The Baker Commission’s report is a non-event. Bush isn’t up for reelection and doesn’t have to listen to anyone. Back in 1967, when public opinion turned against Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, Johnson was under enormous pressure because he was facing reelection. His decision not to run marked the beginning of the end of that war. But Bush can go on as he is now until January, 2009. The Constitution gives him power to run this war as he sees fit, as commander-in-chief.

The only chance sane minds have to influence him will occur when Jim Baker – and perhaps Robert Gates as well – meets with Bush in the Oval, some time in the next few weeks. That’s Baker’s chance to make the case in person. Face-to-face is the only possible way to reach Bush’s cerebral cortex. But if Cheney is present at the meeting – which he probably will be – he will neutralize whatever Baker, and Gates, have to say. Cheney is Bush’s enabler when it comes to Bush remaining in a state of denial and convincing himself that he’s like Harry Truman was in the last years of the Truman presidency, whose rock-bottom opinion polls were subsequently determined to be irrelevant to Truman’s grand legacy.

Cheney is the center of neo-conservatism in America, and he will not give up. As a result, Iraq will continue to unravel and American troops will “stay the course,” unless or until the Dems in congress do something they’re petrified to do – stop funding this war.