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Based on contradictions in political ideology, careless spending habits, approach to immigration reform, and use of military powers, the founding father of "Bush conservatism" has proved that he clearly is not a true conservative.

William F. Buckley, Jr., founder of the National Review, considers George W. Bush a "decisive leader", but also pointed out his main culpability: an "absence of effective conservative ideology." A nice way of saying that Bush is not a true conservative.

A pillar of conservative ideology is responsible fiscal conservatism with federal spending in moderation, which President Bush abandoned long ago. According to Richard Viguerie, a well-known conservative fund-raiser, the first five years of the Bush administration pioneered a 121 percent increase in pork-barrel allocations. Or government funds set apart for improvements meant to gain favor from voters. But, while trying to please constituents, he frustrated peers.

President Bush opposed the GOP by contradiction when he sponsored the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill, which the Senate blocked on June 28, 2007. If the bill had passed, millions of illegal immigrants would have been granted pardons. But true conservatives stand against illegal immigration - the bill angered many Republican congressmen.

But a key conservative issue at present is not illegal immigration per se, but border security. By halting the Bush-Kennedy bill, Senate Republicans sent the message: "secure the border first, then we can talk about immigration reform."

Previously, on October 26, 2006, Bush signed the Secure Fence Act, which passed by a 80-19 margin in a Republican-dominated Senate. As disclosed by the Congressional Research Service, this act "would direct the Department Homeland Security to build 849 miles of [double-layered] fencing." But - during the eight months following Bush's signature - only 14 miles of security fencing were built. Among reasons for a lack of construction, may be Bush's disregard for the will of his Congressional base.

Since 9/11, a deep rift has formed in the modern conservative movement. On one side are traditional conservatives who support restricted governing powers based on controls established in the US Constitution. On the opposite side are authoritarian-leaning conservatives, known as "neoconservatives". These hardliners - led by President Bush - have perpetrated unlimited imprisonment without trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. And water torture at black sites outside of the mainland US. Such practices do not parallel traditional conservatism, and are in violation of the Geneva Convention.

There has always been resistance to the Commander in Chief's use of military powers. June 11, 2007 - the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the discharge of a computer-science major from Qatar. Since June 2003, Ali Saleh al-Marri, an Arab, was labeled an "enemy combatant" and detained without trial at the Consolidated Naval Brig located in Charleston, SC. US Circuit Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote, "to sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians, even if the president calls them 'enemy combatants,' would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution and the country."

As the end of Bush's second term approaches, he will be forced to come to terms with all of the actions committed by his authoritarian-leaning administration. Including the aftershocks that will be felt by the conservative movement for years to come - the movement that many feel he deserted.

Learn more about this author, Nikolaus Federmann.
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