The Moose is concerned about the spread of a syndrome.
It is clear that President Bush has caused many on the left to lose touch with reality. For them, radical Jihadism is not a threat but rather an excuse for the Bush Administration to impose a fascist police state. They suffer from what the Moose calls Bush Tourettes Syndrome (BTS).
But, evidently, BTS has spread to the center of the political spectrum. The usually sensible Jonathan Chait wrote in the Los Angeles Times ,
"Even though all but the loopiest Democrat would concede that Bin Laden is more evil than Bush, that doesn't mean he's a greater threat. Bin Laden is hiding somewhere in the mountains, has no weapons of mass destruction and apparently very limited numbers of followers capable of striking at the U.S.
"Bush, on the other hand, has wreaked enormous damage on the political and social fabric of the country. He has massively mismanaged a major war, with catastrophic consequences; he has strained the fabric of American democracy with his claims of nearly unchecked power and morally corrupt Gilded Age policies. It's quite reasonable to conclude that Bush will harm the nation more - if not more than Bin Laden would like to, than more than he actually can."
Jonathan, you know better. The Moose disagrees with many of the fiscal and plutocratic policies of the Bush Administration. He agrees that the Administration has horribly mismanaged the post-war period in Iraq. On the other hand, American democracy is as vibrant as it ever has been despite security precautions that are mild compared to those imposed in the past by Democratic Presidents during wartime.
One can be angered by the policies of the President without suggesting that a Jihadist killer who has already murdered over three thousand innocent Americans is less than a threat to the Republic than President Bush. Thank God, Osama and his network have been significantly downgraded and weakened. But - make no mistake - his followers and acolytes seek to repeat another massacre of Americans.
The Moose realizes that it may be important for Chait's credibility to distance himself from strong supporters of Joe when he attacks the nutroots, as he admirably does in the latter part of the column. But, please, even if you loathe President Bush, do not mention him in the same breath as a radical Islamist killer. It does not purchase you any more credibility with the left, and it does a disservice to rational discourse.
Jonathan, its OK to take a unadorned stand with Joe - your company is welcome here in the vital center. -- | 
Email
this post
