Ever since a life-long Republican (a Texan no less) family friend announced with anger last fall that she was "done with Bush," I've been privy to a steady stream of outraged Republicans sounding off against Bush, hardly distinguishable at times from a liberal blogger.
Follow me over the flip for a trip down memory lane.
Let's see, first there was my red state California family Thanksgiving where the only politics spoken were angry conservatives complaining about fiscal irresponsibility. Umm, duh.
Then, more recently, there are my Christian conservative friends who've engaged me in political conversations, usually verboten when we hang out. Their biggest complaint, unsurprisingly, is immigration. But they don't see liberals as their foe, they feel that Bush is, that he has sold out their principles and the promise of what he represented when he became president. Ahh, sweet sweet Republicans eating their own goodness.
Not to be out done, my hawkish Bush loving Dad is apparently finally fed up with him and the Republicans in Congress as well. My jaw about dropped when I learned this. My Dad has stuck with Bush through thick and thin. Overnight he became an interventionist advocating for the voting rights of millions of Afghans and Iraqis -- who knew he cared so deeply? My Dad, who sees no problem with tax cuts for the rich as the deficit grows ever higher and a war costs billions every month...who saw nothing wrong with Bush's Air National Guard records but everything wrong with John Kerry's combat records...and the list goes on. Now I should say that my Dad is a northeast Republican, which is to say he is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, even pro-gun control despite being an avid hunter. He's also a smart and well-read guy. But he is also anti-liberal and wonders every day how he raised 3 of them. In his mind, Bush represented the overthrow of everything the liberals have stood for for decades. It gives me great pleasure to learn that he now appears to be spitting up the Kool Aid.
I'm sure we all have stories like these. And like me, I'm sure you greet these defections with a combination of "told ya so" and a sigh of relief..."finally." But these stories alone do not a frozen over hell make. No my friends, what is truly unprecedented in my experience, what truly spells the demise of Republican loyalty, is an e-mail I received in my inbox today.
You may have seen it, it's "Bush's resume" and while it's of course fake and would technically fall under "political humor" there's nothing false or funny about it.
It's a veritable laundry list of all the things we Kossacks have been shouting at the top of our lungs about for years, wishing that people would see what to us has been obvious: the incompetence, the lies, the immorality of this president.
What's stunning isn't the list itself but rather who sent it. It arrived in my inbox from a life-long Republican, without comment; there was no snark, no commentary just a silent forward that spoke volumes.
Their eyes are opening, folks. And while part of me wants to yell "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock" I choose instead to take a "better late than never" attitude and welcome them to the reality-based community.
George W. Bush
The White House, USA
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
LAW ENFORCEMENT:
I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days.
My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.
MILITARY:
I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL.
I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use.
By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.
COLLEGE:
I graduated from Yale University with a low C average.
PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:
I ran for U.S. Congress and lost.
I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975.
I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.
With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS:
I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.
During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America.
I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history.
With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:
I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week.
I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.
I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history.
I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs
I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history.
My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her. I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S. President.
I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations.
My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron.
My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision.
More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.
I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history.
I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any President in U.S. history.
I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government.
I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history.
I am the first President in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission.
I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.
I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.
I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. election).
I set the record for fewest number of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.
I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period.
After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history.
I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community.
I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families -- in war time.
In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends.
I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security.
I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a WMD.
I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden tojustice.
RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view.
All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE AND MY PARTY WHEN VOTING IN 2006
Now blogging at The Courage Campaign.