At the conservative Weekly Standard, P.J. O’Rourke writes to his fellow Republicans, “We Blew It“:
“Let us bend over and kiss our ass goodbye.
“Our 28-year conservative opportunity to fix the moral and practical boundaries of government is gone–gone with the bear market and the Bear Stearns and the bear that’s headed off to do you-know-what in the woods on our philosophy.
“An entire generation has been born, grown up, and had families of its own since Ronald Reagan was elected. And where is the world we promised these children of the Conservative Age?
“Where is this land of freedom and responsibility, knowledge, opportunity, accomplishment, honor, truth, trust, and one boring hour each week spent in itchy clothes at church, synagogue, or mosque?
“It lies in ruins at our feet, as well it might, since we ourselves kicked the shining city upon a hill into dust and rubble.”