Novak Fights Monster He Helped Create
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in Conservatism, RepublicansRobert Novak is bemoaning Republican support of the most recent Farm Bill, noting that majorities of Republicans in the House and Senate voted for this pork-laden mess. Criticizing Republicans is the new conservative sport and, let’s admit, it’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel. Novak’s point is well taken but is he really surprised?
When the Republicans seized what they apparently believed to be eternal power, they turned the apparatus of government to their own advantage. No one gets rich by cutting spending, so instead of being different than the Democrats, they became just another big government party, albeit one with their own set of special interests. Even though this was a complete abandonment of their principles, most conservatives gave the Republicans a pass or offered only the slightest rebukes along the way because, they concluded, staying in power was more important than anything else.
Now that the party is rapidly losing power, Republicans are acting as if they’re surprised to learn their elected members are a bunch of selfish big spenders, willing to pass any poorly considered bill (even a Democratic supported one) so long as there’s a little pork in it for their home district. Frankenstein has gotten loose and now the creators are surprised to hear they’ve made a monster.
Guys like Novak, who has spent years writing far too many columns propping up his preferred party no matter the situation, are now shocked (shocked!) that the party is no longer based on sound principles. You spend that many years clinging to power for the sake of power and you’re going to come out empty. Enablers likes Novak have no business throwing their hands up in disgust. It’s time for a newer breed of conservative to speak for the party.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 and is filed under Conservatism, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Alan - Have you ready “Prince of Darkness”? Did you watch Evans & Novak or Mclaughlin Group? Novak does not strike me as being blindly partisan to the Republican party. Indeed, he has been one of the few principalled conservative reporters in D.C. for +40 years and, obviously, that is going to create a historically bias towards the Republican party. But this is the same guy that broke the non-story of Valerie Plame and her goof-ball husband, Joe Wilson.
Honestly Alan, with all due respect, there is nothing sadder, or more pathetic, than one who constantly feels the need to turn on his own, in a misguided attempt to appeal to people who like to fraudulently declare themselves nonpartisan moderates.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Bob Novak - Douchebag of Liberty.