Will Obama’s Victory Mean an End to Bush-Hatred?
Four years ago when the election results were better for my side than were those this past week, I vowed that I wouldn’t gloat if Bush won the election, sensing, as I put in a blog post since disappeared when someone hijacked our blogspot account:
many of the president’s opponents would be genuinely pained. . . . I knew the period after the election would be a tough time for them. It didn’t seem right to do anything that would make them feel worse than they would already feel by the mere fact of his victory.
This year, I have made a different vow. And that is to let the Democrats savor their victory and not offer snide comments when I see them celebrating. Similarly, I would hope that they, understanding how upset some of us might feel about the elections, would not gloat, especially not in our presence.
That doesn’t seem to be the case. Well, not entirely. Some friends and acquaintances have been incredibly gracious, knowing to avoid politics. It seems even a few (but alas not all) of our critics have shown considerable restraint in the comments section.
Look, Obama ran a better campaign, had the right slogan for the year. And we took it on the chin. It’s not easy being the incumbent party during an economic downturn.
When I see the gloaters, many of whom said some of the most vicious things about George W. Bush, members of his Administration and his supporters these past eight years, I wonder if they’ll let up on their hatred now that their guy has won. Or, will they continue to spout bile against their political adversaries and blame Bush for our nation’s problems when their team will be responsible for addressing them?
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You’re right. This is not a victory over which to gloat – it’s one to cherish. I think we’re getting a sneak preview right now of where political attitudes in this country are headed. We’re seeing it in the classy and extremely gracious nature of McCain’s concession speech, we’re seeing it in the uninhibited joy of Obama’s supporters (something I think is entirely unprecedented in a presidential election). And we’re even seeing it in the gracious nature of your post.
We can let Bush’s legacy speak for itself at this point. But, I think Obama is a politician who is uniquely qualified to heal some of the deep political divides in the country.
Comment by James — November 6, 2008 @ 12:17 am - November 6, 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZHTJsR4Bc
You stupid idiots.. Shes a dunce and everyone knew it but you dumb shit.
Comment by mac — November 6, 2008 @ 12:31 am - November 6, 2008
Looks like another generous and kind-spirited Obama supporter has already commented. Perhaps some of what was written about in this post will be informative for his kind.
Comment by Kurt — November 6, 2008 @ 1:01 am - November 6, 2008
Gee Mac, you really proved Dan’s point there didn’t you!
Rush said it very well this morning – your side is so full of hate, and you don’t know what to do without it.
Here’s an idea – just let it go. How about doing what your guy suggested – try a little unity.
That’s ok, you’re not alone. Today when I congratulated a friend, she was initially very gracious – but very quickly fell into the usual Bush hatred.
Sad, but after 8 years, I’m not expecting any maturity from these people.
Comment by Leah — November 6, 2008 @ 1:11 am - November 6, 2008
#1: “You stupid idiots.. Shes a dunce and everyone knew it but you dumb shit.”
mac, where’s this coming from? Nobody brought up your mom.
Comment by Sean A — November 6, 2008 @ 2:49 am - November 6, 2008
after so many years of fostering divisive hatred, the right is now asking the rest of us to be gracious? it’s hard for me to be sympathetic when i see images of a man at a palin rally with a curious george doll with an obama sticker on its head. how about just days ago when i was reading the comments section of a republican blog to find comment after comment suggesting that obama killed his grandmother for sympathy, or celebrating her death and calling her a marxist? or today on townhall.com when i read a comment left on an ann coulter post, the author comparing the people partying in the street to “planet of the apes”?
the difference between our hate and yours is that our hate is not for people but their policies. bush’s policies have left this country in such shambles that it will likely take a decade or more to put it back together. sarah palin wrote off entire parts of the country as “un-american” as we watched videos of her speaking to a group of alaskan secessionists to which her husband belonged. we threw up in our own mouths as michelle bachmann called for mccarthy-esque witch hunts to root out the “anti-american” elements of the house and senate.
we have every reason to celebrate, because we have finally ended the era that left us with less money, less international respect, thousands upon thousands of deceased american soldiers, a massive debt, and fewer civil liberties. if you have still not figured out that bush will be remembered as one of, if not the, worst presidents in history then you are in profound denial. when was the last time you remember people all over the country and the world reacting with such unbounded joy at the election of a president? rallying at the white house? certainly never happened for bush.
bob dylan said “you don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows”, but i guess some people do.
Comment by edward — November 6, 2008 @ 2:54 am - November 6, 2008
Those questions answer themselves.
Rationality and happiness are choices. Hatred and bile are also choices. As anyone who has dealt with a 2-year old knows, people who have chosen hatred and bile don’t give it up, just because they get their way. Getting their way may, if anything, make them worse. No person who has been consumed with Bush-hatred is going to wake up and say, “Oh I was wrong. We really are a democracy, and he was never an enemy of democracy.” Show me someone who does say that – I know it’s hard; bear with me – and I’ll show you someone who had always stayed pretty rational.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — November 6, 2008 @ 3:23 am - November 6, 2008
None of my liberal friends have gloated. They’ve been nothing less than cordial with me. One went as far as to tell me “Tough break for your guy and gal, huh? Listen, you weren’t a jerk when my choices lost in 2004 and I always remembered that.”
I told them that we should all savor this watermark in American history. Even in defeat, I can appreciate the magnitude of what transpired. To see the faces on all those elderly Black folks in the Obama victory celebration resonated with me. Many of them grew up in an America where they couldn’t drink from the same fountains and couldn’t even vote. It must have been such a catharsis for him. The treatment Blacks in America has been the one horrendous stain on our nation’s history and this was a catharsis for America. As I see it, it’s one less thing Liberals can bitch about: that America is a racist country.
I’ll revel in the honeymoon phase until 1/20/09. Then I’ll be back to being annoyed with Obama’s policies and political maneuvers.
Comment by Right Turn — November 6, 2008 @ 5:03 am - November 6, 2008
I’m guessing no. I had to turn on comment moderation at my blog for the first time ever because the Obamunists were dropping by to spew their hatred. And my blog isn’t even overtly political. I ask you, do people who have happy, meaningful lives have to spew hate the day after their guy wins an election?
Comment by V the K — November 6, 2008 @ 5:16 am - November 6, 2008
“Every Night and every Morn
Some to Misery are born.
Every Morn and every Night
Some are born to Sweet Delight,
Some are born to Endless Night.â€
~William Blake
Comment by Right Turn — November 6, 2008 @ 5:18 am - November 6, 2008
I’ve had a liberal gloat-or-something, I’m not sure what. It was a co-worker at lunch today. It was nothing very direct. That would have been too obvious and made him look bad. But he invented allegations of Republican vote fraud (or perhaps repeated them from Kos? not sure). When I calmly pointed out that he had no evidence I could consider plausible, and that there was evidence of Democratic vote fraud in Ohio, he became visibly agitated and changed the subject to attacking me personally.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — November 6, 2008 @ 5:25 am - November 6, 2008
Indeed. Obama got where he is partly by accusing his critics of being all racists. That’s quite a watermark. I hope it’s the end of an era – i.e., now that we have a black President, can we all please get over these questions and finally judge people just by the content of their character?
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — November 6, 2008 @ 5:32 am - November 6, 2008
I haven’t really seen any gloating but then I work almost entirely with democrats and they mostly assume everyone else is a democrat. One teacher I work with knows my poitical leanings-apparently I dressed all in black yesterday without thinking about it. She asked me if it was intentional-I told her I was in mourning. That was the extent of it in real life.
What I am seeing on the internet though are now calls for all those who spent the last 8 years wallowing in hatred to tell the GOP and conservatives to buck and play nice. Seems a bit hypocritical.
Comment by just me — November 6, 2008 @ 7:03 am - November 6, 2008
What will happen to the Cult when the Obamassiah doesn’t deliver?
I expect that it won’t matter to the most fervent cultists. Jim Jones and the Heaven’s Gate people got their followers to commit suicide, after all. But one suspects that among the less fanatical, there is bound to be serious disillusionment when The One turns out to be a Zero.
Comment by V the K — November 6, 2008 @ 7:28 am - November 6, 2008
I’ve seen the gloating and been the butt of it already. WSJ posted a story yesterday about how Bush had been treated poorly and disrespectfully. Funny how they waited to publish that until after the election.
Either way, my intention is to refuse to demonize Obama. I won’t drink the kool-aide either.
However, I make no promises where Biden is concerned. That man is a loose cannon on a ship caught in a hurricane.
Comment by Vivian Louise — November 6, 2008 @ 8:00 am - November 6, 2008
Now obviously Bush isn’t responsible for every single issue, but his support of the Patriot Act is unforgivable.
Before you pull a tu quoque, I’m not a Democrat.
Everyone who opposes Bush is not a Democrat.
Comment by Dylan — November 6, 2008 @ 8:17 am - November 6, 2008
No it won’t deter the Bush haters. They will follow him to his grave and spit on it. That is what hatred does to you. It consumes you. And all throughout the Obama administration (or two) every time something goes wrong it won’t be the O’messiah’s fault, no it will be…you guessed it! George W. Bush’s fault. President Bush has handled the attacks with great grace. So we will go on to the next election and hopefully President Bush will be able to go home to his ranch and find some peace.
Linda S.
Comment by Linda Strickland — November 6, 2008 @ 8:41 am - November 6, 2008
Edward, the right fostering divisive hatred?
Yeah, as I’ve acknowledged repeatedly on this blog, there are some real nuts on my side of the aisle.
To even suggest that you hate is for our policies is to miss the last eight years when George W. Bush has repeatedly been misrepresented, maligned and vilified.
And all your lefties keep bringing up that speech to the group of Alaska secessionists. What did she say there that was so offensive, so hateful, so divisive?
Comment by GayPatriotWest — November 6, 2008 @ 11:12 am - November 6, 2008
*psst*, ILoveCapitolism, it’s a Republic.
Comment by anonnemo — November 6, 2008 @ 11:39 am - November 6, 2008
it’s hard for me to be sympathetic when i see images of a man at a palin rally with a curious george doll with an obama sticker on its head.
But for some reason, there was no outrage from you when Obama supporters were hanging Palin in effigy, or when they were claiming her children weren’t hers and that her husband was having incestuous sex with her daughters.
The more liberals open their mouth, the more obvious they make the hypocrisy that is the core of their being obvious.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — November 6, 2008 @ 11:54 am - November 6, 2008
Scratch the first paragraph of my previous statement (#8). I kid you not, the following exchange occurred at my job this morning:
One coworker came up to me, pointed his finger at me and bellowed out a boisterous, gloating laugh. “Bwah-hahaha!” He followed up by saying, “In your face, dude! Say goodbye to the conservative movement and the rest of you religious loons [I am not a religious loon]. You’ll be eating some serious shit when us Libs run everything.”
My response, “How small and sad is your life that you insist on pinning all of your hopes and dreams on one person that doesn’t give a crap about you? Let alone a smooth talking politician (an attorney no less)?”
His rebuttal, “I can’t wait to see people like you squirm when all the Republicans are kicked out of Washington.”
To the credit of my other coworkers, several came to my defense. One Obama supporting colleague told him “Knock it off. You’re embarrassing the rest of us. He (meaning me) has done and said nothing to warrant your behavior. The only buzzkill in our office right now is you!” He then turned to me and said, “Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “I’ll get the last laugh the day he opens his paycheck and sees more taxes taken of his paycheck, followed by his “But I thought he said–.’”
Comment by Right Turn — November 6, 2008 @ 12:00 pm - November 6, 2008
“The more liberals open their mouth, the more obvious they make the hypocrisy that is the core of their being obvious.”
Right NDT, and you’ve expressed extreme outrage at Obama images being hung, constant claims the he is Muslim, wasn’t born in the US and all the other shrill pig nonsense that has been flowing from the right. You are hypocrisy personified and you’re in good company
Comment by a different Dave — November 6, 2008 @ 12:26 pm - November 6, 2008
“You’ll be eating some serious shit when us Libs run everything.â€
Well, who can argue with that?
Comment by Draybee — November 6, 2008 @ 1:26 pm - November 6, 2008
And end to Bush-hatred?
PSHAW!
Bush-hatred is illogical, implacable, insatiable.
Comment by Jeremayakovka — November 6, 2008 @ 1:40 pm - November 6, 2008
Right NDT, and you’ve expressed extreme outrage at Obama images being hung, constant claims the he is Muslim, wasn’t born in the US and all the other shrill pig nonsense that has been flowing from the right.
Extreme outrage, hardly; condemnation, yup.
Now let’s see you similarly condemn the other stuff.
But of course, Dave, you couldn’t ever condemn hanging an effigy of Palin, because gay men did it, and criticizing gay mens’ behavior is homophobic.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — November 6, 2008 @ 2:11 pm - November 6, 2008
#16: The Patriot Act? That’s nothing compared to what’s coming (e.g. the “Fairness” Doctrine – should be renamed to the “Opposition Suppression” Doctrine).
I see where Obama is starting to get the same national security data that Bush gets. If there are serious threats out there (and I believe there are), it will be fun to see Obama supporters react when he decides the Patriot Act (and all the rest) is vital.
The hateful left will never be sated. The really interesting thing will be to watch the Dems control the monster they’ve created.
Comment by SoCalRobert — November 6, 2008 @ 9:03 pm - November 6, 2008
Sadly, I don’t believe the hate will stop, because the underlying unhappiness, which I believe stems from the futile attempt to create Heaven on earth, will not stop. Since no elected leaders, no legislation, no program, no business, etc. is ever going to bring about “world peace”, an “end to poverty” and “economic justice”, etc. the frustration and hatred will continue. Besides, a contented populace is NOT one whose votes can be bought, and that’s what Democratic politicians (and unfortunately some Republican ones) are about. It’s marketing. Create a need, then provide the solution! In fact, I think of Obama more as a “brand” than as a politician.
Any criticism of President Obama’s performance or policies will be instantly construed as racism. It’s the perfect scenario for Democrats to maintain power.
Comment by Vivian — November 7, 2008 @ 3:02 am - November 7, 2008
1
I thought the West Wing
was outrageous comedy.
Now we get the joke.
2
Obama has won.
Rich people lose all. Who cares?
Get ten pounds of flesh.
3
A mighty oak from
an ACORN grows. Shallow roots
need beware a breeze.
4
The right to speak is
sacred. No one can deny
that to us. Fight the
Comment by brittlepoet — November 7, 2008 @ 10:21 am - November 7, 2008
NDT – you keep saying I’ve never condemned the things you find offensive in the gay communities. You are correct, on here I have not. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t elsewhere. If it will make you feel better: hanging an effigy of Sarah Palin is ignorant and and offensive, taking children to Folsom Street is reprehensible, the excesses of Folsom Street and the public displays of nudity and sexual acts is uncivilized and unacceptable, using death threats and other violent words towards people whose only “sin” is to believe different is out of line and certainly could be called hate speech. All these things are wrong whether they are done LGBT folk, str8 folk, left wing, right wing or none of the above. Does that cover it?
Comment by a different Dave — November 7, 2008 @ 7:18 pm - November 7, 2008
“I wonder if they’ll let up on their hatred now that their guy has won. Or, will they continue to spout bile against their political adversaries and blame Bush for our nation’s problem when their team will be responsible for addressing them?”
You wonder? Really? What do they say when speaking of Reagan? Bush the first? Every problem ever encountered was (is) their fault. They believe that with a patholigical vehemence (despite anything ever said to contradict their beliefs). They’ll never change their tune. Sad.
Comment by DoorHold — November 10, 2008 @ 10:36 am - November 10, 2008
Hi all…
After a long absence, I wanted to check back in to see what’s been happening on my favorite conservative gay blog (are there any others??)….
It warmed my heart to read this this post and to read some of the other posts since election day… Not much gloating or gloom and doom, but mostly hope and optimist for the future. Good! Dan, I too vowed that I would not gloat should my candidate win the election, and I haven’t. My message to all republicans (and people in general) is.. Let’s give the new president a chance. He’s not the be all, do all, savior of humanity as some have projected throughout this election, nor is he the anti-Christ as others have inisited.. but I think he is/will be the instrument to execute much needed change in the U.S. who will be a much better leader for us in the long run.
Btw, Dan, I read and reread your recent article in the Washington Blade, and it was very well written, as are all of your works. Kudos..
Comment by ndtovent — November 16, 2008 @ 12:59 am - November 16, 2008
[...] a post I penned shortly after last fall’s election was most prescient; I asked then if Obama’s victory would mean an end to Bush-hatred: When I see the gloaters, many of whom said some of the most vicious things about George W. Bush, [...]
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