Bush is still the President, although some people will have us all believe this isn’t meaningful anymore. Lemoncrats (TM) are making grand stances and pony shows out of the recent “mandate” election wins. The IRG report is getting all sorts of OOHS and AWES from the cut and run crowd…But I think the President is going to do what it right, not what’s popular among those who ignore history and refuse to even call a threat what it is.

PRESIDENT BUSH let the ball roll under his glove Thursday when he hinted that he has little enthusiasm for the recommendations of the commission co-chaired by former secretary of state James Baker and the former House International Relations Committee chairman Lee Hamilton. Whatever might be questioned in any particular recommendation of the report, the bipartisan spirit and consensus-building purpose of the Iraq Study Group deserve grateful praise from the president, not a defensive rejection.

That’s a matter of personal perception. I thought the President was very grateful for the reports honesty and yes, he did acknowledge there are problems in Iraq…he did say he would go over each and every recommendation listed. He did not disregard the report at all.

Had he shown proper appreciation for the work of the panel’s 10 senior members and their aides, Bush could have made his own task easier as a commander in chief trying to cope with the disastrous consequences of his own war of choice. Had he enlisted in the Iraq Study Group’s common-sense project of seeking to limit the damage from his administration’s blunders in Iraq, Bush might be part of the solution — rather than the continuing cause — of a daunting problem.

Bush didn’t need to show appreciation…the report itself fondled it’s members with 30 pages of personal praise and biographies of said members. IOW- wasted paper.

The members of the Iraq Study Group may not have come up with all the right answers; in their pursuit of unanimity, they may have settled for split-the-difference compromises where only one straight path makes sense. But in their bipartisan spirit of cooperation, they gave Americans a much-needed reminder of how statecraft once was conducted — and how it ought to be conducted once again.

So I guess it’s better to be wrong, and cut and run, then it does to be right AND do it right…which might mean staying the course. Typical Lemoncrat (TM) strategy…that has been wrong time and time again.

So even though the report itself warns that there is no guarantee of success for its proposals for regional diplomacy, for example, or its imposition of milestones and deadlines on the Iraqi government, or its plan for redeploying and withdrawing US military forces, the nation clearly needed a lucid analysis of realistic options for halting the loss of American blood, treasure, and goodwill in Iraq.

I do believe the report contains much of what is already being done…the liberal MSM refuses to label it as this though. But put it under the safety net of a report written by those who live in the pre- 9-11 world, it becomes a legit course of action. Sure…there are things that need to be pushed, to be moved along at a quicker pace…and that’s happening. Along with an insurgency that is tapping on the famous American trait of impatience. It’s all falling into place.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Call President Bush a lame duck, a weakened leader, a disappointed president whose party lost control of Congress – and the decider when it comes to a new approach in Iraq. After all the studies and recommendations and talk, the president will call the shots.

Members of Congress can complain and investigate, yet there is little they can do to change Iraq policy short of cutting off funds. Regardless of Bush’s diminished state, the ball is in his court. While Congress can declare war, the president, after all, is the one who moves troops.

Bush is expected to outline what he calls his new strategy for Iraq in a speech before Christmas.

In developing his policy adjustments, Bush said he would weigh recommendations from the Iraq Study Group headed by Republican James A. Baker III and Democrat Lee Hamilton; the Pentagon; the State Department; and his National Security Council.

A good leader cannot take the advice of one person or one report. Different opinions, analysis, thought are needed to form a policy that is in America’s best interest. Not the Lemoncrat’s best interest; not the Republican’s best interest. Those who are salivating over this report need to remember: Bush is still the President and is still calling the shots. And hopefully he still has the balls to do the right thing, which isn’t the popular thing.