Viguerie v Bush, round two

May 23, 2006

Over the weekend, the WaPo ran a hard-hitting op-ed by [tag]Richard Viguerie[/tag] in which the legendary far-right consultant lambasted Bush and the congressional GOP, and ultimately encouraged conservative activists to start working outside the party’s framework altogether.

It’s hardly surprising to hear that the [tag]Bush[/tag] [tag]White House[/tag] wasn’t pleased with the Post piece, but it is surprising to read that [tag]Peter Wehner[/tag], Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives, sent an email around town with a collection of quotes from the 1980s in which Viguerie criticized [tag]Reagan[/tag] for one thing or another.

This, naturally, led [tag]Viguerie[/tag] to lambaste the Bush gang, again.

Apparently the White House’s response to my article in the May 21 Washington Post is to send out an e-mail from Peter H. Wehner, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, consisting of six quotes by me criticizing Ronald Reagan during his presidency.

That’s a lot easier than trying to respond to my arguments. That’s a lot easier than trying to explain away the many examples I give of how Bush has betrayed the conservative movement. And that is standard operating procedure for this White House: Put the spotlight on the president’s critic, rather than respond to the critic’s arguments.

Viguerie concluded, “I knew [tag]Ronald Reagan[/tag], and [tag]George W. Bush[/tag] is no Ronald Reagan.” I can’t help but notice that when these guys fight each other, they’re almost as merciless as when they’re going after us.

Far be it for me to give the White House strategic advice, but if Viguerie is threatening to help keep the GOP base at home on Election Day, and Viguerie has a lot of friends in the conservative movement, sending an email around from the White House that tries to make Viguerie look bad probably won’t heal old wounds. But hey, do what comes naturally.

This is what happens when Karl is too busy working on his defense.

  • Viguerie concluded, “I knew Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush is no Ronald Reagan.”

    Does this seem a little sick on the day Lloyd Bensen dies?

    But really, conservatives should know when they sell their souls to the Texas mafia that they lose the right to criticize. Apparently not in Viguerie’s case, where he brags about criticizing even Ronald Reagan.

    I wish you had a link to Wehner’s email. I’d love to see how congent Viguerie’s comments were back in the 1980’s.

  • Lance – In all fairness, Mr Bensten died early this motning – presumably after the WaPo went to print.

  • Well, If I know anything about this white House, then they will go full-speed at trying to figure out who leaked the internal email to Viguerie. Attack the source; Attack the leak; Ignore the problem.

  • “I love to see Republicans eating their own. ”

    Tastes like chicken-hawk…

  • Damn. Sounds like Bush should be considerate of other points of view.

    Viguerie concluded, “I knew Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush is no Ronald Reagan.”

    Whoa! He Bentsen’d him!

    I was hoping I’d get a chance to write that Bush is “no Jack Kennedy” today– looks like Viguerie did all the heavy lifting for me! Ha, it’s fortuitous.

  • So now probably Bush is probably going to do a ‘Khaaan!’-take (http://www.khaaan.com) and says something like “Gah!! The dratted irony of it! That Viguerie has struck at me with a barb in the style of Lloyd Bentsen!! Confound it all!!”

  • Rove and his thugs have a three-step process in their political playbook:

    1. Lie. Repeatedly and often. The bigger the lie the better.
    2. Smear. Use tons of slime, the more unbelieveable the better.
    3. Repeat. If it doesn’t work, just keep doing it over and over.

    There are NO OTHER plays in their playbook; doesn’t matter whom might be the opponent, they just use the same lie-smear-repeat play. It has worked for Rove for more than 20 years, and for Lee Atwater for a lot more years than that before he trained Rove.

    Don’t expect the snake to act all mushy just because he is dealing with those of his own kind….

  • “2. Smear. Use tons of slime, the more unbelieveable the better.” – A.L.

    But do they think it is some kind of smear to collect quotes criticizing Ronald Reagan?

    I mean, Tony Snow criticized Boy George II about as often and he still got the press secretary job.

  • It’s important that Viguerie saw the slime for what it was ….. the tactic to move the focus off where it should be. Attack your opponent. He called them on it. If only Dems did that EVERY SINGLE time .

  • Of all the kind things said and done as regards Lloyd Bentsen, I think Viguerie ranks close to the top—even though he had no idea that the guy was about to die. And pointing out that Kid George is “no Ronald Reagan” is a pretty pretty good way to pull a lot of GOP faithful out of the midterm matrix. Inciting conservatives to put their resources elsewhere—and what does this accursed administration do? They try to save a sinking rowboat (the worm-infested ship-of-state sank already) by drilling another hole in the bottom….

  • GREAT LEADERS OF FUTURE WON’T BE FROM AMERICA — Weak, Mediocre Men Lead the USA”
    And our mediocre dissolute leaders will act like all bankrupt aristocrats. They’ll start selling state assets for private gain.

    “A friend of mine once told a college class that nobody ever woke up in 476 A.D. (the date historians define as the fall of the Roman Empire) and said, “Gosh, I’m in the Dark Ages.” His point is plain enough. Transitions happen gradually, and the people who live through them never realize what is happening.
    So it is with Americans. We are living in the ruins of a once-great republic. Now an empire utterly devoid of moral authority, the United States has nothing left but its military power and its capacity to consume on credit.”
    Nor do I agree the people living “through them never realize what is happening.” Oswald Spengler realized what was happening. Adolf Hitler could see “what is happening” in 1919. Plenty of others in all western countries have recognized what is happening all through the 20th Century. It’s the people who don’t realize what is happening who both mock the foresighted and resist changes necessary to stop or alter “what is happening”. They serve as a ready pool of useful idiots for evil minded folks who not only realize what is happening but profit from it, assist it, and speed it along.

  • Maybe Viguerie, like Kevin Phillips and David Brock, is inclined to switch sides because of the fraud and incompetence of the Mayberry Machiavellians. He sees them for what they are, in word and deed, and isn’t afraid to tell the truth as he sees it. Viguerie knows more about going after the Rovians than all the Dem consultants in DC put together.

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