The Republic of T. Archives

Apparently it stands for “win-at-all-costs.”

Far more revealing are the glimpses into the combative, even arrogant heart of Bush’s character — and that of the Bush Clan. These are people expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind a veil of bumbling nonchalance.

…Taking the measure of Al Gore in the summer of 2000, demonizing him as “pathologically a liar,” Bush was getting an angle on his foe — and cited family tradition. In 1988, then Vice President George H.W. Bush ran a campaign that used cultural “wedge” issues to savage the candidacy of Democrat Michael Dukakis. “I may have to get a little rough for a while,” Bush the Younger tells Wead. “But that is what the old man had to do with Dukakis, remember?” Of course he remembered: Dubya and Wead had worked together on that campaign.

But the key words are “had to do.” No Bush wants to play rough, of course. But to win — or at least maintain their dignity and pride — they have to.

However, it also stands for “wimp.”

During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush’s trip was meant to be a “town hall”-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he’s been touting in Europe this week?

…on Wednesday, that town hall meeting will be nowhere on the agenda — it’s been cancelled. Neither the White House nor the German Foreign Ministry has offered any official explanation, but Foreign Ministry sources say the town hall meeting has been nixed for scheduling reasons — a typical development for a visit like this with many ideas but very little time. That, at least, is the diplomats’ line. Behind the scenes, there appears to be another explanation: the White House got cold feet. Bush’s strategists felt an uncontrolled encounter with the German public would be too unpredictable.

Can you really call it “winning” if you require the deck to be stacked in your favor beforehand?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 at 7:32 am and is filed under Current Events, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.