June 15, 2006
A "Good Week" For Bush Means We're in Trouble
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
As noted on our BuzzFlash affiliated site, Last Chance Democracy Cafe, the reviews are in -- and the D.C. pundits have declared it a marvelously successful week for Bush.
Here's some quotes for the Rove Theater marquee:
"Powerful political theater, choreographed by an experienced team that played up the drama and secrecy of the moment," says Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times.
"Bush took full command of the political stage with his five-hour appearance in Baghdad," says Peter Baker of the Washington Post.
"Big Mo has returned to the Oval Office," says Thomas Frank of the New York Daily News.
Now, any Broadway show would be delighted with those reviews.
Covering the White House nowadays is not politics; it's for the entertainment section. Because the actions and record of the Bush administration don't factor into news reporting; it's all about the "Broadway" or "Hollywood" moment.
Political reporters don't report on reality; they assess how well the White House staff and Bush pull off a choreographed performance!
Meanwhile, a just released poll of foreign policy experts deems the Bush administration a disaster in terms of fighting a war on terror:
"Washington is failing to make progress in the global war on terror and the next 9/11-style attack is not a question of if, but when. That is the scathing conclusion of a survey of 100 leading American foreign-policy analysts.
In its first 'Terrorism Index,' released yesterday, the influential journal Foreign Affairs found surprising consensus among the bipartisan experts.
Some 86 per cent of them said the world has grown more, not less, dangerous, despite President George W. Bush's claims that the U.S. is winning the war on terror."
But why let reality intrude on the drama beat of the D.C. press corps?
Don't blame them.
They're just covering showbiz.
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS