Republican apologists trying to thread the needle of both disdaining their leader while obligatorily disdaining the opposition party that also disdains him for many of the same reasons has been, to mix metaphors, a high-wire act of highest amusement. It's been a fascinating show, and promises to get even better.
The poor dears are beside themselves. For electoral reasons they appreciate the urgency of distancing themselves from Radioactive George, even trashing him publicly. He's botched everything he's touched, and one more mutual embrace could politically toast them as well.
Yet Democrats are villifying George for much the same cause. How, oh how, then, can at-large Republicans trash Dems for trashing George who's now routinely trashed by everyone but Barney, without un-trashing their intended trashed target of George? You see the problem.
We've seen a few talking-point dress rehearsals rolled out of late -- George may be pixilated, but Dems are indecisive; George may be a big spender, but Dems are bigger spenders; George may be isolated, but Dems are beholden to narrow special interests.
But for my money, columnist Robert Novak wins the prize this morning for rolling out in the most innovative way the most acerbic talking point yet: Democrats don't play well with others. They're "rude." They're uncooperative. They disdain bipartisanship.
Novak's petulant offense-defense has the added benefit of incorporating the highest of Republican values -- hypocrisy. Those who snubbed and ignored the minority for six years -- those now of minority or embattled status themselves -- are sudden acolytes of the Holy Grail of bipartisanship. Jaw-dropping, indeed.
The columnist saw his opening when Democrats rejected George's stated state-of-the-union idea of a bipartisan "special advisory council" to consult on the "war on terror," meaning, of course, the disastrous war in Iraq. But the idea -- the offer -- was a set-up (which Novak fails to directly concede in his column), for George already "had in his pocket a rude rejection from Democratic leaders," doubling as an "overt snub."
Nevertheless the Democratic rejection, opined Novak, showed that the opposition wished not to "function ... as friendly colleagues in the spirit of bipartisanship." Bad Democrats. Bad, bad Democrats.
Further, "The Democratic leadership is beyond consultation on Iraq, as demonstrated by the selection of Sen. Jim Webb to deliver the party's response to the president Tuesday night. Webb ... is a hard-edged critic of the war not interested in bipartisanship. Discarding staff-written talking points, professional writer Webb declared: 'The president took us into this war recklessly.'"
Let's see. The president did, didn't he? Aren't rebuttals supposed to clarify as well as rebut? And if so, I can't think of a better or more obvious clarifying rebuttal to Mr. Bush's war management than the charge of "reckless."
Novak's most endearing insincerity, however, was this: "Webb's astringent comments contrasted sharply with Bush's tone, which indicated he still has not shed illusions [about bipartisan cooperation] that he carried from Austin to Washington in 2001."
Our congenial, cooperative president, observed Novak, deliberately shunned socially conservative topics such as abortion and same-sex marriage in his state of the union speech so as not to offend oppositional sensitivities, and instead graciously offered Democratic-enticing olive branches of, for instance, better health insurance and energy independence.
Yet sadly, as Novak further observed, those shameful Democrats are rebuffing Mr. Bush's splendiferous grace. Bad Democrats. Bad, bad Democrats.
But wait. Novak's assessment was beginning to show too much friendliness toward Radioactive George, was it not? To fix this -- to distance from, after cozying up -- Mr. Novak quickly spun and quoted an unnamed, Republican "ranking House committee member" as saying "The president and his aides are irrelevant and out of touch, removed from realizing what happened in the election."
See how it works? Bad-good Bush. Bad-bad Democrats. Double-good Old Guard.
You gotta love it.