Who's Glib?

A.D. Freudenheim, The Editor

Winner #1: Conservative author / pundit / former government official Bill Bennett.

Bennett commented negatively on the Iraq Study Group report – and The Economist called him out for his glibness. The quote from their article:

“Bill Bennett said: ‘In all my time in Washington I've never seen such smugness, arrogance or such insufferable moral superiority.’ (Does Mr Bennett not possess a mirror?)”

Indeed. To The Economist: Thank you.

Winner #2: White House spokesman Tony Snow.

As quoted on NPR, and other news reports, including in this article from yesterday’s New York Daily News, Tony Snow said that he will no longer comment on questions about whether the U.S. is winning the war in Iraq, noting “I'm not playing the game anymore.”

Hmmm. Gosh, that’s not glib, is it?

Mr. Snow, there is no “game” here. The war is no game – and neither is the very important process of our government answering questions about its actions. That someone from the White House would use the word “game” in this context reveals what many of us already know (and what the voters affirmed in November): the administration of President George W. Bush just doesn’t get it.