Reality Resolution

I came across a Jonathan Chait piece from The New Republic back in '03 that details the ridiculously unreal public image George Bush tries to foist upon us. In closing, Chait describes a state of mind I have repeatedly experienced over the last five years.

...[T]o feel as though you've been transported into some alternative universe in which a transparently mediocre man is revered as a moral and strategic giant. You ask yourself why Bush is considered a great, or even a likeable, man. You wonder what it is you have been missing. Being a liberal, you probably subject yourself to frequent periods of self-doubt. But then you conclude that you're actually not missing anything at all. You decide Bush is a dullard lacking any moral constraints in his pursuit of partisan gain, loyal to no principle save the comfort of the vry rich, unburdened by any thoughtful consideration of the national interest, and a man who, on those occasions when he actually does make a correct decision, does so almost by accident.

I continue to be bombarded with media reports assuming that Bush is something more than my intellect and senses tell me. The mid-term election campaigns will bring smokescreen after smokescreen as Republicans try to deny reality, refuse to accept responsibility for the status quo, or seek to distance themselves from the administration.

I resolve to continue to look through the fog of hardspun rhetoric to the truth. I resolve to trust my senses, my judgment, and my democratic/Democratic values. I resolve to stay real.

Happy New Year