Surprising Effects of Brain Centers on Political Debate

Try to remain calm. I'm going to politely ask you to actively engage your mind, rather than simply reacting emotionally. I am not going to attack you. Studies have shown that people who hold staunch political views, of whatever stripe, respond to virtually all political news or advocacy with the emotional center of the brain, rather than the problem solving areas. The result is that everything is filtered through emotion - which by definition is not entirely rational. Doesn't matter if you're on the left or right, or if you're sure your own melding of socialism, xenophobia, and Star Trek philosophy can save the world. Most of us have decided what constitutes the truth, and facts are simply tools to be spun or ignored if they're inconvenient.

Just for a moment, let's actively engage in a real consideration of politics. I'm going to propose a not at all startling proposition. I'll explain my thinking, and then I'll invite you to respond in a civil manner. The proposition is this:

George Bush is not a disaster because he is a Republican; he is a disaster because his policies don't work, and his administration has handled a variety of our nation's challenges poorly. Were I a conservative, I'd be disappointed in his presidency for a number of reasons. He has not shown any sort of fiscally conservative policy. He's never vetoed a spending bill, he's allowed deficits to explode.

He's expanded the federal government. The traditional conservative position favors smaller government. He's simultaneously strengthened the federal government, taking more power away from state governments, which is in exact opposition to traditional conservative philosophy.

He's abandoned his campaign promise to ask congress for a Constitution ban on gay marriage, a cornerstone of the overwhelming support evangelicals gave him. He eliminated federal funding for a program that put 100,000 additional police officers on the streets, in exact opposition to the traditional conservative policy of being tough on crime.

He attempted to grant control of numerous ports to a foreign government that allegedly help finance the attacks of 9-11. He nominated Harriet Myers, with disastrous results. His administration utterly failed to manage the Hurricane Katrina crisis. In fact, months later there has been nowhere near enough progress. His immigration policy is at odds with the views of a large portion of his political base.

On his watch, North Korea has acquired nuclear weapons, and Iran is in the process of developing nukes. These are two of the three countries that he referred to as "an axis of evil," yet we've done nothing and the clock is ticking on an Iranian nuclear capability. Most importantly, whatever your political leanings, you can't be pleased that Osama Bin-Laden is still at large.

There are even some very notable conservatives such as William F. Buckley, Pat Buchanan and Tucker Carlson who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, with more adopting this view every week, and many others who have always been opposed to the idea of nation building. The traditional conservative view, vehemently expressed in reference to Bosnia and Serbia, is that it is not the responsibility of United States to impose internal order on other sovereign nations.

None of this is meant to be snide. If you're a conservative, I have to ask - is this really what you wanted? Spare me the "At least he's not Kerry" nonsense and try to civilly answer the question. Is it possible that George Bush is not such a great president? Can you concede that there may be legitimate reasons to criticize him and his policies? I'm an Army veteran, I've served as a Christian missionary, I want Bin-Laden dead. I think the ACLU is misguided damn near all the time. We're not so different. Explain to me how anybody can still support this man. He's not a true conservative, his administration has mismanaged any number of things, and his policies are simply not working. Seriously, what would George Bush have to do to lose your support, short of molesting a goat while killing a baby and chanting "All power to Satan!" during a press conference?