Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear

Nation editor David Corn does a double take in today's WaPo at neocon infantryman Bill Kristol's Sunday column there, which predicted the Bush presidency would go down as a success. In a blazing review of the scandals, misadventures and outright failures that have plagued the White House for the last seven years, Corn argues that Kristol's cheerleading "would be amusing were it not for all the damage he has helped Bush to cause."

Kristol defended Bush's still-congealing legacy on a strong economy, the absence of a terrorist attack after 9/11, and the urgency of patience in Iraq. All bunk, says Corn—the middle class shrank, al Qaeda is stronger and even hardcore hawks are beginning to jump ship on the surge. And Kristol elides Katrina entirely, a virulent Corn observes. (More William Kristol stories.)