Conservative Republicans, unlike Democrats, (a.k.a. the Lemming Party),
are often very independent. They are a large part of the Republican
base, the ones who did the phone canvassing, handing out of literature,
and the "grunt" work, in general. Those efforts were to ensure
that their philosophy of government would prevail. Because the
Supreme Court has evolved into the most powerful arm of government,
the nomination of a conservative Supreme Court justice has become
their main aim. President Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers
to the court has betrayed those efforts.
President Bush will
likely not be running for office again and does not have to rely on
the conservative base, but all other Republicans will. The nomination
of Miers may just be the last straw for the base. It will be
difficult for any Republican to run for office without the support
of conservatives. The president asks us to trust him.
Another president, Reagan, gave good advice to "trust, but verify".
If the litany of odd actions by the president were not so long, it
would be easier to put that trust in him.
Fiscal conservatives
are still reeling grom the president's refusal to call for any spending
restraints. He has not used his veto power or even given the
threat to do so to rein in the spenders. He had the power.
Conservatives gave it to him. He did not use it.
Republicans
of all stripes are scratching their heads, wondering why President
Bush will not protect the sovereignty of the U.S. by sealing our southern
border. Indeed, he even denigrated the patriotic Minutemen,
who are giving up their time, money and safety by going to the border
to stem the massive flow of illegals into this country. He referred
snidely to the Minutemen as "vigilantes". It was not a compliment.
He has, instead, thrown up his own barriers to efforts by anyone who
would stop the illegal influx. The behemoth Homeland Security
Agency, with its huge budget and led by a Bush appointee, Michael
Chertoff, has done nothing discernible to give us homeland security
by stopping possible terrorists from coming across our border.
When Hurrican Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Mexico's Vincente Fox prevailed
upon the president to assure that any of Fox's citizens who have broken
our laws by coming here illegally would not be apprehended and deported.
Further, Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act, which mandates prevailing
wages be paid for jobs using government contracts. This enabled
employers to hire workers who will accept the lowest wages.
Those workers are most likely illegals. American workers have
the right to expect that their president would promote their right
to work, not Vincente Fox's refugees.
It puzzled conservatives
when President Bush supported Arlen Specter, who was running for re-election,
against a known conservative who was staunchly anti-abortion.
The president even went out and campaigned for him, an unusual occurrence.
This, after Specter had made himself a thorn in the side of conservatives
and even Bush, himself. In the same vein, Bush prevailed upon
Katherine Harris to stand down and not run for a particular seat in
Florida, as the president wanted to support somone else. She
deferred to him. Katherine Harris showed the stuff she was made
of when she stood firm in the presidential election, and insisted
that the laws of Florida being upheld. She took a barrage of
mean-spirited abuse from the liberals, even to the point of critizing
her makeup. She helped him get elected. This was how the
president repaid her. It is said that President Bush values
loyalty above all else. He didn't value Harris' loyalty.
Katherine Harris would have been a more acceptable nominee for Supreme
Count than Miers.
We know little about Harriet Miers. Records
show that she donated $1,ooo each to Al Gore, Lloyd Bentsen and the
Democratic National Committee in 1987-1988. This is not the
act of a conservative. Youth can be forgiven when they make
mistakes of this caliber. Ms. Miers was not young when she fed
the coffers of the enemies of the Republican Party.
President
Bush's poll numbers are down. Convential wisdom says it is discontent
witht the way the war in Iraq is going. The discontent
of conservatives who are fed up with Bush's stance on illegal immigration
and out of control spending must be added into that slide in the polls.
The Republican Party is going to be the big loser. President
Bush doesn't need conservatives any longer and would not appreciate
the folksy admonition to "dance with the one that brung you".
The party would do well to adopt it as a motto, however.
Meanwhile,
true conservatives are smart enough to know that Republican Kool-aid
is no more nourishing than Democrat Kool-aid.
Copyright © 10/4/2005
by Barbara Anderson
Barbara Anderson lives on the West Coast.
Things that are important to her are: God, family, country, heritage
and borders. She is an independent "political junkie". Besides writing,
she enjoys music, painting, and song-writing.
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