Bush era over
Well before he announced a potential presidential bid, I would have been highly unlikely to consider voting to continue the Bush presidential empire through a casting a ballot for Gov. Jeb, particularly given his unseemly involvement in an effort to utilize the police powers of government to save the “life” of Terry Schiavo.
With the recent revelation that he consults with brother George W. on Middle East matters and given his struggles and contradictory statements about whether he would have gone to war in Iraq given what we know now, he has ensured that I will not be supporting him.
I believe the governor answered honestly the first time the question about involvement in Iraq was posed by Fox News Channel’s dynamo, Megyn Kelly, stating that he would have set into motion the most calamitous and costly foreign policy debacle in the history of the United States by invading even with what we know today.
Naturally, other Republican candidates are having a field day with this, having the good sense to say with the benefit of hindsight that they would not have entered the now enormously-unpopular war which is widely blamed for creating a vacuum that created the so-called “Islamic State.”
Gov. Bush has recognized the error of his ways, making a complete turn from his original answer as he tries to get the public to believe that he misunderstood Ms Kelly’s question. I believe that all he misunderstood at the time was how shocking and disturbing his regrettable answer would be to informed voters.
I believe the nation would have been better served if Jeb had been the Bush brother who won election in 2000, but that is not saying much. George H. W. Bush is the member of the family who seems prudent, prescient, and relatively error free in matters of foreign policy in retrospect, an esteemed and beloved elder statesman.
The Bush era has passed. The latest contender for the throne of a presidential dynasty is unqualified to serve.
Oren M. Spiegler
Upper Saint Clair