Bush Adopts Cheney Doctrine: I Won, So Go F*** Yourself

Over the weekend, Pres. Bush stated that, based upon the fact that he won the election in November, there was no reason to hold any Bush administration officials accountable for mistakes or misjudgments in prewar planning or managing the aftermath: "We had an accountability moment, and that's called the 2004 elections." (To those who voted for Bush, here is a site documenting the financial cost of the Iraq war, and here is one documenting the loss of American lives -- and, thanks to your vote, now no one is accountable.)

One logical flaw: even if the election did serve as a vote of approval for the war in Iraq (which it certainly was not -- 3 percent margin STILL does not equal a mandate, pal) and all things related to Iraq (this would be the implicit inclusion of Abu Ghraib), it was not a vote for things occurring beyond that (or things about which the electorate was kept in the dark): Rumsfeld insulting soldiers, possible invasion of Iran, ignoring the suggestions of (soon-to-be former?) suppporters concerning the Iraqi course of action, declining to pledge to significantly reduce U.S. troop levels at any time (even before the end of his second term in January 2009), etc.

In other words, under Bush's logic, this can, at best, only serve as a tabula rasa. Once the slate is cleaned, anything new he writes is considered fair game.