Bush "apparently criticized" Obama

So much for the long standing policy of not criticizing the standing President. George Bush opened up over the weekend as to what he regards as a lapse of foreign policy judgement in regard to Iraq, Iran and all of the Middle Eastern and Central Asian region for that matter. However, Ari Fleischer was quick to defend his old boss, saying Bush was simply stating his opinion, not criticizing the Obama administration. Of course, that's not how the media read these juicy quotes leaked by those who attended the "behind-closed-doors" meeting of Republican Jewish Coalition members, which Ari now heads.

The White House didn't seem to take the comments too seriously, saying that the former President was entitled to his opinion, but reminding him of the situation the Obama administration inherited. Of course this is what the news media had been longing for. Fox, CNN and other news outlets jumped all over the story, anxious to stir up controversy where apparently none was intended.

Well, not directly anyway. Bush and Republican Jewish Coalition members had to know his opinions would get leaked, but as long as no sources are identified it was just an accident. Bush still officially sticks to his non-meddling stance, leaving it to former members of his administration to attack Obama every chance they get.

It seems the GOP strategy is to restate the Bush Doctrine, which led us is into these wars in the "Middle East," as Bush calls it. You've got everyone from Lindsey Graham to Ted Cruz anxious to get actively engaged in the much broader region once again. So, right on cue here was Bush speaking his mind on the subject as if to give these presidential aspirants a baseline for their FP agendas.

Bush "apparently criticized" Obama's stance on Iran, claiming that lifting sanctions was a bad idea. This the very same president who relaxed sanctions on North Korea in an effort to bring the country to the negotiating table. He also took North Korea off the terrorism blacklist, just like Obama recently did Cuba. Apparently, what is good for the goose is not good for the gander.

The former president also "apparently criticized" Obama for pulling troops lock, stock and barrel out of Iraq. To hear Ari, Bush never intended to do so but rather negotiate a deal, much like Obama is trying to do in Afghanistan, to keep a small contingent in place in case something like ISIL kicked up. What a prescient mind he had!

The White House is smart not to put too much stock in Bush's "apparent criticism," especially since he really didn't mean it that way, according to Ari Fleischer, who apparently still acts as Bush's press secretary.

O Pioneers!

It is hard not to think of Nebraska without thinking of its greatest writer. Here is a marvelous piece by Capote, Remembering Willa Cather . I remember seeing a stage production of O Pioneers! and being deeply moved by its raw emotions. I had read My Antonia before, and soon found myself hooked, like Capote was by the simple elegance of her prose and the way she was able to evoke so many feelings through her characters. Much of it came from the fact that she had lived those experiences herself. Her father dragged the family from Virginia to Nebraska in 1883, when it was still a young state, settling in the town of Red Cloud. named after one of the great Oglala chiefs. Red Cloud was still alive at the time, living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, in the aftermath of the "Great Sioux Wars" of 1876-77. I don't know whether Cather took any interest in the famous chief, although it is hard to imagine not. Upon his death in 1909, he was eulogi

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, noting the gro

Colonel

Now with Colonel Roosevelt , the magnum opus is complete. And it deserves to stand as the definitive study of its restless, mutable, ever-boyish, erudite and tirelessly energetic subject. Mr. Morris has addressed the toughest and most frustrating part of Roosevelt’s life with the same care and precision that he brought to the two earlier installments. And if this story of a lifetime is his own life’s work, he has reason to be immensely proud. -- Janet Maslin -- NY Times . Let the discussion begin!

AnonymousApril 28, 2015 at 8:32 PM
With kid brother Jeb a leading contender for the 2016 GOP nomination, I wouldn't be surprised to see big brother George piping in a bit more often now and then.

Craig

James FergusonApril 29, 2015 at 9:19 AM
Yep, gotta keep that Bush legacy going.

Dispatches from Vilnius

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