Judging from the reaction on the right to the preview of what’s in former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer’s new book, they all have been terribly disappointed with Dubya for years now, and Latimer’s book is just a sad and sorry confirmation of what they have all known for such a long time.
Here is Byron York in the Washington Examiner:
How many times during the last eight years did you hear that George W. Bush was a dangerous right-wing extremist? Probably too many to count.
What you heard less often were expressions of the deep reservations some conservatives felt about Bush’s governing philosophy.
Maybe because those expressions of deep reservations weren’t expressed?
Conservatives greatly admired Bush for his steadfastness in the War on Terror — to use that outlawed phrase — and they were delighted by his choices of John Roberts and Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court. But when it came to a fundamental conservative principle like fiscal discipline, many conservatives felt the president just wasn’t with them.
Okay, I understand the logic behind Roberts and Alito — that has nothing to do with spending. But how does York get to the place where he can declare that “conservatives greatly admired Bush for his steadfastness in the War on Terror” and in the next breath bemoan his betrayal of “a fundamental conservative principle like fiscal discipline”? Aside from the fact that that “fundamental conservative principle” has rarely if ever actually been practiced by conservatives, where precisely does York imagine Bush’s lack of “fiscal discipline” showed itself? Where does he think the deficit came from?
Over at The Corner, Steve Hayward writes, without a trace of irony:
So last week at the “death of conservatism” panel at AEI, Sam Tanenhaus closed by recommending that the conservative movement cease to think of itself as a movement. Turns out there is one right-leaning Republican who apparently agrees with Tanenhaus: George W. Bush! See Byron York’s column in today’s Washington Examiner, where Byron dilates the revelations of Matt Latimer’s forthcoming book, Speechless.
As Byron recounts Latimer’s tale, when reviewing a speech draft for an appearance at CPAC, Bush demanded that all references to the conservative “movement” be stricken because, among other reasons, “I whupped Gary Bauer’s a— in 2000. . . . There is no movement.” Now I know Bauer is diminutive in stature, but who’s the little man here? [Emphasis added.]
Where have you been, Steve? That kind of smallness in Bush’s character did not start day before yesterday. Perhaps even more to the point: What are conservatives like Hayward doing to address the smallness of character that still exists in the GOP, and appears to be getting worse?
I might have some sympathy for conservatives who feel disillusioned or disappointed in former Pres. Bush if I thought they had learned anything from it. If instead of demonizing Pres. Obama, calling him nasty names, and comparing him to Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, conservatives in general showed a bit of humility — given that they put their complete and unquestionng trust and faith in a flim-flam man whose mess Obama now has to clean up — and a willingness to negotiate in good faith and be a loyal opposition rather than a wrecking crew, then I might have some sympathy.
As it is, though, I feel exactly like this:
… [W]ho could have predicted that the right, after earnestly supporting EVERYTHING Bush and the Republicans did the last eight years, would determine that the tattered wreckage left behind was not the fault of… conservatism? It is just priceless. Again, I ask, do you remember all the mass protests organized by Freedom Works and the fiscal conservative teabaggers when Bush and DeLay were jamming through the Prescription Drug bill? You remember 60-100,000 wingnuts descending on DC screaming “I want my country back?” while wailing about out of control spending? Me either.This isn’t about principle. This is about cynical partisan politics, with an assist from the media and the glibertarian excuse makers- only a complete fool would be blaming Obama for our current mess, and only a complete fool could look at the last few decades and think the solution to our nation’s woes is giving the Republicans another shot in 2010 and 2012. Only this time, they really will take us towards that elusive conservative Utopia that eluded them while they ran the house, the Senate, and the White House! I promise! The check is in the mail! I will respect you in the morning!
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