The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > White House Letter: On the Road, Bush Fields Softballs From the Faithful: "'I'm 60 years old and I've voted Republican from the very first time I could vote. And I also want to say this is the very first time that I have felt that God was in the White House.''"

Wow. What kind of theology is this? Don't misunderstand me, I would find it equally offensive and stupid if it the recipient was Bill Clinton or anyone. What a positively moronic thing to say.

The second part of why this is moronic is the farce the Bush Campaign puts out there in the guise of public dialogue. I understand it. No one wants to have a hostile question or shouter. But that is our democracy. We disagree on lots of stuff. And pretending that we don't is disengenuous and even dangerous. Easy to make the leap from there that those who disagree are simply out of step and possibly subversive. Don't laugh. We have done it before. Free speech and dissent are not guaranteed. They are if people follow the constitution, but they don't always. A prof of mine reminded me once that when the people have to choose between freedom and chaos v. order and repression they will always choose the latter. They will always be willing to trade their freedom for a sense of order.

Whew!