Saturday Open Thread [8.15.15]

Filed in National by on August 15, 2015

Eugene Robinson asks if Jeb Bush “can ever escape his brother’s shadow”?

In general, as one might expect, Bush blames President Obama and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for basically all that is wrong with the world. Voters may have short memories, but I think they’ll remember it was Bush’s brother who shattered the Iraqi state and created the vacuum that the Islamic State came to fill. Voters might also recall that when Bush’s brother took office, Iran had no operational uranium enrichment centrifuges; when he left, Iran had about 4,000.

Jeb Bush tends to rush through his foreign policy speeches as if he’s checking boxes on a job application form. He becomes much more animated, and seems on more solid ground, when he’s talking about domestic issues. But remember that George W. Bush intended to have a domestic focus, too, before history decided otherwise.

Can Bush ever escape his brother’s shadow — or, for that matter, his father’s? I have serious doubts. For now, however, he’s busy enough trying to get out of Donald Trump’s wake.

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Washington Post: “This was supposed to be the week when Bush would finally lay out his own thoughts on how to combat the Islamic State terror group and put Hillary Clinton on the defensive — and wrest himself away from his family legacy in the process. But over several days, it has become evident that his ideas on the subject are remarkably similar to George W. Bush’s ideas and that he firmly believes Democrats — not his brother — now deserve the blame for the unrest in Iraq and neighboring Syria.”

“Most Americans still believe the Iraq war was a mistake and are opposed to new military engagement — making Bush’s approach to national security risky. But polling suggests that his positions are popular among most Republicans, especially if it means raising doubts about Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.”

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Juan Cole:

Jeb Bush very unwisely went after Hillary Clinton last night on the grounds that her Iraq policies gave us Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). Bush may think he is cleverly pulling a Karl Rove, attacking his opponent on her strong point (foreign policy), as Rove swiftboated John Kerry in 2004. But this isn’t 2004, and virtually no one is excited about having more Bushes in the White House (apparently a third of Republicans want Trump and like 12 percent want Bush, despite his advantage in name recognition). The fact is, every time Jeb Bush says “Iraq,” he loses more votes.

One of the arguments Mr. Bush made was that while his brother, George W. Bush, didn’t get everything right, he did have a brilliant moment with the 2007 troop escalation or “surge,” which put the world right. Then that horrible Obama crew, including Mrs. Cinton, came along and screwed things up by withdrawing from Iraq in 2011.

First of all, saying that W. didn’t get everything right in Iraq is like saying that Custer didn’t get everything right at the Little Bighorn. Bush’s Iraq misadventure was the biggest foreign policy screw-up in American history. Didn’t get everything right, indeed.

Second, Jeb Bush’s narrative about the “surge” is mythical history unconnected to reality. See my Engaging the Muslim World for the real story. In brief, here is what happened.

I tell them, Juan. It was both the Iraqi government and the Bush Administration that set the 2011 withdrawal deadline. The Iraqis wanted us gone. We had fucked up their country enough.

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David Frum:

“Will you take away my health insurance?”

That question does not get asked often at Republican presidential forums. Yet it will be the most decisive question in the 2016 presidential election.

Oh, David, it will be asked in the general election. Trust me. There will be many ads about it.

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Comments (14)

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  1. bamboozer says:

    Remember when pundits tried to sell Jeb as “the smart Bush”? Ain’t no such a thing!

  2. cassandra_m says:

    The real reason why Donald Trump will never be President:

    Because Trump, unlike most of his Republican rivals, has not spent years winning the loyalty of political elites, in an arena where that’s essential. The irony, of course, is that Trump has more in common with the elites who will lie down on the tracks to stop his candidacy than with the voters who profess to love him. If this is a game, Trump is not supposed to be on the field—he’s supposed to be in the owners’ box, deciding who gets to play. National politics is like smashmouth football, and Trump was not built to be a player. There’s a reason why you never see the owners on the gridiron.

    Read the whole thing.

  3. Truth Teller says:

    Jeb must have forgotten that his brother set the withdraw date from Iraq

  4. Jason330 says:

    I get the feeling that we liberals (at least people of who post and comment here) still want Republicans to be bound by reality. We want them to acknowledge facts. To allow that there is a true and accurate reading of history.

    They simply refuse and our media allows it. “Bush was great. The surge worked. Iraq was stable. Obama wrecked it all.” It all makes sense to them because facts don’t matter.

  5. Anonymous says:

    @Jason330 Fact: The ACA is costing MORE money, than they had first thought & we’re getting less benefits! Of course anything from the government says different, their not going to say THEY made a mistake!

  6. Jason330 says:

    Poor chap.

  7. puck says:

    Fact: The ACA is costing MORE money, than they had first thought & we’re getting less benefits!

    If you believe that then you can join the effort to cut the private insurance corporations out of the deal. And drug price negotiations with pharma companies. If not then STFU.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Puck you must live in a bubble or your independently wealthy. I agree part of the problem is the insurance companies & pharma costs.
    Fact:They thought more young people, would carry the costs of the others, WRONG!
    Fact: People are paying more out of pocket under the ACA
    Fact: Co-pays are higher
    Fact:Deductibles are much higher
    Fact: Doctors now have to fight with the insurance company to get procedures approved. The “overseers” are not with the patient, they never have seen the patient & their tying the hands of the Drs.
    So PUCK, you should do the same. As always I’ll keep it clean!!

  9. puck says:

    Fact: People are paying more out of pocket under the ACA
    Fact: Co-pays are higher
    Fact:Deductibles are much higher

    Higher than what? and
    Higher for whom?

    Higher than the old “system” that left 30-40 million people uninsured?

  10. Dorian Gray says:

    “Yeah, we beat back an economic depression and saved the world from fascism, but it’s all bullshit to me because my taxes increased.” — Anonymous, 1945

    I always found it interesting that the people who claim to love America the most don’t really care much for Americans.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I care a great deal about my fellow Americans. I do a great deal of volunteer work giving back to others. Having a small business, I’ve seen first hand how the employees that work for the company have had to pay more and loose benefits. We were told to loose some of our older workers, “their increasing your rates”. We have employees that some have disabilities. So don’t tell me I don’t really care about my fellow Americans. I’ve had to mortgage my home to meet payroll, so I wouldn’t have to lay someone off, in the lean times!

    It’s the insurance companies that should have been looked at, here’s an example:
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina on Friday reported $92.6 million in net income in 2013, a 60 percent jump from the previous year.

    The state’s largest insurer also reported in filings with the Department of Insurance that six executives made $1 million or more in compensation last year, led by President and Chief Executive Brad Wilson at $2.96 million.

    Read more at http://www.wral.com/blue-cross-profits-executive-pay-up-in-2013/13438661/#bzecPBhDgDKevWow.99

    We are paying for people that are sucking on the nanny state that the Dems have created!

  12. ben says:

    this isnt about you, A. It’s about the entire country. You have to do all that hero-stuff because those insurance companies you mentioned are the ones mooching off of us. the republicans you helped elect are the ones who prevent single pay (which would save hero small business owners, like you, tons of money.)
    You’re mad about insurance companies making so much money? GREAT! ME TOO! lets dispense with this vulture-capitalist method of making money off of sick people and realize human health should a for-profit business for anyone but the actual people giving the care. The insurance companies are the bully in the hallway making you give up your lunch money to go see the nurse. You and the politicians you support put that bully there and teach you to call people moochers who speak up against it.

  13. Jason330 says:

    The fact that the Insurance company’s have protected profits is (mostly*) a Republican invention. We are the only county in the developed world with a health insurance system that puts the profits of private insurance companies first.

    *Obama adopted a Republican plan in order to get his ultimate goal of having more people covered by insurance passed. Facts matter. You can read up on all of this or you can continue to foolishly blame all your problems on Democrats because it makes you feel good. I have a feeling I know which course you will take.

  14. Anonymous says:

    The Government has put off the implementation of ICD-10 for years. You expect this government to run a single payer system, what a crock! Just wait until ICD-10 is implemented, the healthcare sector’s head is going to spin. Oh, it is already spinning!!