March 20, 2013

Ten years ago this week, the United States invaded Iraq. These two stories by James Fallows are essential to understanding the consequences of that decision.

The Fifty-First State? (Nov. 2002): Months before the invasion began, Fallows warned of the difficult responsibilities America would face as an occupying power. Was the U.S. prepared for a long-term relationship?

Bush’s Lost Year (Oct. 2004): “As a political matter, whether the United States is now safer or more vulnerable is of course ferociously controversial. That the war was necessary—and beneficial—is the Bush Administration’s central claim. That it was not is the central claim of its critics. But among national-security professionals there is surprisingly little controversy. Except for those in government and in the opinion industries whose job it is to defend the Administration’s record, they tend to see America’s response to 9/11 as a catastrophe.”

10:29am
(Notes: 203)
  
Filed under: Iraq Iraq War George W. Bush History Journalism Longreads 
November 19, 2012
The Future of Conservative Foreign Policy The Republican Party needs a new message on foreign policy that is true to the conservative principles of the base and yet has a broad appeal to the American public. It so happens that one already exists, has a proven track record of electoral success, and is only slightly used: the ”humble foreign policy” that candidate George W. Bush espoused during the 2000 campaign but abandoned with the Global War on Terror and the Iraq invasion. Bush’s wisdom during the October 12, 2000 debates is striking in hindsight. “If we’re an arrogant nation,” he warned, “they’ll resent us; if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. And our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that’s why we’ve got to be humble, and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom.” Now, to a large degree, that’s platitude rather than policy prescription. But it’s the right mindset from which to approach policy analysis. Read more. [Image: Reuters]

The Future of Conservative Foreign Policy

The Republican Party needs a new message on foreign policy that is true to the conservative principles of the base and yet has a broad appeal to the American public. It so happens that one already exists, has a proven track record of electoral success, and is only slightly used: the ”humble foreign policy” that candidate George W. Bush espoused during the 2000 campaign but abandoned with the Global War on Terror and the Iraq invasion.

Bush’s wisdom during the October 12, 2000 debates is striking in hindsight. “If we’re an arrogant nation,” he warned, “they’ll resent us; if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. And our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that’s why we’ve got to be humble, and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom.”

Now, to a large degree, that’s platitude rather than policy prescription. But it’s the right mindset from which to approach policy analysis.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

12:46pm
(Notes: 65)
  
Filed under: Foreign Policy Romney Obama George W. Bush Politics 
September 28, 2012
Even George W. Bush Is More Popular Than Mitt Romney A Bloomberg poll released this week finds 49 percent of likely voters see Bush unfavorably while 46 percent see him favorably. That beats Romney’s results — 50 percent see him unfavorably and 43 percent view him favorably, as the Dallas Morning News’ Tom Benning points out. This poll does not appear to be an outlier in showing Romney’s unpopularity. Read more. [Image: AP]

Even George W. Bush Is More Popular Than Mitt Romney

A Bloomberg poll released this week finds 49 percent of likely voters see Bush unfavorably while 46 percent see him favorably. That beats Romney’s results — 50 percent see him unfavorably and 43 percent view him favorably, as the Dallas Morning News’ Tom Benning points out. This poll does not appear to be an outlier in showing Romney’s unpopularity.

Read more. [Image: AP]

11:22am
(Notes: 120)
  
Filed under: Politics Election 2012 News Polls Mitt Romney George W. Bush 
June 25, 2012
Maurice Sendak Fantasized About Blowing Up George W. Bush We loved Maurice Sendak’s work, so it wasn’t without a little cringing that we read this excerpt from his soon-to-be-published interview with Gary Groth in The Comics Journal in which he fantasized about killing George W. Bush. Sure, Sendak was known to be a cranky old guy, but this is downright nasty stuff. From the interview: SENDAK: Bush was president, I thought, “Be brave. Tie a bomb to your shirt. Insist on going to the White House. And I wanna have a big hug with the vice president, definitely. And his wife, and the president, and his wife, and anybody else that can fit into the love hug.” Yikes. And then there’s this: SENDAK: You would have forgotten about it. It would have been a very brave and wonderful thing. But I didn’t do it; I didn’t do it. Read more. [Image: AP]

Maurice Sendak Fantasized About Blowing Up George W. Bush

We loved Maurice Sendak’s work, so it wasn’t without a little cringing that we read this excerpt from his soon-to-be-published interview with Gary Groth in The Comics Journal in which he fantasized about killing George W. Bush. Sure, Sendak was known to be a cranky old guy, but this is downright nasty stuff. From the interview:

SENDAK: Bush was president, I thought, “Be brave. Tie a bomb to your shirt. Insist on going to the White House. And I wanna have a big hug with the vice president, definitely. And his wife, and the president, and his wife, and anybody else that can fit into the love hug.”

Yikes. And then there’s this:

SENDAK: You would have forgotten about it. It would have been a very brave and wonderful thing. But I didn’t do it; I didn’t do it.

Read more. [Image: AP]

3:49pm
(Notes: 121)
  
Filed under: News Maurice Sendak Lit Books Politics George W. Bush 
June 14, 2012
Game of Thrones Showrunners Apologize For Putting George W. Bush’s Head on a Spike With a speedy apology following a half-day bloguproar, you can bet that the folks running HBO’s of Game of Thrones totally regret impaling the 43rd president’s head on a spike. Or at least, regret saying it was him on a DVD commentary track. ”We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc. We can’t afford to have these all made from scratch… so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush,” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said in an apology statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter’s Lesley Goldberg. “We meant no disrespect to the former President and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise.”  Read more at The Atlantic Wire. [Image: HBO]

Game of Thrones Showrunners Apologize For Putting George W. Bush’s Head on a Spike

With a speedy apology following a half-day bloguproar, you can bet that the folks running HBO’s of Game of Thrones totally regret impaling the 43rd president’s head on a spike. Or at least, regret saying it was him on a DVD commentary track. ”We use a lot of prosthetic body parts on the show: heads, arms, etc. We can’t afford to have these all made from scratch… so we rent them in bulk. After the scene was already shot, someone pointed out that one of the heads looked like George W. Bush,” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said in an apology statement picked up by The Hollywood Reporter’s Lesley Goldberg. “We meant no disrespect to the former President and apologize if anything we said or did suggested otherwise.” 

Read more at The Atlantic Wire. [Image: HBO]

9:48am
(Notes: 109)
  
Filed under: TV George W. Bush Game of Thonres HBO Bush News 
April 24, 2012
"George W. Bush, in my opinion, did a fantastic job as president over eight years, facing a set of circumstances during those eight years that are different from the circumstances that a President Romney would face."

— Marco Rubio, on George W. Bush.

1:31pm
(Notes: 22)
  
Filed under: Politics News Mitt Romney Marco Rubio George W. Bush 
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