Andrew Sullivan, who took that unbelievably well-timed R&R session (not to be confused with PNP) during one of the most tumultous weeks in the history of the Bush administration, is back.
After his hysteria over the Madrid bombings, the absolute shrillest of RNC talking points, I didn't know what to expect.
He does spin the echo chamber rhetoric about Clarke (he's exagerrating, his stories don't match up, he's "anti-war", has a personal agenda, his accusations have no real heft against Bush as a result...so far the poll results do suggest Bush hasn't really been negatively affected, so I guess Sullivan has a point there), and does the usual push that we've done a great job freeing millions in Iraq and Afghanistan, blah blah. He does credit Clarke for his apology.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20040328
However, he proves that his head is not full of little green footballs and he is one or two steps above InstaPunt by pointing out that the administration's handling of the situation has been abysmal and has done them more damage than anything Clarke said. Snipping part of his comments on his front page:
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But I agree with the Washington Post yesterday that the more worrying sign is the way the White House has responded. They have been close to hysterical, defensive to an absurd degree and therefore unpersuasive. Their response to Clarke evokes far more doubts about their pre-9/11 conduct than anything Clarke could have mustered by himself. More evidence that they're losing it. I think they realize they're in trouble and don't know quite how to right themselves. Hence the policy lurches - from Mars to marriage to steroids. The only inference I can draw is that their internal polling data is even more worrisome than the external stuff.
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I think that the Hate Amendment and the snide attacks waged against him by Glenn "gays should shut up cause we aren't stoning 'em like in the Middle East!!!" Reynolds and Nazi Reich Online are pushing Sullivan towards a more moderate and (for him) liberatian position than he has been at in quite a while.