The usually-reliable Michael Kelly blasts

The usually-reliable Michael Kelly blasts President Bush for what he calls a summer of inactivity and lost opportunities. Lately Bush has been getting hammered from all directions. I think he is in the same position as Lincoln, who said that notwithstanding the incessant criticism he received, he relied on events to bear him out. Lincoln said that if events bore him out, no one would remember the critics; if they didn’t, a thousand angels swearing he was right wouldn’t make any difference. I think President Bush has adopted the same attitude toward his critics, and I think that most likely, events will vindicate Bush’s policies, as they did Lincoln’s. The main catch in that approach is the mid-term elections, which are vital to the administration’s being able to accomplish much (especially outside of foreign policy) during the next two years. Hence the time Bush and Cheney have spent this summer fund-raising and campaigning on behalf of key Republican candidates, an important effort which Kelly does not acknowledge. One of the things Kelly attacks Bush for is failing to make the case for action against Iraq. I don’t understand why pundits (Kelly and many others) don’t take Bush at his word that he has not yet made up his mind how or when to go after Saddam. I think the general case that Saddam must go has been made, and is endorsed by a large majority of Americans. But it is hard to make the case for a specific approach when that approach has yet to be determined.