On Vietnam:
On the other hand, you have George W. Bush who supported the war, which means he believed the goal was worth the cost in American lives. Only, not his life. He believed others should go; just not him. It’s the story of his life
On Iraq:
The president didn’t think he could convince the public of the merits of his reasons for going to war. So he lied to them. He greatly exaggerated what was thought to be the evidence of weapons of mass destruction and completely manufactured a connection between Iraq and al Qaida. He couldn’t get the country behind him on the up-and-up. So he took the easy way out; he took a shortcut; he deceived them.
On the Bush Attack Machine:
He’s not used to having to stand behind what he’s done. And when McCain comes at him one on one he’s jelly. His life has always been a matter of others doing his dirty work for him, others bailing him out.
As Marshall Sums up:
The same sort of moral cowardice that led him to support the Vietnam war but decide it wasn’t for him, run companies into the ground and let others pay the bill, play gutter politics but run for the hills when someone asks him to say it to their face, those are the same qualities that led the president to lie the country into war, fail to prepare for the aftermath and then refuse to take responsibility for any of it when the bill started to come due.
I don’t like to quote so much of someone’s writings generally, but Marshall’s piece is just that good and it is what John Kerry needs to be doing.
