Predictable failure

Alan Wolfe's essay "Why Conservatives Can't Govern" is fantastic. If you want the short version, here it is:

If government is necessary, bad government, at least for conservatives, is inevitable, and conservatives have been exceptionally good at showing just how bad it can be. Hence the truth revealed by the Bush years: Bad government--indeed, bloated, inefficient, corrupt, and unfair government--is the only kind of conservative government there is. Conservatives cannot govern well for the same reason that vegetarians cannot prepare a world-class boeuf bourguignon: If you believe that what you are called upon to do is wrong, you are not likely to do it very well.

There are many other quotable sections, but I'll leave them for you to enjoy on your own.