Conservatives Without Conscience
Page 29
Anonymous, “Corrupted by Lunch: What Speaker Hastert Thinks of His Colleagues,” Wall Street Journal (January 19, 2006), A-14.
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43.
Janet Hook, “GOP Seeks Lasting Majority: The Party Dreams of Political Dominion,” Los Angeles Times (July 21, 2003), A-1.
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44.
Paul Krugman, “Toward One-Party Rule,” New York Times (June 27, 2003), A-27.
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45.
Scott Stewart, “The College Republicans—A Brief History,” College Republican National Committee at http://www.crnc.org/images/CRNChistory.pdf (reports on Abramoff’s role in the CRNC); People for the American Way, “Right Wing Watch: Americans for Tax Reform” at http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=9326.
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46.
Franklin Foer, “Swimming with Sharks: Republicans Learn Their Dirty Tricks by Practicing on One Another,” New Republic (October 3, 2005), 20.
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47.
College Republican National Committee, “The National Chairmen of the College Republican National Committee” at http://www.crnc.org/images/CRNC_Chairmen.pdf.
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48.
Foer, “Swimming with Sharks,” 20–22.
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49.
Joseph B. Treaster, “College Republicans Open a Drive Against Student Activist Groups,” New York Times (March 13, 1983), A-28
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50.
Howard Kurtz and Charles R. Babcock, “Two ‘Nonpolitical’ Foundations Push Grenada Rallies,” Washington Post (October 4, 1984), A-1.
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51.
Michael Hirschorn, “Little Men on Campus (Republican Party College Activities),” New Republic (August 5, 1985), 14.
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52.
Sidney Blumenthal, “Staff Shakeup Hits Conservative Group: 7 Fired at Lehrman’s Citizens for America,” Washington Post (July 27, 1985), A-10.
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53.
Abramoff’s résumé from his days at Greenberg Traurig at http://web.archive.org/web/20030612020908/http://gtlaw.com/bios/govadmin/abramoffj.htm.
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54.
Bell is quoted in Andrew Ferguson, “The Lobbyist’s Progress: Jack Abramoff and the End of the Republican Revolution,” Weekly Standard (December 20, 2004).
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55.
Michael Janofsky, “Senate Opens Hearings on Lobbyists for Tribes,” New York Times (September 30, 2004), A-15.
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56.
Material in this section is based on personal knowledge, which I confirmed when writing a column on the subject for FindLaw at the time the issue of changing the Senate’s rules first arose. See John W. Dean, “The Ongoing Controversy over Judicial Nominees: What Will It Mean if the GOP ‘Goes Nuclear’ on the Filibuster Rules?” FindLaw—Writ (May 23, 2003) at http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030523.html.
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57.
See Gang of 14, “Memorandum of Understanding on Judicial Nomination” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gang_of_fourteen.
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58.
Charles Martin, Healing America: The Life of Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D. (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2004), 82. I have both quoted from and paraphrased this story.
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59.
William H. Frist, Transplant: A Heart Surgeon’s Account of the Life-and-Death Dramas of New Medicine (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989), 122.
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60.
Ibid., 123.
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61.
Ibid., 124.
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62.
Ibid., 130.
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63.
The General Laws of Massachusetts, Chapter 272: Section 77 at http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/272-77.htm. The relevant part of the statute reads: “Chapter 272: Section 77. Whoever…mutilates or kills an animal…or procures an animal to be…mutilated or killed…shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years or imprisoned in the house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years or by a fine of not more than $2,500, or both such fine and imprisonment.”
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64.
David Beiler, “Surgical Precision: How Senate Power Jim Sasser Was Stomped by a Political Novice in Tennessee,” Campaigns and Elections (April 1995).
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65.
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, “Letters Show First Notified of Stocks in ‘Bind’ Trust: Documents Contradict Comments on Holdings,” Washington Post (October 24, 2005), A-1.
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66.
“SEC Ratchets up Probe of Frist’s HCA Stock Sale, People Say,” Bloomberg. com (September 27, 2005) at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=awvqzH_6IT1o&refer=us.
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67.
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and R. Jeffrey Smith, “SEC, Justice Investigate Frist’s Sale of Stock,” Washington Post (September 24, 2005), A-1.
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68.
Martin, Healing America, 85–86.
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69.
James Taranto, “The Weekend Interview with Dick Cheney,” Wall Street Journal (January 28–29, 2006), A-8.
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70.
See http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0301.marshall.html.
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71.
Anne Gearan, “Ex-Powell Aide Criticizes Bush on Iraq,” Associated Press (November 29, 2005) at http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1129-07.htm.
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72.
David Luban, “Torture, American Style,” Washington Post (November 27, 2005), B-1.
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73.
David Luban, “Liberalism, Torture and the Ticking Bomb,” Virginia Law Review (October 2005) at http://www.virginialawreview.org/content/pdfs/91/1425.pdf.
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74.
Charlie Savage, “Bush could bypass new torture ban: Waiver right is reserved,” Boston Globe (January 4, 2006) at http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/01/04/bush_could_bypass_new_ torture_ban/.
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75.
Daniel Klaidman, Stuart Taylor, Jr., and Evan Thomas, “Palace Revolt: They were loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees. They fought a quiet battle to rein in the president’s power in the war on terror. And they paid a price for it,” Newsweek (February 6, 2006), 35–40.
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76.
Ibid.
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77.
Ibid.
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78.
Ibid.
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79.
Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank, “Cheney Dismisses Critic with Obscenity: Clash with Leahy About Halliburton,” Washington Post (June 25, 2004), A-4.
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80.
Barbara Ann Kipfer, ed., Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus: In Dictionary Form (New York: Delta, 1999).
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81.
See, e.g., The American Heritage Dictionary (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1982) or Webster’s College Dictionary (New York: Random House, 1991).
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82.
Al Gore, “Transcript: Former Vice President Gore’s Speech on Constitutional Issues,” CQ Transcripts, Washington Post (January 17, 2006) at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR 2006011600779_ pf.html.
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83.
Joshua Micah Marshall, Talking Points Memo (January 17, 2006) at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007455.php.
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84.
Joseph J. Collins, “War and Destiny: How the Bush Revolution in Foreign and Mi
litary Affairs Redefined American Power,” Joint Forces Quarterly (First Quarter 2006), 93.
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85.
Jeffrey Goldberg, “Breaking Ranks: What turned Brent Scowcroft against the Bush Administration?” New Yorker (October 31, 2005) at http://www. newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051031fa_fact2.
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86.
Steve Mavros, “Letters to the Editor: Cheney and the Politics of Terror,” New York Times (September 9, 2004), A-32. Also, commentators have, from time to time, addressed the fearmongering of Bush and Cheney. For example, Bob Herbert, “Get It Together, Democrats,” New York Times (October 17, 2005), A-19. (“Ever since Sept. 11 President Bush and the G.O.P. have been pushing the nation’s fear buttons for all they’re worth,” Herbert wrote); and Joshua Kurlantzick, “The Rise & Fall of Imperial Democracies,” Washington Monthly (January/February 2006), 33. (“President George W. Bush tapped a powerful vein of nationalism and fear after 9/11 to expand his authority, intimidate opponents, reward corporations allied with his party, and punish dissent within the government. He then used his enhanced powers to invade and occupy Iraq and to capture and imprison thousands of individuals suspected, rightly or wrongly, of being terrorists,” Kurlantzick noted in passing in his essay).
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87.
Taranto, “The Weekend Interview with Dick Cheney,” A-8.
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88.
Karl Rove, “The GOP Remains the Party of Ideas,” January 20, 2006, address to the Republican National Committee at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-1_21_06_Rove.html.
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89.
Luke Mitchell, “At Issue in the 2004 Election: A Run on Terror,” Harper’s (March 2004), 79.
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90.
Jim Harper, “Secrecy fetish hurts war on terror; Assessing the risk is made more difficult,” Orange Country Register (February 15, 2006).
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91.
John W. Dean, Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush (New York: Warner Books, 2005), 194. Citing Oren Gross, “Chaos and Rules: Should Responses to Violent Crisis Always Be Constitutional?” Yale Law Journal, vol. 112 (March 2003), 1011, 1030–31.
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92.
Dan Eggen, “U.S. Is Given Failing Grades by 9/11 Panel: Bipartisan Group Faults Counterterrorism Progress,” Washington Post (December 6, 2005), A-1.
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93.
Anonymous, “Mortality Fears as Measure of Politics?” Los Angeles Times (July 25, 2004), A-23.
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94.
Associated Press, “More Americans fear terrorists are winning,” MSNBC.com (April 22, 2004) at http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4805575.
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95.
CNN, “U.S. President/National/Exit Poll,” CNN.com at http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html.
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96.
Martha Crenshaw, “Counterterrorism in Retrospect,” Foreign Affairs (July/August 2005) at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20050701fareviewessay84414/martha-crenshaw/counterterrorism-in-retrospect.html.
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97.
Al Gore, “The Politics of Fear,” Social Research, vol. 71:4(Winter 2004), 20.
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98.
Robert O. Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism (New York: Knopf, 2004).
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99.
Bob Altemeyer, Right Wing Authoritarianism (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1981), 4.
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100.
Al Kamen, “Scooter Finds Fellowship at the Hudson Institute,” Washington Post (January 6, 2006), A-17.
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*
I do not record telephone calls. I do make notes, and after the conversation, if appropriate, I reconstruct the call. Most of the conversations relating to Silent Coup were written up within twenty-four hours of the conversation. In reporting them I have employed Bob Woodward’s technique of converting them back to dialogue and the salient points.
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Throughout I use the term “cultural conservative” interchangeably with “social conservative.” While I am aware of efforts to define them separately, conservatives, the news media, and others use them interchangeably. So I have done likewise.
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E. J. Dionne, Jr., pointed out in his book on American political history, Why Americans Hate Politics (1991), that Buckley wrote in Did You Ever See a Dream Walking? that Richard Weaver’s definition of conservatives was “as noble and ingenious an effort as any I have ever read.” Buckley was referring to Weaver’s definition when responding to Chris Matthews.
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Jay M. Shafritz (ed.), The HarperCollins Dictionary of American Government and Politics (1993) defines “ideology” as
(1) A comprehensive system of political beliefs about the nature of people and society; an organized collection of ideas about the best way to live and about the most appropriate institutional arrangements for society…. But the term has evolved to mean the philosophical bent of true believers of whatever belief. The mainstreams of American politics have never been rigidly ideological; only the extremes of both major parties—on the far Right and far Left—are much concerned with correct rules of thought for the party’s most faithful…. But ideology seems to be making a comeback with the new Right. (2) Whatever one believes about the political process, whether it is articulated or not. (3) An interrelated set of ideas or a world view that explains complex social phenomena in a relatively simple way. (4) The selected and often distorted notions about how society operates. A group may adhere to such notions as a means of retaining group solidarity and of interpreting a world from which they have become alienated.
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*