TAC's Daniel McCarthy repeats a telling political anecdote from the Bush White House, as reported by a former speechwriter who has just written a memoir. Daniel's conclusion reflects well on Bush's political judgment (no kidding):
But [the anecdote] confirms what everyone with two neurons to rub together has known for a long time: the con movement takes its cues from the GOP and whatever Bush or Dole clone leads the party. There hasn't been a "conservative movement" for a long time: there's a Republican auxiliary that calls itself conservative and a movement. It's arguable, though, whether Bush redefined it or merely pushed the absurdity to its logical conclusion.
Can anybody think of any time the conservative movement, such as it is, ever told the GOP what to do, or ever caused the GOP to worry about anything? The Harriet Miers debacle is the only time I can think of it doing so. In what sense is the "conservative movement" meaningfully different from the Republican Party? John Feehery thinks the Tea Party movement is distinct, and talks about ways the GOP can co-opt work with it. Several Republican lawmakers spoke at the Washington Tea Party. Draw your own conclusions.
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Rod,
For what it's worth, I thought you might find Noah Millman's post on "crazies" and the GOP interesting and would be interested on your take on it: http://theamericanscene.com/2009/09/16/i-want-to-keep-the-crazies-inside-the-tent-and-pissing-on-the-sleeping-bags
Democrats and liberals generally did indeed go along with Bush on the semantic miscegenation known as the "War on Terror." That is why I am neither a liberal nor a Democrat, although it has been two generations since the Republicans ran anybody I could vote for. Nobody had the spine to stand up to George W. Bush in 2004. They all offered some form of "Bush Lite," while John Kerry thought he could run as a war hero (true enough) and never mention his leadership of Vietnam Veterans Against the War when he came home. He could have put it all together, and captured a powerful public mood. Instead, he danced around facts everyone knew, wasted time getting upset over lies anyone could recognize (the Swift Vote Beterans), so the undecided swing voters held their noses and voted for Bush again. Nancy Pelosi is ludicrous pretending she wasn't crouching in the shadows letting the Cheney machine have its way and trying to look like she was one of them in 2001.
"Can anybody think of any time the conservative movement, such as it is, ever told the GOP what to do, or ever caused the GOP to worry about anything?"
Rod,
Remember two years ago when the GOP leadership (GWB, McCain, Hatch, Graham, etc.) tried to ram amnesty for illegal aliens down the throats of the conservative base?
Remember last fall when the GOP offered conservatives John McCain who chose to take them for granted and run as the "other Democrat". He almost ran out of money until he chose a running mate to the conservatives's liking (much to the dismay of his GOP supporters and campaign staff).
"The idea that we could by force of arms turn the Middle East into some sort of western style democracies was NeoCon utopianism at its worst."
That was the public pitch. It wasn't necessarily what that business was ever about. Think of it as a grand distraction. The neocons ultimately represent a constituency more than a set of principles. And that constituency ain't having a discussion with any of us.
Outrageous sums of money have been lost. Outrageous sums of money have changed hands. Outrageous sums of money are still unaccounted for. Given the number of bad actors in the financial sector who remain wealthy and ensconced in opaque ivory towers despite what is openly known about their conduct and its consequences, how much else -- and who else -- remains completely inaccessible and utterly untouchable?
And intelligent people go on talking politics as if their categories continued to make sense. It's a postmodern nightmare worthy of Baudrillard.
Sorry, but I can't see the Tea Party as anything but another attempt by the GOP to win the base over.
If the Tea Party were a genuine conservative movement, it would have had its genesis during the Bush Administration or it would at least acknowledge that the recent GOP has been no better (and in many ways much worse) than the Democratic party when it comes to spending, debt, trade policy, corporate subsidies and bailouts, government growth, and constructing a security apparatus that makes the 4th amendment protections non-existent.
Thus far, most of the anger seems to be less about those things, than about a Democrat occupying the White House.
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