http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12515561/So what does Tony Snow need to do to “stop the tribal warfare?”
* Tell the president that this isn’t Texas any more, and never really was.
* Put him back on the campaign plane, so to speak. The press corps is a global phenomenon – the whole planet is an unwieldy “plane.” And the reporters are unhappy. I got a sense of that recently by participating in an Aspen Institute panel at the State Department with top reporters from around the world. Their attitude toward America (and the American press corps) was nothing short of acidic. Bush has no choice but to try to create a shared sense of mission, in this case for the survival of freedom. And that means more contact with them than he has ever had as president – in circumstances where he can’t be in full control.
* Encourage the president to talk much more frankly about the war in Iraq. There is progress to crow about -– the forging of a new government, for example -– but that element of the story won’t get traction without candor about the rest.
* Stop the dragnet of subpoenas to reporters. I know: there are security concerns, legitimate ones. But it’s the administration’s job to stop the leaks, not the reporters’ job to ignore them. And you can’t blithely leak when you feel it serves your purposes, and then expect the press to support you when you go after reporters for printing leaks you didn’t like.