Jonah Goldberg pops up in a Pittsburgh newspaper claiming he really isn't that much of a fan of Bush, but things could be much worse.
Really?
Interesting delusion.
The tens of thousands of civilian casualties resulting from the catastrophic War On Iraq and the pre-emptive philosophy of the War On Terror might argue differently. If they weren't dead, of course.
Goldberg argues that Americans, and the world, have all been far too harsh on the President of the United States. Here's some highlights :
Lord knows I have my problems with President Bush. He taps the federal coffers like a monkey smacking the bar for another cocaine pellet in an addiction study. And, yes, the Iraq invasion has gone badly. To deny this is to suggest that Bush meant for things to turn out this way, which is even crueler than saying he failed to get it right.
That said, it's time to cut the guy some slack.
...the Bush-bashers have lost credibility.
The anti-Bush chorus sees (Hurricane) Katrina as nothing more than a good stick for beating on Pinata Bush's "competence." The hypocrisy is astounding because the media did such an abysmal job covering the reality of New Orleans.The Mississippi coast was hit harder by Katrina than New Orleans was.
Mississippi has the same federal government as Louisiana and reconstruction there is going gangbusters.
Then there's the war on terror. Democrats love to note that Bush hasn't caught Osama bin Laden yet.... But even nicer than catching bin Laden is not having thousands of dead Americans in New York, Washington and L.A.
Political dissatisfaction with the president rests entirely on Iraq and overall Bush fatigue. The rest amounts to little more than Iraq-motivated brickbats gussied up to look like freestanding complaints. That's how hate works: It looks for more excuses to hate in the same way that fire looks for more stuff to burn.
Look, things could obviously be a lot better. But they could be a lot worse too.
John Kerry could be president.
Go here to read the whole thing.
