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When talking about the "soul" of the Republican Party, no better example can be found of a bargain with the devil than George Bush the Elder. As a young politician he was a member of Planned Parenthood. He held sensible beliefs and was bold enough to label Voodoo Economics for what it was. His first corrupt bargain came during the Election of 1980 when he met with Iranians in Paris to undercut US foreign policy in trying to release the hostages.
Some time between 1986 and 1988, he completed his deal with the devil by explaining, "he had seen the light." He did an even greater disservice to the country by encouraging key Republicans to finance his incompetent son for the office, even going so far as to discourage campaign contributions to others. Tom DeLay did publicly and offensively what George Bush the Elder mastered in private.
George Bush the Elder is the greatest Faustian tragic figure. Many other neoconservatives do not have the sense to know better--but he did. On key issues influencing our future for thirty to one hundred years, he did one damaging thing after another.
