Yesterday I wrote that it was understandable that Bush didn't focus too heavily on bin Laden while he was waging two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I laid out my reasons for agreeing with that decision.
But today over at ThinkProgress, I read that Sarah Palin mentions Obama only in order to criticize his foreign policy in a speech she gave talking about bin Laden. This is what I expect out of Palin. She is completely detached from reality. Obama could have flown in on one of the choppers, snuck into the compound, and chopped off bin Laden's head himself and Palin would still criticize him. But we are seeing similar reactions as Palin's from all over the right.
Many of them are quick to thank Bush for what he did. But as I've stated, he didn't seem to be all that concerned about bin Laden. Not to mention that he has been out of office for 3 years. What exactly does he have to do with bin Laden being killed three years after he has gotten out of office? Wouldn't it be logical to assume that its more Bush's fault that it took ten years to get him than it is to his credit that we finally got him after all that time?
What I think the right is doing here is lying to themselves. They know, deep down, that Bush fucked up a lot of things. And not finding bin Laden is one of them. But Palin or anyone else on the right can't say that. It would be an ideological punch to the gut. We are seeing a similar reaction from them regarding how we got the information about where bin Laden was hiding. They are trying to take quotes from "officials" to say that we got that info from torturing people. There is no evidence that is what happened. But since they defended and still defend torture they have to stick to their argument or risk looking ideologically weak.
Needless to say this is a bad thing for implementing good policy. The inability to admit mistakes just causes us to dig deeper into the holes we have dug ourselves. They don't want to leave Iraq or Afghanistan because by doing so they think it admits failure. Acknowledging the bank bailouts were a success and that we need more regulation of the financial industry is unacceptable because that is an admittance that our ideology was wrong.
Thus we keep fighting unnecessary wars. We keep deregulating parts of the economy that cause recessions. When those recessions happen we don't do enough to help the economy and the people hurt by it. And then when we create a deficit to help just a little we freak out and cut spending that could be helping in favor of lower taxes for rich people. These are the policies we get when one party can't face reality or even acknowledge it exists. And why change when you can not find someone for 7 years and when he is found 3 years later you can take all the credit for it without any negative consequences?
But today over at ThinkProgress, I read that Sarah Palin mentions Obama only in order to criticize his foreign policy in a speech she gave talking about bin Laden. This is what I expect out of Palin. She is completely detached from reality. Obama could have flown in on one of the choppers, snuck into the compound, and chopped off bin Laden's head himself and Palin would still criticize him. But we are seeing similar reactions as Palin's from all over the right.
Many of them are quick to thank Bush for what he did. But as I've stated, he didn't seem to be all that concerned about bin Laden. Not to mention that he has been out of office for 3 years. What exactly does he have to do with bin Laden being killed three years after he has gotten out of office? Wouldn't it be logical to assume that its more Bush's fault that it took ten years to get him than it is to his credit that we finally got him after all that time?
What I think the right is doing here is lying to themselves. They know, deep down, that Bush fucked up a lot of things. And not finding bin Laden is one of them. But Palin or anyone else on the right can't say that. It would be an ideological punch to the gut. We are seeing a similar reaction from them regarding how we got the information about where bin Laden was hiding. They are trying to take quotes from "officials" to say that we got that info from torturing people. There is no evidence that is what happened. But since they defended and still defend torture they have to stick to their argument or risk looking ideologically weak.
Needless to say this is a bad thing for implementing good policy. The inability to admit mistakes just causes us to dig deeper into the holes we have dug ourselves. They don't want to leave Iraq or Afghanistan because by doing so they think it admits failure. Acknowledging the bank bailouts were a success and that we need more regulation of the financial industry is unacceptable because that is an admittance that our ideology was wrong.
Thus we keep fighting unnecessary wars. We keep deregulating parts of the economy that cause recessions. When those recessions happen we don't do enough to help the economy and the people hurt by it. And then when we create a deficit to help just a little we freak out and cut spending that could be helping in favor of lower taxes for rich people. These are the policies we get when one party can't face reality or even acknowledge it exists. And why change when you can not find someone for 7 years and when he is found 3 years later you can take all the credit for it without any negative consequences?
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