“The Mood Is Bleak”

Fall can be gloomy, what with diminishing sunlight and all:

Bill Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, said he expects indictments this week in the CIA leak case involving White House advisers Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.
Kristol said “the mood is bleak in the White House today,” and said the environment surrounding the federal grand jury testimony is “pretty grim.”
. . .
As for what this means for President Bush and the daily working of the White House, Kristol said it is too early to tell.
“The White House has to ask, ‘How do we segregate this?’ � This is a problem, but the legal system has to run its course.
“Meanwhile,” Kristol said, “the president has to take the initiative on foreign policy and economic policy and sort of set this aside.”

I wonder how long it will be before the media starts speculating on Bush’s ability to “compartmentalize,” to recycle a term from yesteryear.

Popular President

Well, according to the latest SurveyUSA 50 state approval poll, not so much. Only nine states had as many respondents who approve as disapprove with the way Mr. Bush’s is doing his job.
And in Tennessee: 57 % disapprove with the performance of our God-fearing leader.
Ouch.

Government Knows Best

It may not know how to deliver water to hurricane victims, but government knows how to save man’s (or woman’s) soul.
And no, not every religion considers Sunday to be a day of rest. Regrettably, not everyone has had the benefit of the Spring Hill aldermen/theologians in adopting his or her religious beliefs.

Fun With Headlines

“Dead Man’s Motive Uncertain.”

99% Vote

The results are coming in:

Iraqi election officials said Monday that they were investigating “unusually high” vote totals in 12 Shiite and Kurdish provinces, where as many as 99 percent of the voters were reported to have cast ballots in favor of Iraq’s new constitution. The investigation raised the possibility that the results of the referendum could be called into question.

Back when Saddam held a “referendum,” pundits and the America media used a 99% “for” vote as prima facie evidence that the election was rigged. Does the same standard apply today?

Black And White

. . . in Iraq:

Q. What is it about Iraq that Americans don’t understand?
A. It’s been hard for Americans to accept how complicated it is there. Most Americans want an up-down, yes-no answer to whether we’re right or wrong, succeeding or failing. Certainly the summer of 2003 when I was reporting that piece it was anything but simple. What interested me most was how Iraqis and Americans viewed each other. There were misunderstandings and suspicions, but a fair amount of good will on both sides and a desire to reach out and find out who these other people were. That has changed. The violence is so enormous.

Hmmm, Americans not seeing the complexity in Iraq? I can’t imagine why they aren’t. After a couple of years of listening to the Bush administration talk about “freedom” versus the “terrorists,” you’d think everyone would understand the factions and motives in play over there.