Mark Steyn: Genius

In a discussion with Hugh Hewitt, Mark Steyn nails it as usual:

I think it [the Administration] does seem to me exhausted. And in a strange way, a lot of the things that he's [President Bush] getting into trouble with over the moment, like the $3 a gas pump, is, I think, a reflection of...it doesn't even have the sort of strength of will to drag its own party with him. I mean, I thought the Senate bill, that the Senate Republicans proposed on energy, is completely preposterous. If the Republicans cave in on energy, which is a national security issue, and which is something where the Democrats are even more witless than usual, because they're not in favor of any kind of energy. If you were to say we should all go back to wood-fired steam trains on the Atchison, Topeka and the Sante Fe, they'd say oh, no, sorry. We're opposed to logging. We can't even have that. They're opposed to all kinds of energy. And if you've got a Democrat Party that's not serious, you've got a Republican Party that is frivolous in Congress more than half the time, then it's no wonder the administration is just exhausted.

All, of course, is still not lost. I think the solutions to a lot of the problems the Republicans are facing now are fairly simple (secure the borders, open domestic drilling, repeal the boutique blends requirments, etc..) they just need to return to their conservative roots. They're not going to win any converts by acting like Democrats, but could win back a lot of support if they started to govern like conservatives. If the House can pull the Senate back into line, there's still plenty of time to right the ship (pun intended.)