(SMALL) WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Okay, so in spite of the advice from across the political and ideological spectrum, George Bush, the Decider, the Decision-Maker, is bound and determined to up the ante in Iraq. A cynic might note, what has he got to lose? If things continue to show no improvement, he is destined for historical infamy. But if by some chance the new strategy, the “surge,” causes even a small improvement, he might avoid making the list of the worst Presidents in U.S. history. He might even place above Millard Filmore.

But a favorable outcome will require a level of nimbleness and nuance that this “Bull in the China Shop” Administration has not displayed in six years of governing. Yet it does have one thing going for it. The Bush Administration could contain the best practioners ever of “spin.” If an award is given for talking a pig pretty, George and company certainly deserve it.

So here’s how the Decider and crew might stagger to 2008 with a pinch of dignity left. The “surge” is large enough to actually tap down violence in Baghdad for a short period. And latching on to the unfollowed advice given in another war, the Decider declares victory and leaves. If there is a short period before the inevitable chaos follows, the Decider can argue that he brought peace to Iraq. It wasn’t his fault that things later (a week, a month, whatever) deteriorated. After all, one can only lead the unwilling and ungrateful so far.

Of course, not everyone will buy into the notion of victory. But enough might that the Decider can convince himself of his greatness, and the true believers—the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Hannity, Coulter, Beck, O’Reilly, neocons everywhere—browbeat the unthinking into intellectual submission.

dsh