Fred
2010-10-08 20:53:51 UTC
damage done
The End of an Error
by Jack Hunter
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Latest in Jack Hunter
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The GOP's Pledge to America is a joke
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When it comes to foreign policy, Lindsey Graham is dishonest and
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conservatives Will Glenn Beck Kill the Tea Party?
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Imam Rauf is correct when he says the U.S. has innocent blood on its
hands, too Amen to the Imam
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George W. Bush has not only been the worst president in my lifetime, but
he has almost single-handedly wrecked the political label I have
subscribed to my entire adult life.
I began calling myself a conservative as a teenager, immersed myself
further on the Right in my early 20s, and supported the presidential
campaigns of Pat Buchanan in both 1996 and 2000. Along with Texas
Congressman Ron Paul, Buchanan remains my greatest contemporary political
hero. He's a standard-bearer for what American conservatism should be.
But under Bush, the conservative movement became what it is now — a mere
tool of the Republican Party. In the past, there were many on the Right
who wrote books, promoted philosophies, and endorsed policies they hoped
might eventually become political and cultural realities, and they often
considered the GOP the better party to help implement more conservative
politics.
Today, we have the exact opposite, as the pundits and pontificators who
represent popular conservatism have abandoned ideas or principles for pure
party partisanship.
What conservatism has the Bush era produced? Exploding government,
enhanced state power, reckless spending, increased federal programs, open
borders, starting a needless and costly war — the list is endless — and
yet most self-described mainstream conservatives have little criticism for
this catastrophe of a president.
Popular talk host Sean Hannity now begins his show proclaiming that the
election of Barack Obama has put "conservatism in exile." This begs the
question — exactly what conservatism has been prominent the last eight
years that Hannity believes has now been put on the back burner?
By completely ignoring the lack of conservatism under Bush, yet
simultaneously bemoaning its "exile," the mainstream Right illustrates
what conservatism has been reduced to — Republican victories. As loyal
foot soldiers for the GOP, conservatives are now expected to dutifully
make political hay out of the forthcoming Democrat disasters, real or
imagined, while completely ignoring, and even defending, the glaring
Republican disaster left in their wake.
After spending the 1990s trying to convince voters that Bill Clinton
ranked amongst America's worst presidents, conservatives have spent the
new millennium trying to pretend Bush does not. And in vilifying Obama —
sometimes justified but more often juvenile — it's not so much that the
Right despises him in particular; it's just all they know.
A popular, last ditch defense of Bush has been that since 9/11 there
hasn't been another terrorist attack on American soil. This is true. But a
cost-benefit analysis of the Bush presidency would show that after a half
decade of war in Iraq, billions of dollars spent, and the deaths of over
4,000 American soldiers and thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians,
worldwide terrorist activity has increased dramatically.
According to the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, "the Iraq War has
become the 'cause célèbre' for jihadists ... and is shaping a new
generation of terrorist leaders and operatives." Praising Bush for
"keeping us safe" while ignoring the enduring, larger problem he created,
is like high-fiving the politicians who pushed through the recent federal
bailouts while ignoring their role in helping wreck the economy. In terms
of terrorist recruitment, Bush hasn't been Al-Qaeda's worst enemy — he's
been its best friend.
Honest conservatives must confront the tragic Bush presidency soberly,
wholly reject it, and move forward. If conservatives are smart, they will
view John McCain's defeat as a sign that they must purge themselves
once-and-for-all of a scourge that has beset the GOP for eight years — the
Bush Republican.
Those who still suffer from the delusion that a president's willingness to
drag his nation through costly and counterproductive wars exhibits a
certain "toughness" or is somehow conservative should welcome Lyndon
Johnson into the right-wing hall of fame. Johnson's reckless war and
spending have since been matched by Bush.
Dubya didn't rescue conservatism from any exile to which it has now
returned — he murdered it and trotted around the corpse, inspiring an army
of Republican zombies to march in lockstep with one of the biggest,
big-government agendas in American history. The lingering stench promises
to stink up the GOP for as long as some still believe that at least part
of the last eight years is worth redeeming.
But there's nothing to salvage. And it's high time that conservatives
finally admit what the rest of the country, and indeed the entire world,
already knows.
George W. Bush sucked.
not as bad as Odumbo!The End of an Error
by Jack Hunter
*
*
* Share on Facebook
* Email a Friend
* Printer Friendly
* Add to Favorites
Saving…
* Add to Custom List
Loading…
* Comments (11)
jackhunter.jpg
*
*
Latest in Jack Hunter
*
The GOP's Pledge to America is a joke
Ron Paul's Pledge
*
P&C's Ken Burger's attack on food and beverage workers lacks meat
Where's the Beef?
*
How liberals and conservatives use fear-mongering to promote statism
Interventionism, Left and Right
*
When it comes to foreign policy, Lindsey Graham is dishonest and
delusional Baghdad Bob
*
Beck's religious rally was a dangerous distraction for grassroots
conservatives Will Glenn Beck Kill the Tea Party?
*
Imam Rauf is correct when he says the U.S. has innocent blood on its
hands, too Amen to the Imam
* More »
George W. Bush has not only been the worst president in my lifetime, but
he has almost single-handedly wrecked the political label I have
subscribed to my entire adult life.
I began calling myself a conservative as a teenager, immersed myself
further on the Right in my early 20s, and supported the presidential
campaigns of Pat Buchanan in both 1996 and 2000. Along with Texas
Congressman Ron Paul, Buchanan remains my greatest contemporary political
hero. He's a standard-bearer for what American conservatism should be.
But under Bush, the conservative movement became what it is now — a mere
tool of the Republican Party. In the past, there were many on the Right
who wrote books, promoted philosophies, and endorsed policies they hoped
might eventually become political and cultural realities, and they often
considered the GOP the better party to help implement more conservative
politics.
Today, we have the exact opposite, as the pundits and pontificators who
represent popular conservatism have abandoned ideas or principles for pure
party partisanship.
What conservatism has the Bush era produced? Exploding government,
enhanced state power, reckless spending, increased federal programs, open
borders, starting a needless and costly war — the list is endless — and
yet most self-described mainstream conservatives have little criticism for
this catastrophe of a president.
Popular talk host Sean Hannity now begins his show proclaiming that the
election of Barack Obama has put "conservatism in exile." This begs the
question — exactly what conservatism has been prominent the last eight
years that Hannity believes has now been put on the back burner?
By completely ignoring the lack of conservatism under Bush, yet
simultaneously bemoaning its "exile," the mainstream Right illustrates
what conservatism has been reduced to — Republican victories. As loyal
foot soldiers for the GOP, conservatives are now expected to dutifully
make political hay out of the forthcoming Democrat disasters, real or
imagined, while completely ignoring, and even defending, the glaring
Republican disaster left in their wake.
After spending the 1990s trying to convince voters that Bill Clinton
ranked amongst America's worst presidents, conservatives have spent the
new millennium trying to pretend Bush does not. And in vilifying Obama —
sometimes justified but more often juvenile — it's not so much that the
Right despises him in particular; it's just all they know.
A popular, last ditch defense of Bush has been that since 9/11 there
hasn't been another terrorist attack on American soil. This is true. But a
cost-benefit analysis of the Bush presidency would show that after a half
decade of war in Iraq, billions of dollars spent, and the deaths of over
4,000 American soldiers and thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians,
worldwide terrorist activity has increased dramatically.
According to the 2006 National Intelligence Estimate, "the Iraq War has
become the 'cause célèbre' for jihadists ... and is shaping a new
generation of terrorist leaders and operatives." Praising Bush for
"keeping us safe" while ignoring the enduring, larger problem he created,
is like high-fiving the politicians who pushed through the recent federal
bailouts while ignoring their role in helping wreck the economy. In terms
of terrorist recruitment, Bush hasn't been Al-Qaeda's worst enemy — he's
been its best friend.
Honest conservatives must confront the tragic Bush presidency soberly,
wholly reject it, and move forward. If conservatives are smart, they will
view John McCain's defeat as a sign that they must purge themselves
once-and-for-all of a scourge that has beset the GOP for eight years — the
Bush Republican.
Those who still suffer from the delusion that a president's willingness to
drag his nation through costly and counterproductive wars exhibits a
certain "toughness" or is somehow conservative should welcome Lyndon
Johnson into the right-wing hall of fame. Johnson's reckless war and
spending have since been matched by Bush.
Dubya didn't rescue conservatism from any exile to which it has now
returned — he murdered it and trotted around the corpse, inspiring an army
of Republican zombies to march in lockstep with one of the biggest,
big-government agendas in American history. The lingering stench promises
to stink up the GOP for as long as some still believe that at least part
of the last eight years is worth redeeming.
But there's nothing to salvage. And it's high time that conservatives
finally admit what the rest of the country, and indeed the entire world,
already knows.
George W. Bush sucked.