Bush's Bubble Strikes Again

The Big Meeting

Bush will take part in a rare face-to-face meeting with critics tomorrow, albeit behind closed doors.

Kenneth T. Walsh blogs for U.S. News that "sparks are expected to fly at President Bush's meeting with Democratic congressional leaders Wednesday at the White House. The topic will be Iraq, and neither side has shown much willingness to compromise so far."

But, Walsh adds: "Democrats sense a trap. Insiders say they suspect Bush will let the opposition leaders present their differing views on the Iraq war in the Wednesday encounter and then, afterward, he will use his bully pulpit to portray the Democrats as hopelessly divided and heading down the path toward surrender, while he has a plan for victory."

No More 'War on Terror'

Tania Branigan writes in the Guardian: "President George Bush's 'war on terror' rhetoric has strengthened terrorist groups by helping them to create a shared identity, the development secretary, Hilary Benn, warned yesterday.

"The Foreign Office reportedly asked politicians and diplomats to drop the phrase last year. . . .

"'In the UK, we do not use the phrase 'war on terror' because we can't win by military means alone, and because this isn't us against one organised enemy with a clear identity and a coherent set of objectives,' he told a meeting in New York organised by the Centre on International Cooperation.

"'It is the vast majority of the people in the world - of all nationalities and faiths - against a small number of loose, shifting and disparate groups who have relatively little in common apart from their identification with others who share their distorted view of the world and their idea of being part of something bigger. What these groups want is to force their individual and narrow values on others without dialogue, without debate, through violence. And by letting them feel part of something bigger, we give them strength.'"

The Savage Pulitzer

Charlie Savage of the Boston Globe won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting yesterday, "for his revelations that President Bush often used 'signing statements' to assert his controversial right to bypass provisions of new laws."

The stories that won Savage his prize are certainly familiar to White House Watch readers -- and yet worth rereading.

And here's a question White House correspondents should be asking themselves today: How did an investigative reporter at a regional newspaper end up winning an award on their beat?

According to Globe Editor Martin Baron, the answer is: "What Charlie does and the reason he won this richly deserved Pulitzer is because he covered what the White House does, not just what it says."

Another thing to keep in mind: For entirely too long, Savage was a one-man band on this important national story.