Losing a Bet

Awhile back, I wrote the following:

I'll take a bet on this: President Bush, being the stand-up guy that he is, will get on the tube and admit the bailout didn't work before the Democrats (the problem is, what's he gonna say next?).

Well, I stand corrected. President Bush has not backed down from the bailout or admitted anything of the sort. Instead, he's getting the leaders of the major industrial powers together to come up with an even bigger socialist "solution" for the current mess:

The president has backed the steps European nations have taken to stem the downturn, and wants the summit to include the Group of Eight industrialized powers plus other emerging economies like China and India.

Oy. I guess I should understand a fundamental fact about American politics: no leader will admit a failure unless cornered like a rat and no other solution presents itself. Apparently things haven't gotten that desperate yet.

I would like to remind my Democrat friends once again that George W. Bush is not, Not, NOT a conservative Republican. He might have support from the Christian Right on social issues, but when it comes to international or economic issues, Bush is a neoconservative (i.e. a "big government" guy). His stances on international issues (U.S. intervention and "transformation"/remaking of the Middle East) and economic issues (U.S. Government intervention into domestic affairs) are, again, NOT conservative!

One might rail against John McCain for voting for Bush policies 90% of the time, or whatever (somehow, it's still okay for Obama to vote 95% with his party--go figure), but I would also remind my liberal readers that John McCain is also not a conservative. The most conservative thing he ever did after several six-year terms in the Senate was select Sarah Palin for his running mate. And quite frankly, if McCain serves a full four-year term, Palin's influence will be close to zero, like most VPs before her.