I am really growing weary of people throwing around "ideology" as a buzzword that is instantly intended to conjure up the worst impression of the Bush administration. It's right up there with "culture of corruption." Having debated my share of hardcore Leftists over the span of the last few years, I know it to be one of their very favorite catch-all terms of derision. At which point I feel compelled to instruct them that any system of beliefs (which Conservativism and Liberalism BOTH are, incidentally) constitutes an "ideology." Nobody ever said every move GW has made was perfect. Lockstep is something you see in Democratic circles, and to say that "Conservatives" on the whole have abandoned "real" Conservativism is another of the baseless, unsubstantiated claims the Left loves to throw out as another patented indictment of George Bush and the idiots who support him, as though such support were unquestioned and without exception.
If Mr. beckett fancies himself a Conservative, he should know he is borrowing his talking points from the Left. In which case one has to wonder who is actually abandoning "real" Conservativism.
Excellent.