1115.org

I really couldn’t choose between “Accountability” and “Sanity”, so feel free to pick the one you like.

Georgie Bush was asked a great question at his press conference yesterday. What followed was, even by Georgie’s standards, unbelievable:

Q Mr. President, I wanted to ask you about accountability. You’re a big believer in it, you’ve talked about it with regard to the public schools. But given the performance of Iraqi leaders, given your decision to commute the sentence of Lewis Libby, you’ve also stood by the Attorney General recently — there have been a lot of questions about your commitment to accountability. And I’m wondering if you could give the American people some clear examples of how you’ve held people accountable during your presidency?

THE PRESIDENT: Lewis Libby was held accountable. He was declared guilty by a jury and he’s paid a high price for it.

Al Gonzales — implicit in your questions is that Al Gonzales did something wrong. I haven’t seen Congress say he’s done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, I believe, David, we’re watching a political exercise. I mean, this is a man who has testified, he’s sent thousands of papers up there. There’s no proof of wrong. Why would I hold somebody accountable who has done nothing wrong? I mean, frankly, I think that’s a typical Washington, D.C. assumption — not to be accusatory, I know you’re a kind, open-minded fellow, but you suggested holding the Attorney General accountable for something he did wrong.

Libby was convicted by a jury, and sentenced by a judge, only to have his sentence commuted by Bush.

And so naturally this, in the mind of George W. Bush, is a clear example of Bush holding someone accountable during his presidency.

Someone needs to point out to Georgie that putting satirists out of work messes up the unemployment numbers his administration is so fond of touting.

As for that defense of Buttercheeks, what is there to be said that hasn’t already been said a few hundred thousand times by others recently?

But that wasn’t even the most bizarre thing Bush said in response to this question. So help me Gods, this is where Georgie ended up, after a mighty riff: I hold the “forces of murder and intolerance” responsible for 9/11 September the 11th.

Q If I could follow — sorry. Given the decision to commute the sentence of Libby and given the performance of Iraqi leaders, is it fair for people to ask questions about your commitment to accountability?

THE PRESIDENT: I would hope people would say that I am deliberate in my decision-making; I think about all aspects of the decisions I make; and I’m a fair person.

Back to Iraq, no question they haven’t made as much progress as I would have hoped. But I also recognize how difficult the task is. And I repeat to you the fundamental question is, does it matter whether or not there is a self-governing entity that’s an ally in the war on terror in Iraq? Does it matter? Does it matter to a guy living in Crawford, Texas? Does it matter to your children? As you know from these press conferences, I have come to the conclusion that it does matter. And it does matter because enemies that would like to do harm to the American people would be emboldened by failure.

I recognize there’s a debate here in America as to whether or not failure in Iraq would cause there to be more danger here in America. I strongly believe that’s the case. It matters if the United States does not believe in the universality of freedom. It matters to the security of people here at home if we don’t work to change the conditions that cause 19 kids to be lured onto airplanes to come and murder our citizens. (Kids? Your Presidentiality, Mohammed Atta was 33 when he plowed that plane into the WTC.)

The first question one has to ask on Iraq is, is it worth it? I could not send a mother’s child into combat if I did not believe it was necessary for our short-term and long-term security to succeed in Iraq. Once you come to the conclusion that it’s worth it, then the question you must ask is, how difficult is the task of a young democracy emerging? Those who study the Articles of Confederation would recognize that there are difficult moments in young democracies emerging, particularly after, in this case, tyrannical rule.

That’s not to say that, Dave, we shouldn’t be pushing hard for all opportunities for reconciliation. But for those of us who believe it’s worth it, we’ll see progress. For those who believe it’s not worth it, there is no progress. And that’s going to be the interesting debate. And what it’s going to come down to is whether or not the United States should be in Iraq and in the region in a position to enable societies to begin to embrace liberty for the long-term. This is an ideological struggle.

Now, I recognize some don’t view it as an ideological struggle, but I firmly believe it is an ideological struggle. And I believe it’s a struggle between the forces of moderation and reasonableness and good, and the forces of murder and intolerance. And what has made the stakes so high is that those forces of murder and intolerance have shown they have the capacity to murder innocent people in our own country. I put that in the context of accountability.

I put the whole of that last speech in the context of lunacy. In a more enlightened country wouldn’t this man have been committed a long time ago?