Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups


Texas MoMe 2024: 10/18/2024-10/19/2024 Corsicana,TX
Contact Ben Had for info





















« Obama: We're Going to Have to Change "How the Media Reports" To Get More Redistribution of Wealth | Main | Leftism is Just Religion for the Godless, Continued »
May 13, 2015

Patriot Games: Jeb Bush Offers Another Answer To Iraq Question

Maybe he didn't realize the question would come up.

It should be noted that Jeb is still avoiding an answer after his hawkish rivals have answered that they would not have invaded Iraq, "knowing what we know now."

By the way, GOP: You should mention the new information we have isn't just that Saddam only had a few Vietnam era canisters of mustard gas and the like, but also that you didn't know then that Bush's successor would be a lunatic who would turn the whole Middle East into an abattoir.

Knowing now that Bush's successor would be the blithe destroyer of civilizations Barack Obama, one's calculus about leaving to him any precarious situations would have to be adjusted.

But anyway, Jeb doesn't want to be seen as less hawkish than his rival hawks. He's not competing with Rand Paul to be a dove, I don't think.

So he's only answering now having heard his chief hawkish rivals (except for Walker) answer the question.

Ted Cruz, a hawk, said "of course" he wouldn't have invaded, "knowing what we know now."

Erstwhile candidate Chris Christie also said so.

Rubio, now apparently being called a "Super-Hawk," as I termed McCain and Graham, also now says he would not have invaded -- knowing what we know now.

And it may not surprise you to hear he has a clever little fillip in this answer, too.

"Not only would I not have been in favor of it, President Bush would not have been in favor of it," Rubio said. "Well, President Bush has said that he regrets that the intelligence was faulty. I don't think the Congress would have voted in favor of authorization if they'd have known that. But let's also be fair about the context. Yes, there was intelligence that was faulty, but there was also a history with Iraq of evasion, it was a country that had mobile units in that past that it used for both CW, you know chemical weapons and biological capabilities."

Amidst this background of no's, Jeb once again walks back his original "Yes" answer (and then his "I didn't understand, I guess I'll have to think more about it" answer).

He now says that to answer the "hypothetical" about Iraq would be a "disservice" to troops. That is, to answer this hypothetical could make troops who lost life or limb in Iraq feel that their sacrifice was in vain.

"If we're going to get back into hypotheticals, I think it does a disservice to a lot of people who sacrificed a lot," Bush said…

"Talking about the future is more than fair. Talking about the past – and saying how would you have done something after the fact is a little tougher. And it doesn’t necessarily change anything. That was my point," he said [to reporters] afterward.

Well... perhaps, but that's terribly convenient, isn't it? And furthermore, this is a very important question, about a candidate's thoughts on war and peace; solicitude about veterans' feelings about the answer are simply not as important as having an answer.

By the way, I don't know if soldiers and Marines are that hurt to hear an admission from the Ruling Class that it made an error that affected them.

I feel -- and this is just a hunch -- that this is the beginning of a Giuliani-like collapse for Jeb.

When this type of Republican runs, his appeal is not his likability, or his strength on the issues.

This type of candidate is like Mitt Romney: His appeal is threefold.

1. He's done all his homework and is buttoned-up and ready to get to work and will not overly embarrass you.

2. He has more money than God.

3. Everyone else is supporting him so get on the bandwagon already.

The problem here is that Jeb has apparently given no thought to a very obvious question -- thus disproving Reason One for supporting him at all (in a lukewarm, might-as-well fashion).

And when Reason One evaporates, so too will Reasons Two and Three.

And gaffes like this will play into the just-aborning New Narrative that the 60+ year old Jeb Just Isn't Ready.

Bush Hectored by Motor Mouthed Leftie: Eh, he doesn't get flustered, that's something.

He didn't really "smack her down" like the Bush Boosting FoxNews claimed in its headline.


digg this
posted by Ace at 05:50 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Moron Robbie supports women working until they're 80 years old. You go, girls!: "I'm not going to tell the boss how to run his busi ..."

Ciampino - ice bridges for the win: " the land is getting lower as the ocean gets highe ..."

Quarter Twenty : "I really think that it makes perfect sense that th ..."

Aetius451AD: "264 Am I to understand that we had another "burne ..."

Village Idiot's Apprentice: "They put a Buc-ee's just outside Florence on I-95 ..."

[i]Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM)[/b][/i][/s][/u]: " Am I to understand that we had another "burner"? ..."

Cat Ass Trophy : "Well... aksually the lawsuit against Sheetz has no ..."

Quarter Twenty : " "Those like Hugh Ross who claim a belief in the ..."

Moron Robbie congratulates women on needing to work until they're 80 : "Oh dang, Diet Oreos would honestly be a fantastic ..."

Aetius451AD: "1) Close mental institutions. 2) Invent the inter ..."

Anna Puma: "Probably should watch again the Lovely Angels' cas ..."

Moron Robbie congratulates women on needing to work until they're 80 : "Actually, it isn't. If you own a gas station, the ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64