American Conservative Magazine Admits "Bush a Disaster"

[DogPoundPup]

November 17, 2008 Issue
The American Conservative

Bush’s Broken Record

When future historians argue over the legacy of George W. Bush, the question they confront may be just which bracket of presidential failure he belongs in. Nixon and Johnson? Or Herbert Hoover? President Bush earned his place in the pantheon of disgrace even before he presided over an epochal financial crisis. Absent the atrocities of 9/11, he might have been a mediocrity: a big spender too prone to trust his shallow instincts but able to clear the competence threshold and lacking the sophistication to be truly dangerous.

Then came that epic morning, which Bush answered by giving the hijackers far more than they could accomplish with four planes. His grand democratization plan reduced Iraq to rubble, drove Iran to arm, and provided terrorists with the ultimate recruiting tool. America, once renowned for her decency, became the aggressor her foes alleged.

At home, our failed attempt at global liberation has left us less free than ever before. Ancient liberties, cultural imperatives, even basic solvency were subsumed by the war effort. And the conservative movement that gave Bush his margin sanitized his radicalism at the cost of its soul.
All he touched turned to dross. Yet he departs unbowed, still a Churchill in his own mind.

It would be easy to leave him to that delusion and turn a more hopeful page. But Bush wasn’t alone in his failure: a country marched behind him and a movement cheered him on. If the failings of the Bush era are to be corrected—or at least not repeated—we need a clear view of where we’ve been. History will render the final judgment, but herewith a preliminary damage assessment:


Also Open and read these articles @ http://www.amconmag.com/article/2008/nov/17/00006/
He Fought the Wars and the Wars Won
By Gary Brecher
Empty flight suit

Full Faith and Bad Credit
By Patrick J. Deneen
Fiddling while Wall Street burns

A Long Train of Abuses
By Alexander Cockburn
On civil liberties, Bush followed Clinton.

Discounting Family Values
By Allan Carlson
Terror War trumps Culture War.

Conservatives Follow the Leader
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
Anything for the White House

[Warpy]

1. They admit it only because

of a massive electoral landslide for the opposition party. If McCain had squeaked into office on a combination of voter purges and machine fraud, they'd likely be singing the praises of this disastrous man.

[pnwmom]

5. Actually, no. Pat Buchanan, who's behind the magazine, opposed the Iraq

war from the start and has been consistently critical of Bush on this issue.

[dantyrant]

7. AmCon has been very critical of Bush and the GOP.

They're not like The Weekly Standard or Commentary. They have a strong libertarian bent.

[Richard D]

2. * sets his own category for badness

and may very well be the mark of how bad future presidents are measured against. Forget Hoover, Nixon, et.al. * is in a whole new league of evil.

[biscotti]

3. Why didn't

they speak out after the first 4 years and remained silent through the last ruinous 4 years. Way to little, way to late.

[teach1st]

4. They haven't been exactly silent

Search for "Bush Disaster" at American Conservative Magazine.

http://www.amconmag.com/search.php?v&m=2&search=bush+disaster&start=0&end=25

[pnwmom]

6. They did. But the other Rethugs didn't listen. n/t

[Recursion]

9. This is Buchanan's and McConnell's mag

Buchanan is just about the only voice on the Right that has been consistent in his opposition to Iraq (well, him and Ron Paul).

[struggle4progress]

8. Conservatives have loved Bush II for eight years, sticking dutifully by his side

and complaining that anyone, who criticized the man, was motivated by hate

His administration was packed with folk like Cheney and Rumsfeld from Nixon's government and folk like Negroponte and Rice from the Reagan and Bush I governments

The reasonable conclusion is that Bush II did what conservatives expected him to do -- and that the failure is largely the failure of conservativism.

[Doctor_J]

10. Why is Alex Cockburn writing for AmCon?

:shrug: