Obama's bin Laden mission accomplished

THE INK ON THE Osama bin Laden headlines had hardly dried before the rehab artists for former President Bush went into action to claim victory for their man. Led by the master of Grimms fairy tales, Karl Rove, if Bush hadn't laid the groundwork for bin Laden's capture, President Obama wouldn't be standing in front of the TV cameras to tell the world that the enemy was dead and gone. Hence, Bush/Cheney's defense of illegal torture was fully justified because that's what opened the way for Obama's follow-up success.

Or so it was claimed, despite more accuarate reporting that said the first clues to bin Laden's whereabouts came through normal interrogation of al-Qaeda operatives.

So be it. Believe what you like, with the understanding that the Rovian side of the Bush family is not giving up it's fictional narrative about its former boss. Here's what super sleuth George Bush said of his role in tracking down bin Laden on March 13, 2002:

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."

The film clips show him shrugging off the question in a feathery manner as if to say , stop bothering me with such trivia. Can't you see that we're busy in Iraq?

Nothing demonstrated the stark difference in presidential demeanor between Bush and Obama than the moments of declaring good news. How can history forget a heroic Bush's wildly orchestrated landing in full flight gear on the aircraft carrier (The Abraham Lincoln!) to announce Mission Accomplished? . It was a photo album creation of a boastful unwavering leader who knew how to get it done. (On the other hand, the campaign rhetoric in 2008 warned that Obama couldn't get it done. Dick Cheney had no doubts that America's exposure to terrorists would be seriously heightened under Obama because it's the nature of Democrats to be soft on our enemies. The trash talking continues today among the die-hards.)

For good reason the self-ascending Bush visit to the aircraft carrier didn't become a national holiday. And eight years later to the day Obama , with presidential self-control befitting the office, walked to the microphone to soberly announce the bin Laden mission accomplished - a statement that electrified the world, if not his political enemies at home.

It was an important stop along the way on the war against terrorism. Obama did it without bells and whistles. Bush's version will remain in the hands of the Karl Roves for embellishment.