It was over 30 years ago that a nearly 90-year-old Rumanian Jewish intellectual pointed out my naïveté to me.
After all, I was raised by smart liberal parents, went to good schools (once in a while) and I listened to the radio every afternoon.
Jack Armstrong, Terry and the Pirates, The Lone Ranger, all good guys doing the right thing day after day.
I read books, helped old ladies cross the street and collected newspapers and tin cans during the second world war.
I went on to serve my country in the Korean war, got married, raised two kids and a dog, and got divorced. A typical American Story.
So how come from time to time I wonder about the idiotic behavior of "the nut \case political right" in America?
Is it:
Because President Obama is Black?
Because President Obama is a Liberal?
Because President Obama is extremely well educated and articulate?
Because President Obama is tall, thin and good looking?
Because President Obama is a Socialist?
Because President Obama makes President Bush appear as a dolt?
Because all of the above?
Because of none of the above?
Here are but a few of our past Presidents' transgressions followed by the same question.
Bush sent troops into battle in Iraq without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Bush ignored estimates from General Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Cheney said Americans "...will, in fact, be greeted as liberators" in Iraq.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Cheney said that Iraq was "...the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Bush continued his month-long vacation after receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Bush failed to commit enough troops to capture Osama bin Laden when US forces had him cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November 2001. Instead, they relied on local warlords.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying that it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
Bush violated our Constitution a couple of times, and he authorized the torture and rendition of a paltry few thousand prisoners.
And no one went to a Bush event carrying an assault weapon saying it was their constitutional right to bear arms.
It is about time that President Obama abandon the wonderful notion that all Americans should have health care.
It is time that President Obama accepts that these gun toting "morons" will object to whatever he does, whenever and wherever he does it.
To be clear about this, the dictionary definition of a moron is a stupid person; a dolt, a person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
These "morons" seem to want America to "fail" rather then see it emerge from the eight year Bush disaster under the aegis of a SMART, WELL EDUCATED BLACK MAN!
If for some reason President Obama decides not to run for reelection in 2012, the ideal candidate for the Democrats would be -- Jeb Bush.