One aspect of abuse that is particularly traumatic is the passivity that the perpetrator forces upon the victim. Being forced into a passive position is almost always painful, and, especially when not allowed to defend oneself, it is infuriating; helpless rage is humiliating and evokes rage and depression. (Please note, there are people who will actively seek out and engineer their own passivity, but this is a more complicated psychological construct.)
Since shortly after the Iraq war began, the LSM (LameStreamMedia) and the Democrats have subjected the President to escalating, shrill, often contradictory attacks. Essentially, everything that Bush has ever done has been wrong. There are all sorts of transference implications in this; the various accusations, that the President is responsible for global warming, for the insurgency in Iraq, for New Orleans, for there not being enough troops in Iraq, for not pulling our troops out as soon as possible. for ______________ (fill in the blank) has irrational features which suggest the demonizing has deep roots unrelated to the specific policy disagreements. The LSM has not found any threshold under which they would not stoop if it could harm Bush. They are at it again in the face of the nomination of Sam Alito to the SCOTUS.
Scott McClellen is a milquetoast. If John Roberts had dared to ask me, as he did McClellen, whether Judge Alito represented “sloppy seconds,” I would have narrowed my eyes and, after a beat, suggested very quietly to Roberts that his question was unworthy a White House reporter, and that it said nothing at all about Alito or the president, but it spoke VOLUMES about Roberts, himself.
McClellen just did the “not at all,” crap.
He should have said what I wrote above, and then simply said, “this conference is over - I will meet with you ladies and gentlemen again when you can comport yourselves appropriately,” and walked out. Or maybe just walked out without saying anything else.
It would have demonstrated to the press that there are BOUNDARIES. And it would have made the press, perhaps take a look at themselves. Would they report it? How could they slam McClellen if they did? Their own member behaved like a boorish clod.
The good news in this is, I suspect, that in many ways, the last week has been the peak of the crescendo of noisome noise coming out of the LSM/Democrats.
The consensus has been that last week was a nadir for Bush; his poll numbers are down (lovingly recited by the talking heads of network news), his nominee for SCOTUS, Harriet Miers retired from the fray in the face of an uprising by his base, Scooter Libby was indicted. There wasn't much for Bush to take solace from (although it could have been worse; Carl Rove wasn't indicted.) The LSM has shown minimal inclination to cover some of the major stories that have been evolving around the world (Oil for Food scandal, Iranian threats against Israel and the United States, Christian school girls beheaded by Islamic fascists, etc) much preferring the "death of a thousand cuts" approach to destroying the Bush administration.
Until Friday, Bush has no choice but to accept the blows passively. First of all, there were too many sources of attack. As well, it is impossible to answer attacks when one answer only leads immediately to another attack. A metaphor that comes to mind is being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes.
The constant refrain from the LSM/Democrats is that Bush is a divisive President. It is a shame that our political discourse has fallen so far at a time when we need to be united in the face of an existential threat. Bush did not really want a battle over the SCOTUS. John Roberts was the "prefect" nominee specifically because he had a minimal paper trail. Bush thought he could repeat the Robert's confirmation with Harriet Miers, who was also a stealth nominee with a minimal paper trail. The Anchoress believes Miers was a smokescreen intended to fail:
But I will go to my grave convinced that there was a reason, or a stategery, if you like, behind the Miers nomination - one that perhaps did not get to be played because of the reaction of the right. Her nomination made no sense, otherwise. Maxed Out Mama has more including excerpts from DU which suggest they are - eek - agreeing with me, that Miers was a head fake.
The Maxed Out Mama post she refers to is a compendium of attacks by the Mediacrats on the nomination of Alito. It is no longer remarkable that the attacks start even before most people know anything about the nominee, but this has become par for the course.
It seems to me that Bush is not only a terrific poker player, but he also must have some background in ju jitsu. He has taken the momentum of the attacks on Miers, deftly pivoted, and nominated a principled conservative for the SCOTUS who emphasizes process and respect for the text of the Constitution.
Obviously, we will learn more about Alito's judicial temperament and philosophy as time goes on, but the noises emanating from the sinistral side of the political divide suggest that they will huff and puff, tocsins sounding, language fulminating, and ultimately fail to blow the house down.
With the Alito nomination, the trend lines will start to move upwards. In December, yet another successful vote will take place in Iraq. The signs of the birth and weaning of a working Democracy in the Arab Middle East will become unmistakable even to the LSM. Meanwhile, Syria is teetering on the brink of disaster for the thugs who have run that little terror haven for the last 30 years.
Bush has been passive for too long; now that he has given up on the idea of ever getting the Democrats and the LSM to play fair, he is likely to behave more decisively and take action in a way that only Presidents can, while the LSM and their allies in the Democratic party throw tantrums.
Of course, much of this depends on the Republicans showing some spine that has been noticeably absent of late. Senator Graham's comments today, to the effect that a conservative judicial philosophy is not grounds for a filibuster is certainly a signal that the Democrats will have to think carefully before trying to block Alito on political grounds. At some point, one can hope that the Democrats and the LSM will recognize that they lost the last election and start to behave like a responsible opposition. Unfortunately as long as they depend so much on the money and passion of the Moveon.org and DU crowds, their ability to behave reasonably is extraordinarily limited.
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