Where Left Is Right / The Old Site

From yesterday's Washington Post (and cross-posted, via the Seattle Times, on the indispensable Smirking Chimp):

When Cindy Sheehan showed up outside President Bush's ranch on the fourth full day of his five-week working vacation to talk about a son who had been killed in Iraq, he declined to meet with her -- a decision that has been widely second-guessed, even by some Republicans. The way that choice was made, and the reasons for it, provide a vivid illustration of several hallmarks of Bush's style, including his insistence on protocol, his concern with precedent, his resistance to intrusions and his aversion to hand-wringing.

Got that? The Weasel's "style" is marked by:

1. An insistence on protocol (except in cases where the protocol is inconvenient -- see UN negotiations, World Court, Kyoto Treaty, Geneva Convention, etc.)
2. A concern with precedent (well, unless breaking precedent serves his purpose -- e.g., pre-emptive war, a judiciary appointment "process" corrupted by bull-headed insistence on getting his way, recess appointments made not on an emergency basis but simply because Congress hasn't toed the line, etc.)
3. Resistance to intrusions (whoops, of course that doesn't include intrusions into the lives of plain-old citizens!)

In fact, the only one of those behaviors typical of The Weasel is "his aversion to hand-wringing." Because, y'know, a president has to be decisive, has to stick to his guns, can't -- God forbid -- ever consider changing his mind.

And then there's this:

...The president had made it clear, going back at least to a California railroad swing during his 2000 campaign, that he does not care to meet with protesters or to reward them.

Why should he meet with them? Why should he be courteous if they're just gonna disagree with him? They're not really Americans.

White House officials maintain that Sheehan may have discredited herself with statements about impeachment, her insistence on a withdrawal from Iraq, her mixing of her cause with that of the Palestinians, and her accusation that Bush "killed" her son. If Sheehan has lost credibility with the public, the "peace mom" might turn out to be only a summer sensation.

But if Sheehan winds up providing the catalyst for a muscular antiwar movement, Bush's handling of the matter will turn out to be not only characteristic but also consequential.

"Sheehan may have discredited herself" -- unassisted by outside forces, you understand. And the echo-chamber SCLM repetition of the"she's an anti-Semite" business (as though that's got anything to do with what she's all about in the first place... assuming it's even true in the first place, not at all certain yet) is just absolutely disgusting.

The real kicker is this:

Bush aides said that, beginning on Monday, he will try to bolster support for his Iraq policy by giving three speeches in military settings over the next two weeks. They said he will argue that just as "the greatest generation" saw World War II through to victory, the nation must be patient while today's military combats terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Citing the approaching fourth anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush will contend that the ideology of terrorism and the willingness to kill innocents link the insurgency in Iraq to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and to last month's bombings in London.

To which reasonable people reply: Aaaaaaargh! So much for continued claims that The Weasel has never tried to tie Iraq to 9/11. These people just don't know when to quit, do they? What will it take for the remaining minority of Americans who think Iraq is just ducky to say, unbidden, "Hey, waitaminnit, you just said the exact opposite thing...!?"