This evening, NPR ran a segment titled "
Counting a New Breed of Conservatives", which profiles a segment of the voting public called "Pro Government Conservatives". (You can listen to a web-casts of the segment at that address). This group predominantly voted for Bush, and still "support Bush", even though they were opposed to virtually all of Bush's policies.
They're getting hurt by Bush's policies. And I can't make myself care.
In the NPR segment, they interviewed the "prime segment" for this demographic, a group of women at a church in Nashville, TN.
They talked about Iraq. "I'm worried that Bush doesn't have an exit plan". "I'm not sure we would have invaded or even cared about Saddam Hussein if there wasn't oil in Iraq" One woman had a son in Iraq, and was rightfully worried that he was in harms way.
They talked about health care-- how they couldn't afford insurance, they believed that everyone should be able to get vaccinations and basic care when they are hurt.
They talked about the poor economy. They talked about jobs going overseas. They talked, they talked, they talked.
But, all said they voted for President Bush. Why? One noted that he goes to church, so he had to be a great guy. (Kerry is a lifetime Catholic, but that didn't count) One said her reason for voting for Bush was that she liked his wife... "She's a great little homemaker! They obviously love their kids!"
As I listened, I was disgusted. These people put less thought into voting for Bush than they put into which deodorant to buy. They surely would take time to think through which car to buy -- how does it drive, does it have room for groceries. Yet they voted for Bush, even though his policies are hurting them at a very personal level.
I wish I could care. But I found myself shouting at the radio as I was driving, saying "YOU DESERVE IT! YOU VOTED FOR THE MORON!" as they described their troubles.
I'd feel sorry for you, but I know you're going to vote for the next Republican idiot who waves a flag and wears their religion on their sleeve. And, you deserve the fallout from their bad decisions. You voted for the moron, you deserve his policies.
The rest of us, however, deserve much better than Bush.