The Decider-in-Chief Seems Confused

It's becoming increasingly clear that with the midterm elections just two weeks away that Bush is driven entirely and utterly by what the polls says as he weaves and waffles and flip flops. He's now saying he never said he's 'staying the course' which of course is utter nonsense since that's what he's been saying for three years. But the phrase 'staying the course,' is not polling well among the voters so Bush is desperately attempting to change the rhetoric which to him is always more important than changing his policies when things aren't going well.

Dan Froomkin of White House Briefing has an excellent post today documenting the confusion within the White House:

With just more than two weeks to go before a mid-term election that promises to be in large part a referendum on the war in Iraq, President Bush and his aides continue to muddy the debate by trying to redefine their terms on the fly.

(snip)

Anchor George Stephanopoulos was asking Bush about comments from James A. Baker III, who has said that the independent commission he co-chairs is pursuing alternatives to "cut and run" or "stay the course" in Iraq.

Said Bush: "Well, listen, we've never been stay the course, George. We have been -- we will complete the mission, we will do our job and help achieve the goal, but we're constantly adjusting the tactics, constantly."

Being a Democrat, I'm not a great fan of James Baker but he's a competent individual and the help he gave the senior Bush in the Gulf War in 1990-91 as secretary of state was brilliant as he put together a true multilateral force. If James Baker thinks there ought to be a change of strategy, he's the guy we should be listening to, not our reckless and incompetent president and certainly not Cheney and Rumsfeld and certainly not the rubber stamp Republican Congress.

Here's more from Froomkin's post:

No one has made more of a hash of explaining Bush's Iraq policies than Tony Snow, his Fox News-trained press secretary.

And on Friday, in what I suspect is the first time in briefing-room history, Snow banged his head against the podium in exasperation with a reporter who was trying to get him to confront some of his own contradictions.

(snip)

"Q: Yes, and what you're telling me is in the strategy, in this big picture, he's entertaining no change.

"MR. SNOW: No, what I'm telling you is, tactically, you adjust all the time. . . .

"Q: I just want to know, James Baker is using -- will look at strategy, and you're saying you're going to listen to James Baker and Lee Hamilton and this bipartisan report --

"MR. SNOW: Well, I think what they're talking --

"Q: -- then what's strategy in your definition?

"MR. SNOW: I think they will agree with what I described as 'strategy,' which is --

"Q: But you just said you're not even considering a change in -- [SNOW BANGS HIS HEAD ON THE PODIUM] -- no, Tony, sorry.

"MR. SNOW: No, that's because I'm not going to -- we are not going to change our belief that you require -- this is the strategy -- this is the strategic picture that requires an economic, political and security component. And I guarantee you people on that commission agree. So what we're talking about they describe as strategy, I'll describe as tactics...

Even when Tony Snow is trying to be clear, it comes out as nonsense. Bush last press secretary, Scott McCellan, must be grinning as even Tony Snow can't handle the many contradictions of the Bush Administration. Let's be clear: if James Baker says it's time to pull our ass out of Iraq, phased timetables or not, with all the diplomatic manuevering to make it possible, it's a change of strategy that will not fulfill any of Bush's delusional goals that are in any way meaningful to his original conception of our foreign policy. Whether Bush will accept any of Baker's recommendations, of course, is still debatable.

In the meantime, we have an election and Baker's recommendations and any possible changes won't be seen until after the election. What Bush says in the next two weeks is meaningless. After almost six years, we now have a clear picture of Bush's abilities, methods and priorities. There's something very wrong about a president who is quick to change a public relations strategy but reluctant to change a flawed and disastrous strategic vision, largely because the facts contradict his ideology and his own conception of his image. The moment Bush decided to leave Afghanistan behind to attack Iraq, without any clear goals or clear understanding of how to achieve his goals, our foreign policy started running off the tracks. Ratifying our president's delusions is not how to move our nation forward.