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The Truman Show

How many times are we going to read this Bush as Truman analogy? The President has himself repeatedly made the comparison, so has Andrew Roberts–of course–as well as countless other neocon scribes. Today was Krauthammer’s turn, Bush is much like Truman, who developed the sinews of war for a new era (the Department of Defense, […]

How many times are we going to read this Bush as Truman analogy? The President has himself repeatedly made the comparison, so has Andrew Roberts–of course–as well as countless other neocon scribes. Today was Krauthammer’s turn,

Bush is much like Truman, who developed the sinews of war for a new era (the Department of Defense, the CIA, the NSA), expanded the powers of the presidency, established a new doctrine for active intervention abroad, and ultimately engaged in a war (Korea) — also absent an attack on the U.S. — that proved highly unpopular.

So unpopular that Truman left office disparaged and highly out of favor. History has revised that verdict. I have little doubt that Bush will be the subject of a similar reconsideration.

This is the last mental resort for Iraq war die-hards: let history judge. The argument is at once impossible to dispute and meaningless. No matter how disastrous the consequences of Bush’s foreign policy, hawks can always say “just you wait and see” and never be proved categorically wrong. They have become like members of some bizarre redemptory cult, ever deferring to the future to justify their wild beliefs.

Actually, Krauthammer’s piece is well worth reading for its hilarious sucking up to W.

In the hour I spent with the president (devoted mostly to foreign policy), that equanimity was everywhere in evidence — not the resignation of a man in the twilight of his presidency but a sense of calm and confidence in eventual historical vindication.

And,

When I asked the president about his one unambiguous achievement, keeping us safe for seven years — about 6 1/2 years longer than anybody thought possible at the time of 9/11 — he was quick to credit both the soldiers keeping the enemy at bay abroad and the posse of law enforcement and intelligence officials hardening our defenses at home.

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