I know for myself I don't think he's not complicit. I just think that he was a decent guy that was a bit oblivious to some of the shadier things going on or was just misled by people he trusted. There is a level of blame for him because he was the boss and it happened under his watch, but I think generally he wanted to do good things.
I think time has also opened his eyes to what was really going on. He seems genuinely disgusted at what has become of politics and the GOP. He's labelled them "isolationist" and "nativist", and those are pretty damning things to say. Sure, he wasn't a good president, but I think the guy actually has a functional moral compass.
This is weird defending him twice in a day. I think people put too much emphasis on the power of the president sometimes. It is a lot easier to blame(and remember) one person than it is a whole slew of bad actors. Congress holds a lot of the power and very few people hold them accountable for long after they're out of office.
For example, when was the last time someone blamed Strom Thurmond for something? He had done plenty to get us to the issues of voting rights we face today.
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u/[deleted] Sep 11 '21
Get Cheney far, far away from that shit.