"THE ESSENTIAL BUSH" Lawrence Henry,

“THE ESSENTIAL BUSH” Lawrence Henry, writing The American Prowler, the online version 2.0 of the old American Spectator, thinks he knows why Bush appears to be wobbly at times. “Like Ronald Reagan, he keeps his eye on a couple of big things. For now, Bush has decided he can accomplish two of those big things. He can defeat terrorism abroad, while, at home, he can regain control of the Senate for Republicans. For the rest, he’ll bob and weave, and do his best to avoid consuming conflicts with the Democrat-controlled Senate or the mainstream media.”

So when the news turns troublesome, at home and abroad, and the President seems to playing it cute, a little understanding is called for. George W. Bush thinks he knows how to win. So far, it seems that he does. He also knows how not to lose. Contemporary political discourse is dominated by the delusional: campaign finance reform, racial profiling, global warming, second-hand smoke, and all the rest. For a Republican President, it’s a Brer Rabbit play, a mug’s game, to take on any of these issues without a Republican Senate as backstop. The press would tie him in knots, and the Democrats in the Senate would help.

George W. Bush will not kick those Tar Babies. Not now.