[anamax]

Let's make sure I understand.

Someone says "X is bad". Your response is "bad person Y also did X".

It's unclear how that's an argument for the goodness of X.

Note that the person who said "X is bad" may have disagreed with it when Y did it. If you find X acceptable now, it's unclear why you're criticizing Y for doing it.

And, FWIW, the Iraq/Afghanistan war has been cheaper than Obama's other adventures. And, for all the pre-election talk, Obama has followed the Bush timetable/plan wrt Iraq/Afganistan.

Bush's errors do not justify or excuse Obama's actions. However, they do constrain them.

WRT govt debt/spending, it's one thing to say "I'll start a diet tomorrow" if you're 20 pounds overweight and quite another if you're 200 pounds overweight. If you honestly think that Bush put us in a hole with spending, you can't seriously argue for digging it deeper.