Charles Krauthammer replied, "My dear incorrigible colleagues, you simply cannot believe that Bush ever does anything because he believes in it."
As usual, I think Krauthammer misses the point. Bush, like a few other politicians, can, no doubt, chew gum and walk at the same time, to resort to yet another LBJ quote. He could easily believe in what he is doing, run the political stuff through it as well including his election prospects, donors wishes, etc. and still do the wrong thing.
Krauthammer is much too simple minded in that quote. And any quote which suggests that political leaders do things for singular motives is wrong. We, poor peasants that we are, can never know what the main motives are. We are left to think that the folk we prefer do things for the best of reasons and the folk we do not prefer do things for the worst of reasons. But it just ain't that simple. |
