Let’s Try Baloney
The White House is way off track. Only something radical can rally Bush’s presidency.
WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
By Eleanor Clift
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10005266/site/newsweek/snip
“He needs people who affirm him,” said the diplomat, recalling Harriet Miers’s note to then Gov. Bush that he was “deserving of the greatest respect.” In this diplomat’s assessment, having known the Bush family, respect is the key word. Bush for years was the ne’er do well son of a respected, duty-bound father, and he’s still playing catch-up in the family Oedipal drama.
Talking to Bush requires what diplomats call the “baloney sandwich approach.” It works like this: Your spouse has run up the credit cards. Confronting her will provoke a fight. So you flatter her, tell her what a great wife and mother she is; then present this teeny little problem the two of you can work together to solve because you love her so much. Bush’s world has collapsed in on him. It’s time to try something new, even if it’s baloney.
snip
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10005266/site/newsweek/...SWEET