One more time for that ole’ Bush magic?
You can see these rolling out the old routine to see if it can work one more time. First there was President Bush telling Congress to shove with his “I’m the decider” line. Then later this afternoon there was Sec Def Bob Gates saying even a non-binding resolution would ’embolden the enemy’ as you can see in this clip below …
Calculated statements like these don’t roll off these guys’ tongues by chance. It’s the old routine from three and four years ago — talk tough, aggressive and confrontational, when your position is actually quite weak. Break it down and it’s really no more than a confidence game.
What the White House is saying is that the United States senate can’t do anything does not express full support for President Bush — even something that only expresses sentiment — without aiding the enemy. The very exercise of the senate’s constitutional authority aides the terrorists.
Having this resolution passed really does worry the White House — even if it is merely a non-binding, sense-of-the-senate resolution — because their whole model of political control is based cowing the political opposition. That is the key. Once that spell’s broken, for them it’s the abyss.
