One of the things I love most about the duped--you know, George Bush supporters--is their refusal to risk getting in a discussion exchanging points of view. Obviously, this reflects in large part that they can't really formualte a point of view or structure an argument backed with facts and/or reason. Right? What "reason" do you fall back on to defend an administration that's fucked up so much on so many different levels?

So, if you're a Bush supporter, you do two things in encounters with dissent or opposition whether it's within your own party or not: You rely on dirty tricks, lies and distortions. You call in the Swift Boat Cowards and Karl Rove, and you let 'em go to work.

The other thing you do is you insult and disparage without allowing yourself to get into a discussion of the actual issues involved. Someone has an issue with a policy? Don't discuss or debate the issue--that's a surefire way to lose. Instead, comeback with "oh, you're a liberal"; "you're a traitor"; "you don't support the troops"; "you want innocent babies to be murdered"; "you want Americans to live in fear"; "you want to give criminals vacations instead of punishment" and the list goes on and on. And as far as they're concerned, they win. People don't have time to pay attention to details of issues, so, keep calling someone a "baby-killer" and you'll win. After all, who wants to support or vote for a baby-killer?

And sadly, in our rapid-fire news cycle culture and an environment in which people simply don't have the time to concentrate or even think about what they think about the issues of the day, this strategy is frequently just enough to win--and that's what counts.

Except that it is killing our already rapidly-deteriorating country.

We are being led down a very dangerous path, and that path is overcrowded with cowards and ignoramuses who unfathomably put their politics ahead of the best interests of their country.

This is an invitation to any conservatives out there who are willing to discuss in detail why they support George Bush on any given issue.

I have asked the same of numerous cowards here and all I get are insults, or "I don't have time to respond", etc.

How sad.