All of this praise is due to the fact that Obama approved, rather than nixing, the killing of bin Laden. A good decision, to be sure. But is there a single person, anywhere, who doubts that George W. Bush would have made the same call? Or John McCain, if he had won in 2008? Of course not. The Democrats' jubilation results from the fact that their guy didn't wilt under pressure, but rather lived up to the standard that George W. Bush and John McCain easily met. For this, he is called "courageous" and "gutsy."
One wonders: if killing bin Laden was a courageous, gutsy decision by Barack Obama, where were the liberals when President Bush approved the killing of Zarqawi? Do you remember any of them praising that decision as courageous and "game changing?" No, neither do I. Or how about the apprehension of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? How many congratulations did that skillfully-executed operation draw from the Left? And how about Bush's decision to topple, and then capture, Saddam Hussein, one of America's bitterest enemies, whose forces tried to shoot down American airplanes and who attempted to assassinate a former American President? Was that a courageous and gutsy decision? We all know the answer to that question.
What we are currently witnessing is the strange spectacle of liberals trying to grab, for their guy, a mantle neither he nor they ever sought: cold-blooded assassin of anti-American terrorists. This has nothing to do with their true values and priorities, and everything to do with the fact that Obama's economic policies have put him in a deep hole as he seeks re-election next year.
Let's break this down, shall we?
John's first point is that there "isn't a single person who doubts" that Bush 43 or McCain would have made the same call, so you can't give Obama any credit for emulating what Republicans would have been sure to do. The problem is that isn't true: there's plenty of evidence to doubt that Bush or McCain would have even bothered to pursue bin Laden in the first place. In the case of Bush 43, this is cold hard fact: He directed the CIA's bin Laden hunters, the famed "Alec Station" unit, to shut down in 2006. Bush gave up the hunt for OBL. Obama restarted it. We know Bush would have blown that "gutsy" call because that's exactly what he did. And as far as John McCain is concerned, he said during the 2008 campaign that as President, he wouldn't go into Pakistan to get bin Laden. He said that during a presidential debate against Obama, and he said it again later on Larry King, after saying he would pursue OBL during the Republican primary:
KING: If you were president and knew that bin Laden was in Pakistan, you know where, would you have U.S. forces go in after him?
MCCAIN: Larry, I'm not going to go there and here's why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation. I think the Pakistanis would want bin Laden out of their hair and out of their country and it's causing great difficulties in Pakistan itself.
So here is John McCain himself saying that he would in fact not make the call Obama did. But in John Hindraker's world, there's not a single person who would doubt that McCain would.
His second point is to then compare Obama's actions and wanting to know why the left doesn't give Bush the same credit for giving the orders to take down al-Zarqawi, KSM, and of course, Saddam Hussein. If I recall, while all of those three men were evil killers, none of the three of them killed 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001. Bush took his focus off bin Laden to invade Iraq, at the cost of thousands of US troops and trillions of US dollars, to settle a personal score (oh and to get oil.) There was nothing gutsy or courageous about any of that, because all three represented Bush's failure to get OBL, period.
His final point: Obama's just trying to distract voters from "his" failed economic policies. Conservatives say we need to do three things: cut government spending, eliminate government jobs in favor of private sector jobs, and keep taxes low. Which is funny, because that's exactly what we're doing, and yet the economy has yet to improve for 80% of the country. Obama extended the Bush tax cuts and tax breaks for businesses. Local and state governments are laying off tens of thousands of employees each month, and private sector job growth is increasing. And the talk in Washington is that Republicans will cut spending come hell or high water. But these are "Obama's failed economic policies"...doing exactly what Republicans want him to do.
It's getting to the point where the right is beyond classless, but simply ignoring basic facts in order to try to justify the failures of the Bush administration.
It's pathetic, really. All they have left is Obama Derangement Syndrome and a firm believe nobody will even bother to call them on it. Well, sorry there, Johnny.
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