Deadlines For Thee, But None For Me

President Rexall Ranger just luuuvs him some deadlines. Remember this from March 17, 2003?

[...]
Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals -- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave Iraq immediately.
[...]

High noon, or midnight, or something. Definitely a deadline. When violence raged prior to the first Iraqi election, and a threatened Sunni boycott which would virtually guarantee a permanent and violent divide in Iraq, our Rexall Ranger stood firm on the deadline of January 30, 2005:

President Bush yesterday flatly ruled out any delay in Iraqi elections scheduled for Jan. 30 despite the unrelenting insurgency, rejecting Sunni Muslim boycott threats and framing the vote as a critical step toward bringing U.S. troops home.

In his strongest reaffirmation of the election plan, Bush attempted to end any doubt about whether the vote would go forward after days of debate among Iraqi politicians. Organizations representing the once-powerful Sunni minority have demanded the elections be put off until security is restored, while leaders of the majority Shiites have insisted the balloting proceed.

"The elections should not be postponed," Bush said. "It's time for the Iraqi citizens to go to the polls. And that's why we are very firm on the January 30th date."

Sounds like a deadline to me. Then there was the Iraqi constitution. Our Tin Star Texan stuck to his guns:

[...]

Bush, who instinctively dismisses doubters and abhors changing course, again stuck to the plan. "We've got to keep the deadline there to force the parties to make the hard decisions to reach compromise," Bush told advisers, according to Hadley.
[...]

Dayamm. There's that word--deadline--coming right out of Dubya's own mouth--if you can believe Hadley. But we all know what happened on Iraq's constitution. They were a little late on the deadline, punted on the hard stuff, which are still the main points of contention today, primarily sharing of the revenue. Seems some sillies are having a little trouble rewarding their past tormentors. It is a small wonder Iraq is such a disaster when Dubya peoples his brain trust for the war with people like Douglas Feith:

[...]
Former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith, a key architect of the war, said the political process has not been perfect but that Bush was right to stick rigorously to the timetable. "That was a calculation," he said. "It involved some risk. It turned out not only not to be a disaster but a great success."
[...] my bold

Uh, yeah Doogie Howitzer, craptacular. Rumor has it Dougie beats the side of head because it feels so good when he stops.
Now the congress attempts to place some deadlines on Bush. But he stamps his baby Gap boots and calls everybody names. Lately he is warming up to the idea of "benchmarks" for Iraqi's.

It's not that the President was for deadlines before he was against them before he was for them, it is deadlines that apply to him, or any rules whatsoever, like torture, or habeus corpus, or warrantless wiretapping etc.

There is an expert in field in dealing with these types of people: Supernanny! No one is better at dealing with spoiled brats than her, I mean, Mary Poppins she ain't. Perhaps we should pass the hat and buy the boxed set for Pelosi and Reid. Or, they can just use the CliffsNotes:

Lower yourself to their level so you can see eye to eye.

Use a stern voice.

Waggle a disapproving finger and say:

"This is unacceptable."