The US is an early-to-rise country, but Americans are not accustomed to seeing their president on the TV screen just after seven in the morning, Washington time.
When George Bush spoke at breakfast-time Tuesday, ostensibly to the Warsaw Conference, it was not just a response to the time difference with Europe, it was a signal to his compatriots of a new phase in his own role in the war: a phase of renewed public profile and apparent vigor. It does not necessarily mean a more hands-on approach to the war's strategy.
Since the bombing of Afghanistan began a month ago, President Bush has slipped from public consciousness. Sometimes, he has hardly been more visible than Vice-President Dick Cheney, tucked away in his "secure location." There have been brief clips of the president on the evening news, but mostly he has either reiterated old lines quickly or talked about education and jobs.
His highest profile appearance was ceremonially throwing a baseball. Except for insisting that he was infection-free himself, he has said next to nothing about anthrax.
The most visible faces of the administration have been Tom Ridge, the new recruit in charge of homeland security, and Donald Rumsfeld, the oldest of old hands at defense. There have even been more sightings of a man called Potter, the postmaster general.
The indications are that this has been a reflection of private disengagement too. It has never been a secret that Bush is not a micro-manager. But once the strategy was ordained, the execution of the war has been left, to a remarkable extent, in the hands of the military. Though the defense secretary has been doing the up-front explaining, sources suggest that the crucial operational decisions have been made at least two levels below him.
"This has begun to look like Tommy Franks's war rather than Don Rumsfeld's, never mind George Bush's," one diplomat said Tuesday, referring to the war's US commander, General Franks.
Little discontent has yet fed through to the American people, partly because the mainstream US media have done little to reflect the sense of unease that exists elsewhere about the methodology and the effectiveness of the war. The president's ratings have hardly dropped from the near-unanimous highs of late September.
And the president's low profile has helped him to evade the blame for the areas that are beginning to alarm people: the scattergun warnings about potential new terrorist attacks; the uneven treatment of those endangered by anthrax; the continuing blithering incompetence in the airline security business.
This seems to have been deliberate policy. Ryan Lizza, a writer for the New Republic magazine, contrasted the Clinton White House, in which the president was habitually engaged -- and was seen to be engaged -- in every daily issue, with the Bush team's approach of working out in advance what the president should see and do, never mind the pressure of events. "Problem is, at a time of overwhelmingly bad news, they've decided he's a good-news guy."
In the next week, when President Bush faces Tony Blair, the US TV audience, the UN and Vladimir Putin in quick succession, it will be impossible to keep him away from what happens, whether the news is good or bad. The political -- as well as military -- strategists will be holding their breath, more than ever. It will be the wrong week for bad news.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique