Political Irony

In the last presidential election, Dubya was so toxic that the Republicans didn’t even want him to come speak at their national convention. But I guess Mitt Romney has decided to rehabilitate him. In a speech yesterday at the CPAC convention, Romney said:

I am convinced that history will judge President Bush far more kindly — he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11, he overcame teachers unions to test schoolchildren and evaluate schools, he took down the Taliban, waged a war against the jihadists and was not afraid to call it what it is — a war, and he kept us safe. I respect his silence even in the face of the assaults on his record that come from this administration.

In other words, black is white, night is day. Taking these claims from bottom to top:

• Romney is trying to pin blame for Dubya’s bad reputation on Democrats, hypocritically adding “When it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys.” But he ignores the many conservatives who were vocal about the failures of the Bush administration. Romney wants to blame the Democrats, for blaming Bush. Blame game!
• “He kept us safe”? Seriously? What about 9/11, anthrax in the mail, and the shoe bomber? Not to mention hurricane Katrina and mad cow disease.
• “not afraid to call it what it is — a war”. Dubya wanted badly to be a war president. I guess he wasn’t afraid to lie his way into becoming one.
• “took down the Taliban”? Then why are we still fighting a war in Afghanistan? Bush distracted himself with a stupid war in Iraq; he was too busy to take down the Taliban.
• “he overcame teacher’s unions to test schoolchildren”. If Romney wants to claim “No Child Left Behind” was a success, I guess that’s his right. And I suppose Romney can claim that fighting teacher’s unions is an accomplishment, since we all know that those bad, evil teachers are to blame for what’s wrong with America.
• “he pulled us from a deepening recession following the attack of 9-11”. By spending trillions of dollars on two wars, which increased the deficit astronomically. In the same speech Romney attacked Obama for adding “to the burden of debt we will leave future generations.” And then, to top it off, Bush presided over the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Romney also attacked health care reform, claiming “Obamacare is bad care for America.” But he failed to mention that he worked for health care reform in Massachusetts, which was used as one of the primary models for what he now derisively calls “Obamacare”.

Of course, the real reason Romney is saying these things is to kiss up to the old Republican establishment, so he can become their candidate for president. The traditional Republican political machine must be desperate for an alternative to Sarah Palin.

© Mario Piperni