Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Finally, A Little Honesty In The Miers Debate.
Ramesh Ponnuru's Op-ed in the Monday NYTimes is a refreshing bit of honesty in the contentious conservtive battle over Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers.
For the record, I am a conservative and no, I do not love everything the President has done. But the sad fact of the matter is not that the President is not a "real" conservative, but that the country is not.
Unbelievable as it may seem, even with a fully Republican government, that government is constrained by the will of the nation. It's a democracy, remember? We don't hold elections for absolute ruler. The President must work within what he thinks he can get done.
Bottom line, the nation is more conservative than it was when he took office. Not as conservative as I would like, but more so. That's a win. It dawned on me the other day. If Miers makes one more decision that I agree with than O'Conner would have, then Miers is a step in the right direction. If, in the President's judgement, that single step is all we can achieve right now, then my job is to help him achieve it, not tell him to go for 5 steps. When the day comes that I think I am better than him at such judgements, I will run for President, and stop sitting around sniping at politics on a blog.
But five years into Mr. Bush's presidency, conservatives have cause to re-evaluate their compromises. While most conservatives supported the invasion of Iraq, many have grave doubts about the conduct of the war. Medicare has been expanded more than it has been reformed. Social Security reform appears to be dead for now. Tax cuts may have inhibited spending - perhaps Medicare would have been expanded even more without them - but they have hardly imposed anything that could fairly be called "restraint."At least he is being honest - it's not just about Miers, it's about the general feeling that Bush is not a "real" conservative and Miers has become the focal point of frustration at that presupposed "fact."
For the record, I am a conservative and no, I do not love everything the President has done. But the sad fact of the matter is not that the President is not a "real" conservative, but that the country is not.
Unbelievable as it may seem, even with a fully Republican government, that government is constrained by the will of the nation. It's a democracy, remember? We don't hold elections for absolute ruler. The President must work within what he thinks he can get done.
Bottom line, the nation is more conservative than it was when he took office. Not as conservative as I would like, but more so. That's a win. It dawned on me the other day. If Miers makes one more decision that I agree with than O'Conner would have, then Miers is a step in the right direction. If, in the President's judgement, that single step is all we can achieve right now, then my job is to help him achieve it, not tell him to go for 5 steps. When the day comes that I think I am better than him at such judgements, I will run for President, and stop sitting around sniping at politics on a blog.
