[Wait4Truth]

Ping for our rope-a-dope President!!

[McGavin999]

Not bad for a "dumb cowboy" :o)

[MeekOneGOP]

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

[Dog Gone]

My only complaint is that a few people in the media are starting to notice how Bush does it.

But I imagine the strategery will continue to work, because otherwise the opposition would have to recognize that Bush is outsmarting them every time, and that goes against their core belief.

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks for the ping, friend =^)

[MeekOneGOP]

Gotta love it...

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.

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Soul Mates: The Meltdown Continues
Tom Daschle calls Dick Gephardt
his "partner and soul mate" in the
afterglow of his mid-week meltdown.
This is too good...
Week of 9-23-2002

[MeekOneGOP]

On Aug. 30 of last year, after hearing a summer's worth of go-it-alone honkings, Jim Winkler, the general secretary of the United Methodist Church, warned that the Iraq conflict "can and should be dealt with by the United Nations. ... No member nation has the right to take unilateral military action without the approval of the UN Security Council, approval the United States has not received."

Two weeks later, Winkler's worst hopes were realized when Bush spoke in front of the General Assembly, asking for a resolution that he would later receive, and portraying Iraq as the UN's most important test of credibility to date.

As Jonah Goldberg of the UN-hating National Review put it, "Somehow, Bush managed, once again, to do exactly what his critics wanted him to and defeat them entirely in the process."

This tactic has come to be known, by critics and admirers alike, as the "rope-a-dope" strategy, in honour of the novel way boxer Muhammad Ali defeated heavyweight champion George Foreman in Zaire 28 years ago. Faced with a much more powerful opponent, Ali taunted him before the fight ("You have heard of me before you were young. You've been following me since you were a little boy. Now, you must meet me, your master!" according to Norman Mailer's The Fight), surprised everyone by aggressively attacking Foreman in the first round, then spent the rest of the night leaning defensively against the ropes, deflecting and absorbing punishment, and successfully counter-punching with precision and surprise when the big man wore himself out.

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[blackie]

GWB Is The Man!

Be Well - Be Armed - Be Safe - Molon Labe!