I just spent more than an hour debating - trying to keep it a step above arguing - with my stepmother about Bush. She is a lifelong Republican, firmly so, because she is also one of the most committed capitalists one could ever want to meet. She acknowledged Bush has been bad, said he was much more "naive" and "ignorant of world relations" than she ever thought when he first ran. She loathes the war, yadda yadda yadda, yet will not accept that Bush bears any active responsibility ("guilt," in my lexicon) for where we are. To her, it's all about our intel community giving him bad info and his being served by bad advisors.
And she absolutely, totally rejects the idea that he's ever lied to the American public.
She's a real stickler for accuracy. (Might have something to do with having to defend her worldview, but that's a different issue.) She claims, for instance, to be utterly unaware of any time that Bush ever linked al Qaida to Saddam Hussein, and/or that - if he said it - at the time he said it he would have had no reason to think it was not true.
I, on the other hand, think she's wrong. I believe that Bush has lied to us, and that by putting together a trail of his public comments, 9/11 commission reports, etc., with dates, I could prove to her that he has chosen (repeatedly) to utter words that he may have wanted to believe, but that he knew or should have known - that famous formula, particularly for a president - were untrue.
Under other circumstances, I would try to pull the research together myself. I really believe the truth is out there (to quote Fox Mulder!). But I'm actually here with her because my father is dying. A subject for another diary, someday, when it's not too painful.
But in the midst of everything going on personally, I know that what's happening to our country is just as important. And I don't want to miss any moments with him. Can anyone help me?