January 05, 2006

Where's Lloyd Bentsen when we need him?

What is most amazing about the Bush administration’s new found desire to wrap itself in Truman-era ideas and heroic imagery is its sheer chutzpah. Bush and his advisors want to have it both ways. They want to say that the world has changed – so they are not bound by old postwar rules, institutions, commitments, partnerships, and ways of doing business. It is a brave new world – we can make it up anew. But they also want to gain the respectability and legitimacy by being seen as walking in Truman’s and Acheson’s shoes. They want to overturn the international order that Truman and Acheson built but they also want to be look Trumanesque while they do it.

That's the conclusion that John Ikenberry reaches at TPM Café. How does he come to that conclusion? Read the whole thing. It's well worth your time, particularly if, like me, you're offended by the self-serving comparisons the Bush Administration has recently been making of its work with that of Harry Truman.

Posted by Linkmeister at January 5, 2006 11:09 AM | TrackBack
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