It sounds like the Bartlett book is saying a lot of the same things movement conservatives, like Pat Buchanan, have been compalining about for years. Bush is part of the Republican political establishment, not a conservative. He wasn't all that conservative in Texas, he didn't run as a particularly conservative candidate and he certainly hasn't governed as a conservative. He has tried to give the impression to conservatives that he would like to be more conservative, but political realities wouldn't let him. In fact, when he has stood up for conservative principles, he was generally won, as with the Alito nomination. Some of his problems, like the ill-fated Miers nomination and this Dubai port deal, seem to arise from his delusional belief that the voters gave him a personal mandate. In fact, he was elected twice because voters didn't trust his opponents, with good reason it must be said. For all Bush's shortcomings, I hate to think where we would be with Al Gore as president, facing alqaeda.
You got taken sput, face it, when you voted for Bush you bought a lemon. When you buy a used car and get a lemon that means three things - the car is really, really bad, the salesman is a scumbag who ripped you off. And last - your're the proverbial sucker that's born every minute. It's as simple as that and the excuse that you did not trust the only other used car lot in town is nonsense. You're still a sucker. Especially given the fact that you bought your previous car from that other salesman, it was not perfect but it was quite OK and you drove it for 8 years without any serious problems.
Right, something like that. Why aren't you as angry at Bill Clinton for not addressing terrorism in any meaningful way or taking bin laden when he had the chance?
I sort of support Clintons use of Echelon. But his administrations lapses when it came to military weapons were unforgivable. Remember the suspected theft by the Chinese of our Nuclear secrets. The costs of those thefts could be devastating.