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.
Added some keywords ...go Bush/Cheney.
He’s backpedaling from what he pronmised the left loons on Gitmo, torture photos, security, Afghansitstan, Iraq, Iran, etc.
There are people here on FR who have BDS to such an extent it makes some liberals seem reasonable.
I agree with you. If we elect enough Republicans, in 2010, maybe they can fix Obama’s messes, in 2011.
I don't see a single word out of place in your post.
I watch Cavuto every day. Cavuto is trying to get them to stop spending money “ they dont have”, ala Bush/obama/Pelosi. Plus if you believe bankrupt borrowing works so well how can you give credit to Bush, but not his brother Obama?
You consider this a recovery? No jobs? No tax revenue?
There really is no choice if we want the Republic to survive. I have never been so afraid for this country in my 51 years. And I lived through the threat of total annihilation from nuclear holocaust, not saying it doesn't exist now, but you know what I mean, especially as a kid.
Amen to that,....can't be said often enough!
I agree with you. Last Oct., my mom said that, if Obama wins, it would be God punishing the U.S. for having low morals.
Your Mom is right. I never thought it would happen, but I didn’t see the media in the tank for him as far as it went. I was hoping for more scrutiny or at least some kind of reporting. My Dad must be rolling in his grave. A WWII vet who worked so hard to make this country great and the way it is being destroyed today. I can just hear what he would be saying today. How I so wish I could hear what he was saying....
The more I read the worse this gets. This is like saying it's better to mortgage away your house than use credit cards because the interest rate is lower up to foreclosure.
Is Deb Lora Bush?
Unfortunately, it's not confined only to the left.
Sometimes I think BDS is worse here on FR.
BINGO!!, But next time a little more detail of how you really feel would be most helpful!!!!
LOL
Amazing isn’t it? No mention of rendition continuing as a policy, increasing bailouts or expanded government spending, all items that the left criticized Bush for....
Really?
I’ve been a registered Republican since the 1980’s
I can’t call you a Democrat as they at least know who advances the agenda of their choice, which is more than I can say for you.
The only thing correct in this post is the spelling!!! The last I heard was the balance of the tarp not spend was 27 billion, But given the fake trades back and forth between the paulson crowd and obamma crowd, and AIG. I doubt if that is the real number.
And if you think the economy is coming back, I have some bridge stock for sale, you may want to get in on the ground floor.
Come back when you know something.
“BDS on the right is even worse than what we see on the left.”
?????????????
All the money and men we spent in creating an Islamic “Democracy” in Iraq was a total waste of time and lives. Our objective was to remove a dangerous regime, not to wetnurse another unstable Islamic state which has produced more misery for the Christian minorities there than its predecessor. If you think Iraq will break the pattern of other Islamic political entities once we pull out, you are as naive and historically ignorant as Bush II.
As for Iraq, you and BO are on the same wavelength. That alone should make you reconsider your views.
Our main objective in that part of the world should be overthrowing the current Iranian government, not creating a clone of Iraq in Afghanistan.
As long as Muslims are Muslims and the Koran is interpeted in a traditional manner, there will be no accomodation between Islam and modern concepts of human dignity, freedom, and tolerance. It won’t happen. Not ever.
The best we can do is to try and make sure that the Islamic thugs running governments important to us are pro-American.
To expect anything more is idiotic.
ROFLOL, you are the one that made the childish statement, live with it!!!
Thanks.
Apparently, even after the debacles of 2006, and 2008, there are STILL Bushbots out there who don’t get it. See some of the other posts to me.
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