Low Lights from Bush’s Press Conference

At his press conference Tuesday, Bush strung together a series of low lights.

On Iraq, for instance, he said, “We’re making good progress in Iraq,” despite all the evidence to the contrary.

And he said, “I have pledged to the American people—and, more importantly, the troops and their families—we’ll make sure they have what it takes to succeed.” This, after woefully underequipping the troops for more than two years now.

On the subject of Harriet Miers, he claimed she was the most qualified person in the country to sit on the Supreme Court.

That echoed his father’s assertion about the lamentable Clarence Thomas, who reflexively votes along with Antonin Scalia. (The old New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis once said that Bush the First could have saved the taxpayers money by not paying Thomas a salary and simply giving Scalia two votes. Now Scalia would have three.)

George W. all but winked and tugged at his earlobe to signal that Miers is pro-life now and will remain pro-life forever. He went out of his way to say that he’s “a pro-life President” and to stress, several times, that Miers shares his philosophy.

“Twenty years from now she’ll be the same person with the same philosophy that she is today,” Bush said. No need to worry about a Souter or an O’Connor or a Kennedy here, he signaled to his base.

Another alarmingly noteworthy comment came when Bush said he believes the Pentagon should take over part of the country if there is an avian flu outbreak there, repeating a suggestion he made after Katrina. This is a man who is desperate to overturn the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act and to have the military patrol our streets.