- Bushie
:"For other meanings, see Bushi and similar."A Bushie, or less commonly, Bushite or Bushy, is a derogatory statement for an American political supporter of
George H. W. Bush ,George W. Bush , or evenJeb Bush . The term is used by opponents, and has a particular meaning within the Republican Party in that the party is often seen at odds between Bushies and Reaganites. More specifically, especially as "the Bushies", the term is used to denote the of Bush advisors, appointees, and backers.History
Although the term has a longer recorded usage, it first came to prominence with the 1993
John Podhoretz book about his experiences working for the George H. W. BushWhite House , "Hell of a Ride". According to reviewerJonathan Yardley of the "Washington Post ",:"A Bushie is defined by Podhoretz as "someone either directly beholden to [George Herbert Walker Bush] or someone to whom Bush was directly beholden," someone who could prove himself to interviewers in the Bush job- appointments team as having "Bush experience," meaning not "general Republican experience, perhaps working on a Senate race in Idaho or something, but ... Bush experience solely." [cite news
url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/72202934.html?dids=72202934:72202934&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=NOV+10%2C+1993&author=Jonathan+Yardley&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Book+World%3B+Conservative+Estimate+of+The+Bushies&pqatl=google
title=Conservative Estimate of The Bushies
author=Jonathan Yardley
date=November 10 1993
publisher=The Washington Post
accessdate=2007-05-12]The term was also defined by David Brooks in a review of the 2001 book "Reagan In His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan That Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America". Brooks differentiated Reaganites and Bushies as types of Republicans. While Reaganites were often Hayekian academics connected to
think tank s, Bushies tended to be "boring" corporate careerists with "neat desks and thin briefcases because their reading comes in the form of memos", who saw themselves as "master managers" and politics as a "competition of interests" rather than ideas. Although Brooks acknowledged that both groups were skeptical of government, their skepticism took different forms, with the Reaganites viewing the Bushies as skilled at political or bureaucratic wrangling, but lacking principles. According to Brooks, the failure of the Bushies in the first two years of the elder Bush administration, which led to major losses in the 1992 Congressional elections, brought about the ascendancy of "ideologues" such asNewt Gingrich andDick Armey , but their "uncompromising" approach once again returned the reins of the party to the Bushies by the 2000 election, in which George W. Bush was elected. [cite news
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801EED91F3DF93BA15752C0A9679C8B63
title=Reagan Was a Reaganite
author=David Brooks (journalist)
date=January 28 2001
publisher=The New York Times
accessdate=2007-05-12]The term became prominent during the investigation of the controversial replacement of several U.S. Attorneys when it was revealed that Justice Department official
Kyle Sampson suggested in an e-mail to then-Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft that :"we would like to replace 15-20 percent of the current U.S. Attorneys -- the underperforming ones . . . The vast majority of U.S. Attorneys, 80-85 percent, I would guess, are doing a great job, are loyal Bushies, etc., etc." [cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031400519.html
title=Justice Dept. Would Have Kept 'Loyal' Prosecutors: Aide Recommended Retaining 'Bushies' And Top Performers
author=Dan Eggen and Paul Kane
date=March 16 2007
publisher=The Washington Post
accessdate=2007-05-12] According toSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid , a Democrat, :"The real question is whether being a "loyal Bushie" meant letting partisan considerations poison law enforcement decisions.... The actions of the Bush Administration call into question every decision by federal prosecutors in corruption cases across the country." [cite web
url=http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=270868
title=Reid Supports U.S. Attorneys Bill
publisher=Office ofHarry Reid
date=March 19 2007
accessdate=2007-05-14]References
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