I saw this interview between of John Bolton by Jon Stewart from Tuesday's (or maybe Monday's) Daily Show.
It was interesting as they really debated how much power the Pres. should have over the executive bureaucracy. It was basically a conversation about "who should be listening to whom" -- very relevant to our discussion today. Bolton basically argued that Bush listened to the American people in order to get elected, and then after that it was time for others to listen to him. This is a very formal, legalistic notion of politics. It is perfectly rational, but it is also another instance of the admin complaining that they can't be effective because other people (in this case bureaucrats) aren't doing "what they are supposed to do."
This fundamentally misunderstands how power works in the new world. It also uses a double-standard when applied to the President vs. Congress. The President, according to Bolton's ideas, has the political prerogative to do everything legally permitted under his power regardless of how normal/abnormal or popular/unpopular it is. But Congress is "playing politics" if they pursue abnormal actions that are technically legal. It's worth noting that the same double-standard applies to foreign governments. If Muscharaff does not control factions in his country working against him, he is failing to live up to a bargain. If Bush can't control leaks in his own bureaucracy (e.g. CIA), it is the bureaucrats fault or perhaps the fault of "Washington Insiders."
