Hey Repubicans - check this out: GOP Senators on the Warpath.

Turns out it's OK to criticize Bush and still be republican.

Since shortly after 9/11 Bush has been successful in pushing conservatives like me more toward the libertarian side. I am quite pleased that members of the GOP are willing to stand up and address the arrogance that the Bush administration has shown Congress. I think this is their only hope of salvaging the votes of moderates for the 2004 election.

These Senators are doing Bush a favor. I hope he responds in kind.

Huh! No Republican takers.

Good article, Jaimie. It's good to see our political system exercising its balancing muscles.

Well, I have to say the Republicans tend to be more "open minded" than the Democrats. They talk about Republicans walking in lock step when actually it's more the Democrats constant pandering to every special interest group that comes along. There is ALWAYS people voicing different ideas in the Republican party, not that you would ever hear that in the "liberal media".

Good article BTW.

Darcaine

It may not be my place to mention it, but I kinda got the impression that this was a thread about differences among Republicans - not perceived differences between Republicans and Democrats or, for that matter, a critique of the media.

That, I think, being the case, are there any conservatives here apart from Jaime who have felt that the Bush administration wasn't quite in line with their own political philosophy? I suspect that one of the main reasons that Republicans in Congress are finally starting to distance themselves from the Bushites is that they're realizing that Dubya and Co. might be alienating some of their constituents (in addition to treating Republican members of Congress like lapdogs). Is that happening to an extent - or are grassroots Republicans fully behind the Bush autocracy?

I agree, just like there are different strains of democrats (I almost believe that not ALL are socialist ),
there are differences in the republican party on every topic from defense to abortion.

Thats the reason I'm a Libertarian, I just don't fit in with the RNC platform enough to be a member.
I certainly don't see them any more open minded than dems, but in my opinion both sides are hypocritical.

I think Republicans in Congress are hedging their bets, in the event that Bush gets the boot in '04--they want to be able to say, "See, I stood up to him." Personally, I object to the administration's apparent minimal concern for fiscal responsibility right now. Yes, I realize we have security issues, yes, I realize the military was in a shambles when Bush got in, but now isn't the time to pad the military budget so they can develop a super expensive (albeit super cool) dune buggy, and now isn't the time to sign on for a prescription drug benefit for seniors, even if it does co-opt something the dems thought they had a lock on. There's not even the pretense of streamlining government, which concerns me. Still, what's the alternative? Al Gore? Mumbly Joe Lieberman (who I believe used to play the role of Willie on "Alf")? Bush may not be perfect, but he's a hell of a lot better than any democrat we could be suffering under.

I think many GOPers are wising up and realizing that Bush isn't acting in anyone's best interest but his own and those of his corporate donors. As time goes by we're seeing less and less party solidarity, and more dissent coming from those who would traditionally support a president of their own party. It does a Democrat's heart good to see this.

Yeah, well, whatever gets you through the night. I see a president whose approval ratings are still pretty damned high, and I hear his detractors today saying pretty much the same things they were saying the day he took office, still hoping the general populace will listen to them. So it's a pretty good day to be a Republican . Could always be better, but it sure could be a heck of a lot worse.

Bravo for diversity in the Republican party. I wouldn't want the party to be any other way. It's not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.

A strong party can afford to house many opinions and shades of opinions.

Bravo to our 3-way federal system! No dictator, not even one who controls the military, has a chance here. I am more proud of our system than I've been for a long time.

Did anybody notice that a Democrat was mentioned in the article too? When the Executive tries to grab too much power, the Congress gets ticked, and rightfully so--no matter if it's made up of R, D, L, G, I or any other party.

Bravo Americans!

BTW, the military was not in a shambles when GWB got in. The high tech "Army of One" was developed during Clinton's administration. Most of the toys heading to the gulf (robots et al.) were under development then. Just trying to keep Republicans honest here

Just to be TOTALLY honest here AM, most of the toys headed to the gulf right now were under development during the Reagan years.
High end systems like the Land Warrior System and others, WERE under development under Clinton, but not currently deployable. But I'm just being nitpicky.

Aside from that, I have to agree with cyclone, I think some republicans, possibly with fickle convictions are putting money in the bank in case everything backfires against Bush in '04.

But I think it's a minority overall