George W. Bush, old and new

Over at The Carpetbagger Report, Steve Benen responds to a fairly stupid WaPo piece on Bush's attempts to reach out to dissenters and finds that, in fact, "Bush's Bubble remains very much intact":

On its face, the notion is startling. We've become so accustomed to a president who enjoys the safety of his little "bubble" that we're actually supposed to be impressed — front-page-of-the-Washington-Post impressed — that Bush is actually willing to be exposed to a few people whose opinions on isolated issues are slightly different from his own.

But Paulson (Treasury Secretary) and Snow (Press Secretary) are hardly dissenters. I agree with Steve:

Let's be clear: genuine tolerance for dissent includes sincere consideration of ideas that conflict with pre-conceived notions. What evidence is there that Bush has matured in this capacity? None.

The "new" Bush is the old Bush, the same old Bush. Nothing has changed. Even MSM gullibility remains disturbingly the same.

For more, see Taylor Marsh, The Heretik, and Firedoglake -- all good responses to the WaPo article.