One other thought just popped into the airy open space of my mind, and I thought I'd throw it out here in case anyone else wants to ponder it. The Bush Administration is currently wrestling with two related scandals. One is the whole matter of who leaked the CIA status of Valerie Plame Wilson. The other is the question of whether the White House hyped, manipulated, lied or otherwise misrepresented intelligence on behalf of their Iraq war plans. Both scandals may ultimately have innocent resolutions but at the moment, they're crippling the administration's ability to make the case for "staying the course" in Iraq.
Bush isn't doing press conferences because, among other questions he'd rather avoid, he doesn't want to be asked if in light of recent revelations, he's going to make good on earlier pledges to dismiss anyone — Karl Rove, say — who was involved in the outing of Ms. Plame. Cheney doesn't want to be asked if he told Scooter Libby or Bob Woodward or anyone else. Neither prez nor veep wants to have reporters throw some earlier quotes at them to defend, like Cheney's line about Saddam reconstituing his nuclear weapons program. Two years ago, newsfolks didn't press such matters. Today, some would.
If there's a case to be made for continuing the current course in Iraq, it's not being made in the most effective manner, which would be Bush or Cheney fielding questions in a real give-and-take venue. They can't do that because of all these questions they don't wish to face. And when they make speeches about Iraq, as both have lately, the headlines and sound bites are all about their defense of pre-war intelligence handling and their attacks on their critics. Nothing about why pressing on in Iraq is a good idea.
If anyone can point me to a good article that does make the case, I'd like to read and link to it. I don't buy the argument that we have to press on because we'll look like Surrender Monkeys if we pull out. (If you buy that premise, there's no such thing as a war plan we shouldn't see through to its conclusion, no matter what it costs us.) I don't buy that Democracy is imminent in Iraq and that it's worth any amount of American lives and dollars to see that happen. I especially don't buy that it will dishonor those who have fallen to change the plan that's getting their fellow soldiers killed. But I suspect there is a better case for Bush's approach than we've been getting lately and I'd like to hear what it is.
End of political ramblings for now. The next five postings, whatever they turn out to be, will all be about show business and comic books and raccoons in my yard. You know…the stuff that really matters.