Bush in Israel: Yea, I Almost Forgot About Him Too

POSTED BY Malcolm Ray, 09 January 2008

With Condoleezza Rice admitting she sees little hope of peace in the Middle East or even compromise, I'm quick to agree with President Bush's referral to his first visit to Israel as "historic."

Having mocked the efforts of President Clinton in trying to negotiate a settlement during his second term in office, Bush's attempt to do so in his last year seems laughable. Stepping out on to the tarmac off of Air Force One, President Bush started off his comments by stating his disbelief that when he first came to Israel over a decade ago as a Texas governor, he never imagined he'd return "as President of the United States."

Seven years in and George W. Bush still cant believe he's President.

This visit would almost be sad, a last petty struggle to try and claim some small success as the country is working towards a national rehabilitation process, were it not for President Bush's now well documented, ignorant incompetence on full display yet again. In the old days of the domino effect and CIA puppet states, the leaders of our country at least had some functioning knowledge of the history and people of the places they ran rampant with their self-interested policy and loyal dictators, but today, the BBC reports that in talking with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, President Bush "made no direct reference to the issue of settlements" as any serious peace negotiation would have.

With Israeli solders killing three people in Gaza within minutes of Bush's arrival as he ignorantly bloviated on Iranian geopolitics, let our solace be that this trip will be short lived and that back at home, America is beginning the process to let go of the past eight years. At this point, even Republican presidential contenders for the White House are promising the serious and much needed change in Washington - and abroad. It is now possible to acknowledge a national consensus on the failures of the Bush administration. Just as historic as previous consensuses over slavery, civil rights, and the role of women in our society, this new concensus will propell us into the next stage in American history; it seems Bush's visit to Israel and the 2008 election cycle have come at the right time.

Even with both the Democrat and Republican primary races still very much up in the air and the heated contests reaching a fevered pitch, Bush is standing on a tarmac in a country vital to our current problems, a country he has never visited as president. It is possible now to claim vindication and see victory—whatever the outcome of the presidential election—within our grasp.