Many conservatives accepted much of what Bush said and did because, "He wouldn't do THAT; he's one of us." They developed selective blindness between what 'a conservative would do' and what he actually did, refusing to deal with their own cognitive dissonance. I hate to say it, but it reminds me of how these borderline idolatrous lemmings adulate Sarah Palin. Given her record, I'm afraid they'd be disappointed. The icon is not the person.
Neither Bush was truly a conservative, but instead they are stealth communitarians. They believe it is government's role to force the people to do good (which magically somehow also works out to whatever is good for them and their friends... you know... good people should prosper because of their good works (with other people's money))))))))). Ah well, whereever there's noblesse oblige, there's always droit de seigneur. He never did acknowledge that he owed his job to conservatives in FR in the first place for what we did in Florida and outside the Naval Observatory. As far as he was concerned, we were an annoyance. We are to sit down, shut up, and applaud on cue. He's a condescending pos that way, your basic spoiled brat gone civilized.
Conservatives were blinded to Bush by their own litmus test: abortion, about which he actually made a very few relatively inconsequential but high-profile bone-tossings while the societal underpinnings of accruing decline have remained intact. He almost got away with even worse until the conservatives finally screamed at the reality of his nomination of White House Counsel Harriet Miers and got Alito as a result. Did they learn anything from that? A bit, but not enough. He never did a thing to tame McCain while he let Estrada twist in the wind.
The actual array of moral life-and-death issues is far broader and deeper than one issue, but that is something with which he never dealt. It was a cover. "He's a nice man," on vacations, doing charity, giving the happy waves and blowing off doing ANYTHING to advance conservative principles while the country headed inexorably into an economic ruin he abetted with outrageous spending in Iraq and Afghanistan while he simultaneously allowed the enemy to infiltrate our porous borders. The only big difference between Bush (insert number) and a Nixon or a Ford is...
As an ex-president, Bush has done NOTHING to advance conservatism. Look at Clinton by comparison. I can only wait for the damage an "ex-president Obama" will do.
Hence, Bush is a stealth RINO. I'm not sure we will ever find out what he really thinks but we'd better grow up and stop putting blind faith in people who "say the right things." It's what they DO that matters. I don't ever want to see another primary season like 2008, but I'm afraid we're being set up again.
I have to include myself in the ranks of those who were blind. I believed that because he was pro-life, that would take him on the right path with everything else.
When Bush joined hands with Kennedy and Reid to push amnesty, that knocked some sense into me. And it got worse after that, when he attacked us for opposing the amnesty swindle.
But as you know, it's not just Bush. After amnesty was defeated, some so-called "conservative" talk show hosts said that we had accomplished nothing by defeating amnesty (we were going to get a worse amnesty deal soon). Like the RINOS who surrendered to Crap and Trade because if they didn't pass it, the EPA would do something worse.
As an ex-president, Bush has done NOTHING to advance conservatism. Look at Clinton by comparison.
I'm glad he disappeared. If he started appearing on TV, it would remind voters why they don't want another GOP POTUS.
I would put the above a different way, he took the position that it was his job to pass and sign whatever suited his fancy and whatever got him re-elected, and the SCOTUS job to throw it out if it was a blatantly unconstitutional expansion of federal powers in the eyes of liberal justices on the court. Campaign finance was a great example, just one.
Here's my Bush-bot imitation to give some balance, and laughs:
“He kept you safe. He is a man of honor. He is better than Barrack Obama. He meant well. He had a good heart. He captured Bin Laden(well it was his plan, the MSM wont tell you that.) He has a great wife who writes great books. He looks great in a suit or cowboy outfit. We should all work together to fight Democrats by defending Bush. McCain lost because he refused to let Bush campaign for him. Defend Bush or you help ‘the enemy’ Obama, Yabba dabba Do.“
I could go on :)