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.

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

Dylan in America

Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.

Team of Rivals Reading Group

''Team of Rivals" is also an America ''coming-of-age" saga. Lincoln, Seward, Chase et al. are sketched as being part of a ''restless generation," born when Founding Fathers occupied the White House and the Louisiana Purchase netted nearly 530 million new acres to be explored. The Western Expansion motto of this burgeoning generation, in fact, was cleverly captured in two lines of Stephen Vincent Benet's verse: ''The stream uncrossed, the promise still untried / The metal sleeping in the mountainside." None of the protagonists in ''Team of Rivals" hailed from the Deep South or Great Plains. _______________________________ From a review by Douglas Brinkley, 2005

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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