These are hardly the most terrible pictures that emerged from 9/11, not by a long shot. And yet for images that live at that messy nexus between culpability and helplessness, it’s hard to beat these images that were taken at the White House on that awful, awful day.
In his new memoir Decision Points, former President George W. Bush says that he personally approved the use of waterboarding against 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed, an admission human rights experts say could have legal consequences for him. Bush says that he was asked by the CIA whether it could proceed with waterboarding Mohammed, who …
Matthew Latimer, a former Bush 43 speechwriter, just published a memoir of his couple of years serving in the White House, and apparently it’s kicking up a small cloud of criticism from his former colleagues. “Without having read a single word, they’ve been on this mission against me—and it’s disappointing,” Latimer told The Daily Beast‘s …
WHY WOULD BUSH LOYALISTS WANT TO KILL THIS BOOK? Read More »
Having been an unsuccessful and rejected president long ago liberated Jimmy Carter from the illusion that he might have something to gain by making nice to his former colleagues in government. Carter–pious, a scold, and possessed of a blind spot when it comes to foreign despots–is that sort of person whose views are hard to …
There was a moment on D-Day, related in Cornelius Ryan’s great history The Longest Day, when American troops landing on Utah beach discovered they had disembarked their landing craft in the wrong place, at a point significantly removed from the planned point of attack. Surrounded by confused and anxious captains, Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the …
So here’s E.J. Dionne Jr.—a good guy, a reliable liberal—writing in this morning’s Washington Post: “The Obama administration keeps having to learn that bland centrism is not pragmatic, that it’s not helpful in resolving a big crisis and that it certainly doesn’t buy you any love.’’ And here’s David Ignatius, as smart a columnist as …
Here’s Fareed Zakaria, writing in the Washington Post today about the line we keep hearing that “at least Bush kept us safe”: That has become the mantra to explain why George W. Bush — contrary to the view of the American public, people abroad and historians — is actually a great man. . . .And …
Slate‘s Jacob Weisberg, the tireless archivist of our still-current president’s recurrent mangling of the English language, has compiled his list of the Top 25 Bushisms. when you think there’s nothing you’ll miss about Bush, remember these. 1. “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to …
From my review of Russ Baker’s FAMILY OF SECRETS: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America, Halfway through the concluding chapter of Family of Secrets, Russ Baker mentions, not entirely modestly, that when a colleague heard some of the things he would …
Here’s Bob Herbert, writing in today’s Times (Op-Ed Columnist – Add Up the Damage – NYTimes.com): When Mr. Bush officially takes his leave in three weeks (in reality, he checked out long ago), most Americans will be content to sigh good riddance. I disagree. I don’t think he should be allowed to slip quietly out …