Counterfeit Conservative

The American Conservative ^ | Doug Bandow

[Hank Rearden]

Government is bigger, spending is higher, and Washington is more powerful. The national government has intruded further into state and local concerns. Federal officials have sacrificed civil liberties and constitutional rights while airily demanding that the public trust them not to abuse their power.

The U.S. has engaged in aggressive war to promote democracy and undertaken an expensive foreign-aid program. The administration and its supporters routinely denounce critics as partisans and even traitors. Indeed, the White House defenestrates anyone who acknowledges that reality sometimes conflicts with official fantasies.

In short, it is precisely the sort of government that conservatives once feared would result from liberal control in Washington.

Bears repeating, on a daily basis.

[RHINO369]

"As much as I like Pence or Newt ...he is not electable at this point"

Newt may be unelectable but Pence is very electable. The only reason they aren't electable is because nervous conservatives tell themselves that they can't win. I'm not voting for a big government republican ever again. I'd rather have a democrat in the white house with a GOP congress that has some balls than what we have now, a President and Congress who sell themselves out to democrats and end up getting bashed by democrats afterwards.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

So far, we've got Romeny, a liberal republican from the home state of John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, who has started changing his positions from pro-choice to pro-life, flip-flopping like Kerry, and all of this after we heard republican after republican saying that a northestern liberal couldn't win the presidency in 2004. Of course the media is wild for McCain to make another attempt at the nomination, because they like a guy who attacks agents of intolerance in the "religious right" and because he lines up with liberal democrats on a variety of issues. He's been bucking for the job by sucking up to Bush. Then you have another liberal republican, George Pataki, Governor of New York...need I say more? The only remotely hopeful candidate is Newt Gingrich and the media is knocking him down using polls to suggest is as remote as an Alan Keyes.

[MineralMan]

"i'm still a conservative, but not a party member any longer...
"

If by that you mean you won't be voting for the (probably) moderate GOP candidates for various offices, then aren't you irrelevant in terms of electing anyone?

[RHINO369]

"But, then again, as "centrist" as Bush is, he only just barely managed to get elected, thats running against a certifiable nutcase like Gore in the first instance, and a Jane-Fonda-Democrat in the second instance.

I doubt seriously if a true classic-liberal-classic-conservative could get elected dog-catcher in this country. "

Ever consider the reason Bush barely won, and Dore lost, and Bush1 lost was because they ran as centerists? Why would America vote for republicans acting like democrats when they can just vote for democrats. Reagan was the most popular president of the last 40 years, he was also the most conservative.

[MineralMan]

"That was lost when Bush came to be seen as the conservative/GOP leader."

When would that have been? In 2000? I didn't think he showed a lot of signs of being a conservative leader in 2000. His public statements certainly were not those of a conservative leader in many areas.

Now that push has come to shove, and with a Congressional election looming on the horizon, suddenly Bush is a target of scorn and derision? How odd.

[weegee]

If we could get the communists out of the Democrat party, we could get the RINOs out of the GOP.

Alternatively, if the Democrat party were to collapse (as morally and financially bankrupt) and the GOP were to "split" into RINOs and Republicans, we would see the "center" shift back to its proper weighting.

Democrat leadership keeps pushing them left but they will never be left enough for the Communist, Socialist, Socialist Workers, Green, etc. parties. And they sacrifice their base trying to get a few more left wing voters.

[brytlea]

And that has what to do with Bush?
susie

[RHINO369]

"If by that you mean you won't be voting for the (probably) moderate GOP candidates for various offices, then aren't you irrelevant in terms of electing anyone?"

No but he'll move the republican party back to the right. On the other hand you'll vote for whoever has an R next to their name, effectively making you useless in deciding party politics. Republicans cannot win without conservatives, its time they find it out the hard way.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

You have an irrational argument, because this isn't "bashing." This is a very reasoned, articulate bit of commentary with a very serious point as opposed to something that attacks Bush over his performance at Yale, suggests he has dyslexia, or something that would be appropriately listed as "Bush bashing."

You say yourself, I'm no fan of Bush's policies, but that hardly tells me anything and besides...how can you support him but not his policies? This is about uniting conservatives on principle, not party, and advocating a more conservative form of government, unless you are a liberal and nejoy being able to write Bush's education bill outspending Clinton/Gore with the largest spending increase in history while attacking the republicans for not spending enough...I think liberals are quite happy with this arrangement.

[weegee]

The administration and its supporters routinely denounce critics as partisans and even traitors.

These people ARE traitors.

Michael Moore advocating the defeat of the US in Iraq IS the same as Axis Sally and Lord Haw Haw cheering on the Nazis.

[jackadams]

Conservative Coulter Fan,

That's good that you are IDing the Rhinos in sheep's clothes. I didn't know Romeny was republican lite. We need to OUT all of them now before the primaries. I can name some others than Newt for office but as soon as you do that RHINO and MSM and DEMS go after them. I like to wait a while longer before I say. But there is no harm in OUTING the upcoming RHINOS.

[Blackirish]

Newt may be unelectable but Pence is very electable

---

I hope your right. He is as articulate as Gulliani but without the lefty baggage.
Also he cannot be tagged as an inarticulate big spender like Allen.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

You've got it all wrong...it is like supporting Ronald Reagan rather than marching with the "electability" crowd that buys into the liberal gospel that those dreadful conservatives can never win while telling the republicans they'd better go for "mainstream" conservatives. To give you an example, Justice O'connor was considered a "mainstream conservative," which is laughable.

[jpsb]

"As much as I like Pence or Newt ...he is not electable at this point"

Self fulling prophesy dooms the GOP to big spending liberals that have cute wives.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Staying the same (Status Quo) or conservative is democrat lite.. or even democrat stealth..

My sentiment exactly. That's why I agree with Robert Bork that we must defeat the beast of modern liberalism least our nation be destroyed.

[jackadams]

Rush is right. We can't be governed by fear and only pick people we think the libs will like. At this point after Bush's stand on immigration I would vote for Buchanan because I know his concern is for the country and he would have never let this issue go down like this. And this is coming from a person who saw Buchanan as a Riviera racist in 96. Just goes to show you.

[rob777]

If you remembered right, you would have understood that GWB never showed any signs of being a Conservative as governor of Texas.




I remember all too well and was not happy when he won the 2000 primary. My problem is that he tried to use the "Compassionate Conservatism" tag to redefine conservatism so as to minimize its commitment to limited government. His campaign pushed for the removal of such planks from the GOP Platform as the elimination of the Federal Department of Education. Instead, he wanted to use the federal government to "reform" education. Limited government conservatives have always opposed such attempts as top down government directed social engineering. Under Bush, social engineering became OK as long as it was done to "our" specifications.

Some conservatives always had reservations about Bush as a conservative but held fire because they feared Gore/Kerry more. With Bush no longer running, there is no more need to hold fire. The issue is not about being anti or pro Bush, it is about defining conservatism.

[jpsb]

Go Newt, the only thing that would get me interested in who was going to be president (currently I could not care less, they are all D's&R's the same) is Newt or someone ALOT like him on the ballet.

[Hank Rearden]

These people ARE traitors.

Yep, some people are.

What do you call politicians who ignore their constitutional duty to secure our borders against enemies foreign and domestic? Or who recklessly spend us into astronomical debt in the name of feel-good liberal tendencies?