Bush is a moderate? Who knew?

This piece by Ruben Navarrette Jr. taking conservatives to task for ever believing that George W. Bush was anything other than a "moderate," begs the question: could a real conservative get elected? Reagan is considered the quintessential conservative but he failed to control overspending and even agreed to an increase in payroll taxes. In other words, anybody you elect has to get along with the rest of the government, in order to accomplish anything. How many members of congress would pass the test as a "real conservative?"

Bush is the same person he has been since he ran for Texas governor in 1994. What you see is what you get. He doesn't spend a lot of time reinventing or repackaging himself. In fact, he prides himself on not changing his ways. What was it that he promised Republican senators about Miers? That she won't change. You see, for Bush, that's high praise. . . .

Now failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork writes in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal that ``this George Bush, like his father, is showing himself to be indifferent, if not actively hostile, to conservative values.''

But why is that a surprise to Bork? Over all these years, where Bush stood wasn't exactly a secret. He was in the middle of the road.

Good question. The way people like George Will and the folks at National Review are attacking him now, you'd think he had lied to them. He said he would appoint people to the courts like Thomas or Scalia. He's appointed John Roberts, who is thought to be as smart as Scalia, if less disdainful of those who disagree with him, and now he's nominate Harriet Miers, who I would compare to Thomas. Thomas was chosen because he's black and conservative. He wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box, but he's been a reliable conservative vote on the court. Perhaps the ordeal he went through to get confirmed made him more firmly convinced that his conservative views are right. If Harriet Miers is like him, conservatives who are acting like the three-year-old in the grocery store checkout whose mother won't buy him the candy he wants, may be making a big mistake.

Navarette's point is well taken. Bush said he is a "compassionate conservative." That means he wants to help people who are disadvantaged in society by conservative means. Who didn't get that? Why are conservatives now acting like he was a wolf in sheep's clothing?