International Law

We Won?t Get Fooled Again

By Rob Hyndman

I can still remember first hearing the phrase “compassionate conservative”. It was coming from Karen Hughes, and I was quite certain at the time that it was a lie, calculated to assuage liberal Republican and conservative Democrat anxiety about the hardship that social conservatism might cause. “Don’t worry”, it said, “we’ll find other ways to help.” You could almost hear the snicker that followed - “Because us, we’re all about the helping.” It was obvious to me then that Bush was lying about who he was and what he would do. God, or perhaps his sense of manifest destiny, or more likely the operatives who had sought him out in their search for a candidate who could unite economic conservatives and evangelical Christians - had told him to, I suppose. But in any event, you didn’t need to know he was lying - it would have been enough to be suspicious, and to recognize that there simply wasn’t anything in the man’s record that gave credit to who he was claiming he was, or what he was claiming he would do, and it seemed obvious to me that he just wasn’t ready. A few more terms in the Texas Governor’s mansion, and the voters would know.

Still, many folks bought it. Bush spoke well, and communicated his message clearly. It didn’t seem to register with many folks that that’s not hard to do - clearly, not enough voters remember Jim Bakker and Elmer Gantry - and that the Presidency is a powerful incentive to lie well. And of course, once some people sign on to a campaign, others will join simply because it appears to be the popular thing to do. No one likes being left out by the popular. And at heart, most people want to do the right thing. There is no easier quality for others to manipulate than our desire to help others and make the world a better place. (more…)

Full post as published by Rob Hyndman .com on February 04, 2008 (boomark / email).