3a. Bush's religious-flavored rhetoric (apart from carefully-crafted scripts) too often exposes his actual frame of reference, much of which I find often inflammatory and volatile, disturbingly naive, shallow, and blindly authoritarian. Such terms and statements irresponsibly add to the conflict.

I realize that some applaud such language: "President Bush shows American strength and courage. He won't let them push us around."

Let's consider some ramifications of Mr. Bush's verbal displays of "strength and courage."

• September 16, 2001. President Bush spoke honestly, from his heart, showing his true self.

Here Mr. Bush channelled Pope Urban II and duly pontificated his secular military intentions as a “Crusade.” Perhaps unwittingly championing his own prejudices, he stirred up deplorable images too familiar of rabid so-called "Christian" assassins ethnically cleansing the Holy Land of "evildoers." Mr. Bush might just as nobly and courageously have said, “Ethel, me ‘n’ th’ boys gonna put some bedsheets over our heads ‘n’ go lynch a few fellers from th' south side o' town. Mebbe we'll mosey on down t' Baghdad. Don' worry, we'll find some of 'em what looks guilty this week.”

My president, like spiritually passionate members of Taliban and al Qaeda, genuinely believes that his personal understanding of God actively supports his personal agenda. My president, like Taliban and al Qaeda, speaks of this secular, political, military battle as spiritual.

In this crucial matter I see George Bush not simply unaware of, but outright oblivious to his having exposed his most dogmatic prejudices and his absurdly simplistic view of a world far more complex than he can comprehend. In this my President operates on the same intellectual plane, the same delusions of divine grandeur, and the same theological myopia, as Taliban and al Qaeda.

I believe most of Bush's supporters honestly aspire to live as compassionate and moral people. Thus I believe that had they taken time to think this through, and if they had spoken up candidly, they would have duly scorned Mr. Bush's abuse of the term "crusade" as the nadir of religious ignorance, religious hatred, religious evil. This disturbs me because not only did I not hear conservative Christians denouncing Mr. Bush's vicious diatribe; I heard and read too many in newspapers across the country echoing him over several months.

This brings up a recurring problem: Mr. Bush too often "talks tough" without thinking. If Mr. Bush is not oblivous to the connotations—and he used the term regardless—then his shooting from the hip poses that much more severe a threat to world peace. Either way, what this says about George W. Bush gives me reason to fear.

I certainly hope this tendency appeals only to a small radical (and vocal) subset of his admirers. His honest, unconcealed use of "crusade" no doubt delighted those few who for either simple lack of awareness, or detestable presence of bigotry, flatly dismiss all Islam as evil. At least in too many e-mails I've seen, these few persons tend to vilify all Muslims. They show a failure (or a refusal?) to understand that Taliban and al Qaeda no more truly define all Islam than Northern Ireland's "Troubles" between Catholics and Protestants, nor America's own White Supremacist "Christian" militia groups, define all Christianity.

This point and everything it entails appalls me. And this principle spills over into almost every other major issue that concerns me about our president. It represents so much of the irrationality that permeates his values, however sincere they may be.

Yes, he backed away from his honestly volatile polemics—after more rational persons on his team convinced him that thus showing his true colors rightly alienated many decent, intelligent, caring people. Many sensible, spiritual people who knew better than to invoke medieval barbarism hid their face in their hands when they heard Bush pontificating like this, but that's what Bush does when his passions run wild.

I concede that such vitriol appeals to some people who have little concern for reason and critical analysis, whether they live in Pennsylvania's mountains or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mr. Bush is who he is. We see more of who our president truly is and what does go on inside his head whenever he speaks honestly, unfettered by carefully thought out scripts. And the more I see of his honest display of his medieval "Crusader" attitude, and his lack of intellectual acumen and emotional maturity that might hold it in check, the more I fear the growth of violence and hatred in the world.

At least in public, Mr. Bush has refrained from again speaking his mind so honestly with this particularly egregious term. But given the profanities and despicable filth we heard on Nixon's tapes, I wonder what else Mr. Bush says in private. Could this also have anything to do with his efforts of November 2001 to undo the Presidential Records Act, which may eventually reveal some of his private discussions? Might these likewise expose him as very much unlike the image of morality and decency that many impute to him?

Regardless of specific terms, Bush has continued showing that he apparently sincerely believes he truly does lead some glorified holy "crusade":

• Bush’s military campaign initially had the comparably sanctimonious working name of “Infinite Justice.” This duly offended not only decent and reverent Muslims, but also many other compassionate, informed, thinking people of any religious or nonreligious persuasion. Do you find it fitting that anyone answering to our Commander in Chief should invoke labels implying divine, omniscient authority, as if he or she carries the Sword of God, as some sort of divinely-appointed Deliverer?

• Later Bush put on his Sheriff’s hat and verbally nailed up his “Wanted: Dead or Alive” poster. Maybe that looks and sounds great for a 1950's 14-year-old boy in rural Texas, when your world consists of a John Wayne movie, but it doesn’t appeal to reason and reality, to adults, to educated and thinking persons. It does tell the world: our President bases his concept of law and order on Dodge City.

He is who he is.

• One more of Mr. Bush's irresponsible, inflammatory remarks that I find particularly vapid, deceptive, and astoundingly arrogant, enough that it deserves its own page: “You’re either with us [America], or you’re against us.”

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” Theodore Roosevelt “History, we don’t know. We’ll all be dead.” George W. Bush   Intro   Election 2004 Introduction 1   I Yam What I Yam 2a People Die for Mr. Bush's Mistakes. He Laughs It Off 2b Supplement: Mr. Bush Laughs It Off 3a   Mr. Bush's Religious Rhetoric: The Uncaped Crusader 3b   Mr. Bush's Religious Rhetoric: Ripping Off Jesus 4   WMDWMDWMDWMDWMD—Oh, Never Mind, Forget I Ever Said WMD 5   President Bush: Saddam Tried to Kill My Dad 6   President Bush's Real World Patriot Games 7   In Mr. Bush's Own Words: "Major League Asshole" 8a   Responsibilty? Accountability? The Buck Stops Somewhere Else 8b Supplement: Responsibilty and Dodge Ball 9a   Forgive Osama? Love Saddam? You CRAZY, Jesus? 9b   Supplement: Christian Nonresistance 10   Democracy? Not on This Watch. Undo the Presidential Records Act 11   The Arsonist Owns the Fire Truck 12   Environment 13   Mr. Bush's Taunt: "Bring It On!" 14   Conclusions 15   Update 5/5/04     Please sign my Election Site Dreambook (and visit my other sites as well). And read others' comments.