The Church Advances

I thought I'd throw in a diversion for this evening.

This is by SEYMOUR M. HERSH from the New Yorker. I found it via Eric Alterman's article for MSNBC, While we were away: U.S. Constitution, still MIA.

“The President is more determined than ever to stay the course,” the former defense official said. “He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ ” He said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice-President Cheney. “They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway,” the former defense official said. Bush’s public appearances, for example, are generally scheduled in front of friendly audiences, most often at military bases. Four decades ago, President Lyndon Johnson, who was also confronted with an increasingly unpopular war, was limited to similar public forums. “Johnson knew he was a prisoner in the White House,” the former official said, “but Bush has no idea.”

I've heard recent reports about the Whitehouse planning to reduce troops significantly within the next few month, maybe bowing to pressure, but I wouldn't point and call Bush weak for bringing the war to a logical conclusion. With Hersh's article, however, I'm worried that the conflict may continue indefinitely.