THE WORLD'S SMARTEST MORON

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (DAVID E. SANGER May 28, 2003, The New York Times)

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit last week to President Bush's ranch in Texas was punctuated by an unannounced, last-minute surprise: Mr. Bush invited his house guest to sit in on his highly classified morning intelligence briefing, the daily global review of terrorist threats, loose nukes and brewing hot spots.
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Just a few weeks before, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia got similar insider treatment at the ranch: he was given a precious seat at the table for Mr. Bush's strategy session with the American negotiators with North Korea.

Last week Mr. Bush pulled out all the stops for the president of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo even enduring a formal news conference in the East Room, one of Mr. Bush's least favorite venues to make clear to her constituents half a world away that they would be rewarded for allowing the American military to pursue terrorists on their territory.

Such efforts to rebuild and reshape alliances and to make clear which foreign leaders are considered members of the Bush inner circle are part of an effort by the White House to compensate for the breaches with the traditional allies that became so visible during the war in Iraq.

While many presidents have used private visits to Camp David and state dinners to impress and honor foreign leaders, Mr. Bush is taking the process a step further: since the fall of Baghdad, he has issued invitations to reward allies who have signed on to his view of the world and are willing to join him in the next steps of his plans to confront both terrorists and so-called rogue states.

David Frum has written about how one of the ways Mr. Bush secures loyalty and demonstrates trust is to share information or a thought with people that could embarrass or harm him if they leaked it. Pretty savvy for a guy who's supposed to be an idiot. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 28, 2003 4:55 PM