Sweating The Small Stuff

How do you know things are falling apart in Washington? Well, a good indication might be the Bush administration trying to maintain the appearance that it's so in control of things that it can afford to spend time chastising a satirical newspaper. That's right. As a story in The New York Times pointed out yesterday, the White House recently sent a letter to The Onion complaining about the humor publication's use of the presidential seal on its website. "The presidential seal is not to be used in connection with commercial ventures or products in any way that suggests presidential support or endorsement," the complaint read.

I'm pretty sure no one was suffering under the delusion that President Bush had personally reviewed The Onion and issued it his seal of approval. Not surprisingly, The Onion called the president on the complaint: "I'm surprised the president deems it wise to spend taxpayer money for his lawyer to write letters to The Onion," wrote Onion editor in chief Scott Dikkers in a response to the White House.

Aside from being amusing, the presidential seal spat is an indication that the Bush White House is trying mightily to maintain the appearance of normalcy and power. The Bush administration is now facing the possible indictment of 22 of its major players. The Fitzgerald investigation, expected to conclude this week, is focusing on the possibility that Vice President Cheney was the leaker in the Valerie Plame case.  In addition, there's the scandal in the House surrounding Tom DeLay and his campaign finances. And new polls indicate that a majority of Americans now do not support the Iraq war. (Polls also indicate that if an election were held this November, Bush would lose.) Add to all this the fact that the 2,000th soldier death in Iraq just occurred, and you've got a government with a pretty tenuous grasp on control. Perhaps that's why they're focusing on the small stuff.

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