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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Wednesday, March 31, 2004 :::
A couple of days ago, Dean Esmay wrote:My own prediction for Joe and others is that Bush will allow Rice to testify, and fairly soon.
Because he planned to all along, you see. He's just waited for the clamor to make him do it to grow to a loud enough racket.
It's breathtaking to watch. There hasn't been a President this canny or able to outmaneuver his opponents since Lyndon Johnson. Bush waits for his opponents to work themselves into a fever pitch, an absolute froth, over something utterly trivial. Then he quietly gives them what they want, they crow in triumph that they "embarassed him into" doing what they demanded--then they look stupid. RtWT, if only for the Bugs Bunny references.
Eric sees this as "the Republican leadership fighting an unpopular battle over a weak principle, waiting until all the press criticism is over and they have sustained the maximum political damage, and then giving up, thereby alienating their core supporters in the end." Maybe that's true, but it looks reversed to me. I might be wrong, but I don't think there was all that much political damage in the end. And this may have been a negotiating tactic -- by pretending that this was a big concession, the administration might be hoping to avoid giving up something else. If Eric was alienated by the ultimate concession -- I assume he counts as one of Bush's core supporters -- I'd like a better understanding of why.
::: posted by Steven at 9:15 AM
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