*BOON FOR BUSH: A USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll shows that, as expected, the December 14 capture of Saddam Hussein gave President Bush a tremendous political boost.
In a survey conducted December 11-13, the poll showed Bush’s approval rating at 54%. But another survey conducted December 15-16, after Saddam’s arrest, showed Bush’s approval rating had spiked 9 points to 63%. That is the President’s highest job approval rating since the days immediately following the fall of Baghdad.
*DEAN DOWN: The same poll showed that the capture of Saddam was very bad political news for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the Democratic presidential front-runner. The December 11-13 survey, before Saddam’s arrest, showed Dean leading the Democratic field nationally with 31%. But the December 15-16 survey, immediately after the arrest, indicated Dean’s support among Democrats had dropped 6 points to 25%. If the presidential election were held today, and Dean were the Democratic nominee, Bush would crush him, 59% to 37%. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the most hawkish of the Democratic presidential candidates, would do little better, losing to Bush 58% to 38%.
*NO WEST COURT-MARTIAL: To the great relief of conservatives around the country, the U.S. Army will not court-martial Lt. Col. Allen B. West, who fired his gun twice near the head of an uncooperative Iraqi terrorist to intimidate him into providing information that foiled a planned ambush of West’s men. (See "Don't Prosecute This Hero")
An Army lawyer had targeted West for prosecution. This lawyer offered West a deal: Either resign from the Army, just short of 20 years service, and lose his pension, or face a court-martial where the officer could have been convicted of a felony, deprived of his pension and sentenced to 8 years in prison. West refused to resign, but Lt. Col. Jimmy Davis, who conducted an Article 32 hearing to determine whether a court-martial of West was in fact warranted, declined to recommend one. Instead, he recommended administrative punishment by West’s commander, Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno. Odierno fined West $5,000 and will allow him to retire later this year with full pension.
*‘JOB-JUSTIFYING LAWYERS’: West’s lawyer, Neal Puckett, is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, who served as a military judge. He made several sharp comments to the Washington Times following the disposition of his client’s case.
"The problem with today’s Army is that the top brass seem to have become paranoid about making common-sense decisions without the ‘advice of counsel,’" said Puckett. "Those counsel usually have no idea what it means to command troops in combat. . . . Had true Army leaders been allowed to handle this without benefit of counsel, I believe Al West would still be in command, would have been privately congratulated, and told to stay out of the interrogation business in the future. That would have been true Army leadership. Those types of leaders are still in the Army. It’s just that they have been subverted by job-justifying lawyers who seek to play a larger role in the command."
*SAY WHAT? Pro-family conservatives were dismayed by the answer President Bush gave last week when ABC’s Diane Sawyer asked him: "When you talk about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, are you saying you will absolutely support a constitutional amendment against gay marriage and against gay civil unions?"
"If necessary," said Bush in a less-than-clear response, "I will support a constitutional amendment which would honor marriage between a man and a woman, codify that. And will, the position of my Administration is that, you know, whatever legal arrangements people want to make, they’re allowed to make, so long as it’s embraced by the state."
*CIVIL UNIONS? "But," Sawyer said to the President, "Vice President Cheney has spoken out in favor of civil unions. In the 2000 election, you said pretty much it was a state issue." "No, that’s right," said Bush. "Except, unless judicial rulings undermine the sanctity of marriage. In which case, we may need a Constitution-amendment."
*PERKINS REACTS: Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and American Values President Gary Bauer responded to the President. "While I’m encouraged President Bush says he supports a constitutional amendment honoring marriage between a man and woman," said Perkins, "I’m very concerned about his additional comments which seem to suggest the definition of marriage, which pre-dates western civilization and the United States Constitution, can be redefined at the state level. This sounds as though the administration would support civil unions which are counterfeits of the institution of marriage."
"I am deeply disappointed that the President left the door open to so-called state-mandated domestic partnerships that grant all of the legal benefits of marriage to same-sex couples," said Bauer. "His unfortunate statement undermines pro-family conservatives around the country who are working in state legislatures to prevent such ‘fake marriages.’"
*TWO-TO-ONE: The same USA Today poll that showed the President’s approval spiking upward also showed that "Americans opposed recognizing same-sex marriage by more than 2 to 1. . . . The divide on the issue is wider among those who feel strongly about their position. By more than 3 to 1, strong opponents outweighed strong supporters."
Sixty-five per cent said homosexual marriages "should not be valid," while only 31% said they should be. A clear majority of Americans, 52%, said they felt "strongly" about their opposition to homosexual marriages, while only 17% said the felt "strongly" that such marriages should be deemed valid. Many political veterans in Washington feel that Republican politicians who seem fearful of defending the beliefs of their conservative constituents on this issue are actually not fearful of the voters, but of the liberal establishment.
