Amid the last gasps of an exhausted Republican administration, when it was already obvious that Democrats were cruising toward a smashing November victory that would give them the White House and full control of Congress, George W. Bush traveled to Israel. In his speech to the Knesset, the president decried the “foolish delusion” of politicians who “seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.”
Bush did not mention his soon-to-be successor by name, but as I observed back in the day, Barack Obama was well aware that he was the target. And being the President Obama we all came to know, he first responded with an indignant prevarication — “George Bush knows I have never supported engagement with terrorists” — and then proceeded to make engagement with terrorists his default policy . . . while persisting in indignant denial that this was the case.
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