Jonah Goldberg writes this morning that “among ideological and intellectual conservatives, emotional support for (President) Bush is starting to ebb.” He says that among conservative think-tankers, bloggers and others, that ” there’s a definite undercurrent of discontent with the president.”
While Jonah checks off several clearly un-conservative bills that the president has signed, he says “what unites pretty much all of these grumblers is a deep sense of…disgust with how much this administration is spending.” He says “conservatives…have sincere misgivings about the kind of presidency Bush is conducting.”
Now, come on, you “intellectual conservatives,” it’s time to be intellectually honest. Is President Bush doing anything he didn’t portray himself to be in his run for office? Was everything he has done in office cloaked in secrecy during his campaign? You knew upfront his desire to “just get along” and compromise with the Democrats in Texas. You knew he wasn’t a hardliner on immigration. You knew that social issues were not his passion, even though he claimed Jesus was his favorite philosopher. Jesus isn’t a philosopher, for crying out loud — he’s God!
And just what did you think “compassionate conservatism” was? The only political definition of “compassion” requires the redistribution of wealth, making — as much as you may not like to hear it — “compassionate conservatism” an oxymoron, when it comes to the government at least.
Face facts, you “intellectual conservatives.” You wanted to be on the winning team and were willing to compromise your principles in order to achieve that. You got what you wanted — the one you anointed. Stop whining.