"George Bush says what John Kerry did was noble. Yet he sees him being savaged by his own supporters"
About this Quote
It lands like a dry needle: praise from the top, punishment from the base. Mark Shields isn’t marveling at George W. Bush’s magnanimity so much as exposing a weird civic optical illusion where “noble” becomes a polite word you’re allowed to say only if it costs you nothing. Bush can bless John Kerry’s actions as honorable and still watch, unbothered, as Kerry gets torn up by the very people who claim to share his values. Shields is pointing at a politics where virtue is safest when it’s outsourced to the opponent.
The line is doing two things at once. On the surface, it’s bipartisan decorum: a president validating a rival’s service. Underneath, it’s a small indictment of partisan incentives, especially in the early-2000s ecosystem of cable combat and war-time messaging. Kerry’s Vietnam story wasn’t just biography; it was a referendum on who got to define patriotism after 9/11. When your coalition starts policing its own for insufficient ferocity, “noble” turns into a trap: admiration framed as weakness, complexity framed as betrayal.
Shields, a journalist who built a career on noticing the human tells behind the talking points, is highlighting the asymmetry of modern political courage. The most brutal attacks often aren’t launched across the aisle; they’re administered as loyalty tests at home. Bush’s compliment functions like a spotlight, making the savaging more visible, and more damning: if your opponents can recognize honor, why can’t your allies tolerate it?
The line is doing two things at once. On the surface, it’s bipartisan decorum: a president validating a rival’s service. Underneath, it’s a small indictment of partisan incentives, especially in the early-2000s ecosystem of cable combat and war-time messaging. Kerry’s Vietnam story wasn’t just biography; it was a referendum on who got to define patriotism after 9/11. When your coalition starts policing its own for insufficient ferocity, “noble” turns into a trap: admiration framed as weakness, complexity framed as betrayal.
Shields, a journalist who built a career on noticing the human tells behind the talking points, is highlighting the asymmetry of modern political courage. The most brutal attacks often aren’t launched across the aisle; they’re administered as loyalty tests at home. Bush’s compliment functions like a spotlight, making the savaging more visible, and more damning: if your opponents can recognize honor, why can’t your allies tolerate it?
Quote Details
| Topic | Betrayal |
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