It's October and am I really surprised (duh?)

Washington scene becomes more fun -

Scanning the web's headlines is a normal part of my morning routine, as it is perhaps for many of you. Skeptics like me are prepared for breathless announcements from mainstream media, between now and election day. Wow! I said to myself. Are we about to turn the corner with all the bad stuff? Has the Bush administration seen the light? Are they finally getting it right? Do not hold your breath because . . .

It is "October Surprise" MSM headline time:

• Wall Street Journal's "U.S. Forces Kill Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader"
• CTV.ca - "No more nuclear blasts: apologetic Kim Jong Il"
• Houston chron.com - "Rice confident of U.N. action on Iran"

Do not buy it - Our Current President (OCP) and his Republican party, as it is currently constituted, are not psychologically capable of becoming the leaders the nation so desperately needs. New direction will only come from regaining Democratic control of the people's branch of government, the Congress. And Capitol Hill Blue's recent post suggests that the American people are not buying it either: "Polls suggest the standard GOP tactics of demonizing Democrats and claiming the high ground on national security just isn't playing with voters in the upcoming November mid-term elections." The electorate is, rightly, not banking on some magical change after the election is over.

New Commission may not have the ear of OCP - Even the high-powered Baker-Hamilton "Iraq Study Group" report will not make a difference, in my opinion, because OCP and the Veep will still do whatever they want unless Congress formally intervenes. Steve Clemons, a respected moderate blogging at his TWN, concludes that:

The problem with the Baker-Hamilton Report is that it doesn't solve the internal policy management and implementation problems inside the White House. Baker becomes just another voice of other contending voices -- and even if elevated to be the President's Special Envoy for the Middle East, it's not clear that the deep dysfunction that exists now and which paralyzes the inter-agency process will be fixed.
Cheney's team must be neutralized and set to the side of the policy process -- clearly demoted and moved out of the way for any Baker type plan to succeed in shaping an alternative direction.
Many see Rumsfeld's days now being really, really, really numbered -- and that he'll be gone soon. But that is not enough.
Cheney controls the interagency process through his minions. They need to be identified, demoted, moved to desks with good views of the garden, and kept away from this next round of policy work, coordination, and implementation.
Cheney remains the key road block for a Baker plan to have any chance of succceeding.

There is one recent surprise, at least, that truly pleases me. My own Republican Senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison, has come to a new understanding. It is good that having to run for election has helped her move away from her Texas friend, OCP, just a bit. The Huffington Post headlined

Another Key GOP Senator Speaks Out Against Iraq War... In a debate with her challenger in the Nov. 7 election, Hutchison, R-Texas, said she would not have voted for war had she known there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But she also made it clear she does not support troop withdrawal.

Praise the Lord. She sees the light, a little bit, anyway.

Tags: bush democrats in-the-news iraq republicans war politics media
My "creative post" today at Southwest Blogger is about a polar bear in a zoo.