A Lame Day In Da Life Of A "Lame Duck".

Washingtonpost.com


A Plaque on All Their Houses
By Dana MilbankFriday, January 16, 2009; A03
It seemed at first as if a prankster had hacked his way into the White House e-mail system.
"Ceremony to Commemorate Foreign Policy Achievements," said the advisory from the White House Office of Presidential Advance.
Two wars, the brink of global depression, and violence from Mumbai to Gaza? Par-tee!
With fanfare, they walked into the gilded Benjamin Franklin Room of the State Department yesterday: President Bush, the first lady, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Rice's deputy, John Negroponte. They had come to praise great people. Namely, themselves.
Rice presented Laura Bush with a framed "Certificate of Appreciation." Then she presented Bush with a "commemorative plaque." And another commemorative plaque, which, like the first, was sheathed in a gold curtain. Finally, she had an honor guard present her boss with five flags in nifty triangular boxes.
"Mr. President, we've been through a lot together," Rice told Bush.
"We've been through a lot together," Bush told Rice.
"Mr. President, history's judgment is rarely the same as today's headlines," Rice assured Bush.
"History will say that Condi Rice was one of the great secretaries of state our country has ever had," Bush assured Rice.
Bush hung a Presidential Medal of Freedom around the neck of Ryan Crocker, his ambassador to Iraq. Everybody stood to applaud, and the president left to a Sousa march.
As one might expect of a Ceremony to Commemorate Foreign Policy Achievements of the Bush Administration, it did not last very long. Happily, that left plenty of time to enjoy the many other ceremonies yesterday in which the nation's leaders were celebrating one another.
On the Senate floor, Joe Biden and his colleagues were aggressively exchanging praise. Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) praised Biden. Tom Carper (D-Del.) praised Biden. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) praised Biden. "When people talk about Vice President-elect Joe Biden, they talk about his courage, his family, his remarkable career in the United States Senate," Majority Leader Harry Reid praised.
Biden, in his final speech, praised them back: "The United States Senate has been my life, and that is not a hyperbole," he said. The notoriously long-winded vice president-elect had to stop his speech after 40 minutes -- because it was time to praise Hillary Clinton.
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) praised the future secretary of state. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) praised Clinton. McConnell praised Clinton. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) praised Clinton. And Clinton, naturally, returned praise. She praised Biden. She praised her staff. And she praised her colleagues, "public servants of both parties who bring their expertise and enthusiasm."
Over in the Russell Caucus Room, the Senate Judiciary Committee was holding what was supposed to be a contentious confirmation hearing for Eric Holder to become attorney general. But even there, the atmosphere soon became celebratory. Republicans swallowed their misgivings and generally gave Holder an easy time. And Democrats laid on the praise. "His record of public service, his integrity, his experience, his commitment to the rule of law merit our respect," Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced before Holder had said a word.
"Perhaps the best indication of Eric's excellence," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), introducing Holder, "is that in a very competitive pool of the best and the brightest, he rose to the top like cream in rich milk."
Holder, in turn, praised his future boss, "a president-elect who is a brilliant constitutional lawyer, a person with a great moral compass."
Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, set the tone for the celebratory questioning of the nominee. Noting that both Holder and President-elect Barack Obama play basketball, Kohl asked the nominee: "In the event, Mr. Holder, he invites you to the gym for a little one-on-one, will you promise us and the American people that you will do everything in your power to defeat him as badly as you can?"
But nobody has been dishing out -- and seeking -- as much adulation as the current president. On Monday, he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to three world leaders, including former Australian prime minister John Howard (who had taken up residence at Blair House, across the street from the White House, and prevented the Obama family from moving in). To highlight his own praiseworthiness, Bush has released two legacy-burnishing booklets, the 40-page "100 Things Americans May Not Know About the Bush Administration Record" and the 50-page "Highlights of Accomplishments and Results of the Administration of George W. Bush."
Laudatory though they are, pamphlets can't touch the grandeur of a ceremony at the State Department -- and Rice put on a show for her boss yesterday with all the fixings: the crystal light fixtures, the presentation of the colors, the framed medals and flags. With a flourish, the military aide pulled back curtain No. 1 to reveal the first plaque, and curtain No. 2 to reveal the second plaque. "This one shows what you have done to expand the circle of human freedom in the world," Rice announced.
Bush had no awards for Rice, but he did come with praise for her ("She's like my sister") and for himself. "In short, we've made our alliances stronger, we've made our nation safer, and we have made the world freer," he said.
And now he has proof: two commemorative plaques, a handsome boxed flag set, and a certificate for the wife.