Opinion (Rupert Cornwell): This time, Bush could not suspend disbelief

As Watergate buffs will have noticed, E Howard Hunt died this week. Hunt, of course, was the ex-spook who headed the infamous White House "plumbers unit" responsible for the 1972 break-in that led to the downfall of Richard Nixon. But he was also a fantasist, addicted to madcap schemes with only the most tenuous connection to reality. A man, in short, perfectly suited to the surreal flavour of the moment here in Washington, where reality has been elbowed off the stage entirely.

Last Tuesday, President Bush delivered the State of the Union address, the purest moment of theatre in America's political calendar. Normally, it is an occasion that, at least for the hour or so it lasts, carries off the theatrical trick of suspension of disbelief. As you listen to a chief executive reeling off a list of worthy domestic initiatives, and proclaiming his noble vision for US foreign policy, for a fleeting moment you feel that all's well with the world.

As he leaves the House chamber, signing autographs and joking with political friends and foes alike, it briefly seems that the old line about the parties setting aside their differences to "do the people's business" actually means something. But not this time; Iraq has seen to that. The disconnect between what the White House proclaims to be happening, and what is really the case, has surely not been as great since the days of Vietnam. This time Bush could not suspend disbelief.

Read the rest at the Independent