The legacy of George W. Bush continues to haunt President Obama's administration. Try as he might, the president is finding it difficult to close the books on Bush's presidency. Mr. Bush, someone personally once supported by many members of even this prayer team, lost some of his luster the moment it became apparent to his supporters that he only wanted their support, not their opinion.
That's the underlying message of the uproar over the release of Justice Department interrogation memos and the question of whether to prosecute Bush administration officials responsible for authorizing use of those harsh techniques. Having tried to find a way through this legal and political thicket, Obama has learned that cleaning up after Bush will be an ongoing challenge.
Obama ordered an end to the interrogation techniques in the first weeks of his presidency. Last week he authorized the release of Justice Department memos that provided the legal justification for employing those techniques. Administration officials declared that CIA officials who carried out the interrogations should not face prosecution. Case closed -- or so he hoped.
Instead, the decision has stirred a major controversy on the right and left.
Conservatives have jumped on him. Obama has drawn sharp criticism from former vice president Dick Cheney, from former CIA directors and from Republican elected officials for releasing the memos. Obama argued that the United States had lost its moral bearings in its treatment of terrorist suspects. His critics see softness in the commander in chief.
The anger on the right was expected. But Obama faces equally strong reaction from the left, where there is a desire to punish Bush administration officials for their actions and to conduct a more thorough investigation of what happened, much in the way the
9-11 Commission investigated that episode.
Obama owes his presidency in part to this constituency, who rallied to him during the battle for the Democratic nomination because he presented himself as a staunch and early opponent of the war in Iraq. Now they are demanding that he acknowledge their point of view. Add to that the mixed signals emanating from the White House over the past few days over who should and who shouldn't face possible prosecution and Obama finds himself in the middle of a storm that may not pass quickly. He may be forced to yield more ground in the weeks ahead, as Congress and outside forces join the debate. At a minimum, he will not have quickly put the issue of torture and the Bush presidency behind him.
The former president took some personal time to himself on the morning of the Obama Inauguration to reflect (see photos above) on his legacy as well as his presidency. I'm sure anyone would need that time to detox from such an experience over nearly a decade of scripted and definitive actions. Regardless of what you or I may think of Mr. Bush, he is yet deserving of our prayers and support in his retirement.
Sometimes we conveniently forget our former thoughts regarding a certain matter. It was just as recent as 2004 in the runup to Mr. Bush's re-election, that many felt, "sure he's wrong, but at least he believes in what he's doing...even if no one else does". We gave him carte blanche; we felt his conviction was enough to keep the job that many american's once thought he had stolen just four years earlier.
Obama apparently believed he could avoid what is now happening. In the weeks during which he was weighing the release of the torture memos, there was a vigorous debate within his administration. There was, according to a senior official, considerable support among Obama's advisers for the creation of a 9-11 Commission-style investigation as an alternative to releasing the Justice Department memos. But Obama quashed it.
"His concern was that would ratchet the whole thing up," the official said. "His whole thing is, I banned all this. This chapter is over. What we don't need now is to become a sort of feeding frenzy where we go back and re-litigate all this."
Obama knew he could not stop Congress from doing whatever lawmakers decided to do but he was reluctant to give a presidential imprimatur to a national commission that would keep the controversy alive for months and months and months. Obama had his own agenda and wanted to move on. Putting out the memos was the cleanest way to accomplish his goal.
There was also a practical rationale for the White House to release the memos, according to officials. Much of the information contained in them was already in the public domain, in large part through an article in the New York Review of Books. Arguments that the release of the memos would compromise national security by providing a roadmap for enemies on U.S. interrogation techniques seemed less compelling given that the information was already publicly available.
That's where things stood when the administration released the information last week. In the subsequent four days, the administration did damage control. Obama went to CIA headquarters on Monday to defend his decision and to try to boost morale at the agency. Meanwhile, there was a backlash against the administration's seeming posture that no one should be prosecuted for what had happened under Bush.White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel contributed to the perception that this was the administration's position. Speaking on ABC's "This Week" on
Sunday, he said that neither the CIA officials who carried out the harsh interrogations nor the Justice Department officials who authorized them should be prosecuted.
"It's not the time to use our energy and our time in looking back [in] any sense of anger and retributions," he said. That was contrary to what the administration had signaled when the memos were released. At that time, it seemed clear that the authors of the legal justification could face legal problems, depending on a further review by Attorney General Eric Holder.
The legacy of George W. Bush continues to haunt President Obama's administration. Try as he might, the president is finding it difficult to close the books on Bush's presidency.
That's the underlying message of the uproar over the release of Justice Department interrogation memos and the question of whether to prosecute Bush administration officials responsible for authorizing use of those harsh techniques. Having tried to find a way through this legal and political thicket, Obama has learned that cleaning up after Bush will be an ongoing challenge.
Obama ordered an end to the interrogation techniques in the first weeks of his presidency. Last week he authorized the release of Justice Department memos that provided the legal justification for employing those techniques. Administration officials declared that CIA officials who carried out the interrogations should not face prosecution. Case closed -- or so he hoped.
Instead, the decision has stirred a major controversy on the right and left. Conservatives have jumped on him. Obama has drawn sharp criticism from former vice president Dick Cheney, from former CIA directors and from Republican elected officials for releasing the memos. Obama argued that the United States had lost its moral bearings in its treatment of terrorist suspects.
His critics see softness in the commander in chief.
The anger on the right was expected. But Obama faces equally strong reaction from the left, where there is a desire to punish Bush administration officials for their actions and to conduct a more thorough investigation of what happened, much in the way the
9-11 Commission investigated that episode.
Obama owes his presidency in part to this constituency, who rallied to him during the battle for the Democratic nomination because he presented himself as a staunch and early opponent of the war in Iraq. Now they are demanding that he acknowledge their point of view.
Add to that the mixed signals emanating from the White House over the past few days over who should and who shouldn't face possible prosecution and Obama finds himself in the middle of a storm that may not pass quickly. He may be forced to yield more ground in the weeks ahead, as Congress and outside forces join the debate. At a minimum, he will not have quickly put the issue of torture and the Bush presidency behind him.
Obama apparently believed he could avoid what is now happening. In the weeks during which he was weighing the release of the torture memos, there was a vigorous debate within his administration. There was, according to a senior official, considerable support among Obama's advisers for the creation of a 9-11 Commission-style investigation as an alternative to releasing the Justice Department memos. But Obama quashed it.
"His concern was that would ratchet the whole thing up," the official said. "His whole thing is, I banned all this. This chapter is over. What we don't need now is to become a sort of feeding frenzy where we go back and re-litigate all this."
Obama knew he could not stop Congress from doing whatever lawmakers decided to do but he was reluctant to give a presidential imprimatur to a national commission that would keep the controversy alive for months and months and months. Obama had his own agenda and wanted to move on. Putting out the memos was the cleanest way to accomplish his goal.
There was also a practical rationale for the White House to release the memos, according to officials. Much of the information contained in them was already in the public domain, in large part through an article in the New York Review of Books. Arguments that the release of the memos would compromise national security by providing a roadmap for enemies on U.S. interrogation techniques seemed less compelling given that the information was already publicly available.
That's where things stood when the administration released the information last week. In the subsequent four days, the administration did damage control. Obama went to CIA headquarters on Monday to defend his decision and to try to boost morale at the agency. Meanwhile, there was a backlash against the administration's seeming posture that no one should be prosecuted for what had happened under Bush.White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel contributed to the perception that this was the administration's position. Speaking on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, he said that neither the CIA officials who carried out the harsh interrogations nor the Justice Department officials who authorized them should be prosecuted. "It's not the time to use our energy and our time in looking back [in] any sense of anger and retributions," he said.
That was contrary to what the administration had signaled when the memos were released. At that time, it seemed clear that the authors of the legal justification could face legal problems, depending on a further review by Attorney General Eric Holder.
When Obama was pressed on this and other questions Tuesday, he said he was not prepared to rule out prosecutions of some of those responsible for setting the policy. What seemed to be off the table on Monday was suddenly back on. White House officials tried to say the president's words were not a change in policy but the headlines and the television commentary said otherwise.
Obama knows that Congress will do what Congress decides. He still opposes a national commission established through White House initiative, but has no control over how vigorously Congress may pursue these questions. In his comments Tuesday he tried to steer lawmakers away from partisan investigations, arguing that if anything were done, it should be with the cooperation of both parties.
The president has a full plate, domestically and internationally. He has signaled through words and actions that his presidency represents a break from his predecessor's. He had hoped that, in winning the election and moving quickly to change policies, especially in the area of foreign policy, he could close the books on the politics of the past.
Instead he has found in his first months how difficult that is. Hopes for an immediate change in tone have withered. Republican opposition to his economic policies remains nearly unanimous. Now, with this latest controversy, he is learning that neither the opponents nor the defenders of Bush's presidency are ready to move on.
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Today's Verse of the Day
"May the grace of God be with you"
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When Obama was pressed on this and other questions Tuesday, he said he was not prepared to rule out prosecutions of some of those responsible for setting the policy. What seemed to be off the table on Monday was suddenly back on. White House officials tried to say the president's words were not a change in policy but the headlines and the television commentary said otherwise.
Obama knows that Congress will do what Congress decides. He still opposes a national commission established through White House initiative, but has no control over how vigorously Congress may pursue these questions. In his comments Tuesday he tried to steer lawmakers away from partisan investigations, arguing that if anything were done, it should be with the cooperation of both parties.
The president has a full plate, domestically and internationally. He has signaled through words and actions that his presidency represents a break from his predecessor's. He had hoped that, in winning the election and moving quickly to change policies, especially in the area of foreign policy, he could close the books on the politics of the past.
Instead he has found in his first months how difficult that is. Hopes for an immediate change in tone have withered. Republican opposition to his economic policies remains nearly unanimous. Now, with this latest controversy, he is learning that neither the opponents nor the defenders of Bush's presidency are ready to move on.
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