glenn greenwald says what many have noted for quite a while. many bush supporters aren't conservative, they're just bush supporters. as usual, glenn does a far better job than i ever could in describing the phenomenon.
and as an example, atrios highlights bob barr's treatment when he dared question the leader publicly.
i think another good example for what glenn is describing comes up fairly regularly in my online arguments with conservatives, either in the comments here or elsewhere: the clinton-did-it-too argument. it's almost never relevant to what we're discussing; if we're talking about whether bush broke the law or did something stupid, it makes no difference whether clinton did something similar. if i'm accused of embezzling from my employer, claiming my predecessor stole too is no defense. but the fact that the point is seen as not only relevant, but as some kind of slam-dunk, says a lot about what is going on in the mind of my opponents. they seem to assume that my views are the mirror image of theirs; that i have sworn undying allegiance to my dear leader in the same way they have to theirs.
the FISA issue really seems to cut straight to the divide between people who are true to the goldwater-reagan principles of american conservatism, and who has sold out to this bizarre personality cult of bush. there is a name for the ideology that "demands loyalty to a single leader," it ain't "conservatism."
