Worshipping “W”

VFR reader David Hobson writes:

I would like to echo the points in your most recent post, “Is this liberal democracy, or something else?” You are exactly right to point out that Bush’s supporters view him as something of a demigod, a fact that unnerves me. I voted for Bush twice, and I even had a Bush-Cheney bumper sticker on my truck during the run-up to the last presidential election.

This is because I am one those whom you hear very little about: someone whose vote for Bush was motivated more by opposition to Kerry (and his leftist politics) than support for Bush.) An example of the hero-worship you perceive in Bush supporters is found in the prevalence of “W” stickers. I live in Atlanta, where there are a great many Bush-lovers, and these stickers are everywhere.

I find this to be disturbing. We should not allow our respect for the personal virtues of whatever man happens to hold the office of the president to prevent us from thinking critically about his policy decisions. In our government, skepticism (and even cynicism) about the personal motives of the men who hold elected office helps us better evaluate their decisions. I would not vote for a man whom I did not believe possessed the personal integrity to lead. But neither would I allow my respect for the man’s personal integrity to blind me to his political shortcomings. Having a “W” sticker on your car suggests to me that you support GWB right or wrong. This is the case, a fortiori, if you believe the president to be God’s envoy.

The “W” stickers also represent a much less threatening form of the poster-sized images of the leader so prevalent in a fascistic dictatorship, which is, I think, the “something else” to which the title of your post refers.

Keep up the good work!

My reply:

Thank you. I hadn’t heard of the “W” bumper stickers but that certainly fits the syndrome we’re discussing. Uncritical identification with the president of the United States is something new.

As I’ve said, I think that this worship the leader, massed-together, We-Must-Win aspect of the conservatives is largely a reaction against the increasing evil of the left.

And that’s what leftism does. It is a politics of hate that denies the very legitimacy of a society, so that those who are not on the left are reduced to affirming that legitimacy. There’s no air left for any conservative politics other than rah rah Bush, rah rah America. I see this phenomenon as at least 90 percent a reaction to the left.

But while that makes the conservative move toward a kind of fascistic attitude understandable, it does not justify it.

Look at Lucianne.com today, a discussion of Peggy Noonan’s latest, and you will see how many of the L-dotters regard her literally as an apostate because of her criticism of the Inaugural address.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 04, 2005 12:18 PM | Send