I rarely agree with Conservative commentator Peggy Noonan and even though she's come around to the view that Bush ain't very good at what he does, I'm not about to start now. In this column, she theorizes that George W. makes some people uneasy because he's so upbeat and cheery. Here's an excerpt…
As I watched the news conference, it occurred to me that one of the things that might leave people feeling somewhat disoriented is the president's seemingly effortless high spirits. He's in a good mood. There was the usual teasing, the partly aggressive, partly joshing humor, the certitude. He doesn't seem to be suffering, which is jarring. Presidents in great enterprises that are going badly suffer: Lincoln, LBJ with his head in his hands. Why doesn't Mr. Bush? Every major domestic initiative of his second term has been ill thought through and ended in failure. His Iraq leadership has failed. His standing is lower than any previous president's since polling began. He's in a good mood. Discuss.
Okay, Peggy, I will. I think you've got it exactly backwards. I think Bush is making people uneasy because his "good mood" seems so forced and driven by panic, and because the guy is stammering and relying on hysterical premises that few now accept, like the idea that the people we're fighting in Iraq are the same people who attacked us on 9/11. I don't think Americans even know anymore who we're fighting in Iraq other than it's now "Al Qeada," an ill-defined group that depending on which report one believes this week, is either stronger than it was back then or weaker or growing or on the ropes. So we don't know who the hell we're fighting there and we're wondering if the current administration does.
The supporters Bush has lost needed to hear an articulate explanation of what precise objectives will constitute Victory and allow us to say we won and bring the troops home. Instead, they've been getting catch phrases about fighting "them" there so we don't have to fight "them" here, uttered by a guy doing at least a darn good impression of an alcoholic who's sneaking quick beers now and then.
Does anyone think what we're seeing lately from Bush is "effortless high spirits?" He looks more and more to me like a poker player who thought he had a royal flush, bet everything he had and then peeked again and saw that what he'd thought was the Ace of Spades is actually a Four of Clubs. It isn't Bush's good mood that unnerves people. It's all that flop sweat they're smelling.