Our Leader?

This “political public service message brought to you by Clear Channel Outdoor” in Orlando is frightening for all kinds of reasons, but, seriously, how well is der leader leading?

We take Mr. Bush at his word when he says he lobbied hard to get the bill through. But if that's the case, his lieutenants had a peculiar way of respecting the election mandate that they keep insisting he's won. Despite Mr. Rumsfeld's denials, it seems obvious that he lobbied against the president's stated policy. The House Republican leadership, which rammed the president's prescription drug bill to passage by keeping the vote open for hours past the deadline in order to strong-arm resistant legislators, seemed less than lethargic on this key issue. Tom DeLay, the House majority leader who found time last week to push through rules that would allow him to keep his post if indicted, kept a low profile. Speaker Dennis Hastert refused to permit a vote on the compromise bill rather than irritate the intractable committee heads.

And intractable was an understatement. The White House said the president contacted both Mr. Hunter and Mr. Sensenbrenner to urge them to compromise. The evidence suggests that either Mr. Bush was less than forceful in his pleas or the two veteran Republicans have a stunning lack of respect for the wishes of their newly re-elected chief executive. Mr. Hunter at one point rejected language written by Vice President Dick Cheney's lawyer. Mr. Sensenbrenner rejected a section of the bill even though it contained his own language.

Mr. Bush campaigned on the idea that he is the man to handle the aftermath of 9/11. But if he could not deliver a sound bill with the Democrats, most Republicans, the entire 9/11 commission, the 9/11 families and a lot of ordinary Americans backing him up, what will happen on something actually hard?

No worries. Lil' Georgie understands hard work.