I told you soMike Rappaport

So says Bruce Bartlett, with much justification.

As someone who has been highly critical of George W. Bush srepeated violations of conservative principles for a number of years, last weekbrought some vindication. His endorsement of an immigration-reform bill that iswidely viewed as offering de facto amnesty for illegal aliens seems to havefinally gotten to many of those who have defended him down the line and attackedpeople like me as conservative turncoats. They now realize what I figured outthree years ago: He ain t one of us.

For me, the tipping point was the Medicare drug bill, whichwas rammed through Congress in the dead of night just hours after a conferenceagreement had been reached. Neither Bush nor his congressional lackeys daredallow any member to actually read the bill or know what they were voting forbecause then it would be obvious that the bill was unaffordable and almostcertainly would go down to defeat. The only hope of passage was stealth, speed,and massive political pressure on principled conservative holdouts a few ofwhom eventually buckled and allowed the bill to pass.

To me, Bush seems most like Richard Nixon (without the Watergate) — someone who is villified by his opponents as a conservative, but who embraces big government, in large part for political reasons.