Recount: A Magazine of Contemporary Politics

Crocodile Tears and Bush's Victory

By Kristina Alda | Nov 18, 2004 Print

The morning after the election, most New Yorkers probably wept in anticipation of the Bush victory.  But how many of these were crocodile tears?  How many Democrats were (secretly) relieved that Bush remains in power?  A fair amount, I predict.  And I’m not just talking about those liberals who have made a bundle by cashing in on the Bush hatred after joining the multi-million dollar industry of anti-Bush paraphernalia.

Every Democrat has at least one reason to celebrate.  Four more years of Bush mean four more years of bonding through collective griping and targeted self-righteousness.  Because shared antagonism builds (the illusion of) unity and moral clarity. 

Let us be honest with ourselves here: if Kerry had won, many of us would suddenly be left mired in an unpleasant gray area when it comes to political stance and morals.  We would suddenly have to think about why we agree or disagree with the president’s decisions rather than just repeat a litany of clichés and well-rehearsed arguments that we’ve had the chance to hone to perfection under the Bush administration’s first term. 

As much as opponents love to accuse Bush of having a simplistic, narrow-minded worldview, those same detractors have benefited from his two-tone outlook.  After all, criticizing Bush, picking apart his linguistic gaffes and mocking his factual slip-ups makes us look well-informed, eloquent and “nuanced.” It also lets us adopt a clearly defined position, one that can be easily summarized as the anti-Bush stance.  And being anti-Bush, at least in the northeastern states, generally denotes being more tolerant, open-minded and compassionate than those cold-hearted Republicans. Who doesn’t like to bask in the warm glow of moral superiority?

If that isn’t reason enough to welcome Bush back into the White House, let us consider that over the last four years, Bush has become something of a muse to liberal (i.e. all) artists across the country.  Like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan before him, George W. Bush inspires the sort of hatred that gets every left-leaning American’s creative juices flowing.  What better source of inspiration than a bit of political activism fueled by self-righteous outrage?

From Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 to Jacob Weisberg’s multi-volume books of Bushisms, to pop punk band protest albums such as Green Day’s American Idiot, anti-Bush films, books, and records continue to flood an already saturated market.  And people seem to want more.

Ultimately, though, we all love to hate Bush because of one key thing.  For all the ill-informed Hitler comparisons, being able to oppose Bush proves we are free.  And what’s more, it is a safe sort of opposition.  Unlike in Cuba or China, opponents of the U.S. government won’t be sent to prison.  And when I say prison, I am not talking about one night spent in jail after stepping on a police officer’s toes during the RNC protest. 

So let us all take a deep breath.  After all the hand-wringing excitement of the 2004 campaign, America’s collective pulse and heart rate are ready to return to normal.

College students writing for on-campus newspapers across the country will continue to hone their social commentary skills by engaging in venomous anti-Bush rants.  Liberal columnists will still have their favorite topic to fall back on if nothing overly interesting is happening in a given week.  Anti-W t-shirt peddlers can start rubbing their hands in anticipation of more hefty profits, courtesy of young, disillusioned (fashion-conscious) liberals.  Disaffected Americans will continue to make threats to leave the country and burn their American passports.  (If everyone who has made such a thereat in the past, by the way, were to follow through, there should be a mass exodus within the next few weeks.  And maybe a great big bonfire fueled by hundreds of thousands of rejected passports).  We can even expect another book or two of Bushisms and maybe a few more versions of Fahrenheit 9/11

The streets of New York may have been uncharacteristically subdued on the quiet, cold morning after the election.  In fact, it seemed as though everyone were recovering from a collective hangover after a night spent getting drunk on adrenalin and tense anticipation.  Heads bowed as they trudged to work, many people appeared to be in a state of resignation.  But the mood will pick up.  I suspect that anti-Bushers across the country will now be sleeping better than in weeks, dreaming, perhaps, of new ways to make those anti-W badges bolder and snappier.

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