Suitcase Nuke

Charles Gibson just cannot abide us common folk. Especially if we are so ill-informed as to not know what the Bush Doctrine is. Never mind that he doesn't either. In his first interview with Governor Sarah Palin, prospective Vice President, he asked her if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine. "In what respect," she inquired.

Charles Krauthammer knows a little bit about the Bush Doctrine - he is credited with being the first to use it. In an op-ed piece, he explains the four meanings the Bush Doctrine has taken since first used:

1. Unilateral withdrawal from the ABM treaty, the Kyoto Protocol and others.
2. Later, the "With us or against us" mentality spurred by the events on 9/11. This philosophy pushed Musharaff to support us.
3. Then, before Iraq, the theory of preemptive strikes became "The Bush Doctrine." This is the meaning Gibson so haughtily, and impatiently, lectured to Palin.
4. The most recent understanding of the Doctrine is that it is the United State's mission and purpose to spread democracy and freedom across the world.

Of course, Krauthammer points out, any administration's "Doctrine" is nebulous and difficult to define with any certainty. Bush staffers and State Department personnel wouldn't be able to tell you with any certainty what it means. This did not stop Gibson from treating Palin like a schoolgirl pretending to be a Governor. Be sure to read his column.