Posted 11/03/2004 05:28:00 PM by Douglas

Why I cringe when I hear the words "conservative" and "republican" used in the same sentence without irony: [from The Agitator, of course.]

But I'm having a hard time figuring the lefty blogs' lament that though he's now talking bipartisanship, a Bush second term will be more of the same right-wing extremism, or extreme conservativsm.

What do they mean? Do they mean expansion of the regulatory state? The prescription drug benefit? Campaign finance reform? Huge subsidies to farmers? Increased funding for job training programs? Trade protections for favored labor groups? Futher federalizing education? Bigger budgets for the departments of Labor, Energy, and Education? Do they mean the PATRIOT Act, which all but one Democrat senator supported? Or the war in Iraq, which most Democrat leaders also supported? Extremism on the drug war? Medicinal marijuana? Didn't hear many Democrats speaking out there, either.

Exactly which Bush first term policies were overly conservative? I'd like to know, so I can hang on to at least a shred of optimism going into January.

Egggggg. . . sactly.