Bush's Press Conference - Clinical Denial In Action

In today's press conference, Pres. Bush said the following at the end of his prepared remarks:

When I first came to Washington nearly six years ago, I was hopeful I could help change the tone here in the capital. As governor of Texas, I had successfully worked with both Democrats and Republicans to find common-sense solutions to the problems facing our state. While we made some progress on changing the tone, I'm disappointed we haven't made more. I'm confident that we can work together. I'm confident we can overcome the temptation to divide this country between red and blue. The issues before us are bigger than that and we are bigger than that. By putting this election and partisanship behind us, we can launch a new era of cooperation and make these next two years productive ones for the American people.

Anyone who buys this has lost any remaining grip on reality. The plain facts are that Bush and Rove set about very early in their first term, to govern with only their Congressional majority and to push those issues which appealed to their base. Any reasonable observer could see that a conscious choice was made to lead from the political strength they perceived in their polling and in the outcome of the 2004 election.

Now he stands before the nation and declares that he is shocked, shocked to learn that governing in America has not been done in a collegial, compromise-driven manner. Capt. Renault himself would be offended.

The only hopeful sign is that he now may be forced to follow his own Texas prescription.