GOP Revolution: It's a Wrap

GOP Revolution: It's a Wrap | The American Prospect: "The pendulum has swung, the Republican revolution is over, and every day the list of battered and retreating combatants continues to grow. This was a big week: Former House Speaker Denny Hastert and former GOP House Conference Chair Deborah Pryce announced their retirements. And, of course, 'boy genius' and Friend-in-Chief Karl Rove, the general who was to consolidate all the Revolution's gains into a singular enduring triumph, cried uncle and announced that he, too, would leave the White House for the warmth of more time with his family. Rove leaves before Labor Day, before the Petraeus report, before the president's new strategy in Iraq has had a chance to work, and before the Great GOP Realignment. Exeunt Hastert, Pryce, and Rove. The end.... I can look back and pinpoint the beginning of the end. The guesses and gambles with which the administration approached Iraq, and its mind-numbing lethargy and incompetence on Katrina are the depth charges that blew the façade apart. But it was Social Security that started the fire."

Rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated. Mr. Samuel coins the term "Bushism" as he extols its collapse. Unfortunately, Mr. Samuel is incorrect on two counts.

First, "Bushism" is nothing new in the full panoply of American history. His administration blends Jeffersonian, Wilsonian, Hamiltonian, and Jacksonian policy in degrees varied issue by issue. Jefferson sent the US Navy to war against radical Islamic terrorists of the high seas in the Mediterranean. Wilson invaded Russia to support democratic counter-Soviet revolutionaries, and invaded Mexico in an attempt to foster civilization there. Bush also shows elements of Hamiltonian and Jacksonian flare in his view of economic and military instruments of power. No, "Bushism" is not extraordinary, nor is "Bushism" at an end. These ideas will continue to play important roles in future administrations. In fact, much like the Reagan and Truman administrations, history will likely remember President Bush in a much higher regard than the "instant history" of polling. Bush may have lost a pot or two, but he stands to win the tournament.

Second, Mr. Samuel's characterizations of Iraq and Katrina are woefully deficient. Images of a flooded school bus fleet and revelations over time about state and local government folly have largely vindicated the federal government's handling of the Katrina disaster. Likewise, time will reveal the verities of our Iraq activities as Iran's complicity in the unrest is made known coupled with the defeat of Al Queda in the region. Just as few strategic gaffes of WWII come to mind in contemporary memory, so will few remember Iraq's mistakes in the future. 8 decades ago the British created the issue called Iraq, and 8 decades hence this war will be viewed for what it is: a necessary and unavoidable confrontation between the forces of construction and the forces of deconstruction. "Bushism" is no facade, but a construct on firm footing.

Mr. Samuels is correct about one thing, though. Social Security played a major role in garnering opposition for Mr. Bush. When that foolhardy program comes home to roost in 40 years, Bush's failed effort to revamp the system may be remembered favorably as the system goes bankrupt. The 'Greatest Generation' left its great grandchildren quite a mess to deal with, and Bush was one of the few who saw it and tried to clean it up at his own peril.