How bad has it gotten?

Pat Robertson’s news site – cbn.com – has discussion boards up for people to talk about various topics. I looked at it suspecting to find one group who supported the war and the president in aboslute terms. Quite the opposite. One the discussion boards asking whether the “troop surge” should be supported features these as the most recent posts:

Not a chance! First of all, the war was built on lies (WMD’s & Iraq was involved in 9-11), false hopes (that the US would be embraced in Iraq), misguided bravado (Bush went ahead mostly alone and without exhausting dipolomacy), and without a clear plan to win the peace. On top of that, the war has been mismanaged – thanks to Rumsfeld and those at the top, not our brave troops. In fact, it’s surprising that America supported this folly as long as it did. I credit Karl Rove’s spin with that. But as with Vietnam, it all is finally catching up with a President, who no matter how he tries, still has that deer-in-the-headlights look and feel.Not a chance! First of all, the war was built on lies (WMD’s & Iraq was involved in 9-11), false hopes (that the US would be embraced in Iraq), misguided bravado (Bush went ahead mostly alone and without exhausting dipolomacy), and without a clear plan to win the peace. On top of that, the war has been mismanaged – thanks to Rumsfeld and those at the top, not our brave troops. In fact, it’s surprising that America supported this folly as long as it did. I credit Karl Rove’s spin with that. But as with Vietnam, it all is finally catching up with a President, who no matter how he tries, still has that deer-in-the-headlights look and feel.

The next one:

The “new” Iraq strategy is merely a rehash of the old. This is no real troop surge, since with fluctuating troop levels over the 4 years of the war, we’ve actually had this planned number of troops in Iraq already, and we’ve seen the results. And we’ve sent billions to Iraq already for infrastructure that got lost in the quagmire somewhere. It will take a better plan and better people with a more accurate world view to win the conflict and the hearts of Americans who feel burned and betrayed. I’m tired of old rich men creating wars for poor young ones to die in. I’m not anti-war. Desert Storm and ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban in a (failed) hunt for bin Laden were just conflicts and causes. This one never was. Sadly, over 3000 Americans, many of them just kids, have paid the price of the mistakes of a few, however well-intentioned.

Keep in mind that these are evangelical viewers/readers of Pat Robertson’s news channel and website…go and see for yourself it is extraordinary because these aren’t isolated examples. Sure there are some who support but they are a minority. Amazing. I don’t think anyone could have ever imagined this kind of revolt against the president from those who were his most ardent and strident supporters.

It is also further evidence of this – evangelicals supported Bush so blindly because his team seduced them into thinking he was a good Christian and that was all that was important. Now? Not only are his policies terrifying, but the name of Jesus has been corrupted in the process because Jesus’ name is now so identified with Republican politics. A bad trade across the board.