A brilliant article, one that cuts right to the core of what is wrong with much of the right wing in the US now.

The only thing I would add is that this really didn't start with Bush, it started with Clinton. There has always been an undercurrent of personal dislike between the parties, that is natural. But while Bill was in office the entire right coalesced around it. No longer did the conservatives and right wing oppose the president because they disagreed with his politcs, they opposed the president because the hated him personally.

When a Republican was elected this reversed, and they embraced him on personal level. No longer was being Republican, conservative or even right wing defined by political posistion, it was defined by support for the president.

Why this happened is a more complex issue, there are a lot of things that fed into this. Off the top of my head I can see Bill's carefully triangulated politics leaving little for the right to object to politically, the growing synergy between the conservatives and the religious right, Bill's personal popularity leading to frustration on the right, the money that was feed into the right for the purpose of bringing Clinton down rather then building up the right, the growing seperation between Republicans on Congress and the right wing politcal movements, and a rise in press based on sparking controvery rather then informing anybody.

Jay