Re: Lori Garver Spins Kerry's Opposition to Space

From: Henry Spencer (henry_at_spsystems.net)
Date: 07/30/04 

Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 18:52:02 GMT

In article <681lg0dai4mmtk6v3l588nv9ovu8lmldji@4ax.com>,
Brian Thorn <bthorn64@cox.net> wrote:
>>...This sudden show
>>of support for an initiative he's basically ignored since first announcing
>>it is suspicious, at the very least. This sounds more like something he
>>was reluctantly talked into, and will be looking for a way out of.
>
>...If the space policy truly was that far down
>on Bush's to-do list, the veto threat would not have been made...

My very tentative reading is that Bush was told: "look, you declared this
grand new policy, and so far you've done diddly-squat to support it -- you
*have* to make a fuss at this point, or everyone will know you don't care
about it and it's dead in the water". So he threatened a veto, hoping the
threat would be enough. Whether he's prepared to back up that threat is
not clear; he's still got the option of Being Reluctantly Talked Out Of It
on the grounds that the other stuff in the bill is too important. With a
promise to do a more careful selling job on the space initiative Real Soon
Now, Trust Me.

Space policy truly *is* that far down on his to-do list. Note how quiet
he's been on the subject since the original announcement; this is *not* a
man who thinks space is a serious priority.

>I believe this is Bush's first veto threat. You can wager good money
>that it got a lot of attention on the Hill...

No, it's not his first. See Charles Buckley's posting. 

-- 
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer
                                -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net