Back, But Not By Popular Demand ... The attempt to rehabilitate the party's scandal-scarred lions must be seen in the context of this governing strategy. If you try something controversial and get away with it, it makes you stronger. The recent appointments -- and the refusal to even acknowledge the legitimate outcry they have occasioned -- are a deliberate demonstration of power, a flaunting of contempt for opposition and dissent, in the expectation that such a show will likely deter, not spur, critics. Why has Bush appointed Kissinger, Poindexter and Abrams? It's like the old riddle: because he can.

This brings back a point that I have been trying to make since Bush started packing his administration with right-wingers and ex-felons: by not complaining LOUDLY about this, the Democrats have only embolden the Bushies to ever greater heights of outrage. They have allowed Dubya to "restore honor and dignity" to people whose names should go down in history as reprobates and traitors. There are many factors that explain Bush's success. But perhaps one of the biggest, even bigger then 9/11, has to be the willingness of the Democrats to squelch any complaint against him.