HE'S CERTAINLY A FAILURE AS A LIBERTARIAN:

Why Conservatives Can't Govern (Alan Wolfe, July/August 2006, Washington Monthly)

Search hard enough and you might find a pundit who believes what George W. Bush believes, which is that history will redeem his administration. But from just about everyone else, on the right as vehemently as on the left, the verdict has been rolling in: This administration, if not the worst in American history, will soon find itself in the final four. [...]

Contemporary conservatism is first and foremost about shrinking the size and reach of the federal government. This mission, let us be clear, is an ideological one. It does not emerge out of an attempt to solve real-world problems, such as managing increasing deficits or finding revenue to pay for entitlements built into the structure of federal legislation. It stems, rather, from the libertarian conviction, repeated endlessly by George W. Bush, that the money government collects in order to carry out its business properly belongs to the people themselves.

We're not sure what needs redeeming in a presidency that has been distinguished by major reforms of nearly aspect of the federal government, strong economic growth, a remarkable extension of liberty abroad, and ahistorical increases in the Republican majority, but given that Governor Bush's first major campaign speech admonished the congressional GOP for behaving as if government were an enemy, you'd think even Mr. Wolfe would have figured out by now that not only is the President not a libertarian but that his Compassionate Conservative/Third Way politics are premised on strong government.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 20, 2006 6:18 PM