Forget Sarah Palin. The real question is: Does President Bush support the Bush Doctrine?

Not according to this:

Two days after George W. Bush criticized Syria as a state sponsor of terror in a speech at the United Nations, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem in New York. The meeting was first reported in the Syrian state press which noted that it took place at Rice’s request. Mouallen told Al Hayat that the meeting represented a softening of the US position on Syria.

It’s the “at Rice’s request” part that stings. If Damascus had somehow decided that the time to play by America’s rules was at hand, and they signaled to Washington that they wanted to hammer out the details of a new cooperative relationship, it would be one thing. But it’s hard to see how Condoleezza Rice requesting a meeting with the Syrian foreign minister is any different from Barack Obama’s version of “finding common ground” diplomacy.

It is therefore also impossible to see its usefulness–to us, that is. The fact that the meeting was first reported in the Syrian state press demonstrates its usefulness to Syria. As in all such cases, America’s reaching out blindly to Assad’s terrorist regime bathes the wrong people in legitimacy and security. What else could come of this?

Rice said that the US was satisfied with the positive steps being taken in the Middle East and expressed the US’s readiness to achieve peace in the region.

The reasons not to be satisfied were best stated by George W. Bush last December:

“My patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago,” Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House.

“The reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hizballah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilizes Lebanon.”

Remember him?