Playing Politics
[Guest post by DRJ]
In an article about the Bush Administration after Hurricane Katrina, a Colin Powell associate demonstrates the Obama-Biden tactic of likening Republicans to George Bush:
“Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that as a new president, Bush was like Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee whom critics said lacked knowledge about foreign affairs. When Bush first came into office, he was surrounded by experienced advisers like Vice President Dick Cheney and Powell, who Wilkerson said ended up playing damage control for the president.
“It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like president – because, let’s face it, that’s what he was – was going to be protected by this national-security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire,” Wilkerson said, adding that he considered Cheney probably the “most astute, bureaucratic entrepreneur” he’d ever met.”
They really are afraid of Palin, aren’t they? Of course, this could also be part of proving fidelity to the new guard in Washington or a heartfelt statement of contempt for Bush and Palin. Whatever the motive, it’s classic Washington politics and members of both parties do it.
But it’s interesting to notice how often the fingerprints of Powell’s associates appear on efforts that hurt the GOP. Plame, anyone?
— DRJ