But I Thought This Was Appeasement?

I guess it's only bad when Democrats talk about diplomacy. When George Bush does it, it's just fine. (This is actually good news, and hats off to the administration for taking this long overdue step. I am just wondering how the right wingers who slam Obama for suggesting things like this justify it when their fearless moron leader does the same darn thing.)

The decision by the Bush administration to send a senior American official to participate in international talks with Iran this weekend reflects a double policy shift in the struggle to resolve the impasse over the country’s nuclear program.

First, the Bush administration has decided to abandon its longstanding position that it will only meet face-to-face with Iran after it first suspends uranium enrichment as demanded by the United Nations Security Council.

Second, it infuses the negotiating track between Iran on the one side and the six global powers — France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and the United States — on the other with new importance, even though their official stance is that no substantive talks can begin until the uranium enrichment stops.

I'm having a hard time understanding how Bush, who essentially compared Obama to Neville Chamberlain for wanting to talk with Iran, reconciles this with himself. And then I realize that he doesn't actually "do" self-reflection, and probably barely even recognizes the discrepancy.

Only 187 days to go until he's out of there...