As Bush apologists realize their leader is presiding over a dying presidency, they are straining to distance themselves from him.
(Well, except on Reformed Leftist where they strain to defend their continued support...)
2006-04-17
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One of the failures of Bush's administration is its failure to account for all the devoted public criticism that his war efforts would have to endure, and how helpful these criticisms would be to the enemies of democracy/self-rule. In accounting for this criticism, he should have focused on the more of the things that these people would themselves focus on, such as torture, civilian casulties, and property desctruction. There was probably a way to use these devoted critics to his advantage, by using their concerns to identify more areas where the soldiers could have succeeded.
An example where Bush succeeded is in staging independant elections with independant results. This was one area central to the concerns of the devoted critics, and an area where Bush has effectively succeeded in winning. These critics have many valid concerns, and Bush should have used them in more cases to prioritize his targets. Avoidance of torture, property damage, and civilian casulties are other areas.
I am one of many Republican voters who is embarrassed, and at this point I intend in the next election to "waste" my vote on Libertarian and US Taxpayer party candidates. I am embarrassed about the following:
- Repos abandoning the SS privatization proposal
- Repos abandoning the flat tax proposal
- Repos using their control of congress to expand govt in general and pork in particular beyond even what demos did when they had power, rather than reduce these actions.
- Repos using their control of congress to meet or exceed the illegal or unethical lobbying, bribary, payoffs, and payola of demos.
- Repos using their control of congress to meet or exceed the gerrymandering previously charactoristic of democratic congresses.
- Repos not running agencies like FEMA any more competently than the demos did.
- Repos not safeguarding against torture in their war.
These disappointments make me wonder why I bothered to vote Repo rather than Libertarian in the first place. I sense that a very strong fraction of Repos are embarrased to advocate voting Repo, and feel betrayed. Why vote for Repo if victory doesn't result in smaller, more efficient govt and less curruption?
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-04-16T153557Z_01_N16212029_RTRUKOC_0_US-GINGRICH.xml&rpc=22
The above article provide another recap of Newt's comments. Those of us who voted to give the white house and congress Repo control expected to get in return lower govt spending and more efficient govt, lower and flatter taxes, among other things. We now look foolish. The best we can do is claim, "if democrats ran things, spending would be even higher, taxes even more complex, preposterous pork and unethical kickbacks even worse, and the Katrina response would have been even less efficient." That is a sad position for us to be in.
The Repos obtained the power that they sought, and the voters who gave it to them do not as a result have anything to be proud of. On what basis, for example, can I tell my leftist friends who are also upset about complex and high taxes, pork, or the inefficient Katrina response, that they should switch to Repo? The Repos have had power for six years and these areas have only worsened. I'm inclined to vote Libertarian and let the Repos learn a lesson. They seem to think that their goal is to win elections, not obtain success on the issues that matter to their supporters.
Nadir: The writer could have accurately described the relevent charges, if he wants to be taken seriously. Otherwise, he'll just get some applause from ignorant people who already agree with him.
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