Before I read the Krauthammer piece, my understanding of the Bush Doctrine was that it simply meant we don’t wait to be attacked, and we take it to the enemy first. I thought a perfect response for Palin would be: “It means we don’t wait to be attacked. Like if I punched you in the teeth before you asked your next question.”
“Before I read the Krauthammer piece,”
From that piece:
“In the cover essay of the June 4, 2001, issue of the Weekly Standard entitled, “The Bush Doctrine: ABM, Kyoto, and the New American Unilateralism,” I suggested that the Bush administration policies of unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM treaty and rejecting the Kyoto protocol, together with others, amounted to a radical change in foreign policy that should be called the Bush doctrine.”
It’s fairly amazing that that piece is from 6/4/2001, BEFORE 9/11.
“Bush Doctrine” has never had a precise and limited and generally accepted meaning. It gained many new meanings after 9/11. But I just lost a lot of respect for Rich Lowry. He and Gibson both owe Governor Palin any apology. Not holding my breath.