Sunday Show Madness

If, like me, you watch the Sunday shows, for a long time you've been noticing that many pundits have been saying that "if [X] happens, the president will have to change his Iraq policy and start to withdraw US troops." [X] can be just about anything. Now it is if, in September, the surge isn't working, then the president will have to react by pulling out at least some troops--otherwise, the GOP faces serious electroal defeat in 2008.

Have these pundits actually been watching the president? When has he (or his policy) actually responded to events on the ground by de-escalating? I'll admit that Bush responded to the 2006 election by escalating the war, but that hardly suggests that he will radically change course if, this fall, things aren't going any better in Iraq. Remember how the president responded to the ISG report, which the pundits said "the president can't ignore"? He, um, ignored it.

And why would the president worry about electoral defeat in 2008? He's not on the ticket. And he's convinced that he's right. If one thinks that the graybeards of the GOP will pressure Bush into acting in the interests of his party . . . I'd ask what "pressure" can the graybeards put on him? Especially when he answers to a "higher" power?