10 Reasons Not to Kill Bush

"10 reasons not to kill Bush" is the title of a column in the Oregon Daily Emerald, the University of Oregon independent campus newspaper. The author, Jennifer McBride, is presumably a student. I picked up the link from Drudge. If you haven't read it, you should.

McBride's hook for this column was the hand grenade found in the vicinity of the President during a speech in Georgia recently. She began:

I can't possibly guess the assassin's reasoning, but I've heard enough people on campus proclaiming their hatred of George W. Bush to know that some wouldn't have shed many tears. And that's a shame.

If the assassin were looking for a way to hurt America, blowing up the president would be a good idea. Bush's martyrdom would put the last nail in the coffin of the liberal agenda.

After listing her 10 reasons, she concluded:

In all seriousness, I don't hate President Bush. I dislike a lot of his administration's choices, but I think he's a good man doing a difficult job. As a leader, you're always going to be hated. I am too often shocked by the vitriolic repulsion many people feel for our leader and America in general, especially because the loathing is often poorly informed. I've met people on this campus who see America as the worst human rights abuser in the world (unlike the angelic paradise of Cambodia) and people who sway liberal not because they actually know anything about issues but because it's popular.

Liberalism has to be more than a college fad or a collection of loudmouths whose idiotic comments stir headlines. The rabid dislike some people feel for a man they've never even met makes me ashamed to be a Democrat.

Hmm. It's hard to disagree with those last two paragraphs if they're sincere. However, after reading the whole piece, I have to wonder if the conclusion was thrown in to protect the author from the Secret Service agents who may come a-calling soon. Frankly, it reminds me of that old bit on "Seinfeld." After making a comments that could be interpreted as being negative about gays, Jerry and George would throw their hands in the air and declaim in unison, "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" The humor was in the cynical attempt to counteract words already spoken, knowing full well that they meant what they said.

McBride's column makes me reflect on the wounded protests I got from a few liberals when I wrote The Politics of Hate. The intense hatred directed at the President by some more extreme liberals, especially tenured denizens of academia and the airhead children who listen to them, is clearly way over the top. Like the lady said, it ought to make a body feel ashamed to be a Democrat.