The Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman observes that, where Iraq policy is concerned, Bush prefers a certain kind of audience-- specifically, an audience in uniform. In his words:
When President Bush wanted to make a speech on the war in Iraq in May, he went to the Naval Academy. When he wanted to make a speech on the war in Iraq in August, he went before members of the Idaho National Guard and their families. When he wanted to make a speech on the war in Iraq in November, he went to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage.
Vice President Dick Cheney also likes a gathering that knows how to salute. When he emerges from his bunker to castigate critics of the war, it's usually at a safe remove from those critics. Last month, it was at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. In June, it was at the Air Force Academy.
When President Nixon was feeling beleaguered by Vietnam and Watergate, he had a standard response: take a trip to a foreign country and bask in his reputation as a global statesman. That's a less plausible option for Bush, who in many countries is about as welcome as avian flu. But he's found that when he needs a relatively receptive audience, the people below him in the chain of command will suffice.
An audience with a strong sense of deference to authority might be what Bush prefers, but it is certainly not what he needs.
One of the primary critiques against his administration's foreign policy lies in its lack of realism. Does Bush's cabal sooth and massage his information and intelligence briefings to keep him sure of the pie-in-the-sky that goes for current Iraq policy? Wouldn't it be good for Bush to explain his reasoning to a few people who might not be inclined to salute?