BUSH AND THE ART OF ROPE-A-DOPE

nationalpost.com ^ | 2/8/03 | Matt Welch

[Wait4Truth]

Very interesting article!

[Wait4Truth]

Ping for our rope-a-dope President!!

[jwfiv]

It's really Gulliver against one or two Lilliputians, for the the rest will run like jackals before a lion.

[Verginius Rufus]

Matt Welch implies that Dick Cheney is an ex-military man. I was under the impression that that is not the case.

[DeFault User]

It's also most interesting that Bush has done it without any hyperbole, without name calling or heated rhetoric. He has allowed his enemies to put the noose around their necks, tighten it and hang themselves with their own stupidity.

[prognostigaator]

First, a top official (usually Bush, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or a well-placed "source") makes some crazy-sounding cowboy threat -- to use conventional nuclear weapons, to unleash a furious invasion on the first full moon after Jan. 27, and so on. British newspapers, German politicians and Northern Californians dutifully recoil in horror.....

[McGavin999]

Not bad for a "dumb cowboy" :o)

[Wait4Truth]

Well, Bush using or not using heated rhetoric is up for discussion, I suppose. The Euro-weenies find his rhetoric quite heated...myself, I love it. As far as the noose goes, he is a master. He's like Clint Eastwood saying, "Go ahead, make my day!"

[Wait4Truth]

It is my understanding that VP Cheney did not serve in the military.

[Wait4Truth]

Europe will not appreciate being referred to as Lilliputions against Bush as Gulliver. Which makes it even more fun, of course. How did the dumb idiot cowboy from Texas ever become Gulliver? I am loving this more every day.

[Wait4Truth]

Is that like San Francisco or what? Seems more like Southern Californians that would be likely to RECOIL. As in Hollyweird.

[MeekOneGOP]

bttt for A.M. read, thanks...

[pettifogger]

He was the SecDef. From the bio on the White House website:

Mr. Cheney also served a crucial role when America needed him most. As Secretary of Defense from March 1989 to January 1993, Mr. Cheney directed two of the largest military campaigns in recent history - Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. He was responsible for shaping the future of the U.S. military in an age of profound and rapid change as the Cold War ended. For his leadership in the Gulf War, Secretary Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George Bush on July 3, 1991.

[Wait4Truth]

Not bad for a "dumb cowboy" :o)

Not bad at all, my friend...not bad at all.

[Wait4Truth]

Dick Cheney is one of most impressive men to ever serve in government, as far as I'm concerned. We couldn't have anybody better than our Bush/Cheney team.

[The Great Satan]

Bush truly has assembled a Dream Team. Scary when you think who might be running the show instead...

[JonH]

He may not have served in uniform but he was Secretary of Defense.

[TEXOKIE]

Very interesting analysis of how W does it!

"...Reports resurface of a Cabinet divided between Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz, and leaks play down expectations of significant policy change. At the last possible moment, Bush's team coalesces behind a single idea, agreeing on a "compromise" which suddenly gives his critics exactly what they were demanding in the first place, often in the form of a yes-or-no vote. And the ground under everyone's feet shifts decisively yet again.

Bush has used this method to spectacular effect, over and over again, by threatening unilateral action. If there is anything that can unify Midwestern congressmen, French Gaullists and New York newspapers, it's indignation at the very notion that great decisions can be made without consulting them first.

On Aug. 26 of last year, for example, White House lawyers issued an opinion that Bush could go ahead and order an attack on Iraq if he wanted to, without Capitol Hill's blessing. "The President has to get congressional approval," shot back Dick Gephardt, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. "He must have a debate on this issue and a vote in the Congress."

Ten days later, Bush suddenly announced he would do just that, then scheduled the vote smack in the middle of the congressional election campaign. By November, Bush had his approval, and Gephardt was forced to resign as party leader after getting thumped at the polls...

This really does describe the technique, doesnt it?

[The Wizard]

yippy ti yi yeah MF

[mylife]

Pretty amazing for a guy that Libs claimed was not intelligent enough for the presidency !!! BwaaaHaa Ha!!