You can draw a straight line from the “war on terror” to the
January 6 attack on the Capitol, from the state of exception that gave us mass
surveillance, indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition and “enhanced
interrogation” to the insurrectionist conviction that the only way to save
America is to subvert it.
اضافة اعلان
Or, as journalist Spencer Ackerman writes in “Reign of
Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump,” “A war that
never defined its enemy became an opportunity for the so-called MAGA coalition
of white Americans to merge their grievances in an atmosphere of righteous
emergency.” That impulse, he continues, “unlocked a panoply of authoritarian
possibilities that extended far beyond the War on Terror, from stealing
children to inciting a violent mob that attempted to overturn a presidential
election.”
The “war on terror” eroded the institutions of American
democracy and fed our most reactionary impulses. It set the stage for a new
political movement with an old idea: that some Americans belong and some don’t;
that some are “real” and some are not; that the people who are entitled to rule
are a narrow, exclusive group.
It is with all of this in mind that I found it galling to
watch George W. Bush speak on Saturday.
The former president helped commemorate the 20th anniversary
of
Sept. 11 with a speech in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at a memorial service
for the victims of Flight 93. He eulogized the dead, praised the heroism of the
passengers and crew, and hailed the unity of the American people in the weeks
and months after the attacks. He also spoke to recent events, condemning
extremists and extremism at home and abroad.
“We have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our
country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers
within,” Bush said. “There is little cultural overlap between violent
extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for
pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile
national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our
continuing duty to confront them.”
From there, Bush voiced his dismay at the stark polarization
and rigid partisanship of modern American politics. “A malign force seems at
work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument, and
every argument into a clash of cultures,” he said. “So much of our politics has
become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment. That leaves us worried
about our nation and our future together.”
Bush spoke as if he were just an observer, a concerned elder
statesman who fears for the future of his country. But that’s nonsense. Bush
was an active participant in the politics he now bemoans.
In 2002, Bush said that the Senate, then
controlled by Democrats, was “not interested in the security of the American
people.” In 2004, he made his opposition to same-sex marriage a centerpiece of
his campaign, weaponizing anti-gay prejudice to mobilize his conservative
supporters.
Before the 2006 midterm elections, he denounced
the Democratic Party as “soft” on terrorism and unable to defend the United
States.
And this is to say nothing of his allies in the conservative
media, who treated disagreement over his wars and counterterrorism policies as
tantamount to treason. Nor did his Republican Party hesitate to smear critics
as disloyal or worse. “Some people are now attacking the president for
attacking the terrorists,” stated the Republican National Committee’s first ad
of the 2004 presidential election.
Bush was noteworthy for the partisanship of his White House
and the ruthlessness of his political tactics, for using the politics of fear
to pound his opponents into submission. For turning, as he put it on Saturday,
“every disagreement into an argument, and every argument into a clash of
cultures.”
Bush won some praise Saturday. A typical response came from
Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian and frequent fixture of cable news,
who said it was an “important speech.”
It is frankly maddening to see anyone treat the former
president as if he has the moral authority to speak on extremism, division and
the crises facing our democracy. His critique of the Trump movement is not
wrong, but it is fatally undermined by his own conduct in office.
In his eight years as president, Bush launched two
destructive wars (including one on the basis of outright lies), embraced
torture, radically expanded the power of the national security state and
defended all of it by dividing the public into two camps. You were either with
him or you were against him.
As much as he has been rehabilitated in the eyes of many
Americans — as much as his defenders might want to separate him and his
administration from Donald Trump — the truth is that Bush is one of the leading
architects of our present crisis. We may not be able to hold him accountable,
but we certainly shouldn’t forget his starring role in making this country more
damaged and dysfunctional than it ought to be.
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