Some liberal reaction to the recent Canadian elections got me to thinking about the way that many on the looney left have personified conservative policies in the form of the three-headed boogey man "BushRoveCheney". Much like the Daily Mirror wondered how Americans could be so dumb as to elect Bush to a second term, left-wing Americans now wonder how Canadians:

went out and did a truly bewildering thing. They elected a right-wing zealot named Stephen Harper as their new prime minister.

A guy who not only is anti-abortion and anti-same-sex marriage but wants to bolster the country's ties to the neocons in the Bush administration. A guy who belongs to the evangelical Christian Ministry Alliance and once denounced his own country as a "northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term."

A guy who hinted he might follow the lead of the Bushites and withdraw Canada's support for the Kyoto accord.

Notice how the author makes all of these issues and policies all about Bush? American law and policy on gay marriage, abortion, health care and Kyoto are reduced to being edicts of Bush. It's as if the American public has nothing to do with American policies on these issues.

Liberals like to derisively refer to the President as "King George" and imply that he's guilty of horrendous abuses of power. But the fact remains that we are a democracy and the course of America, whether on social issues or the War on Terror is directed by the people. Right now, the American people overwhelmingly reject gay marriage. They roundly rejected massive health care reform in the Clinton era. They voted for the President because they believed in what he was doing to fight the War on Terror. You may disagree with these policies, but please realize that you disagree with the majority of Americans, not just with "the Bushites".

Whether liberals realize it or not, George W. Bush has faced his last election. They won't have George to kick around any more. It's hard to run against the boogey man when the boogey man is kicking back on his ranch in Texas. The looney left will have to either find a new monster or will actually have to come to terms with the painful truth that many, many Americans disagree with them on fundamental issues. You can't win these people over by shouting that "Bush lies!". You have to articulate your own ideas and solutions and vision for the country.

The Right in Canada found the right direction, it'll be interesting if the Left in America finds their way too.