BartBlog

What’s Wrong with the Neocon Mind

Once I had an email exchange with an avid neocon Bush supporter; cornered by pesky facts, instead of responding to my arguments directly, he sent me to a site called “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” Without a hint of irony, it named as cowboys Ronald Reagan and John Wayne as well as Tex Ritter, Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy, the Lone Ranger, Red Ryder, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Gunsmoke’s Matt Dillon, Hoss & Li’l Joe Cartwright of “Bonanza,” Paladin, and TV’s Maverick. All actors or fictitious characters. If you ever wonder what went wrong with the neocon mind, this is a good place to start — they can’t distinguish reality from fantasy.

Here, see for yourself, but make sure you’ve swallowed your beverage first: “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”

Elsewhere on the same page, you’ll find this gem; count how many Bush has violated in his six years as our First Installed President:

The Ten Cowboy Commandments by Gene Autry

Commandment 1 ~ “He must not take unfair advantage of an enemy.” [Bush is well-known for trying to change the rules when he's losing.]

Commandment 2 ~ “He must never go back on his word.” [Need I explain?]

Commandment 3 ~ “He must always tell the truth.” [Ho, ho!]

Commandment 4 ~ “He must always be gentle with children, elderly people and animals.” [Well, his SCHIP veto wasn't kind to children; his attempt to privatize Social Security didn't do any favors for the elderly, and he used to enjoy blowing up frogs. Now he just likes to blow up everything.]

Commandment 5 ~ “He must not possess racially or religious intolerant ideas.” [He doesn't seem too fond of Muslims and black people are only good for 'I care' photo-ops and window dressing in his cabinet. In Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, Bush's campaign did everything it could to deny minorities their right to vote.]

Commandment 6 ~ “He must help people in distress.” [I could go on, but the example of Katrina is good enough.]

Commandment 7 ~ “He must be a good worker.” [Bush has taken more vacation time than any other president.]

Commandment 8 ~ “He must respect women, parents, and his nation’s laws.” [Respect his nation's laws? Please.]

Commandment 9 ~ “He must neither drink nor smoke.” [He used to be a notorious drunk, and rumor is he still may be tippling.]

Commandment 10 ~ “He must be a patriot.” [True patriots don't violate the Constitution.]

I’ve got Bush in flagrant violation of 10 out of 10 — Junior isn’t going to get into Cowboy Heaven that way. Besides, he’s afraid of horses.