Mistakes Were Made. . .

Alex Knapp links to evidence of growing Republican dissention over the Patriot Act and remarks,

One of Bush’s major problems, IMHO, is that he’s completely incapable of admitting he’s made a mistake. Any backtracking on any issue at all is viewed as a painful compromise. It would be not only the right thing to do to support eliminating anti-liberty portions of the Patriot Act, it would be politically smart, too.

I agree that the Bushies seem remarkably unwilling to admit errors, even by Washington standards. In the particular case of Patriot Act, though, it’s far from clear they think they’ve made a mistake. Further, there’s probably good reason to be reluctant to admit errors in the current climate, as they’d be seized upon to demonstrate that the administration is floundering.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. mark says:

    Well, from Bush’s comments in the SOTU to his various speeches in the past few months, it seems he is campaigning for renewing the Patriot Act, and that certainly tells me they don’t think it is a mistake.

  2. Hal says:

    I’m confused. I thought the party line was that people overwhelmingly endorse the patriot act.

    Man, I got to get a score card.