Salon: Karl and George's not-so-excellent adventure ("desperate improv")

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Karl and George's not-so-excellent adventure

These days, everything the White House does smacks of desperate improvisation -- from Rove's odd stint as economy-booster in the face of possible indictment to his boss's risky lurch to the right on immigration.

By Walter Shapiro

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/05/16/bush/

May 16, 2006 | When Karl Rove emerged from the White House Monday morning to speak at the American Enterprise Institute, the most ominous moment came during the introduction. Christopher DeMuth, the president of the conservative think tank, went out of his way to praise Rove's "equanimity" in the face of "sharks in the water."

In Washington, when they are about to erect a statue in your honor, they praise your "genius and vision." When they are trying to decide whether to send a handwritten note in case of your indictment, they praise your "calm and equanimity."

For Woody Allen, 90 percent of life is showing up. For Rove these days, it is 100 percent. While Rove was supposedly at AEI to offer an overview of the president's inspiring economic record, that cover story was as preposterous as claiming that America invaded Iraq to safeguard its vineyards. Monday's speech and the 30-minute question-and-answer session that followed was all about projecting the image of control and nurturing the illusion of business as usual.

But everything in the world of George W. Bush these days smacks of desperate improvisation. Apologizing that his purportedly long-standing date at AEI conflicted with the thematics of the president's Monday night television address, Rove said, "I am so completely off message on a day that we're talking about immigration, I don't know if they'll let me back into the gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue." Scheduling snafus like this almost never occurred during Bush's carefully choreographed first term.