Populist Jujitsu

Columnist E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post takes on the phony populism that has been a trademark of the Bush Administration:

“…Phony populism was on display during Dick Cheney's [interview] on Republican State Television -- excuse me, Fox News -- in which the vice president tried to dismiss questions as to why he waited so long to tell the world he had shot Harry Whittington.

“‘I had a bit of the feeling that the press corps was upset because, to some extent, it was about them -- they didn't like the idea that we called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times instead of the New York Times,’ Cheney said. ‘But it strikes me that the Corpus Christi Caller-Times is just as valid a news outlet as the New York Times is, especially for covering a major story in south Texas.’

“Now there's populist jujitsu for you. Absolutely no one is saying that Cheney should have leaked to the New York Times. The question is why he didn't make the story public, early on, for everybody, at the same time.

“…Thank goodness there are limits to spin, but up to now, there have been no limits on the administration's willingness to divert attention from its problems through attacks on elitist straw men."