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The Spectacle Blog
Before the Supreme Court handed down its Obamacare decision, Matt Lewis asked if a reversal would enhance George W. Bush’s conservative legacy. He wrote of Bush’s appointment of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Court, “For this reason alone, it might be that Bush ends up having done as much to advance the cause of limited-government conservatism as other, more celebrated, conservative presidents.”
Since then, Roberts sided with the liberal justices and saved the individual mandate from itself. But other conservatives have made a variation of Lewis’ point before, even while Bush was still in office. The Medicare precription drug benefit and No Child Left Behind may have been bad, but they were necessary to get Bush reelected. Without that second Bush term, no Roberts or Alito.
Those are arguable points, to say the least. (See this post for pushback.) And absent conservative pressure, Bush may well have nominated Alberto Gonzales and Harriet Miers instead. (He did in fact choose Miers before Alito.) But yesterday’s decision illustrates the folly of hoping conservative judges can compensate for big-government conservatism. Bush had a good record on judicial appointments. Nevertheless, even seemingly good judges have a way of disappointing us.
Bush was in control of whether he was going to grow government without paying for it, first in cahoots with a Republican Congress and later with a Democratic one. He can’t control how his judges will eventually rule. And without some of Bush’s failures in office, we would not have gotten such large Democratic majorities or perhaps even an Obama presidency in the first place.
At least we still have Sam Alito.
View all comments (23) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/06/29/john-roberts-doesnt-vindicate
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Oldefarte| 6.29.12 @ 1:23PM
It wasn't Bush's fault that Americans are so STUPID! Bush didn't cause Obama etc, Americans and their acting/voting 'STUPIDLY' did. Don't blame him for our collective asinine overreaction on 11/4/08. As Forrest G said, STUPID IS AS SUPID DOES!!!!!!!!
Bob Grant| 6.29.12 @ 2:44PM
Olde,
If Bush made real attempts to reign in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac instead of running on record home ownership in '04, developed a REAL energy policy instead of campaign lip service, and handled the wars more competently and less costly, the impact of the '07 recession and '08 financial meltdown might have been less severe and there would be no need for Hope and Change.
And that's not including the politically motivated "compassionate conservative" legislation he signed.
...let's not forget amnesty
...let's not forget his ill-fated attempt at putting Harriet Miers on the bench.
...and now the worst offense of them all, John Roberts!
No. George W Bush forced those STUPID peoples' hand to vote en masse for obama and the dems.
Conservative would do well to forget about him and his family and move on.
One of the worst presidents ever!
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:13AM
No BG, I respectfully disagree slightly. No one with a brain and/or guts should become "forced" into anything, much less voting for a radical/extremist/Muslim/trojun-horsed/substitute for Ted Kennedy/street hustler from Chicago/twenty-year ars-kesser to Ayers,Wright etc from Chicago! Granted Bush dis what you claim, BUT the stupids throughout history have voted into office in my lifetime Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton as POTUS not to mention the drives of liberal Democrats in congress that have controlled our government for decades. No, people/voters were STUPID and are STUPID, and the crapola that they're now faced with is their own GD fault for being so stupid on 11/4/08. If Republican McCain would now be POTUS, sure we'd have problems from him BUT NOT LIKE WE HAVE NOW. There'd be no $800 billion in non-stimulus, no welfarecare, no political ignoring the souther border's immigration law-breakers, no suing states over same, no withholding oil drilling permits or coal producing permits, no giving the middle finger to Israel and allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to takeover in the middle east, etc. You can't blame Bush for these and hisotrically for the Great Society, the War On Poverty, the CRA of 1977 [which was the beginning of the Affordable Homes assault on the housing industry; hell Bush even tried to prevent Fannie/Freddie from imploding and was given the finger by the GD Democrats]!!!!!!!!!!
Bob K| 6.30.12 @ 8:54AM
Bush appointed him.
He is Bush's legacy.
Case closed!
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:19AM
True, but he's what's known as a LAWYER/JUDGE and all of same are members of the ABA which financially give $trillions to the Democratic Party. The source of the problem is the stupids that elected these Democrats, not the SCOTUS for not rejecting their usual piece of garbage. If the court had totally rejected same, the Democrats [Pilosi etc] would have re-legislated evn worse within a months time, so again the decision was never a solution. The one/only solution lies with 11/6/12 and to get rid of as many Democrats as possible!!!!!!!
RJ| 6.29.12 @ 2:17PM
Without G.W. Bush and his big government policies and incompetence trumpeted by the press as "conservatism," there would be no Obama Presidency. The Obama nightmare is the Bush legacy. He accommodated big government. He did not actively promote an alternative vision in favor of limited government. The Bush family tries to gain support by praising the likes of Ted Kennedy. What they really accomplish is authenticating Kennedy's actions, such as "Borking" and undercut the conservative position. To win the fight for a free and prosperous nation, we need leaders who will hold their opponents accountable and offer a clear alternative, not reward their opponents for their bad behavior and agree with them in hope of future concessions.
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:24AM
Granted Bushes are/were no ultra-conservatives BUT the source of the current problem is due to the STUPIDITY OF AMERICANS who voted for these domestic terrorists aka Democrats historically [or who were were so P*&sed; off in 2008 that they stayed home and didn't vote, thus allowing this POTUS to be elected]. The problem is NOT Eisenhower, Nixon, the Bushes; but rather Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and now Obama!!!!!!!!!!
Occam's Tool| 6.29.12 @ 2:44PM
The vast majority of Judges and attorneys are assholes. As was stated once in a case review I read on a depressed patient: "being naturally irritable, bullying, rude, and contemptuous of others' opinions, which might have been problematic in other situations, unsurprisingly was no handicap for patient X in his chosen Profession of the Law."
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:25AM
Q. When is a lawyer lying?
A. When his lips are moving!
Sjccoach| 6.29.12 @ 2:53PM
Between TARP, destroying capitalism to save it, the Roberts appointment, and compassionate conservatism Bush will be remembered as one of the worst Presidents of all time. He is down at the bottom of the list with his father, Jimmy Carter, Barrack Obama, James Buchannan and Millard Fillmore. The fruit of compassionate conservatism is liberalism. The Bushes including Jeb should have the decency to stay home and stop destroying this country.
Crassus| 6.29.12 @ 3:04PM
What the hell was wrong with Millard Fillmore? You should substitute Ulysses S. Grant for him. Stayed drunk most of his tenure and had one of the most corrupt administrations in U.S. history yet he gets a pass because of his Civil War brilliance as a military commander.
C. Vernon Crisler | 6.29.12 @ 2:54PM
BTW, how can we get Congress to start impeachment proceedings against the Chief Moron of the Supreme Court? His evil ruling should not be allowed to set a precedent; it should be grounds for impeaching him as unfit for the job of Supreme Court justice.
How do we get started on these proceedings?
C. Vernon Crisler | 6.29.12 @ 3:33PM
I also propose we start calling him Chief Justice John "Taney" Roberts.
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:35AM
Granted, but what you propose would be a waste of time/effort. The problem is that an re-elected Obama will nominate and confirm Sotomayors/Kagans on steriods and therefore you'll be back to the Earl Warren Court. Elect Romney and Republicans and maybe they can eventually be replaced with conservative Bork-types!!!!!!
Crassus| 6.29.12 @ 3:01PM
Bush the Elder gave us Clinton. Bush the Younger gave us Obama. Nothing more need be said.
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:38AM
No, STUPID AMERICAN TAXPAYING-VOTERS gave us Clinton, Obama.....and additionally Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, and Clinton! As Forrest Gump said, STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!!!!!!!
RCV| 6.29.12 @ 6:18PM
Sam Alito is nothing but a pure political hack.
Crassus| 6.30.12 @ 11:03AM
Then what the hell are Sotomayor and Kagan, assclown?
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:27AM
Shazam, what does that then make Ginsberg and Sotomayor by chance????????
PCPSmokerII| 6.29.12 @ 9:49PM
Let's face it, no one saw the Robert's betrayal coming. He grew. He grew just like Kennedy and O'Connor and the moron from New England grew. This was a man who was vouched by conservatives in the Reagan administration (Levin, Meese, Hewitt, etc.). His record also seemed solid enough, but after a few years in DC, his growth came.
Let's not mince word. Bush was the worst. He was a clueless, moderate, white-guilt ridden, moron, but at least he was better than the nut Gore and the liar Kerry.
Oldefarte| 7.1.12 @ 11:29AM
Not to mention being better than Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and now Obama, huh??????