On NRO, Michael Novak discusses the crazy Bush-hatred, and notes that “Bush has stolen two things which the Democrats believe they own by right: the presidency, and the future.” Additional excerpt:
The second thing the Democrats think they own, by a kind of Hegelian dialectic, is the future. The Left has long believed that the Left defines the future, and points out the path of progress. In the past, moderate Republicans tended to respect this leftist claim, protesting only timidly, "Not so fast, not so much, not just yet." The Democrats got used to facing an essentially compliant, "me-too" opposition. They thought President Bush would be the same. He isn't.That's why some Democrats call Bush "the most radical president in history," "the worst president [from their point of view] in a hundred years," a "disaster," and other such names.
It would take another column to show how Bush has cut off the future that the Democrats thought they owned, and how he dared to put the world (not just the U.S.) on an entirely new progressive path, both in domestic and in foreign policy. If he succeeds, the Democrats will be caught thinking in outmoded terms. In tax policy, in welfare policy, in medical care, and in support for democratic reforms rather than mere "stability"overseas, the very meaning of "progressive" will have been defined afresh. Failed Democratic programs will be revised, new directions will be set.
See also Robert Bartley's explanation, briefly discussed here.
Posted by oscarjr at December 9, 2003 06:43 PM | TrackBackRegarding Michael Novak, I recently found out some interesting information about him.
It seems that many of the people who support the liberal welfare-warfare statist policies in the present day have also supported liberalism in the past. I think that perhaps that many of the people who have only relatively recently chosen to join the conservative movement have carried some of the leftist baggage into it with them.
Posted by: Aakash at 01:01 AM