Conservatives v. Bush

Meet the Press this morning featured a quote from David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union:

Most conservatives have stood with Bush from the beginning. Those of us who know him like him. We've swallowed policies we might otherwise have objected to because we've believed that he and those around him are themselves conservatives trying to do the right thing against sometimes terrible odds. We've been there for him because we've considered ourselves part of his team.

No more.

From now on, this administration will find it difficult to muster support on the right without explaining why it should be forthcoming. The days of the blank check have ended because no thinking conservative really wants to be part of a team that requires marching in lock step without question or thought, even if it is headed by the President of the United States. — David Keene, in The Hill, 2005-10-18

Gosh, it has only taken the chairman of the American Conservative Union five years to figure out that a man who values personal loyalty above all else ... values personal loyalty above all else!

George W. Bush isn't loyal to the conservative cause, he isn't loyal to the Republican Party, he certainly isn't loyal to the United States of America or even to the office of the President. George W. Bush is loyal to George W. Bush, period. If you pause to think or to question, then you are not loyal to this President, and he will not hesitate to leave you by the side of the road, choking in his dust. Just ask someone like Paul O'Neill.