Mistakes

It is possible to consult a half dozen dictionaries and not find a definition of the word “mistake” that is completely satisfactory. As I have always understood the meaning of the word, to make a “mistake” is to understand what it is that the facts warrant, and then to do otherwise. It is active, not passive or accidental, nor is it the result of a lack of knowledge.

The words “misunderstand,” “misapprehend,” and “misconceive” are not fully synonymous with the word “mistake.” They describe what is a failure or an inability to comprehend.

In a recent joint press conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the President of the United States asserted, mea culpa, that he and his administration have made “mistakes” in the prosecution of the war in Iraq. It was an absolutely appalling thing to say and only further demonstrates the president’s tenuous relationship with the English language – to say nothing of a penchant for self-inflicted political wounds. 

Yes, not every situation on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan has turned out exactly as war planners intended. But those decisions were made on the basis of the best available information by people who were doing their absolute best to prosecute the war to a successful conclusion. Those are not “mistakes,” they are not even “miscalculations,” they are correct decisions that did not have the desired outcome because of changing conditions on the ground.

For the president to say that he and his administration have made “mistakes” is a slap in the face of the Secretary of Defense and all who work for him, civilian and military. Were it not for the fact that Donald Rumsfeld is personally committed to winning the War on Terror, and if he felt that another individual could step in and run the Pentagon, while at the same time fighting World War III and reshaping our military, he would be totally justified in tendering his resignation.

When George H.W. Bush first ran for president in 1979-80 he ran in direct opposition to the Reagan economic policies that eventually brought us the greatest period of sustained growth in history. He regularly referred to Reagan’s economic policies as “voodoo economics.” Yet, under pressure from the party’s liberal-moderate wing, Reagan selected Bush as his running mate. That was a “mistake.” 

When Bush (41) took office he knew that congressional Democrats could not be trusted. Yet, after extended negotiations on taxes increases and spending cuts, he took them at their word. That was a “mistake.” They not only betrayed his trust, they used it as a weapon it to defeat him for reelection in 1992. 
 
Now we are told that George W. Bush has said, publicly, that his brother Jeb, the Governor of Florida, would make an “excellent president.”

Jeb Bush is fully aware of the near-perfect record of the offshore drilling industry, and he is fully aware that, of all of the oil that has washed ashore on the beaches of California, Louisiana, and Texas, where offshore drilling has occurred, less than 2.5% of it is the result of offshore drilling. Yet, since being elected Governor of Florida, and in spite of the nation’s critical need for secure energy supplies, Bush has stood squarely in the way of drilling in the Florida offshore. That is a “mistake.”

When Jeb Bush was just seventeen years old he attended a motorcycle race in Leon, Mexico, where he met a beautiful dark-eyed Mexican girl named Columba Garnica Gallo. They fell in love and were married. 

Our current president has allowed more than ten million illegal aliens to stream across our southern border without lifting a finger to stop them. With a Mexican wife, half-Mexican children, and an extended family in Mexico, what are the chances that President Jeb Bush would do a better job of defending our borders against illegal immigration? 

If we think we have cockeyed thinking on illegal immigration coming out of the current Bush White House, just imagine what we could expect from a Jeb Bush White House. To nominate and elect him would be a huge “mistake.”

In light of what we know about the intellectual shortcomings, the ideological wishy-washyness, the political “softness,” and the preppy Ivy League superiority of the Bush family, it would be a terrible “mistake” to elect another member of the family to run our country. 

The Bush era in American politics is all but over. It’s time conservatives regained control of the Republican Party and nominated a candidate who is truly representative of conservative and Republican principles. We simply can’t afford any more “mistakes.”