The Captain goes on to suggest either the Iowa Caucuses or the State of the Union speech for Bush to make the announcement. I’m torn on that, myself: the earlier, the better… but the image of the President telling Congress that this is going down, and then the panicky looks as 500+ legislators realize that the cameras are on them and they had better start clapping if they don’t want this showing up in a campaign ad…

Let us savor that image, for a moment.

(pause)

Moving on, as a practical matter Ed’s right: there’s almost no downside for the President for this one. Granted, it’s only nationally that Americans hate pork; we happily forgive our local porkers. It’s still true that we nationally hate pork, and the news that the President is doing something to counteract it will help hearten fiscal conservatives, who have been taking a lot of beatings for the Party’s sake these last seven years. True, it’ll mean that the next Congressional session will make this one look like the New Deal’s First 100 Days - which will just break conservative hearts, won’t it? - and put some freshmen Congressmen in opposite-color districts at risk because they aren’t showing that they’re good providers, but that’s about it…

Oh, right, all of those freshmen are Democrats trying to keep their seats in Republican districts.

(pause)

You’re a baseball man, Mr. President - so I hardly need to tell you about the tactical uses of the beanball, do I?