Jeb! Bush did his first big official-presidential-candidate interview Tuesday, giving Fox News' Sean Hannity the honor. It was yet another moment when Bush embraced his family's political legacy, although there's at least one part he's apparently hoping he can just ignore. Asked about Iraq and the whole "would you have invaded if you'd known what we know now" thing, Bush offered up
something short of total openness and honesty:
Do we have to talk about that again?
Yes, Jeb!, we do. Because your brother, the brother you have repeatedly said you admire and agree with on the Middle East and are advised by, got the United States into a disastrous war of choice. It cost the country lives, money, and reputation. Its effects are still playing out, badly, in the Middle East. This is a question that matters. It's a question that especially has to be asked of you, the guy who has surrounded himself with the people who made that war happen.
Let's be real: If Bush was being honest, his answer would be yes. In fact, his answer was yes the first time he was asked that question, before he was made to realize that that answer is too politically damaging to admit to in public and asked for a do-over. Maybe there's something honorable in his desire to evade this question from now on, since if he answers, his choice is between lying and setting his presidential dreams on fire. But it's a question he has to answer, repeatedly and under every possible wording, because his brother who he trusts as an adviser intentionally lied the United States into war and we need to know if this Bush would be any different.
Sean Hannity, however, did him the favor of moving on to a friendlier question: "knowing what we know now, President Obama, Hillary Clinton, was it wrong to pull out early?" Early! Eight years, early!
But while Bush does not believe in accountability for himself, even at the level of answering important questions posed by friendly interviewers, he is looking forward to accountability on one front. Asked about Benghazi, he had this to say:
Trey Gowdy is going to get to the bottom of it. And it will be done in a fair way and she’ll be held to account and so will the administration.
It'll be fair AND she's guilty! Even though several previous investigations haven't found wrongdoing, the one that finally does—that'll be the fair one.