During the Clinton administration, many Americans united in their hatred of the president. In the process, they built a powerfully effective political machine. But the hatred always bugged me. The George W. Bush presidency has had a similar effect on a different group of Americans–among which I count myself. But again, I have instinctively shied away from the hateful ‘ABB – Anyone But Bush’ mentality.
In the last four years, the Democratic party has put together a political machine to rival that of the Republican machine (though not quite good enough based on Kerry’s narrow loss yesterday). Today, the expressions of hatred are especially strong from the left. In some cases, they are the very same words the other side repeated during the Clinton administration. “Not My President” reads the bumper sticker.
I have been thinking over this post for several days, but not found a way to express exactly what bothers me about the politics of hatred. Do we really want our political process reduced to this?

What Would a Dumbass Republican Do?
“WWADRD?
Dear Friends:
If the shoe was on the other foot, What Would a Dumbass Republican Do?
Get depressed?
Get down?
Feel defeated?
Go away?
Refrain from being an obnoxious pain in the ass, 24/7?
Temper his sense of righteous entitlement?
Mute his howls of indignation?
Question his convictions?
Hell, no!
Here’s what a Dumbass Republican would do:
Act like a winner in a world full of deluded losers.
Refuse to let the “facts on the ground” deter his belief in what he’s got coming.
Drown out polite civil discourse by braying his unshaken beliefs like a stuck pig.
Refuse to shut the fuck up.
Refuse to go away.
Wrap himself in the flag and impugn the patriotism of any who would question his moral superiority.
Wear a big shit-eating grin that gives the other side just a moment of pause as they lay their heads on their pillows at night.
Have a glint in his eye that says, “I may have a shit-eating grin on my face, but I’m just waiting for an opportunity to slip this knife in.”
See this not as a defeat, but as an inconvenient mistake.
Friends, join me.
Do not accept.
Do not waver.
Do not shut up.
Do not give comfort with your distress.
Be an unrelenting irritant.
Be a dumbass.
Right now, attitude is everything.
Together, we can help each other bear the present while shortening the time – and it will come – when we prevail.”