As Always

Paul Krugman takes on the Republicans again in his latest piece, Same Old Party:

There have been a number of articles recently that portray President Bush as someone who strayed from the path of true conservatism. Republicans, these articles say, need to return to their roots.

Well, I don’t know what true conservatism is, but while doing research for my forthcoming book I spent a lot of time studying the history of the American political movement that calls itself conservatism — and Mr. Bush hasn’t strayed from the path at all. On the contrary, he’s the very model of a modern movement conservative.

He then proceeds to touch upon the big issues of the day, such as taxes, fiscal irresponsibility, governmental incompetence, secrecy and authoritarianism, with comparisons of previous Republican rule. In a good review, Krugman concludes:

Now, as they survey the wreckage of their cause, conservatives may ask themselves: “Well, how did we get here?” They may tell themselves: “This is not my beautiful Right.” They may ask themselves: “My God, what have we done?”

But their movement is the same as it ever was. And Mr. Bush is movement conservatism’s true, loyal heir.

Put another way, blogger driftglass notes, in Lest we forget:

Because the ugly truth is simply that the problem with the Republican Party is not George Bush, or Dick Cheney or Dough Feith or Rush Limbaugh or Pat Robertson: the problem with the Republican Party is Republicans.

The ugly truth is . . . whether or not we’ll be able to weather the storms that are to come depends in large measure on how much longer the GOP base is allowed to control any significant part of our media, our politics or our faith.

* * * *

And without their front-men in the media, the Congress and the White House, the Base would lose the luster of the limelight that creatures like Coulter are for some reason allowed to wield and would once again have to settle for being no more or less than what they have always been: the last, slavering remnants of the Confederacy.

Squatting in the moral abyss of their Conservative White Jebus-festooned double-wides.

And whining impotently about Jews, queers, Negroes and uppity women.

~ ~ ~ ~
And then there's this:

Well, out on the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says that Republicans have to start acting like Republicans. I don’t know. Last week they avoided a debate with black people. You can’t get more Republican than that.

- Jay Leno
(Via Laugh Lines)