My cynical side never believes anyone who is unreservedly pleased with any of our elected (or wanna-be elected) officials. When I hear anyone say that their guy is 100% honest, smart and moral, I think the person saying this is lying — certainly to me, maybe even to himself. Even with the candidates we decide are good enough to support, I think we wind up pretending that his flip-flop on certain issues isn't a flip-flop; that his sleazy business dealings are spic-and-span; that his fund-raising activities don't have the distinct aroma of taking bribes. When it's Our Guy, we rationalize, ignore the evidence, and find an innocent explanation for that which was a character-defining felony last week when we caught the opposition doing it.
I rarely believe that people saying George W. Bush is a great leader really believe that. I think they just think he's the guy in the position to take the country where they want it to go, so they'll back him and pretend. Some of them are probably also pretending he's taking the country where they want it to go. I have a ultra-right wing friend who for years has been lecturing me that deficits are the tool of Satan and that any public servant who runs one should be executed. When Ronald Reagan increased the National Debt, my friend developed a long, tortured explanation (it had something to do with percentages of G.N.P.) as to why that debt was not really a debt. But when I ask him about the current financial projections, he can't even come up with a rationale. He has to change the subject.
All of this is a way of recommending a very sharp piece that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart just did about George W. If you don't like Bush, you'll laugh because it confirms everything you believe about the man, and does it in a way that's hard to deny. If you do like Bush…well, you might laugh but you'll also wince. Because just as Reagan supporters had to ignore his imaginary facts and his abominable record as a family man, followers of the previous Bush had to ignore him lying about Iran-Contra and taxes, and Clinton fans had to ignore his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky and fund-raising follies, supporters of the current Bush have to ignore stuff like this. (RealPlayer is, alas, required.)