Posted on 05/20/2009 6:40:38 AM PDT by big black dog
Let's face it, this is shaping up as George W. Bush's best month in years. The last time the 43rd president enjoyed this kind of vindication was when a bedraggled Saddam Hussein was pulled from a hole in the ground by American soldiers in 2003. All of Barack Obama's efforts to cast the Bush administration as an immoral stain on American history have not merely collapsed, but collapsed on the heads of Bush's most public and vocal critics.
Here's a non-stammering Nancy Pelosi talking about Bush last July: "God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States -- a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject."
Don't mind if I do. How about national security? It turns out that support for a criminal investigation of Bush policies yielded an important finding after all: Pelosi's own long-standing agreement with the Bush administration's toughest measures. On that point she's in sync with the rest of the country. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll found that Americans approve of the interrogation methods Bush okayed by a margin of 50% to 46%. In other words, she didn't have to go through the condemnation charade to begin with.
Then there's Iraq. That July interview with Pelosi is quite a goldmine. When faced with a 14% approval rating for Congress, she counters: "Everything I see says this is about ending the war. . . " Well, that's not happening anytime soon. Everything I see says "ending the war" was as phony as Nancy Pelosi's outrage. Hillary Clinton went to Baghdad three weeks ago to reassure the Maliki government that the Obama administration will not abandon Iraq. On top of that, Gen. Ray Odierno said the U.S. might "maintain a presence" in some Iraqi cities beyond the scheduled draw-down date if the Iraqis request it. Did Pelosi mean the other war, in Afghanistan? Obama has done an outstanding job of taking that challenge seriously, and for those keeping score, his pick of Gen. Stanley McChrystal (the man who hunted down Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq) has met with the gushing approval of Dick Cheney.
And speaking of Dick Cheney: Not only has he proved to be an important and articulate defender of the Bush administration's national-security policy; his repeated interviews and statements have done Bush the service of drawing fire away from the former president. Bush not only looks wise these days; he looks modest and thoughtful as well. And Cheney's (denied) request to declassify more CIA interrogation memos explodes the myth of the "most secretive administration in American history."
Let us not forget the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility. For years adduced as a monument to the Bush administration's disdain for due process and human rights, Gitmo was slated to be shut down by Barack Obama as a first order of business. Today, the posture without a plan has come up against a bi-partisan roadblock. Thursday, the House denied the Obama administration a requested $80 million to close the facility. The Senate's version of the bill in question contains $50 million for the Pentagon to shutter the place, but the money can only be tapped 30 days after Robert Gates devises a plan to relocate detainees outside the U.S. -- so far France will take one. To top it all off, on Friday Obama announced the revival of Guantanamo military tribunals.
On Iran, the Obama administration is veering from its stance of bottomless "respect" and "perseverance." This week Obama set early October as a "target" to determine whether Iran is really deserving of all that extended goodwill. Additionally, the administration has drawn up benchmarks to gauge Tehran's cooperation in halting their march toward a nuclear weapon. As Robert Kagan put it, "[Obama's] policy toward Iran makes sense, so long as he is ready with a serious Plan B if the negotiating track with Tehran fails." The October non-surprise will be the revelation that Bush wasn't merely neglecting to smile at the mullahs and to ask nicely.
Finally, there's the strange and frankly unsettling image makeover of the Saudi royals. The Bush family's alleged intimacy with an extremist monarchy formed the very backbone of the anti-Bush industry. Yet, upon taking office Barack Obama commented on the bravery of King Abdullah and went on to virtually adopt the Saudi Peace Initiative as American policy. The administration is also seriously considering sending released Guantanamo detainees through the Saudi "jihad rehab" program. A week ago, "60 Minutes" aired a prime-time broadcast praising the same absurdity. The free pass Barack Obama gets on his all-encompassing embrace of Riyadh leaves the score of anti-Bush best sellers and documentaries looking a little less than credible.
President Obama, and the country at large, is finding out that George W. Bush's most controversial policies were not born of ideological delusion, American arrogance, or missionary zeal. They were imperfect but sound (with the exception of our ties to Riyadh) responses to complicated threats. But the validation of the last president runs a very distant second to the most compelling aspect of all this: the drama over CIA interrogations and Guantanamo will hopefully serve to set the administration on a more serious national security course. And it would be helpful if the American public finally dropped moral outrage as the preferred mode of political argumentation.
Excellent article, but will fall on completely deaf ears of our friends on the left. BDS is alive and well, as letters to my local crap newspaper attest. One thing about lefties remains charmingly consistent; their complete and utter disregard for facts, logic, common sense, and reason.
And the left’s supply of “moral outrage” is bottomless. At least since the sixties, it’s their default position.
That may be true but that is not saying much. This is only because Bush is finally off camera, not bailing anyone out, not proposing stimulus packages or amnesty or even more war funding now.
This poster may not have seen the latest opinion polls on Bush vs Obama on national security. Obama’s defense flips are all helping him, and none of it is helping Bush. You have to put Obama’s defense flips (which are against the Move on crowd) in the context of Obama’s popularity and Bush's deep unpopularity. He is looking even more responsible than last November when he was elected. It will take time for Obama to lose this.
There was a time when I would get so irate seeing comments from the left regarding George Bush and Dick Cheney. Now I laugh at them, they are stewing in their hypocrisy.
“but will fall on completely deaf ears of our friends on the left.”
The far left is quite upset with BO. They are not happy.
An issue illiterate public fed by an agenda driven media tied to power hungry socialists will tell you anything you want to hear
One of the reasons Obama is in the White House is because of TWO individuals: George W. Bush and John McCain - MAINLY George W. Bush.
George W. Bush, like his Daddy screwed up badly and pushed the GOP further to the left.
Invading Afghanistan and Iraq and removing the governments there - GOOD MOVES.
Committing lots of American dollars and lives to nation building in Iraq and Afghanistan - BAD MOVES.
Trying to get an unqualified family hack Harriet Myers on the SCOTUS - unforgivable.
Appointing a crew of incompetent nincompoops - many liberals - to important positions - Alberto Gonzales, Chrissie Whitman, Tom Kean, Tom Ridge, that moron he put in charge of FEMA, the idiot who ran the Department of Transportation - STUPID.
Allowing the economy to collapse and then venturing into state support of private companies - unforgivable.
Spending a fortune to “fight AIDS” in Africa - STUPID
Running up such a large deficit - STUPID
The Dubai Port Scam
MOST OF ALL - pandering to Mexico, Calderone, Vicente Fox, and business interests seeking cheap illegal foreign labor - UNFORGIVABLE.
Setting up a Department of Homeland Security instead of relying on the CIA and FBI - IDIOTIC
And so it goes on.
His father destroyed the Reagan Revolution and threw away the victory Ronald Reagan gave the West with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. HE set the stage for the Dems to take over Congress in 2006 and the Oval Office in 2010.
Bush II, like Bush I and probably all the Bushes, was at heart a liberal and totally unfit for higher office.
In April 2008, an Illinois republican army veteran told me that he went to Washington, DC, with some other Illinois veterans, and they tried to meet all of Illinois’ U.S. senators and reps., to discuss many issues, especially the Iraq war. When they went to Obama’s office, Obama was gone, campaigning. The foreign policy aide said that, if Obama becomes president, he wouldn’t withdraw all American troops, from Iraq, quickly. He would consider the advice of the generals and admirals. Obama said that he would quickly withdraw the troops because he thought that would help him win the election.
Exactly. How could President Bush’s number ever be high when the left has conducted a jihad against him for years? He’s been accused of everything but cannibalism, while whatever Hussein does is just peachy, even when he does the same things that President Bush was doing. Given that, I don’t put much stock in agenda-driven “polls”.
There is some truth to that but if GWB was the hero the Bush-bots on this thread imagine there is NO way he would be so unpopular on all issues. In fact if this was the case then it would be pointless to even hold elections, or complain, or even have a FNC.
My gosh, I’m surprised that anyone would even have to be told that. He was ALL about the prestige of the office, not the responsibilities (though he’ll exert himself to stick it to whitey, and confiscate their property and “reward” a rat constituency group now and then).
Oh good, here comes zulu to once again beat a dead horse.
Bush was a good President. We all already know that he didn’t do what zulu wanted 100 percent of the time.
I am very comfortable in my prediction that had zulu been President instead of George W Bush, our country would be in much, much worse shape.
Who thinks he’s a hero? My point is Hussein is getting high numbers for perpetuating the same policies that President Bush did, namely in foreign policy (though he “shines it up” now and then with a bow to the Saudi king, things like that). Now how can two men have the same policies when it comes to the nut-crunching, and yet one be vilified and the other praised for them?
The only difference (at least in foreign policy) is that President Bush owned what he did, while Hussein tells the dummies what they want to hear, and then pretends he was backed into a corner of continuing to do what President Bush was doing all along.
Its always easy to make ad hoiminem remarks instead of addressing issues.
Did Bush do some things right? Yes.
Was he better than a Dem - sort of. But the damage he did to the GOP and conservativism in the LONG RUN outweighed any real benefits he accomplished, excepting Roberts and Alitto.
Face it - the GOP would have been much better with an incumbetn more reflective of the opinions and values of the average Republican - AND, by the way, the average American, than one of the Bushes.
And its ZULU, not zulu (have to change that name - everybody thinks I’m black and I’m not.)
To an extent true. But on the face of his actions - see my post - Bush was wrong on too many core issues.
Only becasue BO is more concerned with getting re-elected than immediately pleasing their more OBVIOUSLY radical wishes. THAT will come in his SECOND term - if we are unlucky enough to see that happen.
You miss it even though it's in front of you,
Obama is seen as cleaning up GWB’s messes. If there was no war and no terrorism now with Obama, similar to USSR collapse 1989-90, then Bush would be loved like Reagan was. But it looks like he just passed on a number of messes to Obama. Worse it looks like he created the messes because he was an activist president. That is the difference.
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