October 15, 2004
Original Title: "Look At Ol' Turtle-Head!"
You dare criticize the right of the Dracs to wage pre-emptive war?
Time to again shine the Flashlight of Truth or Something on disloyal cockroaches. Other compendia of enemies to American freedom are located here (Iraq policy), here (monocled diplomats), here (Republican Senators), here (the original failed enemies list project), and here (Hy Rothstein special edition). Now it appears that a larger group of disaffected Republicans and "true" (as opposed to "neo-" or "compassionate") conservatives are coming out of the woodwork, as evidenced by the series of Doonesbury cartoons this week. There's a little overlap, but the most recent examples include:
Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI): Now this lifelong Republican has concluded that he cannot cast his ballot for the leader of his party. "I'll vote Republican," he said, explaining that he would choose a write-in candidate, perhaps George Bush the elder, as a symbolic act of protest.
Elmer Andersen (Former Republican Governor of Minnesota): This imperialistic, stubborn adherence to wrongful policies and known untruths by the Cheney-Bush administration -- and that's the accurate order -- has simply become more than I can stand.
Bob Barr (Liver-Lipped Former Clinton Impeachment Manager): [Conservatives] recall that in recent years when the nation enjoyed the fruits of actual conservative fiscal and security policies, a Democrat occupied the White House and Congress was controlled by a Republican majority that actually fought for a substantive conservative agenda.
John Eisenhower (Ike's Son): Responsibility used to be observed in foreign affairs. That has meant respect for others. America, though recognized as the leader of the community of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance.
Doug Bandow (Cato Institute, Former Reagan Administration Official): Reagan observed: "I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things." Even when politics forced him to give way, everyone knew what he stood for. Bush's biggest problem, in contrast, is not that he is a poor communicator. It is that he has nothing to communicate. Victory over terrorists, yes -- but then what American really disagrees with that goal? Beyond that there is nothing.
Robert A. George (via the Agitator, GOP credentials here): A permanent war would be dangerous enough if the public could be confident in its execution. But we cannot. That's because President Bush has failed to live up to the second key tenet of conservative government: accountability.
Other examples for the great traitor purge are welcomed in the comments.
David Catania, openly gay Republican DC city council person: "George Bush made the promise to be a uniter not a divider but he took the hottest cultural issue in this country and divided the nation right down the middle. He did that for crass political purposes. This is not about partisanship, this is about preserving the Republic. I’ve come to believe that the ‘big tent’ is a big lie, and I’ve stopped fooling myself about it. There is no place for gays and lesbians within a Republican Party that is adversely dominated by Southern white men.”
and keepin' it real overseas, Frank Johnson, former editor of the UK Spectator: "We British Tories who believe that in the best interests of Britain -- and Toryism -- it would be good if Senator Kerry defeated President Bush look forward to the neoconservative and Republican right denunciation of a Kerry administration. Then we can accuse them of anti-Americanism."
Posted by: dexter at October 16, 2004 12:48 PM