Bubble Optical Effects

Remember just a short while ago when both Time and Newsweek had stories about Bush being in a bubble?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush reached beyond his tight circle of trusted aides on Thursday to solicit views on Iraq of former secretaries of state and defense, including some who have publicly criticized his policy.

Of course, the entire meeting lasted less than 30 minutes, including presentations by Gen. Casey and Amb. Khalilzad, via video from Iraq. I'm guessing there wasn't much time for complex exploration of the perspectives of the dozen or so former secretaries in the room. But hey, it's still Big News: imagine, a President actually getting expert advice on a major problem. Wow.

Surprisingly, none of the reports I saw pointed out that Bush has spent more time in the last two weeks listening to his chainsaw cut cedar than he's spent listening to advice on the major problem of Iraq.

If Bush was actually interested in what people outside the bubble had to say, he wouldn't have dropped another 17 recess appointments on the country. But then he would have had to listen to those annoying Senators wondering why he was appointing the wife of Brownie's replacement to a job she's unsuited for, and other such nonsense.