Tuesday, August 16, 2005
DiFi and Wars In Iraq
My colleague TVD argues in a comment (on my previous post on Diane Feinstein) that "At least DiFi voted for both Gulf War resolutions." I think that the argument for Operation Iraqi Freedom is quite solid, a good deal more so than even much conservative commentary would lead one to conclude, in that I view the evidence of Saddam's involvement and support of international terrorism as incontrovertible, and that of his involvement in 9/11 as highly credible, however indirect. (That is the best one can hope for given the involvement of a modern intelligence service such as the Mukhabarat.) But Operation Desert Storm? In precisely what sense was the restoration of the Emir of Kuwait to his throne a vital interest of the United States of America? The vital interest was the prevention of a huge wealth transfer to Saddam, with which he would have had nukes by the year 2000; but that could have been accomplished by a takeover of the Kuwaiti and Iraqi oil fields, with the sales revenues put into an escrow-like account. Instead, we got Desert Storm, ultimately rendered futile by the dumbest man to have held the office of the presidency in the postwar period, George H.W. Bush.
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5 comments:
G.H.W. Bush dumber than Gerald Ford? Please.
Does anyone have anything good to say about George HW?
Probably only the Democrats, whom Bush tried to appease with tax increases.
The broken promise [read my lips] was only one of the factors leading to Bush's defeat, but it was an important one. Republican pollster Richard Wirthlin called them "the six most destructive words in the history of presidential politics...
A television commercial designed by campaign manager James Carville had Bush repeating the phrase to illustrate Bush's perfidious nature. It was regarded as the most effective of all of Clinton's campaign ads."
Like Otter said in the landmark film Animal House, "You (screwed) up. You trusted us."
BTW, the defeated Bush left office with a 56% approval rating...
BTW, the defeated Bush left office with a 56% approval rating...
If I had been a Democrat in October 1992, and a pollster had called up and asked me if I approved of GHWB's performance in office, I would have shouted "Hell Yes!" The subtext being, of course, that his performance was going to put my guy in the White House in a few weeks.
John and I were married on November 1, 1992. I am fairly certain that our first disagreement as man and wife occurred two days later, when he more or less ordered me to go into the voting booth, hold my nose with one hand, and pull the lever for Bush with the other. That's how excited we all were over the prospect of another four years of that East Coast dunceweasel.
The Democrats should take no comfort from these GOP lapses, since they just prove that a Democrat will only be elected president if the GOP nominates a candidate who would lose a brains & personality contest with a four foot length of cedar planking.
Kathy, it's so true. I voted for Bush a little more enthusiastically than you, but I did feel like voting for Clinton on a couple of occasions early on. It wasn't until he started knocking Reagan that I became extremely determined not to vote for him. Remember, this was before he proved himself more pro-choice than NARAL. I also flirted with Ross Perot for a short while. Nobody was enthusiastic about Bush. Nobody.
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