Perhaps the Shrub Administration is beginning to realize that things are getting a bit out of hand. When you have an idiot like Tom DeLay beating the drums of war in a speech to a group of rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth Republicans, it might just be time to tone down the rhetoric.
That may have something to do with Shrub saying yesterday that he is a "patient man" who will take his time before determining whether to turn Iraq into a parking lot.
"Regime change is in the interests of the world," Bush said, standing on a dusty road with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at his side. "How we achieve that is a matter of consultation."
He added: "When I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man and that we will look at all options and we will consider all technologies available to us, and diplomacy and intelligence. But one thing . . . for certain is that this administration agrees that Saddam Hussein is a threat."
Bush repeatedly questioned the heightened interest focused on his meeting Wednesday.
"I know there's this kind of intense speculation that seems to be going on, a kind of a - I don't know how you would describe it. It's kind of a churning," he said.
At this point, Rumsfeld leaned into the microphone. "Frenzy," he said, as Bush nodded approvingly.
It's nice to know that, publically at least, Shrub can talk about Iraq without rattling his saber. Other Republicans, DeLay in particular, should take a lesson from him. The amount of testosterone flying around Washington these days is almost toxic. All over a country that STILL has not committed an overt act of hostility against the US.
I still have to wonder, though: why is "regime change" even something that the US government feels is within it's purview? Is it not the height of arrogance that our government is determining whether or not the government of another sovereign country is acceptable? No, I'm not about to defend Saddam Hussein, but I am concerned about what sort of precedent this might set. If we invade Iraq, where does the 2002 George W. Bush Regime Change Tour head to next? Zimbabwe? Myanmar? Canada? California? Once we head down this road, it's only going to become easier. Is that something we want?
Is the President We Didn't Elect about to drag us into a war we don't deserve?
