Simon has a long post about lying, Kerry, and Bush's religion that is interesting reading but in my view misses the so-called "religion" of Bush. Bush was by all accounts an alcoholic well into his thirties. After his life became a mess (failed businesses and perhaps a failing marriage, together with no purpose) he joined AA and cleaned himself up "one day at a time." Those of us who have either cleaned up or had a family member who needed it and so on know that fighting that gorilla is a bitch. What AA demands is that you own up to the fact that you are an alcoholic and that your LIFE has become unmanageable (Note: your LIFE has become unmanageble). That you are powerless over alcohol. Then you turn to God for help. Within this context you learn that lying is the root symptom, if not the cause. Stop lying and you develop a new set of friends who don't lie, who are generally honest, and run their lives around these principals. You learn that everybody is NOT corrupt, not liars, not cheating on their spouses, and so on. And surprise surprise you are better off telling the truth and helping others. You learn that truth is what really exists; lies are invented.

One of the problems with Twelve Step People (AA, NA and so on) is that they learn to "turn it over"; meaning that you turn things over to God and that things will work out to the better purpose. I think that is Bush's failing as a president. I don't think you can just "turn it over" when you are dealing with Satan. When people are out to destroy you, fighting and turning it over beats just turning it over every time. I think Bush is honest but far too kind to people who fuck up and should be fired, like the shithead who told the NYT about the al Qaeda mole. I say fire the prick and let him turn it over to God.

Truth is often welded to danger, and it most certainly is in this war with Islamofascism. Is it possible to tell the truth, get re-elected, AND win a war deep inside Muslim territory? Bush seems to prefer silence and I think it is costing him dearly both at home and in Iraq. But with politics the supply of truth always exceeds the demand for it. We prefer to have our prejudices confirmed, not challenged. It is a serious failing of a democracy.

At any rate, that is my take.