ROVISM LIVES?

Here's a bizarre story from yesterday's Times of London:

George Bush smooths path for Hillary

BUSH administration officials are paving the way for a smooth transition to a possible Democratic presidency as Hillary Clinton consolidates her position as the overwhelming favourite to win her party’s nomination for the 2008 election.

...With Clinton looking the near-inevitable nominee, Bush officials intend to hold her to her promise to be tough on defence and national security. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, is hoping to establish a bipartisan consensus on defence that will last beyond next year's election.

In the clearest sign of a shift in gear, Gates is to appoint John Hamre, a former official in President Bill Clinton's administration, to chair the Defense Policy Board once led by Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative advocate of the invasion of Iraq. The board's job will be to prepare for the transition to a new administration in 2008, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

Hamre, who was Bill Clinton's deputy defence secretary in the 1990s, has been highly critical of the conduct of the war on terror. In The Washington Post last year he wrote: "The policies that led to Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, secret renditions and warrantless wiretaps have undermined America’s towering moral authority." ...

However, Hamre, who heads the influential Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, also argued that America “will be hurt if we crawl out or run out of Iraq”....

What? And we're also told that Hamre has been skeptical of the surge. And yet Richard Perle himself is brought in, and he says he's just fine with Hamre's appointment.

Oh, and there's this:

The Treasury, under Henry "Hank" Paulson, has also been appointing Democrat supporters to senior positions. Robert Novak, the conservative columnist, reported that Paulson last week named Eric Mindich, a leading Democratic fundraiser, for a key role as an adviser on financial markets. One Republican in the Bush administration wrote disapprovingly in an e-mail: "This leads some to wonder whether this Treasury has become the preplaced Hillary Clinton team."

I don't know what's going on, but I'm sticking with my theory: This is meant to send a signal to potential Democratic voters that Hillary Clinton isn't worth voting for, because her policies will be Bush Lite. If I'm right, this is an attempt to suppress Democratic turnout.

I can't believe these people are being brought in to modify administration policy -- it's clear from the history of this administration that only a few people in the inner circle ever have any real influence. And I can't believe they're being brought in to smooth the transition to Hillary Clinton -- I think they're being brought in to help prevent that transition.