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Bush gets pass for previous invites to Gerry Adams
Here’s a good example of the dishonest praise of President Bush that is so common today on the so-called right, with his fans giving him credit for doing things (fighting terrorists in Iraq, defending Israel) when in key respects he’s been doing just the opposite (letting our men be blown up by terrorists in Iraq like sitting ducks, pushing Israel into a suicidal accommodation with the Arabs). Mark Steyn tips his hat to Bush for not inviting the IRA killer Gerry Adams to the White House this year for St. Patrick’s Day following a particularly grisly IRA murder in Ireland. “For the first time in a decade,” writes Steyn, “the official observances will not be disfigured by the presence at the White House of Gerry Adams.” But having said that, Steyn airbrushes out the fact that, according to his own statement (“for the first time in a decade”), Bush has been inviting Adams to the White House for the last four years:
In hindsight, the ’90s were the apogee of terrorist mainstreaming, with Yasser and Gerry given greater access to the White House than your average prime minister of a friendly middle-rank power…. President Bush, unlike his predecessor, is under no illusions about the trustworthiness of Adams, any more than he was of Arafat’s. [Italics added.]Yes, those ’90s were terrible, but what about the ’00s, namely 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004? Bush was in office on St. Patrick’s day during each of those years. Steyn plainly implies (without positively stating) that Bush has had Adams to the White House in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. And if that’s the case, then by Steyn’s own standards he ought to condemn Bush for having mainstreamed terrorism for those four years, just as he condemns Bush’s predecessor for doing so in the ’90s. To praise Bush for excluding Adams now, without excoriating him for repeatedly inviting Adams in the recent past, is dishonest. But the praise for Bush cannot be balanced with criticism; it must be monolithic, worshipful. It’s just amazing what a good rep will do for you in this life. Bush is seen by everyone as an opponent of terror. Therefore he gets an automatic pass on all his accommodations with terrorists and terror supporters. The Nixon in China syndrome.
There were 35 comments on this article at Lucianne.com. Not one of the commenters noticed the obvious contradiction in Steyn’s story that I’ve pointed out here. Everyone just talked about what a stand-up guy Bush is (no truckler with terrorists, he), and, of course, what a “wonder” Steyn is. Email entry |