The White House is Too Clever By Half

Bearing in mind that the White House means the programmers and President Bush is the delivery tool, is Karl Rove’s devious double bind governing style effective or has it hopelessly obscured the GOP message? On Saturday a few conservatives in Congress blocked the passage of a compromise bill to enact the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. President Bush and Vice President Cheney were reported to have vigorously used their telephones (Bush from Air Force One on his way to Chile, Cheney from Washington) to try to convince House Judiciary Committee Chair, F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) and House Armed Services Committee Chair Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to drop their opposition to the bill. By Sunday, some pundits were saying that the pleas from Bush and Cheney were lukewarm and that the duo didn’t really want to unblock the blocked bill. Those who want the bill to pass--Dems and moderate Repubs--say those who are against it are trying to preserve the status quo. What would be the benefit for the administration to publicly defend the bill and privately want to defeat the bill? A few cliches come to mind: Having your cake and eating it too; playing both sides against the middle; working both sides of the street. But the real White House motivation is: Not letting the right hand know what the other right hand is doing. And the reason for this strategy is to seduce the warring factions within the Republican party into believing that all debts owed for election favors are being paid when in fact no one is being paid and everyone is getting cheated. How long will the White House try to fool all the people all the time? As long as it works. And how long will it work? Until the Republicans who are honest, good, and well-intentioned call the game. The biggest threat to the new White House gang is from life-long Republicans, not from Democrats.