We must admit that President Bush's luck has held, as evidenced by the timely arrival of the Great China Spy Plane affair. It was, in retrospect, a rather trivial incident that could have been, and probably should have been, settled in a matter of hours and with nothing more than an exchange of diplomatic notes. Instead, it was strung out like a soap opera, possibly to give Bush an opportunity to look tough and please those patriots who, for rather vague reasons, want us to adopt a hard line with China. But if the purpose was only to prove Bush is a hard-liner, it was not necessary.
Evidence abounds on every side.
He has been consistently hard on labor, consumers and those groups concerned with the environment. One would never suspect that global warming is perhaps the most important issue facing civilization by watching Bush gut regulations to reduce air pollution by power plants and automobiles or brush aside the pleas of our European allies to join international efforts to reduce carbon dioxide in the air. Instead, Bush said glibly that such strict regulations were not in the interest of the United States, especially the electric power companies. It never seemed to occur to him that U.S. interests in achieving cleaner air that might eventually check the threat of melting glaciers, rising seas and frightening changes in climate are like those of other nations and of far greater importance than the welfare of a few businesses. Neither does a concern for business account for his astonishing order permitting levels of arsenic in the nation's drinking water to remain high.