Moe Lane

Probably not, more’s the pity.

As you might have gathered, there’s been a surge of Strange New Respect for George W Bush lately from Lefty pundits and commentators who have abruptly become aware that they have somehow become part of a fringe extremist movement (in reality, many of them always were; they’re just getting ‘credited’ for it now). Jim Treacher lists some of these new supplicants to Bush, and offers the former President some advice on how to respond to them:

I’d love for somebody to ask Bush about it, and for him to say something to this effect: “Thanks for asking, but according to President Obama, I’ve caused enough problems already. I’m sure you folks can figure it out without me.” And then smile, and wish the questioner a nice day, and walk away.

I am completely in agreement with that attitude. Why? Because of this:

(more…)

As you may recall, White House press flack Robert Gibbs earlier this week announced his frustration with his party’s fringe Democrats who are unaccountably upset that they trade money and effort for… well, Gibbs’s frustration and contempt. It was fascinating to watch – for that matter, so was the latest extended whine from Alan ‘counting-the-days-until-his-permanent-MSNBC-gig’ Grayson on the subject* – but my sense of honor requires me to make an admission. When Gibbs said:

“I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought to be drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”

…I am forced to agree with him. Barack Obama is not like George W. Bush. (more…)

Any other Democratic pollster I’d mock, but PPP’s Tom Jensen has earned a certain forbearance:

Americans are now pretty evenly divided about whether they would rather have Barack Obama or George W. Bush in the White House. 48% prefer Obama while 46% say they would rather have the old President back.

[snip]

These numbers suggest some peril for Democrats in making Bush a focus of their messaging this fall.

To put it mildly. (more…)

They said some things that could be taken, if you squinted really hard and tilted your head, as being mildly complimentary towards George W Bush.

Why, they even called him smart.

Crossposted to RedState.

Miss him, yet?

“You make your decisions based on principles, he said. And you never worry about popularity or polls.”

Well, give it time.

Crossposted to RedState.

For those in a hurry, the short version is ‘Because Joe Biden is a known moral coward.’

I read, of course, the story “Bush Aides Challenge Biden’s Boasts of Oval Office Slapdowns“:

Aides to former President George W. Bush are challenging the veracity of Vice President Joe Biden’s claim this week of having privately castigated Bush, who does not remember the incident or an earlier episode in which Biden claims to have similarly rebuked Bush.

Biden spokesman Jay Carney declined to specify the dates of his boss’s purported Oval Office scoldings of Bush. Nor would he provide witnesses or notes to corroborate the episodes.

…but this was one time that it was largely unnecessary, thanks to the people involved. When it came to the GWOT, George W Bush was and is not the sort of man who would seek out Joe Biden’s company, crave Joe Biden’s counsel, nor heed Joe Biden’s advice; an attitude which has since been proven to be fully justified, given that these days the White House is busily pretending that they’re doing anything in Iraq besides following Bush’s strategy. That’s on the one hand – and if you read the article, you’ll note that not even Biden’s dumb enough to try to claim that the President was anything except resolute on the matter.

And if you want to take Joe Biden’s word for it, absent apparently any physical evidence or corroborating testimony… feel free. You’ll be taking the word of a man who, back during the election, sat by and said nothing when his seemingly-sincere apology for a nasty political attack from his side was contemptuously retracted by his running mate’s press secretary. That was a bit of a clarifying moment for me personally; prior to that, I had Biden merely down as a blowhard who you’d nonetheless find convivial enough company in a social setting. Afterward, I was pretty much forced to conclude that he was a blowhard whose ambitions were sufficiently petty that the goal of Vice-President of the United States would be enough to allow him to self-justify anything that would get him to his goal. Up to and including staying silent while other people lied in his name. But we’re expected to believe that a man like this would actually confront the President of the United States on a policy that both he and the President knew that the President was in the right about.

Fascinating.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Which is probably not going to be automatic, alas: I’m trying to keep my sidebars under control.

And, in other news: George Bush sings U2.

Old, but refreshing, in its way.