This is amusing.
Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, ground zero neocon land, calls for a total makeover of the Bush administration’s leadership, including Vice President Dick Cheney.
The reason? To distract the news media from bombarding the White House’s policies now teetering on the precipice of doom in public opinion polls.
Barnes writes for The Wall Street Journal editoriral page:
A broad transformation, playing on the media’s overreaction whenever surprised, would do more. Reporters would be forced to write stories about new officials, cover confirmation hearings, show up at press conferences they might have ignored, assess new policies, and–this is most important–take a fresh look at the president. It would be like the beginning of a new presidential term. Sure, the press and politicians would be cynical about Mr. Bush’s bold moves, especially since he wouldn’t be uprooting any policy or hiring Bush critics. In truth, there would be a large element of smoke and mirrors in his actions. The trade-off is that Mr. Bush might revitalize his presidency.
Just ignore the “might revitalize” and the specter of rats fleeing a sinking ship with resumes in hand; Barnes may be right about the news media and how it frequently drops the ball to respond to new events.
AND it’s certainly more benign than invading Iran.
Barnes is right about replacing Dick Cheney. That would pump up the GOP’s aimless search for an heir apparent and soften the divisisve posturing among Republicans eyeing New Hampshire and the 2008 primary season.
