Kick Him When He’s Down: More on E. J.
I’m not the only one having a good time with the latest E.J. Dionne, Jr., fairly tale; here’s Hugh Hewitt:
The great news about the left is that its capacity for self-delusion is undiminished by the electoral losses of the past few years. It remains eager to believe what it wants to believe, in this case that President Bush is in deep political trouble. Bookmark and save E.J.’s piece. It will be fun to link to whenever the president achieves another political victory.
…and AcademicElephant:
If the Bush Era is over, someone should mention it to John Bolton as he hammers away at UN reform, to Condoleezza Rice as she re-shapes the State Department in preparation for a massive new policy launch, or to Donald Rumsfeld as he finalizes the Quadrennial Defense Review, which promises to be nothing if not a call to action. True, this is not a course for the faint of heart. But for those of us who willingly, even eagerly, “dare” to go where Dionne does not under this administration, the next months, not to mention the next years, will be pretty interesting. As the Katrina recovery continues apace, as the Afgans and the Iraqis vote this month and next, and as John Roberts takes his place as Supreme Court Chief Justice on October 4th, it looks less and less like George W. Bush plans on spending the next three years smoothing the way for a democratic successor because E.J. Dionne says he should.
The reviews aren’t good, E. J. – might be time to go dark for a week or two and retool that argument…
Re Hewitt’s piece: Bush’s approval ratings are now in the 30′s, which is at or below the approval ratings for Nixon and Carter at their nadir. Can someone explain why it is delusional to think that this does not signal “deep political trouble”?
Well, I think Hugh’s point is that this supposed lame duck has his Supreme Court nominee sailing through confirmation hearings, with another Supreme Court nominee on the way, the vote on the Iraqi constitution just around the corner, and the trial of Saddam coming up. Playing Katrina for political points is not only of dubious morality, but it’s a very transitory thing to hang your hat on.
Here’s the way I see it; no WMDs – Bush survives. PlameGate – Bush survives. A very bad spell in Iraq – Bush survives. Cindy Sheehan – Bush survives. The dreaded New Orleans hurricane – Bush survives. When you look at what this president has faced (some his fault, some the fault of others, some no one’s fault) it’s no wonder his approval ratings are low. Yet through it all, he not only lives to fight another day, he has a habit of sneaking around when you least expect it and pulling a victory out of nowhere.
Now, that’s not to say his luck (such as it is – many of those things are hardly ‘lucky’) won’t run out…but there is a precedent for saying “This too shall pass”.
Well, I don’t think Bush’s survival is in question — the question is how much popular support he retains and (consequently) how much leverage he has to enact his agenda. A chart of Bush’s approval ratings looks like the NASDAQ did a few years ago — although the NASDAQ did manage to bounce back (sort of). Maybe Bush will be the new Comeback Kid, who knows. Somehow, I doubt it. However, as a professor of mine in college used to say: in the fullness of time, the Truth will be revealed to us all.