Have We Been Fooled By Another W, Rove And Co. Political Ruse?

Regarding the Detainee Treatment Act that just came to fruition Thursday, it seems rather suspicious that the W, Rove and Co. didn't have to give up one inch of their position on the matter. This is very curious and leads me to a number of questions.

• Did the GOP folk who squawked about the original version of the DTA proposed by the President really care about the details?


• Or, was this a ruse to feign care about the original version so that certain potential Republican candidates could look strong by standing up to the President just prior to the elections cycle?


• If so, who would be devious enough to plot out such a strategy?


• Would I be wrong for assuming that this rouse could have been perpetrated by our dear old GOP friends?


• Is any one else sickened by the very fact that these thoughts have crossed my mind?

Have a look at Thursday’s press briefing with Steve Hadley acting as W's trumpet:

Q What did the administration give up in this negotiation? Because it seems like you got everything that you asked for.

MR. HADLEY: This was a situation where both the Congress and the administration shared a common objective. And what we did in a fairly creative way was come up with ways that we could all support to achieve that objective. And that's really what I think is the most important thing. And it really came out of the commentary subsequent to the President's speech of two weeks ago, that everybody came together on the proposition that we need this very important program to go forward. It's one of the best tools we have in the war on terror. We need to do it in a way that gives clear guidance to our men and women in -- our men and women who run this program, clear congressional support, and legal protections. And everybody agreed we ought to try and do it in a way that did not involve modifying or amending our international obligations.

That was the objective that we all came to here in the last week. And the goal was whether we could find language mutually agreed between the Senate and the White House that would achieve those objectives. And the good news is, we could and did.

Q Was there anything that you didn't get that you would have wanted to see on this?

MR. HADLEY: I've said all I said -- I can say on that issue. I just want to thank everybody for their time, and thanks very much for your time and attention.