Gayle Parker (May 3 letter) hotly disputed my recent letter suggesting that many participants in the "tea party" protests are suffering from Obama derangement syndrome, rather than honestly protesting administration policies.

After denying the truth of my observation, she proceeded very helpfully to prove my point by railing against several imaginary Obama bogeymen who are hawked by the likes of Rush, Hannity, et al.

You know the rants -- Obama's a closet communist who will nationalize our economy, including health care, and turn the United States into a better-dressed version of the former Soviet Union.

But another point she made must also be examined -- that poor George W. Bush also was subjected to 24/7 attacks by his critics. By his last term, he rightfully had plenty of critics, but the mainstream media were still overly deferential to his administration.

Please recall that in his first term Bush enjoyed considerable bipartisan support for legislative initiatives such as No Child Left Behind and tax cuts. He also enjoyed bipartisan support after 9/11. Until he fatally overreached in Iraq, Bush largely was given the benefit of the doubt by most of those who didn't vote for him.

Contrast that with the opposition party's response to the Obama administration today. The country is in another severe crisis, yet Obama's attempts to gain Republican involvement in emergency legislation were rejected out of hand.

Since before the inauguration, Republicans and their media supporters have been relentlessly attacking the administration and trying to drive up negative poll numbers. The latest classy move was a Republican party leader calling for a Congressional "insurgency" modeled on the Taliban. Sorry -- I think Bush had it quite a bit better.

Jerri Young

Pinehurst