Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Bush Voters: Repent and Be Saved!

Now is the time for all good conservatives to crucify George Bush for the good of the country (metaphorically) .

I am not mocking Christianity or Our Savior, so I hope I don't offend anyone.  We're in Lent now, so bear with me...

The Wall Street Journal observes that the hit song, "Blame Bush" by Obama and the Pelosicrats  is falling fast on the Hot 100 chart.  Voters of all stripes are tired of hearing it.

Nonetheless, we conservatives are guilty of silently assenting to his sinful eight-year spending spree, and tea partiers were the first to fess up:
Looking back, the way a lot of them see it is that Bush laid the foundation for worse things to follow.

"It started with the Republicans and with Bush," James Spangler, the insurance agent, told me.  "I mean, I'm a George Bush guy, but it started with him at the end, with Bernanke and Paulson -- those guys screwed up big time, and they opened the door for those people who are in there now to just go crazy, which is what they're doing." (Examiner - Byron York)


Now, deficits that troubled them a few years ago have tripled. 
Republican candidates who assert a small-government, constitutional conservatism will have to put some distance between themselves and the former president.  Indeed, we all must make a clean break in order to move forward:
Party strategists have long acknowledged that the presidency of George W. Bush badly damaged the Republican brand in the eyes of voters...

The danger ... is that there remains a significant segment within the Republican base who still supports Bush and many of the policies he put into place. Those same conservatives have an outsized say in determining the presidential nominee of their party as they tend to be the most engaged and passionate voters. (The Fix - Tim Pawlenty)
As Jesus took the sins of the world upon himself, so must we hang the sins of the Republican party, along with George Bush, upon a cross of intellectual honesty:
 
* His Compassionate Conservative crap merely fed the liberal trope that conservatives are by nature not compassionate

* His administration jailed jihadis without taking the time to construct a coherent legal framework.  Because of this, we are still arguing over what to do with them.  Add to that the hastily slapped together Patriot Act, and the perception is they didn't care about the constitution

* His very un-conservative out of control spending included a big fat prescription drug benefit and No Child Left Behind.  Both of which are continually attacked by Democrats.

* His coup de grace was the bailout.  Dirty Hank Paulson and his gang of bandits breached the walls of The Treasury, and the Wall Street Banksters went on a looting spree.  We are trillions poorer thanks to President Bush and the gang of pirates he was in bed with. 

If you're not into the Christian thing, then try out this Hollywood analogy:  Like Batman, he is bound to run because we are bound to chase him.  No good deed goes unpunished.

Repent and be saved, Conservatives!  

You can say Bush is a good man.  You can say he kept us safe after 9/11.  But you can't defend Bush's presidency and also call yourself an anti-progressive,  small-government, constitutional conservative.

6 comments:

Fredd said...

I don't think there is a single Tea Party supporter out there who would disagree with a single word here, Silverfiddle.

Dubya gave the GOP a fiscal black eye that still taints the party today.

Silverfiddle said...

Thanks Fredd. I'm expecting to catch some crap over this one.

Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

Silverfiddle,
I agree with with almost every point except this part;
"His administration jailed jihadis without taking the time to construct a coherent legal framework"

Captured and contained is more like it and the legal framework has been in place for decades.

Other than that,I agree.

Leticia said...

You won't get any flack from me. As much as I supported Bush and still admire him, he was far from perfect.

He made some very serious errors and what I love is that Republicans are not hypocritical. We truthfully admit that we did not always agree with Bush and were very vocal about it. Unlike the Dems who can see nothing wrong with their messiah.

Oso said...

Silverfiddle,
Being on the other team I don't have my fingers on the Republican pulse like you do.

However because I observe no essential difference between the enacted policies of both the Bush and Obama administrations and because I tend to be vocal about it I endure a certain amount of criticism from my own side.

Questioning our party leaders is one step towards eventually restoring both parties to their traditional bases and their traditional roles of loyal opposition to each other.

Silverfiddle said...

"Questioning our party leaders is one step towards eventually restoring both parties to their traditional bases and their traditional roles of loyal opposition to each other."

So true my friend. Healthy skepticism is a good thing. I had no problem with people questioning Bush (I wish I had more). It's the hateful attacks I don't like.

Saying Bush stole the election is a pea in the pod with the birthers. Both are a form of delegitimizing the president.

My advice to birthers is the same as to those who foamed at the mouth against Bush: He's president. Get over it. Attack the policies, not the person.

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