The Cult of Bush Has Its Priorities Straight

Josh Marshall looks at an amusing email that Sen. Elizabeth Dole sent out to supporters in search for contributions to the Republican senatorial committee. From the email-

"If Democrats take control of the Senate in '06, they will cancel the Bush tax cuts, allow liberal activist judges to run our courts and undermine all Republican efforts to win the War on Terror. Even worse, they will call for endless congressional investigations and possibly call for the impeachment of President Bush!"

So a bad outcome, in the Republicans' eyes, would be Democrats undermining efforts against terrorism (unlike the Republicans who have captured Osama and brought peace to Iraq). But even worse be the Democrats... investigating the actions of the Bush administration!!! [*GASP*] I mean terrorism, fine that's bad and all, but President Bush being investigated?! Our country would never be able to survive the assault.

This is what scares the Republicans the most- accountability and investigation of the President. More than another issue- yes, even terrorism- this is the issue that they are going to use to rally the base. I wrote about this last week as well. The White House, and its defenders, know that getting past these elections is the key to protecting all their secrets and wrongdoings. And they will do anything to stop the Democrats from gaining power. Not because of any specific policies of the Democratic party (given the GOP Congress' abysmal record, it'd be hard for them to defend themselves on policy ground), but simply because someone in the party may want to actually push to the forefront the many pending investigations that have been stonewalled or blocked the past few years. For a group of people who claim they've done nothing wrong, they sure are acting pretty desperate.

As Glenn Greenwald noted in March-

There is a palpable increase in the level of extremism and desperation among Bush followers as the Commander in Chief's approval ratings fall lower and lower and as the views which Americans have of both him and his party become more hostile. This is going to be a significant dynamic -- as their power slips further and further away, Bush followers are going to resort to increasingly radical and rage-fueled measures to keep it...

...Many of them have become convinced -- or convinced themselves -- that it is literally a matter of their immediate and personal survival that the country be controlled by Republicans devoted to the neoconservative mindset. Many of them actually believe that if those who deviate from that worldview gain political power, that they will be irradiated or blown up by Al Qaeda. And then still others are just so filled with rage and contempt for "liberals" (meaning anyone who is not a Bush supporter) that those sentiments are, by themselves, sufficient to push them into extreme and irrational thought as they lose more and more power.

Indeed. Have you seen the shirts?

As Josh Marshall said, "Get ready for a rough summer and fall. The White House can't afford to lose either house of Congress."