MORE THAN ONE TERRORIST DEATH A DAY

Marc A. Thiessen, former chief speechwriter in the Bush White House, writes yet another loyalist's defense of George W. Bush in today's Washington Post. His op-ed begins:

2,688 Days

When President Bush left office on Tuesday, America marked 2,688 days without a terrorist attack on its soil. There are 1,459 days until the next inauguration. Whether Barack Obama is standing on the Capitol steps to be sworn in a second time depends on whether he succeeds in replicating Bush's achievement....

So America marked 2,688 days without a terrorist attack on its soil from 9/12/01 to 1/20/09? That's interesting. That means that if you include 9/11/01 in that range -- a total of 2,689 days -- then the Bush administration presided over an average of more than one death per day at the hands of terrorists during the period in question (2,751 resulting from 9/11, plus 5 more in the anthrax attacks).

If Mr. Thiessen thinks that's an "achievement," he and I clearly don't see the world quite the same way.

By the way, this is yet more evidence that the Bushies intend to write and publish at least as many soundalike op-eds defending their hero as there were terrorist deaths on Bush's watch. (See also Karl Rove's latest Wall Street Journal column.) Do they think we haven't yet absorbed each and every one of their endlessly repeated arguments? For the love of God, can we pay them to stop?