I’ve heard about young schoolchildren playing something called “Opposite Day,” in which those playing the game are expected to say and do things that are the polar opposite of what they should be saying and doing. It’s an awkward, hard-to-define exercise, which quickly grows tiresome.
Nevertheless, watching the White House yesterday, one gets the sense that the Bush gang declared yesterday “Opposite Day” and forgot to tell us.
Tony Snow got things started early yesterday, telling a national television audience that Bush was embracing a “new way” on Iraq. “Some want us to take a new look at the way we’re doing things, which is exactly what’s taking place,” Snow said, adding, “This is not the beginning of the end, it’s the beginning of a new way…. That’s why we’re coming up with a new strategy.”
On Opposite Day, this makes perfect sense — the president wants to keep the existing policy exactly as it is now. There’s nothing new at all; Bush is offering an unwavering argument in defense of the status quo.
The president articulated this vision in an odd, rambling speech in Cleveland yesterday afternoon. Consider some of these gems:
“The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is the crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims, trying to stop the advance of a system based upon liberty.”
Opposite Day! Al Qaeda is responsible for a small percentage of the violence in Iraq.
“What would al Qaeda be able to do [if the U.S. withdrew from Iraq]? They’d be able to recruit better and raise more money from which to launch their objectives.”
Opposite Day! The U.S. presence in Iraq is helping al Qaeda recruiting and fundraising.
“[The surge] just started. [Petraeus] got all the troops there a couple of weeks ago.”
Opposite Day! The so-called surge began in January.
Politically, the president is pushing against a strong tide of anti-war sentiment, and one suspects his political allies (congressional Republicans) are probably looking for some sign that the White House has a clue.
It’s why yesterday’s speech was probably the opposite of what the GOP was looking for.
One key point stands out from President Bush’s Iraq remarks in Cleveland this afternoon: Bush didn’t say a single thing that could possibly help provide any wavering GOP Senators with any political cover at a time when they’re heading into a series of bruising battles with Dems over the war.
Indeed, if anything, his remarks are likely to push antsy Republicans further away. […]
Bush could have allowed them a measure of breathing room by saying that there’s a strategy in place after the surge — maybe a reduction in troops, or a decline in combat operations, or renewed diplomatic efforts along the lines of the Iraq Study Group’s recommendations. Instead, Bush gave the Senate GOP absolutely nothing. If the President understands their predicament — or even cares about it at all — he didn’t show it in Cleveland.
Of course, we know that Bush cares deeply about their predicament and is anxious to find a reasonable solution to the crisis.
Oh wait, apparently Opposite Day was yesterday, not today.