The Tone of Debate

The tone of the debate on Iraq seems to be softening on the part of Bush. His remarks while on the China visit had previously been agressive in the defense of the administration's actions in Iraq. Perhaps this will signal a more honest debate of the course of the war rather than an assault on the patriotism of the war critics. However, more than likely, it another example of the Spiro Agnew line of defense which states that the president can soften the body blows of his attack dog while still allowing the misstatements to stand. We saw this line of defense taken to full throttle during the Nixon Administration. Somehow this approach seems to work time and again. God cop, bad cop style that works in the movies seems to work in real life too. Are we, as a people, really that stupid? Seems we must be.