Peroutka, You Magnificent Bastard and Indirect Quoter…

If there is a god–or some justice in a godless universe, it seems likely that the term peroutka, as in Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael "GodFamilyRepublic" Peroutka, will come to signify uninteresting, nutbag marginal politicians, much in the same way crapper came to signify toilets.

But give the guy this much: In a March 10, 2004 entry in his campaign blog (ryhmes with log), he reports that Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.) dissed the once and future Prez Bush in these terms:

At a recent meeting of thousands of conservatives in Virginia, near Washington DC, Congressman Chris Cox, chairman of the GOP's House Policy Committee, said many good and true things. He noted that, ironically, Bill Clinton was right when he said the era of Big Government was over because now, under George Bush, we are living in the era of REALLY Big Government. Congressman Cox referred to the REALLY Big Government President Bush has given us as, "the elephant in the conservative living room no one wants to talk about."

Whole bit–which devolves into the sort of rant that keeps the Constitution Party safely on the sidelines of any political debate–here.

So did Cox, who Reason interviewed way back when, REALLY say what Peroutka says he REALLY said? And will he working to strangle the elephant in the next four years? I hope so. Whether the GOP will actually reduce spending, rather than ramping it up like, well, incumbents, is one of the great questions posed by a second Bush term.

Tip to reader Tom Ingling.