A very interesting read about the obvious failures of "small government conservatism" (small, at least outside of corporate welfare programs) and the failures of this team to make a case for private/religious response to crisis situation. (On this point, check out TPM's story about the administrations attempt to get the Christian right highlighted in the relief effort, though it quickly died on the vine.)
Bush, of course, has been this strange mixture of government growth and administrative incompetence, almost as if he's running a kamikaze mission to prove the Republican case against government. But conservatives, generally, are all for the private market and individual charity. If Bush really was so uncomfortable with government involvement, he could still do a bang-up job relying on his church/industry connections to create a parallel and powerful rescue effort. The government could take care of the basics, but the private and theological spheres could provide much of the material, cash, and space. In doing, Bush would help discredit Big Government and legitimize the conservative philosophy.
He hasn't. And that he's hasn't demonstrates his basic absence of a driving ideology. He's neither able to effectively deploy government or call on his friends outside of it. He's just incompetent, as I said before, a small man in a big office.
