Could it be I'm falling in love

I was always a little uncomfortable watching 3 Stooges films while I was growing up. Sure, they were funny, sort of, but I always wondered when Curly, after being endlessly poked, slapped, and abused by Moe, would just say "enough!"

That's about how I feel reading the revelation that Matthew Dowd has 'lost faith with Bush':

A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist.

Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced.

Ya think? How low does the bar have to be set, Matt?

That such a heartfelt apologia comes only after record breaking disapproval poll numbers for GWBush shows . . .well, certainly not courage. Maybe self-delusion, refusal to even examine reality? The kind of thinking I always wished Curly would show, if he were to stand up to Moe?

More about Dowd:

Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.

Yep. More courage. "...written but never submitted". Why, Matt? Afraid to rock the boat, offend delicate sensibilities?

Jim Rutenberg, author of the piece, throws Dowd a life preserver with this bit of tortured rhetoric:

Mr. Dowd said he had become so disillusioned with the war that he had considered joining street demonstrations against it, but that his continued personal affection for the president had kept him from joining protests whose anti-Bush fervor is so central.

No, Jim, it's the policies, not the man. The man has wound himslef up so tightly in his "true believer" image that it's almost impossible to separate the two. But the so-called "anti-Bush fervor" is directed at the policies. For God's sake, did you even bother to read any of the signs at the demonstrations, saying such anti-Bush things as "Stop The War"? Idiot.

More:

“It’s almost like you fall in love,” he said. “I was frustrated about Washington, the inability for people to get stuff done and bridge divides. And this guy’s personality — he cared about education and taking a different stand on immigration.”

That's just sad. Thanks for the mea culpa, Matt. Now get some therapy. And go away.