So I came up short on what Bush would say in his Wednesday press conference. That’s cool. With the right seasonings crow isn’t half bad. Maybe he will even match words up with deeds, but don’t count on it it. We have seen the president rhetorically turn on a dime before. Changing his act will take a lot more work.
Of course Dick Cheney, considered Batman to the president’s affable, dim Robin, didn’t bother with conciliatory words. Don’t expect pleasantries from a guy whose governing philosophy revolves around the idea that Nixon gave up too easily and don’t expect diplomacy from a guy who views every conflict as a savage death struggle between implacable foes. The first subpoena to slide under Cheney’s undisclosed door will kick off a scrap that won’t settle until Bush’s SCOTUS picks have had their say, if then.
Maybe with Rumsfeld gone Cheney will have a harder time spreading his murk around Washington. That assumes the existence of a compassionate president beneath the naked machiavellianism championed by Rove and the Veep, one who can finally take advantage of the dark pair’s weakened state to express his basic humanity. Could be, but it’s been twenty-four hours since Bush extended his open hand to the Democrats and already we have two reasons to think that he meant to extend a finger.
One:
Word has just reached me from a well-placed source that the White House has continued to push John Bolton’s confirmation prospects as US Ambassador to the United Nations despite the election outcome.
Another highly placed source has informed me that in just a few minutes Senator Lincoln Chafee is calling a press conference to state categorically that he will not support John Bolton’s confirmation in the upcoming lame duck session.
Two:
For the new 110th Congress, a long-overdue investigation of warrantless eavesdropping seems far more likely than legalization of it, to put it mildly. For that reason, the President made clear in a Rose Garden speech today that he wants Congressional action taken on that bill during the lame duck session, to convene before Democrats take over in January.
Kiss my black ass indeed. Or for the sake of brevity, KMBA. Expect to see it often.