Thursday, May 5, 2011

Rubbed The Wrong Way

I can't resist commenting on how Citizen Bush reportedly declined President Obama's invitation to attend the Ground Zero events today because he believes Obama has not given him enough credit for the demise of Osama bin Laden.  According to an unnamed source:
He doesn't feel personally snubbed and appreciates the invitation, but Obama's claiming all the credit and a lot of other people deserve some of it.  Obama gave no credit whatsoever to the intelligence infrastructure the Bush administration set up that is being hailed from the left and right as setting in motion the operation that got Bin Laden. It rubbed Bush the wrong way.
And what credit should Bush get again?  As Steve Benen points out, "Bush said he didn't care about catching bin Laden, disbanded the CIA team tasked with hunting bin Laden, deemphasized bin Laden's importance in counter-terrorism, and screwed up the mission at Tora Bora."  (See also Eric Alterman on the contrast between the Obama and Bush approaches.)

It is hard to imagine Bush returning to Ground Zero, ten years after standing there with his bullhorn at the height of his presidency, merely to watch his successor take credit for what he promised to do.  As Digby says,  "It would take a much bigger man than George W. Bush to emerge from hiding for that particular ceremony."

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