Eugene Robinson: Stains on a Legacy

[babylonsister]

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/stains_on_a_legacy_20130426/

Stains on a Legacy
Posted on Apr 26, 2013
By Eugene Robinson


In retrospect, George W. Bush’s legacy doesn’t look as bad as it did when he left office. It looks worse.

I join the nation in congratulating Bush on the opening of his presidential library in Dallas. Like many people, I find it much easier to honor, respect and even like the man—now that he’s no longer in the White House.

But anyone tempted to get sentimental should remember the actual record of the man who called himself The Decider. Begin with the indelible stain that one of his worst decisions left on our country’s honor: torture.

Hiding behind the euphemism “enhanced interrogation techniques,” Bush made torture official U.S. policy. Just about every objective observer has agreed with this stark conclusion. The most recent assessment came earlier this month in a 576-page report from a task force of the bipartisan Constitution Project, which states that “it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture.”

snip//

Bush’s decision to invade and conquer Iraq also looks, in hindsight, like an even bigger strategic error. Saddam Hussein’s purported weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found, of course; nearly 5,000 Americans—and untold Iraqis—sacrificed their lives to eliminate a threat that did not exist. We knew this, of course, when Obama took office. It’s one of the main reasons he was elected.

snip//

Bush didn’t pay for his wars. The bills he racked up for military adventures, prescription-drug benefits, the bank bailout and other impulse purchases helped create the fiscal and financial crises he bequeathed to Obama. His profligacy also robbed the Republican Party establishment of small-government credibility, thus helping give birth to the tea party movement. Thanks a lot for that.

As I’ve written before, Bush did an enormous amount of good by making it possible for AIDS sufferers in Africa to receive antiretroviral drug therapy. This literally saved millions of lives, and should weigh heavily on one side of the scale when we assess The Decider’s presidency. But the pile on the other side just keeps getting bigger.

[tavernier]

1. I just love his intelligence, humor and wit.

Eugene Robinson, I mean; NOT the devil he writes about who created one fresh hell after another.

[Wednesdays]

2. K & R