Still, many also worry that a growing tendency by the White House and congressional Republicans to massage rather than confront the Left increasingly jeopardizes Bush and his reform proposals. Worse still, many Americans apparently don't want a boring president who just works for them. They want entertainment. Quite a predicament for Bush. Each time the ever-optimistic Charlie Brown is suckered into trying to kick the ball for a goal, Lucy picks it up and Charlie falls on his ass and makes a fool out of himself.
Peanuts is a cartoon.
This morning brought an eye-popping contrast to this maddening state of affairs. Just hours after seeing his party buried under last night's Labour landslide, William Hague stood down as leader of the British Conservative party. The consequences for his failure to increase Tory influence were immediate and total. Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, accountability is just another forgotten, Old World virtue. As this dispiriting week for the American Right draws to a close, Trent Lott clings to power, as unshakable as a bad cough.