Frank Rich Nails It: The Decider Is A Coward

Rich is always brilliant, but this week he hit the nail on the head. It is the failure to point this simple fact out that got me so angry about how the press and Democrats handled Bush in 2000 (and ever since until recently). This is a subscription NY Times piece, so no link but I'll give you a piece:

What it did not recognize, or chose not to recognize, is that this non-courage, to use The Journal’s euphemism, has been this president’s stock in trade, far exceeding the “wimp factor” that Newsweek once attributed to his father. The younger Mr. Bush’s cowardice is arguably more responsible for the calamities of his leadership than anything else.

Exactly. What was so glaringly obvious to me back then, and should have been to virtually anyone, was that the one trait that defined George W. Bush's life was cowardice. He supported Vietnam but didn't go. He ruined businesses and let other people bail him out. And on and on.

The man was a out and out failure, and it was because he always knew he would never suffer the consequences of any of his ridiculously irresponsible or downright imbecilic actions. But the Rove machine portrayed him as just the opposite, a tough-guy Decider, and the press ate it up and the Democrats didn't even try and challenge it.

It still makes me sick. It was a failure by the Democrats and the press to stop this horrendous period in our history. But past can be prologue. So it is worth discussing, if only to ensure we never end up with an idiot like this as our President again.