I just read Bill Keller’s attempt to rethink George W. Bush as the inheritor of Reagan. I think Keller does an impressive and largely persuasive job – all the more inmpressive given the hatred of Bush that seems to permeate his newspaper. It reminds me of a Johnny Apple piece back in 1986 that tried to make sense of Reagan for a liberal elite readership – although it’s far more ahead of the curve than Apple’s. Kudos to Keller and Adam Moss. Keller is particularly good on how Bush’s appeal transcends issues. I haven’t known many presidents and prime ministers in my adult life, but I remember revering Reagan as a person, thrilling to his words, admiring his panache. I feel something different about Bush, some kind of deep trust that he won’t let us down, along with, in my case, a pretty strong belief in the principles of limited government and proud enterprise he is espousing. But Bush shows, I think, that successful politicians, like successful countries, don’t have to court approval for everything they do to command respect for the principles that animate them. Yes, Bush, like most pols, has cut corners with principles along the way. But he has them, he hasn’t lost them, and they remain a lodestar for the trials ahead. This is, indeed, an unexpectedly radical administration. And the stakes keep getting higher. If we wage a successful war in Iraq, the academic and elite left in this country, previously deeply wounded, cannot survive. They will be shown for what they are: defenders of everything real liberals should oppose. That, I suspect, is why so many of them are resisting the war so fiercely. They know that their fate is now bound up with Saddam’s. What an irony. But what an opportunity to despatch both at once.
THE CONTEXT FOR SCHRODER: Why is it that so many major news outlets keep reporting on Gerhard Schroder’s attempt to derail any serious attempt to disarm Saddam without mentioning his domestic travails. The guy’s party now has an astonishingly low approval rating of 25 percent – the lowest ever recorded. Meanwhile, we have banner headlines about Bush’s ratings slipping into the upper 50s. Contrast. Compare.
The Dish 