Timing is everything

ARTICLE: 'A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease: Bush, Grasping for Answers and Fixated on Iraq, Remains Resolute,' By Peter Baker, Washington Post, July 2, 2007; Page A01

This strikes me as awfully sad, these opening para:

At the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers. One at a time or in small groups, he summons leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House to join him in the search.

Over sodas and sparkling water, he asks his questions: What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? What lessons does history have for a president facing the turmoil I'm facing? How will history judge what we've done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?

Almost six years after 9/11 and Bush is only getting around to asking these questions now?

As I've written many times: Bush was just fine for 9/11 and the immediate response. We didn't need the "thinker" then or the tortured soul afraid to act.

But by the national election of 2004, it was clear it was time to change. Bush had his limits and so did his crew. They were just not the gang to move things forward at that point.

Problem is, no one wanted to run on the Dem side, and so Kerry was the best of the bunch. Apparently, no one wanted to run his campaign either, so Bob Shrum was the best of the bunch. And so Bush squeaked by again and we get this disastrous second term.

Timing is everything.

Comments

[Ted O'Connor]

Well if he is soul searching, he is doing it in vain. No "soul" to begin with. It is like Cheney listening to his conscience. The country must look to the inspiring Francis Frago Townsend to lead us out of the Valley of Death.

[Lexington Green]

"...no soul to begin with..."

Bush Derangement Syndrome is a big reason why Kerry lost. Most voters are sane people who can make objective judgments and who do not allow political fanaticism to dominate their thinking. The more the Democrats core supporters started talking like this, the more they alienated the swing voters and handed the election to the GOP.

As a life-long Republican, I can say that about the only hope we have in 2008 is that the Democrats will continue talking like Mr. O'Connor and hand us the election again.

[andyinsdca]

Bush has absolutely destroyed any possibility of doing good in the remaining 18 months of his presidency. He's wasted all of his political capital on 2 VERY VERY dumb moves (the amnesty immigration reform bill and commuting Scooter Libby's sentence). Now, if something that requires will/political capital comes up, he'll get no support from either side of the aisle or in the country at large.

[antonymous]

From a legacy perspective, Bush is in big trouble in terms of foreign policy. Iraq overshadows everything else he has and has not done. The worst part to me was a sentence (paraphrased here) that said "Bush knows his legacy hinges on turning around Iraq in 18 months". Is this really the right way to go about solving the problem? Giving it 18 months? Sorry, if you're focused on Iraq, your legacy is doomed.

If you want to feel good about what America can accomplish, I suggest reading Al Gore's NYTimes op-ed piece from Sunday. (yes, I know you may have stopped reading at this point) Discussing global warming, let alone tackling the problem, would be the most difficult thing the president has done domestically. But it is also one of the few issues the rest of the world could get behind, and it is certainly an instance where the United States can forcefully lead. Iraq has hurt the notion of American leadership and has forced other governments to succumb to anti-American pressure. I believe this is the only issue that could awaken the Bush presidency, or else we've got another 18 months of LAMEDUCK. Can we afford that?

[Pilgrim]

We've seen this type of Presidential foray into a quagmire before. For a wider, and longer, perspective see Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future by Geoffrey Perret. Not to worry, what Washington allowed Hamilton to set in motion will continue to make the connections that will get us past the latest installment in this country's history. Nixon went to China, maybe Rudy or Barack will go to Africa.