March 30, 2004
Going To The Mat
Going to the mat on principle is fine, as long as you don't repeatedly pin yourself...
It appears that after months of standing on principle and declining to have the NSA appear before Congress under oath, the White House is relenting to the 9/11 commission's request for public, under oath testimony from Condoleeza Rice.
This continues a bad habit of this administration - going to the mat on principle and then relenting, every time. Be it the 9/11 commission or Bush's ANG records, the Bush White House seems to enjoy paying the full political cost of fighting on principle until that cost is spent, then abandoning the principle.
The price the White House is paying for Karen Hughes' departure seems high. Rove may be feared by the American left as a ruthless, brilliant, Rasputin-like mastermind, but he has seemed to pick the wrong battles to fight, and after taking the hill at high cost, abandons it.
Perhaps they have the goods on Clarke's charges, and want an open forum - one that 60 Minutes didn't quite give for Rice's heavily edited interview. Unfortunately, it reinforces the impression that the Administration will back down after paying the maximum political cost if you exert enough pressure, and that's not the image the Bush campaign wants to project.
Posted by MEC2 at March 30, 2004 07:18 PM