tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post2322637184120753029..comments2023-12-06T00:23:28.790+11:00Comments on Press gallery reform: Andrew Elderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-71546015469769085192007-08-23T10:22:00.000+10:002007-08-23T10:22:00.000+10:00No Bill, I'm not and I don't. It's too early to te...No Bill, I'm not and I don't. <BR/><BR/>It's too early to tell whether America will go the way of Rome, Tyre and Nineveh and I certainly haven't written anything like that. If you want a narrative about broader American decline, write it yourself.<BR/><BR/>The American Presidency is an elastic institution. The current occupant is not the clever man that his constituency regard him as. If Cheney wants something to happen, it happens; and if doesn't want something to happen it doesn't. Thus, he and not Bush is effectively President. My criticism is the focus on Bush and the analysis of what he says rather than does; the focus should instead be on what is done in his name. It is time to ignore anything he says that is inconsistent with what he does, and to focus more on those within his administration who make things (not) happen.Andrew Elderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04705844456819481896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22534369.post-13203749065487612072007-08-22T12:27:00.000+10:002007-08-22T12:27:00.000+10:00You're on a logical conundrum there Andrew . If fa...You're on a logical conundrum there Andrew . If failures of the American presidency explain its decline how does it explain America's ascendancy. You have to have an explanation along the lines of the decline and fall of the Roman (American) empire.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com