Reaganite Republican Bruce Bartlett has been ousted from his position at the conservative National Center for Economic Analysis after writing a book critical of the Bush administration.

The book, called “”The Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy,” is self-explanatory. It is also, of course, evidence of the deep split within American conservatives over the Bush presidency.

I must say, I love rubbernecking at this conservative civil war. For years, the conservatives have had it both ways, campaigning on ideals of small government and reduced federal spending even as they turn to the federal government to impose their ideological mandates on the country and the world. This implosion is long overdue. I can’t even say that I give conservatives like Bartlett credit for engaging in the debate…for years, they turned a blind eye to the party’s internal contradictions so as not to interrupt the party’s march to power. Now that legacy of willful denial is coming home to roost.