Monday, January 24, 2005

What the Bush years have done to conservatives

I've always been a liberal but I've often listened to conservatives and have respected many. But as I've watched conservatives line up behind the man who will go down as the worst President in U.S. history, I've stopped
respecting a lot of conservative folks.

It's true, I stopped trusting George Will in the early 90s when he argued against a pro-choice position, but I still respected some of his opinions. This week, as my husband pointed out to me, Will makes the most ridiculous argument for private accounts instead of Social Security. I will no longer respect his opinions.

I used to think Tim Russert kicked ass--but then shortly before the 2004 election he allowed the post-9/11 crazy thug Rudi Guliani a platform on This Week to skewer John Kerry without interruption or a single counter point. It was outrageous! Tomorrow, he's giving a platform to two privatization supporters and not a single defender of Social Security. The only intelligent, discerning conservative I've heard lately is that Australian Tony Blankely that appears on the McLaughlin Group and on NPR's Day to Day show. He went after Bush's inaugural speech and declared it more Wilsonian than Wilson. Sanity!

I do feel that the tide is changing, with nutsy neo-cons calling for Rumsfeld's head. True and moderate conservatives are rebelling against private accounts for Social Security, and support for the
Iraq "war" is waining. This country might be waking up--but I've been so deeply disappointed by people believing and ignoring so many lies (including that whopper con job speech this week) I won't believe it until I see it.

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