Brian, only Mikey can judge which conspiracies are real, and which are laughable. Meanwhile, the sardonic Maureen Dowd has a nice piece today on W and his handlers. Women are just so touchy about these things.
W., in the Pink nytimes.com
Like trapeze artists, the Republican governors catch George W. Bush as he flies into their states and swing him through the air, trying to get him to the platform safely.
They supply the machines and muscle and brass-knuckle strategists and line of attack for those blistering ads. They remold W. into whatever will work for their states.
In South Carolina, former Gov. David Beasley banished Compassionate Conservative Bush and gave a bear hug to Bob Jones Bush. In Michigan, Gov. John Engler banished Bob Jones Bush and wrapped his Catholic arms around Moderate Compassionate Reformer With Results Bush. In Arizona, Gov. Jane Hull contrasted Stormy McCain with Sunny Bush.
Now comes New York. It's George Pataki's turn to dangle W., his old Yale classmate, from his wrists. He's determined not to drop his charge, as Mr. Engler and Ms. Hull did, or leave him black-and-blue, as Mr. Beasley did.
The rest of the column is equally entertaining. W may actually believe in something, who knows. Hard to tell from what's going on lately. The handlers tell him what his position of the day is, and then no doubt go whining to all the bloviating pundits about how it's all a media conspiracy that people like McCain for being able to speak his own mind. One more line from Dowd's column for the local rabble.
So here was W., who has been laboring to rap Mr. McCain as a Democrat, wrapping himself in such Democratic issues as the environment and women's health.
And we all know how much the local rabble holds with the environment, and women's issues in general. The high minded posturing on the A word here seems to have died down for the moment, the weaselish Clarence Thomas route being the preferred solution, but I don't think W will be let off easy on that one, once it's time to quit sucking up to the religious right.
Cheers, Dan. |
