Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Knowing What We Know Now

The "Knowing what we know now" game seems to be enjoying a spurt of popularity among the media, mostly because it's being used to make Republican presidential candidates like Jeb Bush squirm. The fun won't last, though, since the game is inevitably going to be turned against both President Obama and Hillary Clinton. It's not hard to imagine either of them or both at some point being asked to play the game. If it involves the president it might go something like this:

Knowing what we know now do you think it was a good idea to:
  • Expend all your political capital on passing Obamacare
  • Encourage the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt
  • Undertake a "reset" of relations with Russia
  • Overthrow Qaddafi in Libya
  • Pull all our troops out of Iraq
  • Refuse to arm moderates in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine
  • Refuse to strengthen security for our Libyan diplomats
  • Blame Benghazi on a video
  • Facilitate the flow of weapons across the border to Mexico in the Fast and Furious operation
  • Give millions in taxpayer dollars to numerous failing companies like Solyndra
  • Trade five top terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl
  • Select Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State
  • Select Joe Biden to be Vice-President
  • Promise to give the American people the most transparent administration ever
On further reflection I take back what I said above. It is indeed hard to imagine either Mr. Obama or Ms Clinton being asked questions like these by a media so desperate to see progressivism succeed that asking tough questions of fellow progressives would never even occur to them, nor would they have any idea how to go about it if it did.

I've already suggested one way I think Bush or any other candidate should answer the "Knowing what we know now" canard here. Here's another courtesy of Allahpundit at Hot Air: "Yes, knowing what we know now, i.e. that any military success we would enjoy in Iraq would be entrusted to Barack Obama to sustain, it was indeed a mistake to invade Iraq."