Is ther anything charitable or even merciful to say about the Bush preidency at this point? Is there anyone who is willing to give his assertions the benefot if the doubt? As a self-proclaimed contrarian, I feel duty-bound to resist the overwhelming conventional wisdom that it's a lost presidency and find that silver lining, but I'm coming up short. When an intelligence report asserts that Al Queda in the US is as strong now as it was on 9/10/2001, there's reason to question whether the guy has any clue.
But what I find outragous is the way the Bush administration resists any accountability. What with signing statements, assertions of executive privilege and that the vice president belongs to some fourth branch of government, characterizing international treaties as "quaint," hostility to the press, etc., etc., this presidency appears to set itself over any constitutional precept. And their excuse - that the war on terror has changed the rules - turns out to be empty if the strategy to wage it has been so ineffectual (and expensive, measured in human, financial, and political capital).
The Democrats can point this out until they're blue in the face and still be labeled partisan. What is needed is a Republican leader to show some personal integrity and call the Bush West Wing what it is. It's happening in small ways, but unless the mainstream Republicans want to be tarred as acomplices in the inevtiable fallout, it's time to step up and show some character.
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