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            President Bush is an evil, horrible man. He waged war against Iraq so that Halliburton could get rich off that nation’s oil. He invaded Afghanistan because he wanted to build an oil pipeline through that country. He has provided tax breaks to the super wealthy, while leaving the middle class and poor with no assistance whatsoever. Paradoxically, President Bush is at once a bumbling idiot and an evil genius. He lied about WMDs in Iraq, yet was somehow too dumb to plant them there after the fall of Baghdad.

            Such is the case, if you believe the liberal fringe that is frighteningly becoming increasingly powerful in the Democratic Party. Increasingly, we hear the president compared to Hitler (Didn’t you know the Bush family profited from the Nazis? It’s in a book somewhere so it has to be true!). He is responsible for the 2002 death of Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN). He wants to eliminate women’s suffrage and repeal civil rights laws. He has dreams of world domination!

            Most rational people, even those who disagree with the President, reject these claims as silly and dangerous. In the past we heard such claims about other presidents, notably Bill Clinton. Some fanatical conservatives produced videos and wrote articles claiming Clinton murdered Vince Foster and was involved in drug running. So the exaggerated charges against President Bush are really nothing new.

            What is new, however, is that the lunatic liberal fringe is finding a foothold in the mainstream Democratic Party. During the Clinton years, most mainstream Republicans avoided the lunatic conservative fringe. The infamous videos found no support from mainstream Republicans, who avoided them like the plague.

            Compare this with the reaction Fahrenheit 911 has received. The fact that Michael Moore is known to play loose with the facts has not prevented many critics from praising the film. Congressmen and Senators proudly view it. Never mind that it is pure propaganda. Never mind that Moore has said that we Americans “are possibly the dumbest people on the planet." (Actually that is true – but only of those Americans who buy Moore’s garbage). Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if Republican lawmakers proudly watched the ridiculous Clinton films? Yet Moore is embraced by mainstream liberals. He campaigned for General Wesley Clark. He even attended the Democratic National Convention.

            There is also a claim that Bush knew the attacks of September 11, 2001 were going to happen before they occurred. Cynthia McKinney, a former Georgia Congresswoman and all around nutcase, propagated this theory. So did, to a lesser extent, Howard Dean, who claimed it was a “most interesting theory.”

            The irrational hatred of President Bush by liberals is bizarre. After all, Bush is hardly a fire breathing right-winger. His policies on education, healthcare, and the environment could fairly be described as liberal. Bush has embraced what former Clinton advisor Dick Morris called “Triangulation” (stealing the issues of your opposition). He is nowhere nearly as conservative as Ronald Reagan.

            The hatred of Bush seems to stem from a sense of elitism. Even though President Bush has an MBA from Harvard (something no other president has ever accomplished), most liberals see him as rather dimwitted. Why? For one, he speaks with a Texas twang, and fumbles for the correct words on occasion. Secondly, he is a born again Christian, a group liberals have long despised, who speaks openly about his faith. And finally, of course, for the simple reason that he has an “R” next to his name.

            Liberals’ vitriol is a result of the fact that Bush constantly outsmarts them. They never dreamed President Bush would win the presidency. He did. They believed he would simply be a lame duck for four years. He wasn’t. They were sure that Bush would lead the Republicans to defeat in the 2002 midterm elections. He didn’t. Instead he led them to an historic victory when every indicator said he should have been clobbered. They expected the war in Iraq to be a disaster. It isn’t, nor will it be. They expected the economy to remain stagnant. It hasn’t. In fact, Bush has accomplished more in one term as President than anyone since James K. Polk.

            Whether or not Bush will win re-election remains to be seen. If he does (which seems likely), look for the irrational hatred to reach levels that are difficult to imagine.

 - John Brown (www.johnnorrisbrown.com) is a senior in political science at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com. This column originally appeared in the August 3, 2004 edition of The Daily Beacon, entitled "Liberal view of Bush is 'elitism'," and is available here.