Hitting the Mute Button on the Freedom Agenda

And what happens if Musharraf ignores Bush's hopes and desires? "Hypothetical question," Bush replied.

Did Bush misjudge Musharraf? No answer.

It has been a humbling few days for the administration and its attempts to exercise American power. Last week, Bush aides begged Musharraf not to suspend the constitution -- and he ignored them. Similarly, Bush met in the Oval Office yesterday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, urging him not to send troops into Iraq to fight Kurdish militants -- and Erdogan evidently gave him no commitment.

"In an environment where international support and cooperation does not exist, Turkey, quite naturally, will exercise its own right to protect itself and its people against terrorism," the prime minister, echoing some of Bush's own "war on terror" language, told the National Press Club after his meeting with the president.

The defiance by Musharraf and, to a lesser extent, Erdogan, left Bush and his aides sounding like representatives of a pitiful giant.

"We made it clear to [Musharraf] that we would hope he wouldn't have declared the emergency powers he declared," said Bush.

White House press secretary Dana Perino voiced her "hope" that Pakistan will proceed with elections.

And Mr. Anonymous mentioned his hopes eight times in his 40 minutes with reporters. "We hope that we'll get some clarification on the intentions of the government in the next few days. . . . We are hopeful that we will see some clarification. . . . We hope they will do that."

Missing were the serious diplomatic words such as "outrageous" and "unacceptable." In their place were gentle sentiments such as "unfortunate" and "disappointed" and, two dozen times, "concern." The concern was so slight, though, that the official admitted that Bush hadn't even spoken directly with Musharraf.

Elaine Quijano of CNN asked about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charge that Bush had sacrificed democracy for Musharraf's help against terrorists.

The official replied that Pakistan was "emblematic of the president's strategy generally."

USA Today's David Jackson asked if this might be termed "a setback for the Freedom Agenda."

"We don't know, because we don't know how this story comes out," Mr. Anonymous said.

Cox News's Ken Herman asked if Bush was giving Musharraf a deadline for action.

"No," the official replied.

Steven Myers of the New York Times said that the administration seemed "to have had very little influence" on Musharraf."

"We have a lot of influence," the official replied, "but we don't dictate."

Speak softly and carry a slender reed: It's a key component of the Stand by Your Man Agenda.