Posted on 06/05/2002 1:20:54 PM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Let me just say up front that I am not addressing you if you voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and regret it. The same goes for those of you who voted for Bush and insist on holding his feet to the fire on the important issues. If, however, you cast your vote for Bush, still believe he is the only hope for America and intend to support every move he makes without so much as a raised eyebrow, this is for you.
It has been nearly a year-and-a-half since George W. Bush, the savior of conservatism, descended from on high to begin his earthly reign in Washington, D.C. Republicans assured us that he would restore integrity to the White House and would be a marked improvement over the promiscuous Bill Clinton. Well, in all honesty, that could have been accomplished by electing a neutered chimp to the office of president.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush the man proved to be a nice break from Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Unlike Gore, Bush had a more likable...well, he actually had a personality. He also possessed the unique ability to address the American people without the smug and condescending vibe Clinton exuded. However, when it came to policy, George W. Bush the candidate failed to demonstrate that he would govern any differently than his Democrat counterparts.
Still, throughout the campaign, there was a loyal group of Bush supporters who would take offense at even the slightest implication that their candidate was anything but a staunch conservative. Even now, they continue to stand by their man, and I find this to be rather perplexing.
Perhaps those who have pledged their undying allegiance to President Bush could answer a few questions for me, in no particular order of course:
• How would you have reacted if Bill Clinton had signed the Patriot Act into law and given the government sweeping new surveillance powers?
• Would you have criticized a Democrat president for signing a $26 billion education-spending bill?
• Did you feel betrayed when Bush signed Campaign Finance Reform into law?
• What do you think about Bush's position on granting amnesty to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants?
• Would you have tolerated a Democrat proposal for federally funded faith-based initiatives?
• What would your reaction have been if a Democrat had said, "No one should have to pay more than a third of their income to the federal government"?
• What do you think about the president's granting of Permanent Most Favored Nation status to China?
• What's the difference between Bush and the Democrats on the issue of farm subsidies?
• How would you react if a Democrat president sent a $2.13 trillion budget to Congress?
• Would you have stood for a Democrat saying "No!" to arming airline pilots?
• What would your reaction have been if a Democrat had pushed for the federalization of airport security?
• Are you willing to stand by and let the Bush administration cater to the environmentalists on the global warming issue?
• What do you think about Bush's call for a Patient's Bill of Rights?
• What one thing has Bush done that sets him apart from the Democrats?
• It's been a year-and-a-half since Bush took office. When do we start to see a decrease in the size and scope of government? For that matter, when do we start to see even a remote indication that this administration will think about doing anything to try to limit the federal government?
This list is by no means exhaustive, but I would really be interested in some answers. Perhaps it would help shed some light on the mindset of modern compassionate conservatives.
The fact that a Republican president is governing like a Democrat isn't surprising. What's amazing to me is that there are a few select Bush supporters out there who cannot—or will not—utter one word of criticism against their president for any reason. In their minds this man is the epitome of conservatism, and to question his actions would be to question their own beliefs and cause them to wonder why they supported him in the first place.
The way I see it there can only be two explanations for this: 1) these people really and truly believe in what Bush is doing, or 2) they do not wish to face up to the real reason they voted for him — he was simply a slightly more palatable choice than Al Gore.
I know you are addressing this to Stand Watch Listen, but it might be more appropriate to ask this same question of the president, don't you think?
Now that the Reform Party has been cannibalized by them, their here wanting to do the same. If we don't stop them we will see a repeat of 1992 and this time the list of candidates the RATS have to offer will end any hope of stopping the liberals grip on the Nation.
See, these visionless nut bags want it all RIGHT NOW, They expect this President to drop all politics and veto anything that isn't approved by them, they want the President to ignore the fact that the Public wanted the social spending he promised during his campaign, they want him to ignore the fact that BY LAW he had to produce a environmental study by June 3rd, 2002, and they also wanted him to ignore what his scientist said about Greenhouse Gases and what MIGHT be causing them and just leave it out of the report. NOT that Joe Lieberman wouldn't call for an investigation on why he ignored these findings. You see they want it NOW, no small incremental steps, just RIGHT NOW.
What these bashers need to realize is George W. Bush doesn't need them nor does he want them, They are trouble where ever they go, their knee jerk whining would turn off any blind deaf and dumb American. Very much like the far left, they're the extreme. Loud, uncontrollable, destructive and repulsive to most Americans
Go read the Constitution. Or barring that, take a Government 101 class at your local JC.
You know what is so odd? I saw Buchanan on TV this very week and guess what -- he said he TRUST Bush and Ashcroft. Was ALL behind them.
I guess some people didn't get the message.
I think we're past that worry. They either stayed home, voted for Buchanan/Foster, became Phillipians, or voted Libertarian as a "protest vote," smug in their assurance that Al Gore would become the President.
Their plan imploded. Now they've been shown up for what they are: impotent. They've lost their leverage, and they are mad as hell.
They are threatening it right on these threads.
Actually, yes I do disagree with Tom. First off, the Declaration does not carry the force of law. This nation was not built off of the Declaration, but the Constitution. Two completely separate documents that really aren't even reconciled with each other.
All men are NOT created equal. But society owes the individual equal status before the law.
I'm 6' 6" tall. Are you?
I can do a 360-degree slam dunk. Can you?
I can hit a golf ball 340-yards down the fairway consistently. Can you?
You probably are capable of doing things that I could only dream of.
Get the point?
But let's talk turkey here. When Thomas Jefferson wrote these words, he didn't mean them. Did he? Talk to me, now!
But that's another topic.
However, I do appreciate the underlying message of what he wrote.
Next question.
It is worth remembering that George W. Bush as a candidate did not present himself as a conservative, but rather a "compassionate conservative." Without attempting to define the term, there is no question it implies that he would govern with a center-right approach. Seems to me that he has done precisely that.
Neither do the Ten Commandments, in your apparent worldview.
Regards
J.R.
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