I Wonder If He Stamped His Feet As Well?

President Bush met with Democrat congressional leaders recently to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq, which makes recommendations on how to "go forward" in Iraq from here.

The general consensus seems to be that Bush is "reluctant", and they don't expect him "to embrace all 79 recommendations" of the report.

Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois seemed to have the most interesting thing to say about the meeting though: President Bush took a moment in the meeting to compare himself to Harry Truman, as an unpopular President who got bogged down in the unpopular Korean war, but eventually was judged more kindly by history as time went by.

Interesting insight, isn't it? President Bush seems to be admitting here that he knows that at this hour, he and his policies are considered failures, and the only hope he seems to be holding onto is that future events and future perspective will judge him more kindly.

Of course, Senator Durbin helped the President clarify his historical perspective a little bit:

Durbin said he challenged Bush's analogy, reminding him that Truman had the NATO alliance behind him and negotiated with his enemies at the United Nations. Durbin said that's what the Iraq Study Group is recommending that Bush do now - work more with allies and negotiate with adversaries on Iraq.

In response to this, Durbin said, the President "reacted very strongly," and "got very animated in his response" (which I'm guessing is diplomatospeak for "got pissed off, stood up, and gesticulated angrily"). The President "emphasized" (another word for shouted perhaps?) that he is "The Commander In Chief."

Indeed.

More interesting insight: President Bush doesn't take contradiction too well, does he?

Actually, we are seeing more and more of this: A snarky, snide, or even scornful President who seems to have a very short fuse. I really think that we will be seeing more headlines of President Bush losing his temper and worse as pressure (which already has to be extreme) and disrespect keeps building up and building up in this White House, and success... any success in any form... continues to elude.

Criticism, disrespect, and demands for answers, changes, results, and admissions of fault are all driving President Bush right up the wall. Any person would get testy and snotty when faced with that... especially when it is happening with literally the whole world watching.

So I can't say I blame President Bush for his reactions. I would be pissed too. However, I can blame him for all of the reasons that he is receiving the criticism, disrespect, and demands for answers, et cetera. He (the Executive Branch) did that pretty much all by himself.

Boy oh boy is it going to be an interesting 2 years. I wonder how long President Bush can hold it together?