W.F. Buckley, father of modern conservatism: "The political problem of the Bush administration is grave, possibly beyond the point of rescue."

"There are grounds for wondering whether the Republican party will survive this dilemma"
- W.F. Buckley, National Review - 4/28/07

George W. Bush - the candidate that conservative Republicans worked so hard to elect twice to the presidency has proven to be the biggest political disaster for the GOP since Nixon. His incompetence, abuse of power, and culture of corruption has turned all but the most hard-core denialist wingnuts to loathing of the present political situation.

It's not like we didn't see it coming.

The realist and intellectual conservative, William F. Buckley 'called it.' In his 2/06 editorial in the National Review, he wrote "It Didn't Work," where he boldly stated:

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed. . .different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgment of defeat. "

It seems there are two choices here for Republicans. If they want to salvage any shred of credibility for their party, they must not only turn away from Bush administration policies, they must endeavor to acknowledge the misdeeds and hold President Bush and members of his administration accountable. Probably an unrealistic expectation for most conservatives. But, the other choice is to go down with the ship, further dragging the GOP down.

W.F. Buckley so aptly points out this dilemma, in his 4/28/07 National Review editorial, "The Waning of the GOP":

"How can the Republican party, headed by a president determined on a war he can’t see an end to, attract the support of a majority of the voters? ... The political problem of the Bush administration is grave, possibly beyond the point of rescue. ...There are grounds for wondering whether the Republican party will survive this dilemma. "

In job approval, Dubya's been polling between 28 and 37% this year, but approval of his Iraq policy is just 24% in the latest poll. In his isolation, following the example of Nixon, Bush has reportedly adopted a 'bunker mentality.'

Breaking News: The Mother of All D.C . Sex Scandals?

ABC has "the list" that includes White House officials

ABC has obtained a list of "thousands of names" of clients of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a prostitution operation.

"There are thousands of names, tens of thousands of phone numbers, and there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list..."
-Brian Ross, ABC News

By refusing to accept the plea bargain offered to her, escort service owner Deborah Jeane Palfrey is going to trial and naming names. She is scheduled to appear Monday in U.S. District Court and will be interviewed by ABC’s 20/20 on May 4. She is the subject of a front-page story in the Sunday Washington Post.

Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias, the so-called "AIDS Czar" - the Bush administration official charged with combating worldwide prostitution just resigned because of his fetish for prostitutes. Tobias oversaw a controversial policy advocated by the religious right that required any US-based group receiving anti-AIDS funds to take an anti-prostitution “loyalty oath.”

It will be interesting to see how many more Republicans this scandal takes down - a real great image for the 'party of family values' that went after Bill Clinton, impeaching him for lying about an affair when he had a 68% approval rating, and because of his leadership, America was in much better shape than it is now.

The Republican Culture of Corruption - They're dropping like flies

File this one under "Republican moral values"

Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias resigned Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a prostitution operation. Tobias was a strong proponent of the Bush administration’s abstinence-only policies. Tobias also oversaw a controversial policy advocated by the religious right that required any US-based group receiving anti-AIDS funds to take an anti-prostitution “loyalty oath.” (More on Republican sex crimes).

File this one under "criminals investigating criminals"

Senior Justice Department official Robert E. Coughlin II, deputy chief of staff for the criminal division, which is overseeing the Department’s probe of Abramoff resigned as investigators in Coughlin’s own division ratcheted up their investigation of lobbyist Kevin Ring, Coughlin’s long-time friend and a key associate of Abramoff.

Run down of Republicans convicted or under investigation


This is a short list and does not include lobbyists, congressional aids, CEOs, contractors, war profiteers or many of the others involved in the vast umbrella that has become know as the Republican Culture of Corruption.

(A nice photo of our President with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. President Bush said of Abramoff, "I don't know him").

• Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.)
• Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.)
• Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.)
• Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.)
• Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.)
• Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.)
• Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.)
  
• Former Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.)
• Former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.)
• Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.)
• Former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas)
• Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.)
• Former Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.)
• Former Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)
• Former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.)
• Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio)
• Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.)
• David Safavian -US General Services Administration - convicted criminal
  
• Ernie Fletcher, Governor, KY - Indicted for official misconduct
• Scooter Libby, Chief of staff for VP Cheney - Convicted for perjury
• Bob Taft, Governor of Ohio, Convicted of ethics violation
• Claude Allen, Advisor to the President, convicted of shoplifting
• Mark Dennis Zachares, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
• Karl Rove - Advisor to the President, U.S. Office of Special Counsel investigation
• Richard Cheney - Vice President, Articles of Impeachment presented
• Condoleeza Rice - Secretary of State, subpoenaed by House Oversight Com.
• George Tenet - Ex Chief CIA, asked to testify before House Oversight Com.
• Robert E. Coughlin - Justice Department official, resigned - Abramoff scandal
• Randall L. Tobias - Deputy Secretary of State, resigned - sex scandal
• Alberto Gonzales - Attorney General, investigated by House Oversight Com.