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May 12, 2004
MORE CONSERVATIVE FOIBLES
More proof that Bush's umbilical cord to his neoconservative masters is alienating even those who should be his base: this article in the Washington Post yesterday. As I mentioned a few days ago with the George Will column, conservatives have begun to realize that Bush isn't one of them, really -- and that the neoconservative movement is the most dangerous political fringe in America since George Wallace got 15% of the vote running on a segregationist platform.
On the domestic side, conservatives and former administration officials say the White House policy apparatus is moribund, with policies driven by political expediency or ideological pressure rather than by facts and expertise.
I think former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill says it best:
Echoing a criticism leveled by former Bush aide John J. DiIulio Jr., who famously described "Mayberry Machiavellis" running the White House, O'Neill said "the biggest difference" between his time in government in the 1970s and in the Bush administration "is that our group was mostly about evidence and analysis, and Karl [Rove], Dick [Cheney], [Bush communications strategist] Karen [Hughes] and the gang seemed to be mostly about politics."
That's the neoconservative philosophy in a nutshell, friends. Principle and logic be damned, we just need to keep power. Makes you feel all warm and cuddly inside, doesn't it?
And speaking of warm and cuddly conservative types, how about this from Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe (R) regarding the abuse of Iraqi prisoners:
"If they're in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners -- they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents," said Inhofe, a conservative from Oklahoma. "Many of them probably have American blood on their hands. And here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals... I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment.
The guy undermined his own argument in his rant. "Many of them" -- not all. "Probably have blood" -- in other words, we don't know. And yet he's going to defend the garbage we've seen out of Abu Graif? You've gotta love bloodthirsty idiots who allow themselves to be led by revenge and hatred rather than any sort of individual or rational thought. Not to mention the fact that a stupid bastard like this, someone who clearly has no clue what America is supposed to stand for, is a United States Senator. James Inhofe is unfit for his office. He lacks the convictions of an American, and he lacks a dedication to the principles of the Constitution. He's just a cruel and bloodthirsty little punk, and his presence in the Capitol disgraces the US Senate.
A note, in the interest of fairness... even as this cruel rant was still going on, even Inhofe's fellow Republicans seemed shocked and displeased.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, left the committee room during Inhofe's remarks. Asked outside the meeting room whether he agreed with Inhofe, McCain replied, "No way." And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said, "When you are the good guys, you've got to act like the good guys."
What a disgrace Inhofe is.
