Bush Double Standards Are Always Worse Than His Critics Already Know

Not only has Bush been bashing Nancy Pelosi for visiting Syria while simultaneously - and oh so conveniently - exempting Republicans from criticism for doing exactly the same thing. The Bush administration actually helped the Republicans arrange their trip! Via Greg Sargent at The Horse's Mouth, Dave Pidgeon for Pennsylvania's Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reports this story: LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - While U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming visit to Syria has caused the White House to bristle, a little-publicized rendezvous took place Sunday between Syria's president and Lancaster County's congressman. And though Bush administration officials have been criticizing Pelosi, it's not clear what role the White House and the U.S. Department of State played when U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts and two other Republican congressmen met with Syrian President Bassar Assad. Pitts is a Chester County Republican who represents Lancaster County. Gabe Neville, Pitts' chief of staff, said Monday the conference between Assad and the three Republicans was intended to be "low profile." "It was done in cooperation with the administration," he said.