The more time that passes since George W. Bush left the White House, the more TIME columnist Joe Klein?s Bush-bashing appears gratuitous and irrelevant.

Klein?s latest serving of Bush-inspired bile ? embedded within a column praising President Obama’s plans for “ending” the Iraq War ? does serve at least one useful purpose. It reminds us that Klein seldom exhibits any evidence of the ability ?to think difficult thoughts and weigh conflicting options with clarity and subtlety.?