See, 240 gets it, why don't most others? Or do they get it, but they don't want to accept it 
I have an MBA and was a damn history teacher, and it still took a year of whining for me to accept it. So despite all the economic and historical precedents, I was just too immature to accept it.
Now I see that Bush/Cheney will, incredibly, be remembered as an administratino that put us in a very good position for the next few decades. The world isn't big USA fans at the moment, but it was necessary. China is growing, Russia is debt-free and scarey as hell, and they have a treaty with iran to care for one another. They're a beast, and they will be the biggest threat for the next 30 years.
Now we have a nice reserve of oil. Now we have bases there, and we aren't dependent upon keeping them in saudi arabia. Now we ensure Iraqi oil is sold in dollars FOREVER.
Bush and Cheney will be judged very favorably by history. They listed their goals in PNAC before entering office - a new pearl harbor then bases and oil control in arabia - and that is EXACTLY what they did. If we didn't want that, we shouldn't have elected and re-elected them. They told us what they'd do, and they did it. As sad and immoral as it seems, it's necessary, and I'm glad they are able to make calls like that, which I couldn't.