Writing in National Review, Peter Robinson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and host of Uncommon Knowledge, seems puzzled by Bush’s inaugural address:
“The speech was in almost no way that of a conservative. To the contrary. It amounted to a thoroughgoing exaltation of the state.
“Bush has just announced that we must remake the entire third world in order to feel safe in our own homes, and he has done so without sounding a single note of reluctance or hesitation. This overturns the nation’s fundamental stance toward foreign policy since its inception. Washington warned of “foreign entanglements.” The second President Adams asserted that “we go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” During the Cold War, even Republican presidents made it clear that we played our large role upon the world stage only to defend ourselves and our allies, seeking to changed the world by our example rather than by force. Maybe I’m misreading Bush — I’m writing this based on my notes, and without having had time to study the text — but sheesh.”
No, Pete, you got it right: this administration is all about “the exaltation of the state.” Otherwise known as red-state fascism. But you missed the Dostoevsky allusion (although NRO blogger Roger Clegg got it) which explains everything….
UPDATE: Jeff Tucker has more on the origin of Bush’s “fire in the mind” rhetoric.