Q&A: Don Siegelman

Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama, on how the Bush presidency showed that “prayers are more effective than bullets.”

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Mother Jones: Of all the things the Bush administration leaves behind, what’s the hardest one to fix?

Don Siegelman: The hardest to fix is the pain, sorrow, and hurt that come from losing a loved one in the Bush wars.

MJ: And the easiest?

DS: The horrible international reputation that George W. Bush has given the United States.

MJ: What have been the president’s most notable policy failures, foreign and domestic?

DS: The invasion of Iraq, be it to protect the US from bin Laden, weapons of mass destruction, or to establish democracy in Iraq, is by far the worst foreign policy failure. Bush’s worst domestic failure? Well, let’s see, there are so many: not educating our children, not providing health care for working families who can’t afford it, willfully watching as our world melts away due to global warming, putting no effort into renewable energy and energy conservation, and the absence of an environmental policy to protect our natural heritage.

MJ: Is the damage caused by any of these failures irreparable?

DS: No, it is not irreparable.

MJ: Which problem created by the administration most urgently needs addressing?

DS: The most urgent problem is ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MJ: What lessons about leadership should the next president glean from the past eight years?

DS: The lessons from Bush’s eight long years could start with this one: Prayers are more effective than bullets and a lot less costly than wars.

MJ: What are the dos and don’ts that the next president should have learned?

DS: Do give every child in America the chance to reach their God-given potential through education; don’t spend their school money on wars. Do protect our democracy; don’t allow your political adviser to be another Karl Rove and use the Department of Justice as a political tool to win elections. Do create a national energy policy that reduces our use of gas and oil; don’t make yourself and your friends rich by selling out the American people to giant corporations. Do create national health insurance; don’t think that everyone has the same health care or retirement benefits as the president.

MJ: What advice would you give the next president on how to go about undoing the deeds of the Bush administration?

DS: The best advice for the next president is do unto others as you would have them do to you, your family, and the American people.

MJ:What will the Bush administration’s legacy be 50 years from now?

DS:The domestic neglect as a result of spending so much of our national treasury on war.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate