What if those Gerald Ford values of healing, humility, honesty --instead of being road kill cynically invoked by the very politicians who slaughtered them-- had actually been operative in our own era?
The civility lobby -- which now urges Democrats to bring pea-shooters to a gunfight -- has strong support among Washington's wise men, especially its media lions.
He didn't win it by jamming it down Congress's throat, or ramming it through the Supreme Court, or amending the Constitution. He did it just by saying so.
Sure, it's "accurate" to quote the President, and it's "fair" to "balance" a statement about Iraq from Democrat John Murtha with one from "Independent Democrat" Joe Lieberman. But it's also nuts.
I think it's swell that the president wants those militiamen in Iraq to swap their rifles for brooms and paintbrushes. Bush's Iraqi jobs program is reportedly going to cost a billion dollars -- a billion American dollars.
Whenever Bush explains what "accomplishing our mission in Iraq" actually means, he gets that cat-that-swallowed-the-canary look on his face.
Q: Would the fact that former or present members of the Bush Administration will be witnesses in the case impair your ability to be a totally fair and impartial juror?
"The system worked" is what so many of us breathed with relief when Nixon fled Washington in disgrace. I can't help thinking that it's time to revisit that awe.
