to hear.

[pnwmom]

18. He's not "authentic"! He's a complete and total phony.

And Gore was trying to get himself elected President of a divided country, and so he made some mistakes.

But Nader wasn't trying to get himself elected so he could say whatever he wanted; to hell with the consequences to the country.

[ixion]

3. no accounting for poor taste, I guess

I've never understood why people think he's a "likable" guy. I've never found one thing that I liked about him. From everything I can see, he represents everything that is wrong with our society today.

Guys like Little Lord Pissypants were a dime-a-dozen in college. Stupid and worthless. Just because their parents had a bit of cash, they had it easy, and were free to be assholes. :grr:

[blm]

8. Media TOLD people he was so likeable and full of INTEGRITY - they lied

shamelessly for over 6 years. It took a category 5 hurricane to blow back at the media spin. It was an event they couldn't find a way to spin for Bush.

[hfojvt]

26. Well, Molly Ivins said he was likeable

and I think Al Franken said something like that too, although neither claimed that he had integrity, or said that likeability was a valid reason to vote for him.

[pnwmom]

34. What the heck? She did? I wonder if she'd still say that.

Or if she meant it like she might mean "some people like snakes, too."

[Jane Austin]

45. Molly said that he wasn't mean.

On that, I completely disagree with her.

He's as mean as a snake. Uglier, too.

[pnwmom]

61. Has she said that recently? I'd hope she's learned something

since then.

I agree. He's nasty. Don't insult snakes, I'm sure there are some good ones.

[Jane Austin]

43. You've got that right . . . .

The part about guys like him being a dime a dozen in college.

I had a couple of "matched dates" with guys like him, and I was miserable.

I knew who he was the second I laid eyes on him, and every single thing he's done since then has only fit my original gut instinct.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. He made me want to puke from the first second I laid eyes on him.

It was a real gut reaction. No rationale behind it, but it sure was strong.
Nothing has happened to change my initial impression of him.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Same here, my hatred of him is visceral.

I knew he would destroy this country before he even got started.

[pnwmom]

9. The article also talks about his body language. I think that's a lot

of what our guts were reacting to.

[hfojvt]

35. from my LTTE in October of 2000

"I have mostly spoken against Bush instead of for Gore, but it is usually easier to be sure of what you do not want. A Bush presidency quite frankly scares me, whereas I am sure that Gore will be safe based on the last eight years. Eight years ago I did not see that much difference between Bush and Clinton, but now there is enough between Bush-2 and Gore to go with Gore."

So I am on record as being very worried about a Bush presidency, but I could not have imagined LIHOP, or Guantanamo, Abu ghraib, or that so many Americans would just :shrug: while his administration takes a dump on the constitution and blatantly violates everything America is supposed to be, or worse yet that so many people in this country would even now line up to hear him speak after a Democratic governor says what an honor it is for him to visit our red state.

[Libby2]

19. Ditto

Sorry

[Fire Walk With Me]

53. Agreed!

He's proven over and over that the gut response is completely rational.

[enid602]

5. Alpha Male on a cruise ship?

More likely the unsinkable Molly Brown; crude, but definitely going down with the ship.

[MrModerate]

24. Frighteningly, she didn't go down . . .

Survived the Titanic and helped a whole lifeboat-ful of people buck up their spirits.

I'm hoping your comparison is inapt, because the rest of us seem to have mised all the lifeboats.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I didn't like him because he was the son of a failed president.

And, as an American, I'm inherently distasteful of these political dynasties constantly in office.

Not that he didn't give me plenty of other reasons not to like him before he was even elected.

[baldguy]

12. Don't forget whipping the darkies

and making fun of the cath-a-licks and those Christ-killer Jeews.

[givemebackmycountry]

13. He's like Eddie Haskell from "Leave it to Beaver"

Kind of funny.
Kind of a jerk.
Kind of a pain in the ass.

Once you get to know him, you want to "knock his block off" like Wally would say.

Now that he's all grown up, it's easy to see how he became the total dick that he is today.

[pnwmom]

21. Eddie didn't have that core-meanness about him, as I recall.

The difference between Eddie and Georgie is that there is a bit of vulnerability in the Eddie character. He's not a "cute kid" and he knows it. He's a jerk but lacks that alpha-male swagger.

[brentspeak]

14. My first concrete indication that Bush was Bad News

was when his campaign aired the "DemocRATS" subliminal ad. (I didn't know much about Bush Jr. before 1999)

When a candidate is willing to use even brainwashing techniques to win office, it falls under the "you will know them by their fruits" category. It gave me an ominous impression that was confirmed shortly after he took office.

[MrModerate]

28. I was deluded throughout the 2000 campaign . . .

Having seen the basic wisdom and tolerance of the American people vindicated in the Clinton affair, I was convinced they'd never buy into a fake cowboy from Martha's Vinyard who couldn't string two sentences together without swallowing his tongue.

I called him -- up to and including election day -- "unelectable."

And you know what? History proved me right! Twice!

[Hissyspit]

15. He made another joke about someone's bald head the other day...

He's obsessed with bald heads - this * fellow is just bizarre.

[pnwmom]

22. Yes, to the Prime Minister of Australia. Just the sort of

person we would want to insult, right?

[Hissyspit]

40. As a person with male-pattern baldness, pretty much NOTHING

is as irritating, annoying, obvious as a bald joke.

[pnwmom]

42. And I betcha he knows that. And loves doing it all the more.

[Philosoraptor]

16. I hate his guts but at least he makes my flesh crawl.

Instant disgust at the sight of him from day one.

[diamondsndust]

17. all it took for me was hearing the Bush name... n/t

[The Deacon]

33. I was ready to

dislike him back when Senior was Ronnie Raygun's Vice Figurehead (come on, y'all, you DO know Cheney was running the Government even back then, didn't you?) and someone published a story about Silverado Savings and Loan, mentioning in passing Junior's string of failed oil ventures (and all the crony capitalism that kept bailing him out.)
My viceral reaction started the first time I ever heard him speak...I haven't been able to stand the sound of his voice for more than ten minutes without feeling physically ill...just something about it makes me want to HURL everytime...so thank you, DUers, for publishing The Speech beforehand & sparing me the nausea that would have come with having to listen to it (the feeling, as best as I can describe it, is like riding a roller coaster with your eyes closed & having a belly full of nothing but black coffee *shudder*)

[catmandu57]

20. I hated his parents

especially that ugly old bag of a momma, but my hatred of this miscreant grows deeper every day.

[hfojvt]

23. I kinda dislike that theme

because it puts the hate ahead of the perfidity. Republicans think we get mad at his policies and hate him and call him names, simply because we hate him (nb. edited). This discounts the factual basis of our complaints. I had no strong feelings for him one way or another, until he lied to me, and every American, over and over and over and over again. I feel the same way about him as I would towards anybody else who lied to me a couple dozen times, and continued to lie even after he was called on it.

"Q Mr. President, Democrats in Congress think that this plan, as it's structured now, is weighted too heavily to the higher income brackets. Are you willing to work with them to perhaps change the ratios a little bit, if that's what it takes to get their support?
THE PRESIDENT: I believe the plan, strongly believe the plan that I have submitted is structured the right way. I've heard all the talk about class warfare and this only benefitting the rich. I think when people take a good, hard look at the rate reduction and who benefits and the fact that our plan erases inequities in the tax code, or eases inequities in the tax code; and that the biggest -- the bottom end of the economic ladder receives the biggest percentage cuts, people will come to realize it.

I think it's important to cut all tax rates, yes." Feb 5, 2001

"the bottom end of the economic ladder receives the biggest percentage of cuts" - that is, plain and simple, a bald faced lie. Furthermore, it is a lie about something that is so easy to refute (fairly simple math, although Ted Koppel claimed to be confused by it, apparently Ben Affleck was not.) Thus, I think he has given me a sound reason to not trust him and to trust his critics.

[pnwmom]

30. I know what you mean, but it's all tied together. Because his

sick, twisted personality is what we reacted to. The man who could ridicule a woman on death row who was begging for mercy later showed no empathy for victims of the hurricane. Were any of us surprised?

That sick, twisted personality is at the bottom of this administration's power hunger, its global overreaching, its incredible sense of American entitlement.

[The_Casual_Observer]

25. When I heard about the asshole back in 1999 I predicted wars &

recession. Everything I feared and more has happened.

[jimshoes]

27. The first time I paid any real attention

was in the debates with Gore. From his poor command of the language and misuse of words, I knew he was sub-standard material, especially for the critical job of POTUS. I also had a gut feeling that we would be at war with someone before his first term was out were he to get in office. He might feel superior to the more common folks among us due to being born into wealth, but he is no alpha male as far as I'm concerned. Alpha creep, yes,...Alpha male... hell no.

[ThomWV]

29. Domineering Does Not Mean Dominant

This asshole is no more the Alpha Male than alice in Wonderland is.

[NJCher]

65. yes

That was bugging me.

Alpha male my ass. A real alpha male would knock this cocky little banty rooster to the sandpile.




Cher

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. How come many still can't, even now? He's revealed his true self

time and time again. :shrug:

[pnwmom]

39. Good question. I sure can't figure it out.

[Kashka-Kat]

54. my fundamentalist sister in law says that "he's the kind of wise strong ma

she wouldve liked to have had for a father."

I reaaaallly don't get it.

[pnwmom]

58. Ewww!

[Sequoia]

32. He's hopeless

I wonder if realizes how much the world hates him. I wish he did know, then his head would expolde with rage.

[Lisa]

36. "George Bush reminds women of their first husband"

That was a comment going around back during his dad's term. I'd say that his son reminds women of the loser who fancies himself "God's gift to girls" and leers at them openly, making disrespectful comments when he thinks they aren't listening. Bush's campaign overcompensated and made a big deal of Bush "admiring powerful women" -- trotting out his mom, Karen Hughes, Condi Rice, etc. -- but he's always created some doubts among women voters (shows up in the numbers each time).

A lot of women I've talked to have commented that they find his media presence irritating and even creepy -- and that his strategy of trying to play "the strong male protector" is unconvincing, especially when he picks and chooses which aspects of security he wants to push (he still doesn't seem to "get it" about poverty, education, health, etc. being things that people worry about).

[jedicord]

37. When I heard Cheney would be his running mate I knew it was

the Devil's duo. I worked for Dresser, which merged with Halliburton (thanks to a Cheney/Dresser CEO quail hunt ironically). I experienced the vast difference in employee relations between the two companies.

I knew immediately that if they were elected the common man was screwed.

P.S. I've abhorred Bush for a long time, I live in Texas.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

38. the sense of entitlement and lack of humility

i sensed that immediately. i have never understood where the idea that he's likeable came from.

[fooj]

41. Little Lord Pissypants.....

[Bridget Burke]

44. When he was running for Governor...

He "impressed" me as a half-bright, overage Frat boy, holding down a cushy job in Dad's company. Years after graduation, he still looked back to the years at UT as the high point of his life. (No blame to UT--but the Iconic Texas Fratboy wears Orange & White.)

I never understood people wanting to have a beer with him. No doubt he prefers watery Corona & shots of syrupy Cuervo Gold. Besides, he's probably a mean drunk.

[Jane Austin]

47. Bush didn't go to UT! Wash your mouth out!

He applied for law school, but couldn't get in.

The dean of the law school then? Texas gubernatiorial candidate, Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn's, papa, the legendary Page Keeton.

I don't know how in the hell he got a grandkid like Scotty McClellan.

[Kashka-Kat]

46. There is also Bush the whacked out and incoherent

Remember the press conference during Bush V Gore, when Bush had that odd bandaid on his face and crazy looking eyes and I think it was someone else (Cheney?) who did all the talking.

It was at that moment I thought, OMG! What are we in for??? WHY can't people see what's right in front of them? It was just like the story about the emperors lack of clothes.

The supposed "alpha male" thing-- yeah I suppose, but thats only 1 persona which he exhibits. Other times-- glassy eyes like on some really heavy meds.

[Jane Austin]

48. In dogs, the alpha male doesn't have to keep asserting himself to maintain

his dominant position. It's the wannabee dogs who pick the fights.

I've had alpha males that never raised a hackle, no matter the provocation. All the other dogs just KNEW who he was.

Bush has to stick his arms out so (at least in the animal kingdom) everybody can get a whiff of his scent.

Aw, crap. Now I've made myself sick. :(

[PassingFair]

49. I have known my share of alpha males, and he

is NO ALPHA.

Zeta, yes.

Any woman with eggs worthy of fertilization
would fight to the death to avoid insemination
from that frat boy.

[reality based]

50. Perhaps to Young Republican males he's an alpha

[PassingFair]

55. The offspring would likely be low scoring

...on ANY aptitude test.

[pnwmom]

62. LOL, yeah, be careful not to dwell on him too much!

[Dinger]

51. I Kind Of Thought It Was The Other Way Around

Like when a kid gets picked on, despite all of mommy and daddy's intervention, then grows up to be in a position to" strike back at the world that struck him," so to speak. Just a theory

[pnwmom]

63. Maybe it was his mummy and daddy picking on him

and he's too afraid of them so he strikes back at the whole world

[Dinger]

66. Bingo!

You win the prize!

[ecstatic]

52. my first impression - drunk, overpriviledged asshole nt

[AspenRose]

56. Knew he was bad news back during the election against Ann Richards

Didn't vote for him then;
Didn't vote for him in 2000;
Didn't vote for him in 2004.

And proud of it!

[Disturbed]

57. I looked up his record as Gov. of Texas.

I knew then that he would screw up America. He is an arrogant jerk off and freakin' phony.

[lukasahero]

59. Yeah, well, in every disaster movie I've ever seen featuring a cruise ship

this is the idiot that dies first. One can only hope.

[Bad Penny]

60. My heart turned to diarhea

the moment I saw Dubya and his old man announcing Jr. was going to run for President. Nothing but bad vibes from the start

[Zorra]

64. Dominant alpha male? Bwaahaahaahaahaa. That weenie twerp?

ROFLMAO.
:rofl: