Bush as Mr. Magoo

Presidents can’t be perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes. That was Bill Clinton’s message on the Larry King show this week when the former president called for a truce on the 16 State of the Union words that have sent the current administration into damage-control overdrive.

“This is proof that God looks after George W. Bush,” said a Republican strategist, who dubbed the timely deaths of Saddam’s sons, “Bush’s Magoo moment.” Bush is like the hapless cartoon figure Mr. Magoo who stumbles unaware through mishap after mishap but somehow manages to emerge unscathed.

Democrats have to be careful about events they cannot control. The real issues are reconstruction in Iraq and whether the administration can cut the attrition rate of American soldiers. The uranium issue brought Democrats home and removed the post-9-11 glow from Bush. A Democratic Senate aide called it “the scratch in the Teflon that allows it to flake off.” Bush’s credibility has been damaged. He posited that Iraq was a clear and present danger to America, and few people believe that anymore. The press corps has been shaken out of its lapdog state. It’s much more difficult for the administration to stonewall. And it’s not just about 16 words; it’s about a pattern of Bush misstatements, overstatements and false truths on a range of issues.

The war in Iraq was fought to disarm Saddam, but the way the commanders on the ground went in after Uday and Qusay shows the administration is not serious about finding weapons of mass destruction. These were the two best intelligence assets, short of Saddam, that the administration could capture. U.S. troops offered them a chance to surrender, and then called in a barrage from helicopter gunships. By killing the brothers, the administration saved itself the headache of a trial but lost the opportunity to prove a link with Al Qaeda or solve the mystery of the missing WMD.

Give it up, just more unneeded proof the WMDs and the links aren't there. - EL