Oh me, Oh my, Obama

In the shadow of President Trueman, Mr. Obama declares: "The Buck Stops Elsewhere!" (NRO, May 21, 2009), by The Editors. His message: I'm Not Taking Responsibility for Anything:

President Obama wants you to know that nothing is ever his fault.

He gave a speech on national-security matters Thursday the gist of which was: George W. Bush left me a mess, and I’m doing the best I can to clean it up. A more forthright theme would have been: Radical Islam has thrust the United States into a defensive war, and it’s now my duty to protect the nation — despite legal complications created by left-wing lawyers, many of whom are now working in my administration.

President Obama described Bush’s counterterrorism program as an “ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable ...."

In point of fact, the Bush administration’s counterterrorism campaign was anything but ad hoc. It was extraordinarily effective, and it is entirely sustainable — which President Obama has shown by sustaining its major elements.

The future of geo-politics looks dicey -- especially vis-a-vis Israel and Iran, which, together with Al-Queda, make the Middle East a tinder box.