Blind faith is not an excuse

Crop circles. The strange abbreviations on our URSA bills.
People who actually still support President Bush. What do these
three things have in common? Just this: Despite all my attempts to
figure out their origins, I can find none, and yet they all
continue to exist.

With my jaw on the floor, I have been watching in a constant
state of disbelief. First the Bush administration failed to give
adequate attention to an ambiguous memo titled “bin Laden
determined to attack inside the U.S.” a month before the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

So members of al-Qaida, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia,
killed almost 3,000 Americans. Bush decided to attack Iraq. Many
claimed that this was an absolutely idiotic decision because a
panel found that Saddam Hussein was in no way connected to
al-Qaida. In all fairness to the president, however, this is a
mistake most of us could have made ourselves, considering how
closely “Saudi Arabia” sounds like
“Iraq.”

Things were almost looking up when Bush gladly signed Sen. John
McCain’s law banning torture ““ until he added a clause
at the bottom saying it can still be done when the mood strikes
him.

Where are the angry mobs with pitchforks? There was more outrage
when Britney Spears was caught driving with her kid on her lap.

During the recent anniversary of the war’s start, war
protestors in various cities and countries were marching, but all
is quiet the rest of the year. Even more shocking, the Bush
administration actually has a united base despite all the
screw-ups, while the Democrats can barely stand to be in the same
room with each other.

How is this possible? I decided to cross party lines to find
out.

“I’m not sure if the Republican base is any more
loyal,” said Matt Knee, former chairman of the Bruin
Republicans. The current vice chairman, David Lazar, agreed, noting
that every party tends to “see the opposition as united
against them.”

Wow. Maybe the liberal tendency to see Republicans as red,
horned creatures whose sole purpose is to destroy all that is good
and happy in the world skews my perception ““ if only just a
little.

After all, during the Dubai ports scandal, many Republicans
openly criticized President Bush. In another act of defiance,
Republican representatives killed his social security bill after he
presented it to Congress. His approval rating continues to steadily
drop, which was last reported to be at 36 percent.

Still, that’s 36 percent, meaning that some citizens out
there, without being forced to support Bush by the nature of their
jobs, do anyway. How can even one objective person entrust the
country to the hands of a man who has trouble riding a bicycle?

“(Republicans) believe in what the party stands
for,” Knee explained. He pointed out that even if they
don’t wholeheartedly support a particular leader, they still
show support because they believe in the basic tenets that leader
represents.

I suppose he’s right, but there sure are a lot of mistakes
to look past. I’m not sure the Democrats have the kind of
dedication it takes to look past a leader who launches the country
into war on a whim. I can’t count the number of times
I’ve heard Democrats enviously plotting to unite their party
just the same way the Republicans have (or had, depending on your
take of recent developments).

I would like to extend my advice to them: Don’t bother.
There’s obviously enough faith in the world that defies all
common sense.

E-mail Strickland at [email protected]. Send
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