Bush Op-ed in the WSJ: Politics As Usual

Today's Wall Street Journal conveniently features an op-ed piece ostensibly written by a George W. Bush ("Mr. Bush is the president of the United States" the Journal tells its readers), who lets the new Congress know he's looking forward to "the privilege of working with them for the next two years."

Here's some of Bush's wisdom: "we can't play politics as usual." The Curmudgeon doesn't even know where to begin with this little gem. Where were you, Mr. President, when your own party was dilly-dallying with the flag-burning amendment and gay-bashing legislation while Iraq descended into further chaos and numerous critical issues from social security to global warming languished?

Then there's this: "Our priorities begin with defeating the terrorists who killed thousands of innocent Americans on September 11, 2001." Well, if that is and has been your priority, why is Osama Bin Laden still alive and free? You, Mr. President, completely squandered our opportunity to do something about Bin Laden when you committed the bulk of our armed forces to a war in Iraq at a time when Iraq had nothing to do with terrorism. You have turned Iraq into a haven--a training ground--for Islamic militants to kill and maim our servicemen and the prepare themselves for further attacks on Americans. Meanwhile, our token forces in Afghanistan have yet to find Bin Laden and his associates. Some priority!

How 'bout this one: "We can balance the federal budget by 2012." The budget was balanced--indeed, had a large surplus--when you took office. Now, your successor will have to do the work necessary to get back to balance by 2012, a goal not likely to be achieved absent significant changes in tax policy.

And finally, there's this one, which is truly unbelievable: "One important message I took away from the election is that people want to end the secretive process by which Washington insiders are able to slip into legislation billions of dollars of pork-barrel projects that have never been reviewed or voted on by Congress." Duh. Where were you the past six years while your Republican colleagues larded up the budget with earmarks? Did you once use the bully-pulpit to denounce the practice? No, in fact your political director, Karl Rove--who as far as we can tell is still working at the White House (and no doubt wrote "your" op-ed piece)--created the K Street Project that put all those GOP lobbyists together with all those GOP legislators eager to do their bidding.

No, Mr. President, we didn't elect a new Congress to work with you. You had your chance. We elected them to effect change. That doesn't mean sending more troops to a futile war in Iraq. It doesn't mean ignoring global warming. It doesn't mean letting Osama Bin Laden run free. It doesn't mean having ineffectual policies towards Iran and North Korea. It doesn't mean promoting economic inequality. It doesn't mean sacrificing our environment to special business interests.

Sadly, nothing in Bush's op-ed piece suggests he plans to do anything different. It is, in fact, politics as usual.