The problem for contemporary Republicans like Romney is that, while they do not mention George W. Bush’s name, they have not repudiated George W. Bush’s legacy. In the domestic arena , they continue to embrace the illusions of a world where we can cut taxes while making ultimately modest cuts in spending on the non-defense side, and proposing massive increases in defense spending for no rational reason. Internationally, the legacy of George W. Bush stands largely for a war built upon fault intelligence and incredibly bad planning that has left us, in the end, with little more than a fatally wounded Iraq that has, inevitably, become an ally of Iraq and Syria. Additionally, the legacy of George W. Bush includes a fiscal policy that can be summarized as the utterly insane idea that you can cut taxes while simultaneously massively increasing entitlement spending and fighting two wars.
Republicans say that they have learned from the Bush years, but when you look at the proposals they put forward, it’s pretty clear that they have not. Taking a lead from Congressional Republicans that include the supposedly fiscally conservative Tea Party, Mitt Romney has effectively taken a stand against the idea of cutting the Federal Budget, largely because of the fact that it includes cuts to the defense budget. Adding on to that, Romney has proposed increasing the defense budget by two trillion dollars over the course of ten years to fight threats that don’t really exist. Not surprisingly, of course, there are few people on the right who are either uncomfortable with, or even acknowledging the obvious similarities between Romney and Bush 43.
Beinart closes:
One day, a Republican presidential candidate will exorcise Bush’s ghost. But most likely, he or she will do so by bluntly telling Americans where Bush’s presidency went wrong, and how their presidency will be different. Until that happens, George W. Bush will be present at every Republican and Democratic convention for years to come, whether anyone invites him or not.
It took Democrats 20 years to exorcise the ghost of George McGovern and that bizarre New Left turn the party took in the early 70s. Will it take the GOP that long?
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/romney-and-the-gop-still-haunted-by-the-legacy-of-george-w-bush/
Will it take the GOP that long? I hope so...
I found it really weird that G.W.B. wasn't at the convention. I guess the same people who praised, defended and voted for him over the last decade can't help but see the damage he and his radical rightwing ideology has done to this country. Where are all the Bush apologists now? Every time Bush did or said something stupid these guys would jump to his defense, remember?
I believe thinking people understand now that he was a drunken puppet to the military industrial complex who deliberately drove us to the brink of another Great Republican Depression.
Come on wing-nuts, explain to us why Bush wasn't at the convention and why he's hiding.
