If you want to determine why the Bush Administration seems to make similar mistakes over and over and over again, here's as good as place as any to start... from last night's Larry King interview:
And just as Liza Minnelli seemed to come unglued all on her own in her appearance on the show last March, Mr. Bush at times seemed tense and defensive even without needling from his host. "I've been popular before, as president," Mr. Bush said tightly. "And I've been — people have accepted what I've been doing." He added: "Sometimes things go up and down. The best way to lead and the best way to solve problems is to focus on a set of principles. And do what you think is right."
Focus on the problem? Focus on the particulars? Reverse-engineer from the results desired? No. Apply a collectivity of standards or judgments. Focus on a fixed or predetermined policy or mode of action. Rely on a basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct.
Is there a list of problems that George W. Bush has solved during his Presidency? If so, I'd be curious to see it, because it seems to me we have the same problems we had before he came into office plus perhaps the greatest accumulation of new problems on the forefront that our country has seen in a six year period since World War II. Just why does George W. Bush think he can lecture about solving problems?
I know why - because that's his principle. The boss knows best. Might makes right. Focus on that principle. It doesn't matter that most folks disapprove of the job he's doing in this country, or that folks think the country is going in the wrong direction. He can solve that problem by just reiterating, over and over and over again, that he's the President, damnit, and he has principles of leadership. That will solve any problem. People disagree with you? Swiftboat them. Expose their cover. Accuse them of being traitors. Might makes right.