Living in Texas, it becomes easy to muse about Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush. I have had to suffer as with W. as a governor and a president since 1995, when I moved to the Lone Star State. Right now, sadly, we are a red state.
But there was also another president from these parts that you may have heard of: LBJ. Anybody who has been to Dallas knows the LBJ Freeway. And in Austin, there is a radio station named KLBJ.
Aside from being from Texas, LBJ and W. share something else that is quite sobering. Under their respective watches, they brought the United States into long-term wars that did not go well, and had no end in sight. In the case of LBJ, it was Vietnam. In the case of LBJ, it was Vietnam. In the case of George W. Bush, it is Iraq.
What is telling is the attitudes of the respective presidents during their respective wars. LBJ kept digging himself into a bigger hole and this took a toll on his presidency as well as on him personally. His decision not to seek the Democratic nominated in 1968 was the culmination of the fall of a President who just four years earlier, had won easily.
One of the final casualties of the Vietnam, in a way, was LBJ. He passed away in 1973, only four years after the end of his presidency. For all of his ego, power, and a larger than life personality, at the end of the day, Johnson was simply a man. He was an imperfect man, to be sure, and a man with doubts. But LBJ was nevertheless, a man. I don't think he ever recovered from the enormous failure of Vietnam and the resulting end to his presidency.
George W. Bush, by contrast, is not a man. He is an empty suit, and an empty human being. With Karl Rove and Dick Cheney as his real bosses, he needn't be anything more. I have always been surprised when people tout Bush's principles and convictions. The man has no principles and convictions. As Hillary Clinton noted, Bush is a modern-day Alfred E. Neumann. And if "What, me worry?" is a principle, then the bar has been significantly lowered.
For all the errors of the Vietnam War, it can still be argued that this war was part of the larger Cold war. That was the prevailing sentiment at the time. It does not justify the war. But at least it has a plausible origin.
Well, what is the plausible origin for the Iraq War? The administration has talked about WMD, freedom, and the war on terror at various times. It seems to change daily. And all three reasons, are, well, implausible -- for many reasons.
Then again, for this administration, the general feeling about the war is "who cares?" Haliburton and other companies are making a fortune. And Bush looks "tough". In a perverse way, Bush used the war to win re-election. And hey, if over 1800 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis die, well it happens.
In short, Bush, isn't troubled by the morass in Iraq because he doesn't care. He is oblivious to the suffering going on. When you have grown up as the Fredo of the Bush family, it is really difficult to expect anything more. He hasn't had to be engaged in the normal everyday life of our country. If George H.W. Bush was born on third base, George W. Bush was born with 5 runs.
At the end of the day, my point is not to defend LBJ's conduct in the Vietnam War. I can't and I won't - it was a major setback for our nation, and he will be forever remembered for this war. It was under his watch, and he is responsible.
But LBJ was at least bothered by the resulting circumstances. Can you honestly say the same about George W. Bush? I can't.
Here is a final note. I visited the LBJ library about 3 weeks after last year's election. In particular, two things stuck in my mind.
The first thing was LBJ's speech in March 1968 where he announced that he would not seek re-election for President. It symbolized his realization that his presidency was coming to an end and that he would have accept this reality instead of fighting - which must have extremely difficult and painful. It was also his realization that he had become a polarizing figure, and that he needed to go for the good of the country.
The second was a family portrait taken during his presidency. Conspicuously absent were his 2 son-in-laws. They were fighting in Vietnam.
Does W. know anybody fighting in Iraq?