George Bush as the New Archie Bunker

Pundits write that George Bush is doing a bad imitation of Clint "Dirty Harry" Eastwood or John "Duke" Wayne.

Mr. Bush's confident swagger, bigoted smugness, bully behavior, name-calling and unabashed flag-waving remind me more of Archie Bunker than counterfeit movie cowboys.

The only differences between Archie and George are Mr. Bush's wealth and Ivy League credentials, and Archie's conscience....Archie was mature enough to eventually see the light and arrive at a more loving, wise viewpoint, albeit with a long, reluctant sigh.

We affectionately laughed at Archie because we knew his oh-so-hidden heart would emerge at the end of 30 minutes. Americans could shake the pain of arising selfishness and intolerance, after FDR's New Deal generosity, in US life by precious, healing laughter at Archie's macho, ignorant fear, hatred and anger.

No one is laughing at George Bush. He means it. He wields fear, hatred and anger like a sharpened weapon to effectively divide Americans along lines of wealth, race, religion and culture.

He shamelessly uses bully tactics and name-calling as a matter of daily habit. He's the first President since Herbert Hoover to diss the NAACP annual confab. His abhorrence of all Islamic cultures and ways is obvious to the world. He's openly declared his hate for whole countries, simply because they dared disagree with his Bunker-esque view of the world.

I can hear Archie now, railing against the blacks and the Iraqis and France.

Problem is, George may not be gone in 30 minutes. There is no laugh track.

George Bush is for real. He, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld believe their intolerant words of fear, hate and anger, and they mean to continue imposing them on the world for another four years. If they are reelected, the potential for more violence and massive killings in this world, caused by their warmongering ways, is too painful for me to contemplate.

I keep waiting for the punchline.....