Is Andrew Sullivan Leaving The Dark Side?

This article starts out with the usual rah-rah cheerleading for Bush's rah-rah spinning of the "death and conquest" policy. Yawn. As Sullivan continues, however, he hits Bush hard on some glaring weak points:

But, more profound, the president revealed his deep suspicion of human freedom. Yes, he says he supports it. But in every instance--even charitable and religious institutions--he believes that government needs to get involved. He wants to maintain the Patriot Act intact; he wants to extend the war on drugs to steroids; he wants to prevent gay couples from having the ability to form their own families and be treated equally under the law. He suggests not a single government program to be cut. On social issues, he shifted to the hard right: abstinence programs rather than contraception; an assault on gay couples and families; and millions of dollars in order to subject children to mandatory drug testing in schools. This is not Reaganism. It isn't Gingrichism. It's Big Government Moral Conservatism: fiscally liberal and socially conservative.

Emphasis mine in both cases.

With the back-breaking deficit the Bush Regime's economic Voodoo II is creating, I wouldn't do them the honor of calling them fiscally liberal. Fiscally insane is more like it. That aside, Sullivan (for once) hits the mark firmly. Ironically, a man who was one of Bush's biggest boosters has outlined most of the reasons the Resident shouldn't be elected dogcatcher, let alone Commander-in-Chief: he has no concept of true liberty or justice, he wants to involve the government in almost every aspect of our personal lives, he wants to spend money we don't have and give most of it to his rich buddies, and he wants everyone to shut up about it and do as they're told.

Sure. Bush as more bad things going for him, but most libertarian conservatives want to pretend that problems like poverty and the environment aren't the government's problem. So all in all, this is an excellent start.

Can the Reactionary Right now stop pretending that Bush is freedom's Great White Hope? Probably not. But at least sane conservatives are waking up to the threat his regime poses to our future. Let us hope they stay awake long enough to kick the Mayberry Machiavellis out of the White House.

(/) Roland X
"Our lives are remembered by the gifts we leave our children."
--Preston Whitmore, "Atlantis: the Lost Empire"