Andrew Sullivan is one pissed off conservative. He’s also been one of the most consistent critics of Bush-Cheney hijacking of the constitution.
> No economic mismanagement can compare with this attack on the basic institutions of our democracy and the constitution. No incompetence in conducting an occupation can be deemed comparable with this level of criminality and indecency. No reaction to a natural disaster, however hapless and negligent, is as grave as this crime. No financial crisis eclipses it in gravity. The president’s oath is to protect the constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. Instead, the president himself became an enemy to the constitution he swore to uphold.
As a patriotic progressive, nothing makes me more angry, more sad or more despondent than watching the systematic squandering of our national legacy on the world stage. Eight years ago, this country was poised to lead the world into a new millennium. Seven years ago, a small group of religious fanatics hijacked four planes, and our government’s response has led our leaders to turn their backs on everything this country is supposed to stand for. The perpetrators of 9/11 (an attack on NYC, USA, Ms. Palin) are still at large, our constitution is in tatters, and our position as a world power (morally, economically and politically) is precarious at best.
And yet some people think that four more years of Republican thugocracy wouldn’t be so bad. Sullivan is right, until we can heal our democratic institutions and our reputation, we will not lead in the world.