Life Imitating Art?

On a recent West Wing, moderate GOP presidential candidate Arnold Vinick made a covenant he knew he would not keep. He promised a religiously conservative lobbyist that he would have a Roe v. Wade litmus test on judicial appointments. On a Sunday talk show, he publicly repudiated the litmus test.

Switching over to real life, now, a formerly moderate-sounding GOP president is drawing the ire of conservatives for a number of issues. President Bush has led conservatives through a period of unmitigated government expansion and entitlement expansion, using the carrot of socially-conservative judicial nominees. But when faced with two openings on the Supreme Court, W punted, nominating a not-too-conservative, scholarly and well-respected (by liberals even!) judge and a cloying sycophant with no record of conservative decisions under her belt. As you can imagine, many conservatives are pissed off. Wouldn't you be?

If like me you have a visceral hatred of this President, you gotta love this quote:

"The broader nature of the split becomes clearer with each conservative declaration of independence from the Bush White House. David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, wrote yesterday that many of his friends "swallowed policies" they opposed out of loyalty to Bush.

"We've been there for him because we've considered ourselves part of his team," Keene wrote in an essay printed in the newspaper the Hill and e-mailed to fellow conservatives. "No more. From now on, this administration will find it difficult to muster support on the right without explaining why it should be forthcoming. The days of the blank check have ended."