Six years is a long time.
For me personally, six years ago I was fairly apathetic about US politics, never wrote anything that I didn’t have to, let alone nearly every day. I was also in a marriage that was crumbling due to a lifelong eating disorder that finally took over my wife’s life, was two years away from making partner at Andersen (3 jobs ago). And in the last six years, I have moved from Westchester to NYC to NJ, got divorced and remarried and found this newfound interest in politics and writing about stuff that is going on.
But none of this is the fault of my parents, my ex-wife, my in-laws, my employer, friends or work colleagues, even though they all had an influence on how I got from then to now. They happened because I (to a large degree) reacted to events around me, and took the actions that resulted in the outcomes and events which I am now living. And as where I am (and those who are impacted by the decisions and actions I took) responsible for the impact of my decisions (good or bad), so should others. ESPECIALLY those whose decisions and actions impact so many people in so many ways.
Yet, here we are, a full twelve years since the republicans took control of Congress, and six years since Bush and his policymakers have pretty much shit the bed on every situation that they encountered, and they are still blaming others for their messes.
Six years has been long enough to turn a $284 billion surplus into an AVERANGE ANNUAL deficit in excess of $300 billion. And the economy was bad because of Clinton, right?
Six years ago, North Korea wasn’t in the “nuke making business”. In fact, one of the big reasons was the Agreed Framework that Clinton worked out with North Korea in 1994. But, of course, the republican congress stalled the implementation of it, and by the end of 2002, (two years after Clinton left office) North Korea was back in the “nuke making business”. Hell, six years ago, Clinton had plans to attack a North Korea nuclear reactor if need be. So, too bad, Senator Suckup, er, McCain – eight years of no nuke making under Clinton doesn’t make this current situation his fault.
Six years ago, Saddam was contained, wasn’t a threat to the US, and had no WMDs that any expert could find. Six years ago, he hated Osama Bin Laden, and there were no terrorists being harbored in Iraq. Six years ago, there were around 600,000 more Iraqis who were alive, and thousands of US soldiers (and soon to be soldiers) who still had their life or limbs. Six years ago, our soldiers weren’t being sent overseas to fight based on lies by their President, without proper armor, equipment or any clear or coherent mission.
Six years ago, the CIA hadn’t yet identified Bin Laden as responsible for the attack on the USS Cole. More than six years ago, Clinton’s anti-terrorism legislation was blocked by the republicans in Congress (by the way, this is a great diary if you haven’t yet read it). Six years ago, Richard Clark was the top counterterrorism official and had faithfully served three Presidents, including two republicans.
Six years ago, Clinton warned Bush about Bin Laden (don’t worry, it is a Reuters article). Six years ago, Clinton didn’t ignore a PDB that said that Bin Laden was determined to strike within the US. Six years ago, Clinton’s national security advisor didn’t ignore an urgent briefing about an imminent attack.
Six years ago, pretty much nobody knew what white phosphorus could do. Or that how much torture is ok was something that would get a serious national debate. Six years ago, our president upheld his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Six years ago, nobody knew what Brewster Jennings really was about. Or what the FISA laws were. Or the IIPA.
Six years ago, the world was our friend. Or at least Americans weren’t hated pretty much everywhere in the world. Six years ago, many people were proud to be Americans. Six years ago, many more people had affordable health insurance (or health insurance at all). Six years ago, there was this large of Americans called “the middle class”. And many more people had jobs, or at least decently paying jobs.
Six years ago, the Democratic party leadership wasn’t filled with people that took sexual advantage of minors and had their colleagues cover up their knowledge and involvement. Six years ago, nobody thought that our elections could be subject to such widespread fraud, er “irregularities”.
Six years ago, FEMA actually did what it was supposed to. And six years ago, New Orleans still existed as a vibrant city.
A lot can happen in six years. Six years is a real long time, especially when you have complete control over the events and decisions (not to mention the spin and reporting of these events) that affect hundreds of millions of people.
The buck doesn’t stop with Clinton anymore.