I know it is Christmas eve and we should be focusing on family, religion, goodwill, peace and other noble subjects—and I will, after I get the following off my chest. (And, in a way, knowing that I have done so will help me enjoy the holidays, and all the future New Years, better.).
What prompted my humbug moment was a superb piece in the Washington Post by one of my favorite columnists and commentators, Eugene Robinson.
In his “The Price Of Their Security,” Robinson presents one of the most eloquent, convincing and, yes, objective judgments on the Bush-Cheney record.
I say “objective” because Robinson up-front gives these two men the benefit of the doubt by granting them the basic premise and argument: “We did what we did to keep America safe.”
Robinson even suggests that he may “understand” Bush and Cheney’s actions, with a caveat: “Understanding isn’t the same as forgiving.”
The rest of Robinson’s piece discusses these men’s natural and patriotic reactions to Sept. 11; the “[admirable] overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the dismantling of al-Qaeda’s infrastructure and the killing or capture of some of the terrorist organization’s most important operatives.”
But is also “shamefully” includes:
…the violation of international and U.S. legal norms by subjecting terrorism suspects to indefinite detention and cruel, painful interrogation; the creation of a mini gulag of secret CIA-run prisons abroad; and unprecedented domestic surveillance without court supervision — all justified, Cheney maintains, by a state of “war” that has no foreseeable end.
And a Bush-Cheney record that also includes
The invasion of a country — Iraq — that had nothing whatsoever to do with Sept. 11. This misadventure has claimed more than 4,000 American lives, wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and grievously damaged our strategic position in the Middle East.
Robinson also mentions Bush’s “So What” answer when Martha Raddatz pointed out that there were no al-Qaeda forces in Iraq until after the U.S. invaded that country. (See my “First It was ‘So?’—Now It’s ‘So What?’)
But what really got my attention was Robinson’s lead paragraph:
The history-be-my-judge interviews that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been giving recently help me understand why they acted with such contempt for our Constitution and our values — but also reinforce my confident belief, and my fervent hope, that history will throw the book at them.
Mr. Robinson is absolutely correct about the “history-be-my-judge interviews” that Bush and Cheney have been giving as part of their transparent and shameless attempts to—at the eleventh hour—rewrite the abominable history of their failed administration and to fabricate some kind of redeeming legacy.
Had they spent half this amount of time, energy and forthrightness during the past eight years vetting intelligence and facts, fighting terrorism the right way in the right countries, and managing our economy properly, history and legacy would have taken care of themselves.
Now, Merry Christmas and a better New Year to all.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.