Not to be ignored, novelist Nicholson Baker has penned a new book, "Checkpoint," in which the protagonist intends to kill President Bush with "Bush-seeking bullets" to avenge the war that, Baker says, Bush "imposed on the world, when the whole world said to him so CLEARLY, in the streets, in every country, this war that he forced on humanity - this war will be avenged!"
Baker's book is just fiction, to be sure, but Bush-hatred is real.
Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at The New Republic, purged himself in the Sept. 29, 2003 issue: "I hate President George W. Bush. There, I said it." And then went on to list and examine all the reasons why, from the shallow (his bowed-up macho walk) to the substantive.
Similarly goes the far right. To the extent that the left demonizes Bush, the right scorches the earth upon which Kerry treads (or skateboards/cycles/blades). The latest salvo is an ad featuring Swift boat vets questioning Kerry's war record and his suitability as commander in chief.
Basta, boys. Enough. It's over. Give it a rest, but Kerry goes first. No more "reporting for duty," no more Purple Hearts, Bronze and Silver Stars, no more Swift boats. We know Kerry went; we know Bush didn't. We also understand the nature of war and that whatever Kerry is alleged to have done, according to memories not his own, others did far better and far worse.
In the midst of such mass hysteria and competitive hate, the central fact of our moment gets lost, which is that we are presently at war. Whether one agrees with how we got here - Bush didn't lie and Kerry knew, too - we should try to remain mindful that we have enough enemies without turning on ourselves.
Or to Ralph Nader, who may be a lovely man with rumpled, disciplined appeal as well as the human (I think) embodiment of the low-carb, all-cotton, pesticide-free virtue to which we all should aspire. He's also a wasted vote. Don't do it.