(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . It's Never Republicans' Fault [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-08-25 From the failures of 9/11 to the failures of the covid pandemic, the Republicans in charge are never at fault. When former President Bill Clinton spoke last Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he revealed a statistic that was so astounding he initially could not believe it when he looked it up. He had to check it three times to be sure it was true. “You’re going to have a hard time believing this, but so help me, I triple-checked it,” Clinton said. “Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created about 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn’t believe it. What’s the score? Democrats 50, Republicans one.” That's right. Under Democratic administrations, 50 million net new jobs have been created, and under Republicans there have been only a paltry one million created. The fact was indisputable, but that did not prevent fact checkers and pundits from rushing to the rhetorical rescue of the hapless Republicans. This is because in America, nothing is ever Republicans' fault. A piece by Max Zahn of ABC News absolved Republicans of responsibility for things that happened during their reigns in typical fashion: In general, presidents exert limited control over the jobs created while they’re in office. Each of the last three Republican presidents – George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump -- ended his term in office during a period of economic difficulty. Gee, really? How did that happen? Those poor entitled bastards of huge inherited wealth (two of whom lost the popular vote but still got to occupy the Oval Office) were just unlucky, I guess. So unfair to blame them for the disasters that befell us all when they were in charge of the government. Never mind the diplomatic failures of Bush Sr. that led to the first Gulf War, and the subsequent 1990 oil price shock. His diplomatic corps failed to send a clear message to Saddam Hussein that an invasion of Kuwait would cross a red line. Instead, he was told “we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.” Never mind the right-wing economic policies that led to the savings and loan crisis. Never mind the corruption and fraud of the Keating Five. Never mind the corruption of Bush’s own son Neil Bush, a central figure in the collapse of Silverado Banking Savings and Loan that cost taxpayers $1 billion. None of it was President Bush’s fault. Moving forward to September 11, 2001. The younger President Bush ignored al-Qaida, ignored the warnings, and failed to prevent the worst terrorist attack on the United States in history. And yet, he emerged with his reputation unscathed, and proceeded to use the calamity as an excuse to launch two failed wars in the Middle East that cost our nation over $3 trillion, countless lives, and ultimately left us less safe. Then, in 2019, President Trump failed to prevent the calamity of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed millions of people. In 2018, Trump closed down the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense that had been established by Obama. He also poisoned diplomatic relations with China. Pandemic response teams that had been on the ground in China, working with their colleagues to detect and contain deadly viruses, were disbanded. The World Health Organization concluded that the covid pandemic was preventable. There is no guarantee that a President Al Gore would have prevented the attacks of 9/11. But our chances would have been a hell of a lot better than they were with the feckless fool named Bush who lost the popular vote and stole Florida with the help of a rightwing Supreme Court. There is no guarantee the worldwide covid pandemic would have been prevented with a President Hillary Clinton at the helm. But we would have had mature intelligent professionals in the key positions when critical decisions were required. (Dr. Fauci was the exception that proved the rule.) We would have had a covid response team in place, with American scientists working with their colleagues in Wuhan to contain the virus more quickly. Our chances would have been a hell of a lot better. But you will never hear these arguments in the mainstream media. To learn the facts, you have to dig deep to find the articles from the past. Fortunately, the clues are still there, but they are effectively buried under the accretion of daily bullshit that gives Republicans a free pass. When you put people who despise government in charge of the government, bad stuff happens. Who knew? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/25/2265461/-It-s-Never-Republicans-Fault?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/