Molly Ivins (Mother Jones): The Uncompassionate Conservative

[Dudley_DUright]

In order to understand why George W. Bush doesn't get it, you have to take several strands of common Texas attitude, then add an impressive degree of class-based obliviousness. What you end up with is a guy who sees himself as a perfectly nice fellow -- and who is genuinely disconnected from the impact of his decisions on people.

On the few occasions when Bush does directly encounter the down-and-out, he seems to empathize. But then, in what is becoming a recurring, almost nightmare-type scenario, the minute he visits some constructive program and praises it (AmeriCorps, the Boys and Girls Club, job training), he turns around and cuts the budget for it. It's the kiss of death if the president comes to praise your program. During the presidential debate in Boston in 2000, Bush said, "First and foremost, we've got to make sure we fully fund LIHEAP , which is a way to help low-income folks, particularly here in the East, pay their high fuel bills." He then sliced $300 million out of that sucker, even as people were dying of hypothermia, or, to put it bluntly, freezing to death.

<snip>

There was a telling episode in 1999 when the Department of Agriculture came out with its annual statistics on hunger, showing that once again Texas was near the top. Texas is a perennial leader in hunger because we have 43 counties in South Texas (and some in East Texas) that are like Third World countries. If our border region were a state, it would be first in poverty, first in the percentage of schoolchildren living in poverty, first in the percentage of adults without a high school diploma, 51st in income per capita, and so on.

When the 1999 hunger stats were announced, Bush threw a tantrum. He thought it was some malign Clinton plot to make his state look bad because he was running for president. "I saw the report that children in Texas are going hungry. Where?" he demanded. "No children are going to go hungry in this state. You'd think the governor would have heard if there are pockets of hunger in Texas." You would, wouldn't you? That is the point at which ignorance becomes inexcusable. In five years, Bush had never spent time with people in the colonias, South Texas' shantytowns; he had never been to a session with Valley Interfaith, a consortium of border churches and schools and the best community organization in the state. There is no excuse for a governor to be unaware of this huge reality of Texas.

more...

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2003/11/ma_559_01.html

[Swede]

1. Now expand that to the rest of the USA,

don't even think about the rest of the world.

[reprehensor]

2. In a nuthsell.

Yup. That's Dubya. Molly knows.

[Dudley_DUright]

3. You are right

This article is actually her book "Bushwacked" in a nutshell. I just finished it and it is a must read.

[realFedUp]

4. I disagree with Molly

He is mean and he's also clueless.

[indepat]

7. I disagree in part: While his policies and actions clearly demonstrate

meanness, he is not clueless for he knows exactly what he is doing.

[fortyfeetunder]

5. Molly's always dead on her analysis

I just hope Murkans read between the lines with * and figure out a second term with this nutcase is not what we need...

[Myra]

6. I think Molly's exhibiting a little "self-deception" herself

Perhaps she's projecting.
Because she's a nice person she convinces herself
that little bush has to have a kernal of humanity.
He just has to!

Well, Molly, I've never disagreed with you more.
The Fortunate Son is a full blown sociopath,
a fuckin' monster. He's responsible for untold
suffering, tens of thousands of deaths.
He has to know that, at least, and he doesn't care.

[belle]

8. Yeah, I think Ivins is being overly generous here

There are worse faults one could have, mind: I love the woman and her writing. But I do think she's putting the kindest possible light on his behavior one could while still remaining in touch with some semblance of reality. That her interpretation still shows him up to be a perfect schmuck says volumes about him.

...which, hmmm, maybe she does know what she's doing after all. Good old-fashioned diplomacy, perhaps: one can slip a lot under the radar that way, and Ivins is no fool.

I'm still laughing over O'Really's lumbering attempts to paint her as the good cop to Franken's "bad guy"--"*you* I'll debate anytime," he said to her, pointedly. Apparently, amid all the blustering, he missed the part where she skewered him in her own polite way. Others didn't.

[belle]

9. --Just re-read the article--the punch is at the end.

This paragraph is so damning:

>Okay, we cut taxes for the rich and so we have to cut services for the poor. Presumably there is some right-wing justification along the lines that helping poor people just makes them more dependent or something. If there were a rationale Bush could express, it would be one thing, but to watch him not see, not make the connection, is another thing entirely. Welfare, Medicare, Social Security, food stamps -- horrors, they breed dependency. Whereas inheriting millions of dollars and having your whole life handed to you on a platter is good for the grit in your immortal soul? What we're dealing with here is a man in such serious denial it would be pathetic if it weren't damaging so many lives.

You can't argue with it. And you can't even make the ridiculous claim that she's only saying this 'cause she hates Bush so much--she goes out of her way to emphasize that she finds him a "nice" guy. Well, that and a buck-fifty, as she makes quite clear: "nice" in this context is pretty meaningless. It's kind of beautiful, actually, her technique: okay, we've established that he isn't actually the devil, now let's take a good hard look at all the hell he's caused. *Why* is he acting this way? Well, here's an explanation. But it still isn't an excuse.

Mind you, I have absolutely no problem with blistering diatribes calling Bush the worthless waste of skin he is, in so many words. But I do love me some Molly. She has that extremely rare quality, affected by many, achieved by few: class.

[Myra]

10. Good point you guys

Molly has an intellect second to none.
So maybe her pollyanna perspective is strategic.

Tho' I just saw her in person in a joint appearance
with Franken, and she was spewing the same thing.
"Nice guy...just doesn't get it...bla bla bla."
Dunno.

And does it matter?
Regardless of what's in his heart of hearts
(like he has one...), I care about his impact
on the planet and its occupants.
The bottom line is the same.
In Molly's words:
" damaging so many lives."

[Demeter]

11. I Agree With Myra

I was married to a guy like that--nothing and no one mattered but himself. The worse problem is there are so many fellow travelers in the GOP. The psychologist who did a survey, but denied the conclusion that one had to be mentally ill to be a Republican, documented the personality disorder characteristics required to support such a self-serving group.

And then there are the enablers on the Democratic side of Congress, who give in to go along, in the mistaken belief that this is how democracy works. THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACY DIES! When evil is abetted and not opposed, good dies. On the other hand, Congress may have given Bush and Co. enough rope to hang them high, and put an end to the growing fascism in the USA. If we do not give in yet again...like the Iran-Contra comedy.