Unfortunately, there's one sure-fire way of putting Bush and the right-wing (military at least) back in the saddle, and that would be if America were to suffer another attack of some kind.
I have some questions regarding whether Bush knew of the magnitude of the 9/11 tragedy, but I don't have any problem believing that the PNAC crowd would be inclined to let a much less devastating attack proceed, as I believe to be the case with the 9/11 hijackings. Given this, I think that we should not be surprised if we see some mysterious bombing take place at any time now, a bombing that will of course be attributed to "America's enemies! The one's that George W. Bush *and only George Bush* has had the courage to go after!" (Hey, quit throwing shit. I'm just predicting what you'll hear on the newscasts.....)
--
Gary Williams
Todays Iraq Body Count
Min Max
22353 25341
Doug Henwood wrote:
> [pronounced a "magnum opus must-read" by The Note, the Ed Hyman of
> politics]
>
> New York Times - June 20, 2005
>
> Bush's Road Gets Rougher
> By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
>
> WASHINGTON, June 19 - Five months after President Bush was sworn in for
> another four years, his political authority appears to be ebbing, both
> within his own party, where members of Congress are increasingly if
> sporadically going their own way, and among Democrats, who have
> discovered that they pay little or no price for defying him.
>
> In some cases, Mr. Bush is suffering mere political dings that can be
> patched up, like the votes by the House this past week to buck him on
> withholding dues to the United Nations and retaining a controversial
> provision of the USA Patriot Act.
>
> In others, the damage is more than cosmetic, as in the case of stem cell
> research, an issue on which a good portion of his party is breaking with
> him. In a few instances - most notably the centerpiece of his
> second-term agenda, his call to reshape Social Security - he is
> dangerously close to a fiery wreck that could have lasting consequences
> for his standing and for the Republican Party.
>
> On Monday, Mr. Bush will face another test of his clout, when the
> Republican-controlled Senate tries again to overcome Democratic
> opposition and confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United
> Nations. And with his poll numbers sinking as voters grow more restive
> about Iraq and the economy, he faces additional big challenges in coming
> weeks and months, from legislative battles over energy, trade and
> immigration to the possibility of a divisive Supreme Court confirmation
> fight.
>
> The cumulative effect of his difficulties in the last few months has
> been to pierce the sense of dominance that he sought to project after
> his re-election and to heighten concerns among Republicans in Congress
> that voters will hold them, as the party in power, responsible for
> failure to address the issues of most concern to the public.
>
> "The political capital he thought he had has dwindled to very little,
> and he overstated how much he had to begin with," said Allan J.
> Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University in Washington.
>
> "Congress is like Wall Street - it operates on fear and greed," Mr.
> Lichtman said. "The Democrats don't fear him anymore, and they're
> getting greedy, because they think they can beat him. The attitude you
> see among Republicans in Congress is, my lifeboat first."
>
> In the last week, Mr. Bush has responded by lashing out at Democrats,
> casting them as obstructionists, a strategy that carries some risk given
> that it seems to acknowledge an inability by Republicans to carry out a
> governing platform. Searching as well for a more positive message, the
> administration, which has always been reluctant to acknowledge that
> events are not unfolding precisely as planned, has embarked on a public
> relations campaign intended to reassure Americans that Mr. Bush is
> attuned to their concerns.
>
> Mr. Bush has offered nothing new in the way of policy but is instead
> reiterating his views that the war in Iraq is worth the sacrifices it
> has demanded and that his approaches on issues like energy and trade are
> the best way of addressing economic jitters. But his message is being
> undercut somewhat by the more outspoken mavericks in his own party.
>
> Among them are two potential candidates for Mr. Bush's job: Senator
> Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who in an interview in the current issue of
> U.S. News & World Report said the administration's assertions on Iraq
> were "disconnected from reality," and Senator John McCain of Arizona,
> who on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday disputed Vice President Dick
> Cheney's characterization last week of the Iraqi insurgency as being in
> its last throes.
>
> It is far too early to dismiss Mr. Bush as a lame duck. He remains
> exceedingly popular among Republicans, he has a skilled and aggressive
> political team around him, and he has had a way in the past of teasing
> full or partial victories from dire-looking situations. Even if he has
> to wheel and deal, he stands a good chance of signing an energy policy
> bill and a trade agreement with Central American nations this summer.
>
> But he has already had to postpone his next big initiative, an overhaul
> of the tax code. And barring some crisis that creates another
> rally-round-the-president effect, analysts said, Mr. Bush's best
> opportunity to drive the agenda may be past.
>
> To many Republicans, Mr. Bush's problems are not unexpected given his
> willingness to take on politically difficult issues like Social Security
> and immigration. They say that divisions within the party are manageable
> and that Mr. Bush's doggedness and personal appeal ensure that he will
> still drive the debate on Capitol Hill and around the country, even if
> he does not get everything he wants.
>
> "More is being done than it appears," said Representative Peter T. King,
> Republican of New York, pointing to the enactment this year of laws
> changing the bankruptcy system and limiting class-action lawsuits, as
> well as Mr. Bush's success in moving more of his judicial appointments
> through the Senate.
>
> But, Mr. King added, "it's still going to be difficult on Social
> Security and immigration."
>
> "He will be in control of the agenda, but that control is not going to
> be as emphatic as it was in the first four years," Mr. King said.
>
> Democrats said Mr. Bush's problems were of his own making, and stemmed
> from a tendency toward insistence on doing things his way and viewing
> bipartisanship as nothing more than winning over a few Democrats to get
> legislation passed.
>
> Mr. Bush and his administration now find themselves with little or no
> support from Democrats and with a Republican Party that has proved
> reluctant to support him on a number of fronts.
>
> "Their domestic agenda is really stalled, and they're pretty much
> looking for an exit ramp," said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon.
> "They seem to have been unwilling to shift from the politics of a
> first-term president who has to run for re-election into the clear-eyed
> policy of a second-term president who wants to be able to point to
> substantive achievements."
>
> To some extent, Mr. Bush's problems are a result of diverging political
> interests: the lawmakers he is asking to support him on difficult issues
> like Social Security, trade and immigration have to run for re-election,
> many of them next year, while he has the luxury of thinking about his
> place in history and reshaping, for the long term, politics and policy.
>
> The current situation also reflects Mr. Bush's style of not giving an
> inch until defeat is certain, and only then compromising or capitulating.
>
> At a recent meeting with Republican Congressional leaders, Mr. Bush told
> them, "We're on the verge of getting a lot of things done," according to
> a White House official who was there. The 55 Republican senators have
> been invited to hold their weekly policy luncheon at the White House on
> Tuesday, a gesture that is part of an effort by the administration to
> respond to grumbling among Republicans that the White House has failed
> to open good lines of communication with Capitol Hill.
>
> "While it's been a rough 45 days, Bush can and will get back on track,
> and all those jitters will go away," said Scott W. Reed, a Republican
> consultant who managed Bob Dole's 1996 campaign for president.
>
> But Mr. Lichtman said history suggested that it was difficult for
> second-term presidents to regain their clout in domestic policy once
> they had dissipated it.
>
> "Second terms have never been redeemed by domestic policy," he said.
> "It's very difficult once you've had problems in domestic policy, as
> they almost all do, to come back. To the extent you've had them come out
> successfully, it's because of foreign affairs."
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