Jeb Bush has performed a valuable service with his recent missteps and flubs, he’s reminded the world of the baggage he willingly carries. I’m not tarring him with the same brush as George W. Bush just because they are brothers, Jeb has voluntarily staffed his foreign policy team with 17 people from his brother’s administration. (This is out of a foreign policy team of 21, mind you.)
Sure, the dynasty thing is bad enough and it’s the same Bush family as before— but whether Jeb is a Bush or not, he deserves to be pilloried for putting people like Paul Wolfowitz in places where they might have an impact on, you know, foreign policy. (It boggles my mind Wolfowitz is actually showing his face in public, never mind appearing on cable news and advising another Bush.)
Besides Wolfie, there are loads of other people on Jeb’s list of advisers— people like Porter Goss, who gets a bone-chilling shout out in this week’s Frontline piece. (Right after the 43 minute mark.) While the run up to the Iraq war may seem like a long time ago and a president or two away, Jeb is actively bringing these guys back.
These inept hawks are the ones who took this country to war on a lie and actively contributed to the deaths of thousands of United States servicemen and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens. And remember, this was not just about “faulty intelligence,” the George W. Bush administration (many of who are now in Jeb Bush’s circle of advisers), knowingly used false intelligence to make the case for an unnecessary war. It’s important to remember the recent past so we don’t put the same criminals and idiots in power again. Fortunately, things aren’t looking too good for Jeb right now, but the campaign has barely begun.
By Mark Fiore…Article and related material here.