Frank Rich: Long live America's 'new surrogate president'

To bad Al Maliki want him out of Iraq, Georgie Rich: We have a new surrogate president now; Long live David Petraeus!

RAW STORYPublished: Sunday July 29, 2007
While many joked about Vice President Dick Cheney taking over "during the presidential colonoscopy last weekend," NY Times columnist Frank Rich writes, "We have a new surrogate president now. Sic transit Cheney. Long live David Petraeus!"
"It was The Washington Post that first quantified Gen. Petraeus' remarkable ascension," Rich writes. "President Bush, who mentioned his new Iraq commander's name only six times as the surge rolled out in January, has cited him more than 150 times in public utterances since, including 53 in May alone."
Rich adds, "And so another constitutional principle can be added to the long list of those junked by this administration: the quaint notion that our uniformed officers are supposed to report to civilian leadership. In a de facto military coup, the commander in chief is now reporting to the commander in Iraq. We must 'wait to see what David has to say,' Bush says."
Excerpts from Rich's column:

Heat Rises Between Iraq PM and Petraeus

Iraq PM angry with General Petraeus