During the early days of the Civil War Albert Sydney Johnson faced problems on the east west and center fronts of the west. Johnson knew he didn’t have sufficient troops to cover any kind of a coordinated advance. So his strategy was BS literally. He planted false stories in his papers about the overwhelming strength of his forces and how they seemed to be preparing for advances everywhere at once. The North was convinced ht it and it slowed down. It bought him some time but eventually when the North started to move bluff and distraction couldn’t cut it. Defeat came at Forts Henry & Donaldson and Death came at Shiloh.
Karl Rove notes that this seems to be the strategy concerning Rush:
What better way to divert public attention from these more consequential if problematic issues than to start a fight with a celebrity conservative? Cable TV, newspapers and newsweeklies would find the conflict irresistible. Something has to be set aside to provide more space and time to the War on Rush; why not the bad economic news?
Here’s the problem: Misdirection never lasts long. Team Obama can at best only temporarily distract the public; within days, attention will return to issues that clearly should worry the White House.
Not even Team Obama can forestall unpleasant reality. And among those America now faces is Mr. Obama adding $3.2 trillion to the national debt in his first 20 months and 11 days in office, eclipsing the $2.9 trillion added during the Bush presidency’s entire eight years.
In fact James Carville is still playing the game:
James Carville fired back Wednesday at radio host Rush Limbaugh, who earlier in the day had taken the Democratic strategist to task for saying of President Bush in 2001, “I certainly hope he doesn’t succeed.”
Carville told CNN that unlike Limbaugh, who recently said he wants President Obama to fail, Carville retracted his own missive — uttered to a group of reporters on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 — just minutes later, when he learned of the terrorist attacks on America.
“Thank God that I had the good sense to realize that the United States was at war and that changed everything, Carville said. “Once I found out that the country was at war, I said: Whatever I said, disregard it; it’s inoperative.”
I find it interesting that as long as Carville felt there was danger he needed George Bush. Apparently the president must have done a hell of a job since we feel so safe we can even have John Walker Lindh’s defense attorney work for Justice and nobody blinks an eye.
This is the difference between this president and the last one. One acts one distracts.
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