Tuesday, September 10

If there's any logic at work in the White House -- a dubious proposition -- it might be a recycled version of the "madman" policies adopted by the Nixon administration. Nixon seemed to think that he could intimidate Hanoi if they thought him capable of anything. Such wildness might appeal to Bush, whose personal history -- from decades of drunkenness and shady business bailouts to political cronyism and a stolen election -- appears to have taught him that he can get away with anything. From an article by Todd Gitlin of Columbia University titled, How To Squander Moral Capital.