Bush's Blind Loyalty: Anything Any of His Friends Does is Just Fine by Him

Knight Ridder has an interesting piece comparing the Palmeiro steroid issue with baseball and Bush's defense of the player with many of the other seemingly untenable positions Bush has taken:

But the president's quick and unequivocal defense of Palmeiro - who's now the subject of a congressional investigation - has raised questions about whether Bush's loyalty undercuts his political judgment.

"It seems that President Bush is falling into the Nixon trap - his administration can do no wrong. His allies and people who support him can do no wrong," said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian. "Palmeiro is above suspicion, Rove is not to be questioned, John Bolton is a stand-up guy.

"The danger is he divorces himself from public reality, political reality, and it erodes his ability to lead the country," Dallek said.

Several analysts said the Palmeiro situation illustrates that point. Bush took a strong stand against steroids in his 2004 State of the Union address, demanding that major league sports take tougher action to eliminate steroid use by athletes.

"The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous and it sends the wrong message - that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character," Bush said.

But when news of Palmeiro's positive drug test and 10-day suspension by Major League Baseball became public, Bush almost instantly backed the ballplayer, saying Palmeiro spoke truthfully on March 17 when he wagged his finger at the House Government Reform Committee and emphatically denied ever using steroids.

Likewise, Bush's daughters have rather publicly smoked, consumed illegal drugs, and regularly get wasted drunk. Yet Bush, while calling for his daughters to be protected, is happy to see anyone else who displays this behavior imprisoned.

Different rules for the Bushies, you know.

Go read the entire thing.