There is an extensive body of writing from both sides of the political aisle that has analyzed the extraordinary depths of hatred leveled at former President George W. Bush.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The fact that Obama is getting criticism from the left and the right might reflect his understanding of the underlying political dynamics.
From 2002 to the end of his presidency, George W. Bush routinely was accused by the Left of 'creating chaos:' chaos in Iraq, chaos in Afghanistan, chaos in the Muslim world, chaos among our allies.
I look at 'The New York Review of Books.' It's what it has been for 35 or 40 years, which is a highly sophisticated vehicle for anti-American self-hatred.
If you really hate George Bush, you don't want to read about his hobbies or that he's nice to his friends or that he's good company at dinner.
Hatred is not contained in political thinking. Any hatred worked up against the public enemy is non-political, and always shows some weakness in the internal political situation.
I always believe writing is an indispensable part of one's political armoury.
Politics... have always been the systematic organization of hatreds.
I think the only boundaries are individual and personal. A writer should be free to write about anything he or she wants to, including the twin towers. I have made small references to 9/11 in my past two books.
On the other side, I do believe that the rhetoric we are seeing from the Democrats today is unprecedented, is a new low in presidential politics and goes beyond political discourse and amounts to political hate speech.
I never think that anything I'm writing is bluntly political in any way. I'm not going for commentary.