Secret Guilt?

I’ve regarded Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) as a function of the left’s desire for power. Wretchard, however, provides an interesting thesis I find more in line with human nature:

…secret guilt may stand at the center of the inexplicable hysteria with which the Left regard the neocons and President Bush in particular. Recently a Ramussen poll showed that "only four in ten Democrats will commit to the idea that George Bush did not know of the 9/11 attack in advance. Sixty-one percent of them either believe he did or are unsure." What could account for such a widespread belief in a bizarre conspiracy theory? Why do otherwise intelligent people insist, in the face of incontrovertible evidence that "fire does not melt steel" and embrace all kinds of ridiculous fantasies? I think the extreme demonization of George W. Bush and the neocons is psychologically necessary in order to restore a feeling of moral superiority to the Leftist universe. They would be guilt stricken without it. The more intelligent Leftists must be subconsciously aware of how monstrous the enemy is and secretly cognizant of how great is the betrayal of their own ideals. They can't confront this fact; cannot accept that they are delivering children, as Caroline Glick's example above shows, to cruel murderers. And in order to obtain some kind of solace and to have the effrontery to march in support of "freedom fighters" who are nothing but sadistic thugs, it is necessary for them to invent something worse; to make a caricature devil of GWB to place them once again, if not upon the side of angels, at least in the camp of the lesser evil. George Bush must be made nothing less than the moral equivalent of Hitler or else their ethical universe would collapse.

But George Bush is not Hitler. And one day the better men among the Left will face up to the fact that they have failed a huge moral and historical test. And from that memory, there will be no redemption.

Ironically, such guilt from the Left would parallel post-war Germany’s guilt over going along with Hitler.

The challenge for Demo Presidential candidates is daunting. They are going to have to appeal to the majority of their party who are off their rockers concerning 9/11. And the Republican video cameras will be running. After the primaries, the Demo candidates will need to do a little more than tacking to the right; they will have to demonstrate a restored sanity to be credible to the rest of the nation. If the Dem candidate wins, reality really sets in - the world is what it is despite their professed fantasies. Do you think a Hillary Clinton is going to pull troops out of Iraq knowing full well the calamity that will ensue? Hardly.