So Reynolds says he THOUGHT that all along. I'll have to take his word on that.
I read his posts regularly, but I've never seen him SAY that all along.
He's right about Sullivan, Andrew oscillates between hot and cold
Reynolds is a pro-choice Democrat who has never considered himself a conservative. His philosophy clearly leans towards libertarian. It is my impression that he doesn't so much support Bush, but consider the alternative to be worse.
Posted at 2005-09-12 13:43:33 [PermaLink]George W. Bush is one of the greatest, and one of the most consequential, presidents the country has had, in the moulds of Lincoln, TR, FDR, and Reagan. Whatever Glenn Reynolds or Andrew Sullivan think does not change the fact.
Posted at 2005-09-12 17:34:14 [PermaLink]FDR? Don't make me throw up. He coddled Stalin long before Jimmy Carter ever dreamed of coddling dictators. He passed Social Security and a raft of economy-robbing welfare state programs. He tried to pack the courts so that more of those programs wouldn't get ruled unconstitutional. If he urged the Fed to reverse its deflationary monetary policy at all, he didn't do it soon enough, as the length of the Depression testifies. Aside from urging the declaration of war and putting Marshall in charge of it, can anyone name a significant policy decision of his that was good?
Posted at 2005-09-13 01:11:12 [PermaLink]Bruce, you are exactly right.
Sam, I don't agree that Bush is "the greatest" president ever, but I think his policies on the "the Big Question" - terrorism, are correct.
Supporting a guy like the Bush in these times is an interesting study in human behaviour. I could do without his religious conservatism, and his Administration's profligacy is a big disappointment.
But then you look at the Michael Moore Left (who increasingly represents the mainstream Left), and think about their worldview, I can't help but be an enthusiastic supporter of Bush.
JasperPants
Alan K. Henderson:
"Aside from urging the declaration of war and putting Marshall in charge of it,"
Well, that's a pretty big aside. Yes, FDR got a lot of things, including big things (domestic policy, excessive cozying up to Stalin), very wrong. He got the one biggest thing, the most urgent and dire, right: he led us into WWII and ensured we'd win it, whereas I'm not convinced his opponents would have. There are serious criticisms to be levelled at his war leadership too, but I'd have to call it a huge, and crucial, success.
For that, this conservative reveres him. And I think the parallels to Bush are non-trivial.