Bush Goes Wide

In tonight's press conference, President Bush distanced himself from James Dobson's faith-based case against the filibuster, and played his designated role of President of All the People. I wonder how many Americans are taking this at face value, heaving a sigh of relief that Bush has basically moderate instincts after all, or at least that he has not forgotten to pay his respects to the great Center, which has been issuing rumblings of unease and even a little steam ever since Congress muscled into the Schiavo case, and which polls against axing the filibuster. Has Bush now pacified that slow-to-anger, slow-to-alarm, by definition unhysterical center? Has he put the volcano back to sleep?

That would be a mistake. I was listening to MSNBC's Hardball just now (not watching, so I'm sorry I'm not sure who said what), and someone, a woman (Hilary Rosen?), said "This is just good-cop, bad-cop," and someone else, a man (Howard Fineman?) said that the ultimate goal of changing the Senate rules to an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees is achieving a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for at least a generation to come. Whether or not someone said to James Dobson, "You've got to take a hit tonight for the sake of the cause," the Administration has to realize -- with its sagging approval ratings -- that the moderate majority must be lulled if they are to put through their rather radical agenda.

It was interesting to watch Bush's face and body language during the press conference. His manner while answering a question was aggressively ingratiating, all smiles and eyebrows, reaching out and crooked grins. But before and after each question, he'd emit a sharp sigh of stress and irritation, look down, work his jaw and purse his lips. He'd physically set himself for the next assault, and then abruptly switch on the sunshine again. He was like a man performing on a tightrope, teetering between death to the left and death to the right, keeping a smile on his face for the crowd except when he looked down and calculated how far he still has to go to the goal: the secured Supreme Court.

- amba

Comments

[wavemaker]

Your description reminds me of e.e. cummings' poem about the tightrope walker, which is even more diffucult to locate on line than info on Bush judicial nominees.