George Bush the Conservative

When the misinformed call George Bush a conservative, I have to laugh. George Bush is conservative just like Bill Clinton was a Liberal. Bill Clinton was only as Liberal as his poll-driven third way politics would allow. Clinton never tried to do anything big because his cautious politics and scandal ridden administration would not allow it. While Bush is the exact opposite of Clinton – in addition to the obvious moral way - in that Bush follows principle rather than polls and never plays little ball, they seem to be alike in the way they disappoint the base.

For example: Bush has signed a disaster of campaign finance law. Bush supported an assault weapons bill that placed more emphasis on a weapons appearance than its function. Bush cut taxes which, as always, increased government receipts, but Bush refuses to veto a single tax bill which spends every dime and then some of the increased revenue. Bush slapped temporary protectionist import taxes on foreign steel. Bush let Ted Kennedy write the education bill. Bush refuses to do anything serious about our porous borders and immigration policy. Bush promises more money to rebuild New Orleans than it would cost to give every man woman and child displaced by Katrina $250,000. And now, the last straw for Conservatives, Bush has a chance - not once but twice - to nominate a rock rib in your face conservative judge to the Supreme Court but has not taken advantage of the opportunity.

So now the MSM is in a tizzy about Bush’s base being upset about his nomination of Miers to what has become know as the “O’Connor seat”, which is nothing more than quota code for “moderate woman.” Well the base has been in a tizzy since day one when Bush let Ted Kennedy write the education bill. Politics, more than anything I can think of, is the art of the possible. The Republican Party had an opportunity to nominate a hard core Conservative in 2000 in the person of Alan Keys and didn’t come close. If they had, they’d probably lost by 49 states. So as part of the far right, I am not in a funk about the Miers nomination. Why? Because, whatever else I think of Bush, I believe he’ll do his best to reign in the activist judiciary. Why? Because, he said he would, and to date he has been pretty good on this subject.

Now the MSM is pushing the notion that the Conservative base will sit out the mid-term elections as retribution for the Miers nomination. Well, I am the base, and I am not sitting out the mid-term. I have my idea why Bush nominated Miers. I believe Bush has put forth two stealth candidates because spineless Senate Republicans couldn’t stomach the fight to get a Janis Rogers Brown confirmed. The only way to move the ball in this game is through constant pressure. Libs and MSM want Conservatives to stop the relentless pressure so that they can catch their breath. We shouldn’t give them that opportunity.