Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Conservatives Bash Bush At Cato
It was startling to read Dana Milbank's report in the Post about a conservative forum at the Cato Institute. It is questionable whether the tremors of discontent are going to turn into an upheaval. Nevertheless, comments by Bruce Bartlett and Andrew Sullivan make it clear that among some conservatives the disillusionment with G.W. Bush is more than just skin-deep. They sounded almost like....lefties!
A few excerpts:
- Bartlett certainly thought so. He began by predicting a big tax increase "to finance the inevitable growth of government that is in the pipeline that President Bush is largely responsible for." He also said many fellow conservatives don't know about the "quite dreadful" traits of the administration, such as the absence of "anybody who does any serious analysis" on policy issues.
- Instead, Sullivan was on hand to second the critique. "This is a big-government agenda," he said. "It is fueled by a new ideology, the ideology of Christian fundamentalism."
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The question period gave the two a chance to come up with new insults.
"If Bush were running today against Bill Clinton, I'd vote for Clinton," Bartlett served.
"You have to understand the people in this administration have no principles," Sullivan volleyed. "Any principles that get in the way of the electoral map have to be dispensed with."
