  Dick Armey became one of the Republicans I most reviled somewhere around the time he called openly gay congressman Barney Frank "Barney Fag. " In retrospect, this moment was far more hilarious than I give it credit for -- but at the time I would never have imagined naming my blog Fagistan.
Armey's leadership in the House was so consistently and viciously conservative, his views so contrary to my own (he is anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-tax, anti-social services spending) and so damned effective (in combination with Speaker Gingrich and whip Tom DeLay) that hating him was the obvious choice. Salon has urlLink published a profile of the former majority leader that begins to change my mind. First of all, Armey proves himself to have a sense of humor, both about himself and about government. In reference to Dick Gephardt speaking at the hanging of Armey's portrait in statuary hall, he says "He said he couldn't resist being there to hang me. " And later, on his urging of Bush not to invade Iraq: "I was so desperate I quoted Shakespeare instead of Jimmy Buffett. " What comes across most strongly is that, unlike the poseur President Bush , Armey really is a "regular guy. " I won't say I miss him -- but I am encouraged by his assessment that the President's budget policies will drive so much support away from him that Kerry will win in November.
We agree on almost nothing, Dick Armey and me, but we do agree that the Republican Party has lost any reason it once had for existing. With its spending policies, tax policies and war policies combined the GOP has become the party of big government minus a treasury, the worst possible system one can imagine. Soon enough, Republicans must either revolt against Bush or sink into the swamp of their own folly. 
