In politics there are heroes and villains. Winston Churchill was a hero, Richard Nixon was a villain. President Clinton was almost a hero, until he got caught fraternizing with an intern. I use the term 'fraternizing' because this is a family newspaper. Josef Stalin was definitely evil, but it's hard to dislike someone who looks like your kindly old grandfather.

Good vs. evil, just like Gene Autry in the old cowboy books I used to read as a child. If only the world was really as black and white. Much to the surprise of basically nobody, President Bush released his long awaited political memoir 'Decision Points' and once again admits to approving 'water boarding' detainees at Guantanamo. Peppered with anecdotes about how his 'feelings' were hurt during his presidency and having to tolerate criticism. Torturing prisoners isn't something former world leaders should brag about. President Bush won't go down in history as any type of intellectual giant and he seems to have surrounded himself with the same. These same advisors assured him it was perfectly legal to torture suspects. If intelligence was a requirement in politics, Washington DC would be a barren wasteland.

Housing enemy combatants in some off-shore real estate in Cuba was some more bad advice.

The prisoners in Guantanamo Bay are accused of being terrorists, those that weren't, almost certainly are now, and the US can never release them. Whether these prisoners, or 'detainees' as they are called, are guilty of crimes, they deserve a trial. Democratic ideals and principles shouldn't end at the US border.

The most notable aspect of President Bush's memoir is a complete absence of guilt, or any sincere acknowledgement that he made a tragic mistake in invading Iraq. Avoiding his own active duty military service, President Bush had no qualms about sending others into the field.

In an interview with CNN, Bush expressed frustration that allied troops "turned out not to be willing to fight" in Afghanistan, while the US was invading Iraq. President Bush never named the countries involved and this was a shocking, untrue statement.

President Bush is neither a Hero or Villain � he was in a political position way over his level of competence, and relied on the tainted advice of others within his administration. Unlike his Vice President, Dick 'Darth Vader' Chaney, Bush never orchestrated any financial backroom deals to enrich himself while in office.

Republican Representative John Shimkus from Illinois, a ranking member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce denies global climate change is taking place because "nothing bad can happen to the earth, unless it is preordained by God". Shimkus is lobbying to chair the committee which deals with energy and environmental issues.

That's a unique rationale to allow oil, coal and gas companies to discontinue research or requirements into protecting the environment, or adopting alternative, clean energy sources. When the environment is polluted, Rep. Shimkus will just blame God.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and just blame Rep. Shimkus.

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