Conservative Forum on Bush:"Irresponsible-Vindictive-Inept: Dana Milbank

[kpete]

At Conservative Forum on Bush, Everybody's a Critic

By Dana Milbank
Wednesday, March 8, 2006; Page A02

If the ancient political wisdom is correct that a charge unanswered is a charge agreed to, the Bush White House pleaded guilty yesterday at the Cato Institute to some extraordinary allegations.

"We did ask a few members of the Bush economic team to come," explained David Boaz, the think tank's executive vice president, as he moderated a discussion between two prominent conservatives about President Bush. "We didn't get that."

......................


Now why would the administration pass up such an invitation?

Well, it could have been because of the first speaker, former Reagan aide Bruce Bartlett. Author of the new book "Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy," Bartlett called the administration "unconscionable," "irresponsible," "vindictive" and "inept."

It might also have had something to do with speaker No. 2, conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan. Author of the forthcoming "The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It; How to Get It Back," Sullivan called Bush "reckless" and "a socialist," and accused him of betraying "almost every principle conservatism has ever stood for."

.........................

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."

Boaz renewed his plea. "Any Bush economists hiding in the audience?"

There was, in fact, one Bush Treasury official on the attendance roster, but he did not surface. The only man who came close to defending Bush, environmental conservative Fred Singer, said he was "willing to overlook" the faults because of the president's Supreme Court nominations. Even Richard Walker, representing the think tank that fired Bartlett, declined to argue. "I agree with most of it," he said later.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/07/AR2006030701403.html

[SteppingRazor]

1. Somewhere on a conservative site...

Freepers are screaming about the liberal bias of Dana Milbank.

I like guys like Milbank. Anyone who is so loathed by both sides -- accused by both of being a shill for the other -- must be doing something right.

[babylonsister]

4. Ha! I was just thinking about how I despise Milbank, though

this article is good; it's nice to know liberals aren't the only ones going nuts over this admin. :)

[Cults4Bush]

15. He's a fence sitting anti-Conyers schlock loader.

How much does he care about this country or his profession? By his own writings... not very much. He's an enabler and a softballing fat purse pro.

Sorry but when he did that hit piece on Conyers it was an irrevocable statement in regards as to his true feelings on politics. He is part of the elitist class structure and his tone and inflection in that article reflected it as purely as a polished mirror.

Sometimes some people are complete and total shits and that is indeed why everyone hates them. At least thats my take on him...

[KharmaTrain]

16. Milbanks Carried His Share Of Water

He still never came clean about sitting next to Jeff Gannon/Guckert for months...being suspicious of his credentials and not daring to question this until Gannon/Guckert exposed himself on national TV. Then afterwards, Milbank just brushed it off as a left-wing witch-hunt.

Now that the political winds have shifted, so has Milbanks. He's just trying to get ahead of the curve here. A year ago, bashing Democrats/libruls was still the major sport inside the beltway. Now it's piling on boooosh and Milbanks now looks like a "good guy". These are the most dangerous "journalists"...the ones that have to be watched closely.

Cheers...

[blm]

21. I concur with every word you posted about Milbank.

He is immoral to the core with no journalistic integrity.

[KharmaTrain]

22. Some Of Us Remember....

The problem with many starting to see the light is they can't see the shadows behind that light. Milbanks lurks in those shadows.

Cheers...

:hi:

[mattclearing]

27. Word.

I can't take Milbank seriously. The entire Post political desk is center-right at best.

[Kber]

2. This is the beast they bred

They thought they could harness the power of the religious rw movement to further their economic conservative aims. Now they see who really wears the pants in their unholy marriage!

[CrispyQ]

3. Great article!

"He is not a responsible human being; he is a phenomenally reckless human being," Sullivan proclaimed. "There is a level of recklessness involved that is beyond any ideology."


What boggles the mind is that it took half of America five years to see this.

[rock]

5. The conservative soul

They haven't lost it. They've found it.

[European Socialist]

6. Hey now, WE hate him much more than the Conservatives.

[jbnow]

13. We hate more of what he does then they do, but

imagine how we'd feel if our party's president and majority were as bad as bush and the congress now.
It seems like it would be even worse if it was our party.

I don't blame any republican who voted for bush in 2000, he didn't seem THIS bad. But any who voted for him in 2004, well I do blame them.

[European Socialist]

26. Anyone who voted Chimp in 2004 will rot in Hell !!!!

[Canuckistanian]

7. Sullivan calls Shrub 'a socialist'?

Either he doesn't understand the term 'socialist' or he's been drinking again.

What possible reason would lead him to believe any of Dim Son's actions to be 'socialist'????

:wtf:

[ugarte]

8. Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei...nt

[90-percent]

9. poor George

It's got to suck when your whole support network betrays you for being incompetant.

I guess the true conservatives finally decided that wrecking the whole world may be a bad thing?

-85%

:sarcasm:

[Canuckistanian]

10. Ah, ich verstehe...

[formercia]

17. (NAZI)

[stevietheman]

25. Yep, Godwin's Law has been rescinded due to the pResidency...

of George W. Bush.

This law was just a meme invented by reich-wingers to stifle arguments anyway.

[glitch]

19. In the world where privatizing public resources means socialist.

Andrew Sullivan is not a heavy thinker.

edit: bizarro world, where Andrew is respected.

[JHB]

29. Because governent spending has gone up...

Sullivan must be one of those wingnuts who has a very narrow mental arithmetic:
the size and spending of the government has gone up under Bush, so in their mind he's a socialist. (given that this is a CATO forum, it's not surprising to hear that viewpoint).

Basically, it's an epithet, not a word with real, nuanced meaning. Again, since this is a CATO forum, it's not surprising to see that level of "quality" among their "scholars".

[oasis]

11. A staunch Reaganite would choose Clinton over Bush? Chimpy's toast. nt

[never cry wolf]

12. WooHoo, Rec #5, eyes are opening.........eom

[Synnical]

14. Thanks for this n/t

[barbaraann]

18. Dana Milbank is a member of Skull and Bones.

Just a reminder.

[Bandit]

20. "You have to understand the people in this administration have no principl

Truer words were never spoken. I guess sometimes even Republicans are capable of telling the truth. :shrug: Too bad it is so rare.

[newyawker99]

23. kpete

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

NYer99
DU Moderator

[ginnyinWI]

24. A word of caution as we enjoy the *-bashing--

Bruce Bartlett and others are desperate, right now, to try to separate the idea of conservatism from *. His premise is that * is an imposter, and that if * were a real conservative, he'd be a success right now. His ideal president is Ronald Reagan!

But the truth is that conservative policies don't work! It doesn't matter what conservative is president. The only reason Reagan wasn't a worse president--and he was bad enough, causing deficits, etc.-- is that he had gridlock with the Dem-dominated Congress. They prevented him from carrying out his worst ideas.

So we have to keep the focus on this. * is outta here--but the flawed ideals of conservatism live on.

[NightOwwl]

28. With apologies to Sally Field...

They hate him! They really hate him!

Poor, poor boosh. :nopity: