Fareed Zakaria: The Price of Arrogance

[bicentennial_baby]

"May 17 issue - America is ushering in a new responsibility era," says President Bush as part of his standard stump speech, "where each of us understands we're responsible for the decisions we make in life." When speaking about bad CEOs he's even clearer as to what it entails: "You're beginning to see the consequences of people making irresponsible decisions. They need to pay a price for their irresponsibility."

"I take full responsibility," said Donald Rumsfeld in his congressional testimony last week. But what does this mean? Secretary Rumsfeld hastened to add that he did not plan to resign and was not going to ask anyone else who might have been "responsible" to resign. As far as I can tell, taking responsibility these days means nothing more than saying the magic words "I take responsibility."

After the greatest terrorist attack against America, no one was asked to resign, and the White House didn't even want to launch a serious investigation into it. The 9/11 Commission was created after months of refusals because some of the victims' families pursued it aggressively and simply didn't give up. After the fiasco over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, not one person was even reassigned. The only people who have been fired or cashiered in this administration are men like Gen. Eric Shinseki, Paul O'Neill and Larry Lindsey, who spoke inconvenient truths.

Rumsfeld went on in his testimony to explain that "these terrible acts were perpetrated by a small number." That's correct, except the small number who are truly responsible are not the handful of uniformed personnel currently being charged for the prison abuse scandal. The events at Abu Ghraib are part of a larger breakdown in American policy over the past two years. And it has been perpetrated by a small number of people at the highest levels of government."

-snip-

You gotta love this last paragraph:


"Whether he wins or loses in November, George W. Bush's legacy is now clear: the creation of a poisonous atmosphere of anti-Americanism around the globe. I'm sure he takes full responsibility."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4933882/

[buycitgo]

1. so, I guess that's the last we'll see of him on This Week

they don't like such strong anti-junta opinions expressed so forcefully

maybe they'll bring back Cokie

[priller]

2. No, Fareed is great

He slaps George Will around every week. It's the main reason to watch that show.

[buycitgo]

3. totally agree.......but wonder if such strong words will make him

seem too liberal, ha

[Bombtrack]

5. George Will isn't even that bad when it comes to foreign policy

He and Fareed and Holbrooke find themselves in agreement allot.

[Political_Junkie]

4. damn, right on the money!

thanks for the link.

[Bombtrack]

6. I think he wants to be secretary of state

And I want him to be. One time I attempted to ask a Kerry staffer at one of his appearances about that possibility and he just sort of said he had no idea.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. I'm reading his book right now

"The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad" It's very insightful and giving me a lot to ponder. While I don't agree with him all the time, and he is an admitted economic conservative (while being liberal on social issues), I think he's very intelligent and an asset to the American political scene. Besides, I'm a geeky PoliSci major :P

[rumguy]

7. Great piece!

Fareed is almost a prophet on this issue. If they had been listening to his advice some of the tragedy could have been averted.

I hope if Kerry gets in that he and his staff listen to what he says...

[bicentennial_baby]

9. Kick

:kick:

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Kick

:kick:

C'mon people, it's a good read!!

[Tinoire]

11. Great piece

Someone had a post here recently reminding everyone how Bush, the first idiot with an MBA to be President, was going to run this country like a corporation.

Well Georgie? As CEO you bankrupted the country and we have yet to see you accept any responsibility. The "few rotten apples" excuse will not fly because the real rotten apple is at the top.