President Bush is an avid reader, according to Karl Rove, who says that Bush read 95 books in 2006, 51 books last year and, as of last week, had read 40 books in 2008. The quantity and quality of books are impressive and should help dispel the image of Bush as a dolt, but a number of commentators have noted that Bush seems mostly to read books that reinforce his beliefs. “They are not the reading of a widely read man, but instead the books of a man who seeks – and sees – vindication in every page,” columnist Richard Cohen wrote. “Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas. His books just support that.”
There are myriad reasons for urgently holding the Bush regime to account, ranging from preventing unchallenged executive action from setting legal precedent to providing a compelling rationale for the immediate cessation of bombing civilians in the escalating Afghan war. The long history of aggressive war, illegal occupation and torture, from the Philippines to Iraq, has given the American people a moral education that encourages us to countenance war crimes. If we allow those who initiated and justified the illegal conquest and occupation of Iraq and the use of torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo to go unsanctioned, we teach the world and ourselves what’s OK and legal. As countries like Chile, Turkey and Argentina can attest, restoration of democracy, civic morality and the rule of law is often a slow but necessary process, requiring far more than simply voting a new party into office. – Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith, the Nation
If it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that war crimes were committed, and from what I know I do not think they were, then the U.S. Attorney’s Offices obviously ought to prosecute those responsible. But the effort by the New York Times and others to criminalize politics by casually urging the criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials that the Times disagreed with is reprehensible. This question ought to be left up to career prosecutors, as was done when some wondered whether Bill Clinton should have been prosecuted for his handing out of last-minute pardons to donors to his presidential library. Come Jan. 20, Obama administration officials ought to be able to do their jobs without wondering whether the next administration will try to bring politically motivated prosecutions. – Steven Calabresi, Northwestern University law professor, for Politico.com
There was plenty to ponder in the “10 to watch in 2009″ feature in the Sunday Eagle. Karl Peterjohn’s crossover from anti-tax activist to Sedgwick County commissioner will make the weekly commission meetings must-see TV. And 2009 will be a defining year, during difficult times, for incoming City Manager Robert Layton, Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition president Vicki Pratt Gerbino and Intrust Bank Arena manager Chris Presson. One point jumped out of the stories, though: interim Wichita schools superintendent Martin Libhart’s suggestion that he might consider applying for the permanent job after all. “I really enjoy what I do in this role,” he told The Eagle. By all accounts, he is doing a fine job. But Libhart, an architect by training, lacks any education degree. And last April, the school board was unequivocal in saying that he wasn’t in the running to replace Winston Brooks permanently. Then-board president Connie Dietz said: “The board felt very strongly that this (interim) person not be a candidate.” Eight months later, have more minds than Libhart’s changed?
President Bush is an avid reader, according to Karl Rove, who says that Bush read 95 books in 2006, 51 books last year and, as of last week, had read 40 books in 2008. The quantity and quality of books are impressive and should help dispel the image of Bush as a dolt, but a number of commentators have noted that Bush seems mostly to read books that reinforce his beliefs. “They are not the reading of a widely read man, but instead the books of a man who seeks – and sees – vindication in every page,” columnist Richard Cohen wrote. “Bush has always been the captive of fixed ideas. His books just support that.”
