Wolcott: Kristol Ball 06.24.05

[Inland]

http://jameswolcott.com/

Posted by James Wolcott

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What their chat boiled down to is that as a second-term president Bush doesn't have to heed the declining poll numbers over Iraq. He has the luxury of being unswayable. This was said by Kristol with the prissy superarrogance that we have come to expect from Beltway neocons, for whom no sacrifice is too great to make for the grand mission as long as some other chump is making it. Gazing into his Kristol ball, son of Irving said that Bush basically has a free hand for another year or so to defeat or at least subdue the insurgency, regardless of how much the press clamors and domestic support slides.

This marks a tactical shift from the stay-the-coursers. Only a few weeks ago, White House flacks and their shoeshiners in the media were shrugging off the bad poll numbers with "Hey, polls go up and down." You know, sorta like the stock market. You just gotta ride out these bumps. But now that it's clear even to Bush fantasists that the polls numbers on Iraq aren't going up and down, they're only going in one direction, and picking up speed as they descend, they're saying that the opinion of the American people must be discounted for their own good. The will of the people must take second place to the wiser, stronger will of those in charge.

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Here's what I'm wondering. Bush is making a major national address on Tuesday about Iraq. With each speech he masticated about Social Security "reform," approval for his non-existent program sagged. His sixty-day sales tour was a Willy Loman flop. Suppose he makes a rallying call on Tuesday and his poll numbers subsequently drop even more?

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[Jack Rabbit]

1. Link, please.

??

[Inland]

3. on edit

http://jameswolcott.com/

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Muchas gracias, señor

!!

[fooj]

2. Hope sustains us.

peace. :smoke:

[warrens]

4. It won't change a thing

The speech is going to be a disaster, but they will NEVER admit a mistake, ever, ever. They are determined that no matter the reality, they'll be able to make the argument that the press and the liberals lost the war, abandoned the troops, aided the terraists, and whatever, so that despite pouring gasoline all over this country and flipping a match on it, they'll be able to claim in the future that they were right all along, and the Fifth Columnists undid them, just like they STILL claim about Vietnam. It's the only way they can even imagine winning another election within 25 years.

[dchill]

5. Kristol is a perfect example...

of ALL the NeoCons - arrogant, narcissistic, vain and pseudo-intelligent to the endth degree. The nation will one day wake up from this nightmare, but it won't happen unless and until the news media awaken first. At this point, this mess is primarily their responsibility.

[Jade Fox]

7. Bush would probably be better off saying nothing....

about Iraq at this point.

I hope Wolcott is right. I hope Bush's speech tomorrow works as well as
his cheerleading on Social Security reform.

[Inland]

8. Bush IS saying nothing about Iraq, often and with lots of words.

That's the trick. Make a lot of strong, resolute noises without conveying any information. People walk away thinking that he's a strong leader, and then turn to Rummy or Scottie to fill in the blanks, and they lie or stall or dissassemble.