Jane Smiley, the novelist, wrote an article at The Huffington Post on the recent Republican criticism of and distancing from the President.
Her thesis? Democratic opponents of President Bush and his policies have been arguing for years that the President’s policies are misguided and flawed all to no avail. But several Republican commentators and theorists recently have come out with strong criticisms of the President and his policies, on topics ranging from fiscal policy to Iraq to the rising theocratic movement. Smiley points out that if a President who tuned out and wilfully ignored Democratic criticism isn’t suddenly going to accept Republican criticism because, in Bush’s worldview, an opponent is an opponent no matter what the underlying political philosophy. And Bush’s opponents aren’t listened to–they’re simply ignored.
Garrison Keillor argued for impeachment as a way of getting the President’s attention that All Is Not Well. Russ Feingold’s censure resolution in the Senate has a similar reasoning behind it. Republican pundits going on talk shows raising questions about Bush’s policies will fall on deaf ears at the White House.