The Olsen piece I posted earlier was terrific, but, I thought, too sanguine about the point where the GOP has already arrived. A reader agrees (and some – although I’m more relaxed than he is about some of the deficit spending, and I believe that the differences between President Bush and Gov. Huckabee are far greater than the reader suggests):

“You quote Olsen writing “Mr. Huckabee offers the Republican Party a new political narrative, light years removed from the limited government principles governing the GOP in the Reagan and post-Reagan era.” This would be funny if it weren’t so sad. As a small government fiscal conservative I’m amazed that someone as knowledgeable as Mr. Olsen could write such nonsense. Under Bush and his congressional enablers we got Medicare Part-D, The 2005 Transportation Act, No Child left Behind, an explosion of earmarks, intervention in the Schiavo case, the ongoing scandal and waste of the Ag bills and on and on. Really what part of this represents “Limited Government” in the post-Reagan era? The fact that he borrowed instead of taxed to do it does not make this fiscal conservative happy, that’s just taxing a future generation. Huckabee is a kinder gentler Bush III.”

Judging by this clip (sent to me by another reader), I’d guess that Sen. Thompson may feel the same way.