Dysfunction

It's a point which has frequently been made by many commentators, but it's worth restating for about the millionth time. Back when Bush was running for president, the media lickspittles assured us that it didn't really matter that Bush may not, actually, be competent enough to do the job because he would surround himself by a gaggle of "grownups" who would, you know, actually run the government. And, that would be fine and dandy because the country really just wants a president they can imagine having a beer with.

Some of us pointed out that the problem with this little idea is that if ever those responsible grownup underlings started to disagree with each other, someone would have to actually have a wee bit of sense and an ability to resolve the conflicts and make decisions.

The press has been talking about the war between the Pentagon, CIA, and State as if it were a tennis tournament. But, look, it's a bit more important than that. The fact that our entire government is apparently paralyzed with infighting is the kind of thing which should be treated with concern. After 9/11 the media promised us they were going to get all serious for a change. Well, the screwed that one up pretty badly but maybe it isn't too late. As Big Media Matt says:

Should be an interesting investigation -- if elements of the U.S. government are busy preparing to arrest one another, that would go a long way toward explaining the seeming confusion regarding what to say about this in the White House communications operation.

But, obviously it's more than just the communications operation, even if that's about all BushRove really cares about.