Nice Write Up by Pat
As the petty carping from Senators Reid and Kerry indicates, President Bush?s speech from Jackson Square was a success. Again, he accepted responsibility for the torpid response of federal authorities. He showed empathy for the victims and recognition the poor had borne the brunt of the New Orleans disaster.
He came prepared with a credible agenda of action. And the biblical allusions fit well with Southern and religious folks, black and white. Not a great speech, but Gersen did the job, put the President out front and center as Big Boss in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Also, New Orleans and Louisiana officials, Democrats though they may be, are unlikely to keep attacking a fellow who is going to decide how $65 billion is spend in their back yard. After mishandling the crisis, the president has been on top and out front for two weeks. While the memory of his stumbling and bumbling will be part of his legacy, the worst is behind him, the story now gets better with the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans, a story Americans will like.
Media and Democrats who continue to snipe will soon appear to be what many are: inveterate Bush-baiters and Bush-bashers. Nevertheless, there is no denying that George W. Bush is now at the nadir of his presidency. The aura of 9/11 is gone. His approval is at 40%. Iraq appears an insoluble mess with the real potential for a strategic and economic disaster. Gas prices are biting. The immigration situation?and the president?s inexplicable refusal to protect the border?is killing him with his populist base.
While the Roberts appointment was a coup, the Scalia constitutionalists will still have, when he becomes Chief Justice, only three solid votes of nine. It is difficult to exaggerate the criticality of the nominee to replace Sandra Day O?Connor. It has to be a nominee who will rally the Republican-conservative base -- or Bush?s strongest supporters will start leaving the stadium. Those imploring Bush to name a ?centrist? to the court, to avoid a bloody brawl, the ?Can?t-we-all-just-get-along-crowd?? -- should have their pundit?s licenses pulled for malpractice.
But those, like my friend E. J. Dionne, who wrote, ?The Bush era is over,? are expressing hopes, not describing reality. Bush holds the most powerful office on earth -- and will for the next three years and four months. He draws up a federal budget of $2.4 trillion, can veto bills, appoint Supreme Court Justices, attend summits, negotiate treaties, go on national TV virtually at will, and pull out or send in troops to Iraq.
Ask the Syrians if they think, ?The Bush era is over.? The people writing Bush off today were calling him a success six weeks ago when he got CAFTA and the highway and energy bills. He is going through a rough patch, but nothing like Iran-Contra in Reagan?s second term or Hurricane Monica in Clinton?s. Moreover, he is eternally blessed in his opposition. Jackson, Sharpton, Pelosi & Reid is not an all-pro Front Four.
The real problem for the President -- and for us -- is Iraq. How do we pull out of there without having it collapse in chaos or a civil war that could draw in Turks, Iranians and Sunni volunteers. And if we can?t get out, how does the president continue to take casualties fighting a war that a majority of Americans now believe should never have been begun and should be ended.
Like Prometheus, Bush is chained to the rock with the vulture gnawing at his liver. His presidency is riding as much on Iraq as LBJ?s was on Vietnam. As for the GOP, it would be facing a Category 5 election in 2006 if the opposition were not a portrait of mediocrity
As the petty carping from Senators Reid and Kerry indicates, President Bush?s speech from Jackson Square was a success. Again, he accepted responsibility for the torpid response of federal authorities. He showed empathy for the victims and recognition the poor had borne the brunt of the New Orleans disaster.
He came prepared with a credible agenda of action. And the biblical allusions fit well with Southern and religious folks, black and white. Not a great speech, but Gersen did the job, put the President out front and center as Big Boss in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Also, New Orleans and Louisiana officials, Democrats though they may be, are unlikely to keep attacking a fellow who is going to decide how $65 billion is spend in their back yard. After mishandling the crisis, the president has been on top and out front for two weeks. While the memory of his stumbling and bumbling will be part of his legacy, the worst is behind him, the story now gets better with the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans, a story Americans will like.
Media and Democrats who continue to snipe will soon appear to be what many are: inveterate Bush-baiters and Bush-bashers. Nevertheless, there is no denying that George W. Bush is now at the nadir of his presidency. The aura of 9/11 is gone. His approval is at 40%. Iraq appears an insoluble mess with the real potential for a strategic and economic disaster. Gas prices are biting. The immigration situation?and the president?s inexplicable refusal to protect the border?is killing him with his populist base.
While the Roberts appointment was a coup, the Scalia constitutionalists will still have, when he becomes Chief Justice, only three solid votes of nine. It is difficult to exaggerate the criticality of the nominee to replace Sandra Day O?Connor. It has to be a nominee who will rally the Republican-conservative base -- or Bush?s strongest supporters will start leaving the stadium. Those imploring Bush to name a ?centrist? to the court, to avoid a bloody brawl, the ?Can?t-we-all-just-get-along-crowd?? -- should have their pundit?s licenses pulled for malpractice.
But those, like my friend E. J. Dionne, who wrote, ?The Bush era is over,? are expressing hopes, not describing reality. Bush holds the most powerful office on earth -- and will for the next three years and four months. He draws up a federal budget of $2.4 trillion, can veto bills, appoint Supreme Court Justices, attend summits, negotiate treaties, go on national TV virtually at will, and pull out or send in troops to Iraq.
Ask the Syrians if they think, ?The Bush era is over.? The people writing Bush off today were calling him a success six weeks ago when he got CAFTA and the highway and energy bills. He is going through a rough patch, but nothing like Iran-Contra in Reagan?s second term or Hurricane Monica in Clinton?s. Moreover, he is eternally blessed in his opposition. Jackson, Sharpton, Pelosi & Reid is not an all-pro Front Four.
The real problem for the President -- and for us -- is Iraq. How do we pull out of there without having it collapse in chaos or a civil war that could draw in Turks, Iranians and Sunni volunteers. And if we can?t get out, how does the president continue to take casualties fighting a war that a majority of Americans now believe should never have been begun and should be ended.
Like Prometheus, Bush is chained to the rock with the vulture gnawing at his liver. His presidency is riding as much on Iraq as LBJ?s was on Vietnam. As for the GOP, it would be facing a Category 5 election in 2006 if the opposition were not a portrait of mediocrity
