President's Con-Game Conservatism

[kentuck]

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0530-23.htm

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I have long argued that President George W. Bush and his greedy and arrogant gang are not conservatives. Sure, they like to call themselves that and see political advantage in using the label. But the truth is, the Busheviks' only real ideology is gaining and keeping power to protect and enhance their wealth.

<snip>
Bush's spending is out of control and he's made the nation's fiscal health a basket case. He finances tax cuts with debt, weakens the dollar and drives up interest rates. With the prescription drug benefit, he created the largest new federal entitlement program since Medicaid. Bush has used tariffs on steel and lumber products to protect select industries and drive up the prices consumers pay for basic products. The benefiting industries were in states with key electoral votes.

Bush continues to shamelessly support price supports and agriculture subsidies, which simply add to everyone's grocery bill, while benefiting a handful. How about a little free-market conservatism there?

He brought us a tragic and failed foreign entanglement that fosters terrorism, weakens our military and threatens our national security. How can that record possibly be called conservative?

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These guys don't want free enterprise. They want a free lunch with the taxpayers picking up the tab. Conservative businessmen? Skilled entrepreneurs? My ass. They're on the dole, corporate welfare queens feeding at the trough their political influence provides.

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These crooks are not free-market, hardworking risk-takers, the business types conservatives revere. Al Capone never had the White House doing his bidding. He robbed and killed the old-fashioned way. Lay and his ilk get their whores in government to do their dirty work.

No conservative is a Bushevik. No Bushevik is a conservative.

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[Vinnie From Indy]

1. I agree

What stumps me are the traditionl conservatives that don't seem to be able to see this. Granted, more and more are snapping back to reality as evidenced in the polls.

[Ganja Ninja]

2. I'm sorry but I have to disagree.

Bush is a conservative.

His out of control spending for this war is the inevitable result of putting belligerent conservative rhetoric into action.

His huge new entitlement for medicaid is a give away to the drug companies that helped fund his campaign. It also is the result of following the conservative free market philosophy that the private sector is always more efficient than the government.

His disastrous foreign policy is the reality of tough talking, "Bring it on" cowboy conservatism.

His irresponsible tax cuts that are bankrupting the country are reality intruding on conservative delusions.

Don't tell me this man isn't a conservative because everything he's done has backfired on him. He's a conservative and his every move has been cheered on by the faithful. He maybe wrong headed, simplistic, corrupt, immoral and warmongering but he's also conservative through and through.

[bryant69]

3. Depends on the definition of Conservative

I guess that's a pretty obvious statement.

Certainly Bush and the Bush faithful believe that they are Conservatives. On the other hand it is possible to pull out historically conservative priniciples and show how Bush has violated them one by one. So it's a bit of conundrum.

One other consideration - do we want to let the Republicans and Conservatives off the hook for Bush's failures? While many Conservatoids are 100% loyal to Bush and won't run away from him, many aren't (many are even now looking for a way away from Bush). Should we allow them to escape or should we make clear the connection between modern conservative thought and President Bush? There are advantages either way (although I personally favor the second approach).

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Ganja Ninja]

4. I favor the second approach too.

I don't have any tolerance for this blame it all on Bush excuse for the failure of conservatism. It's blaming the players for the failure of the game plan. We can't allow this stupidity to go on. When everything he's done has been applauded by conservatives across the country. They can't come back and pretend that it isn't exactly what they wanted.

Sometimes reality is a cold shower. They need to suck it up and deal with it.

[Ravy]

5. They could replace "conservative" with "Christian" and have a

good part II of the article.