MANY COMMENTATORS on President Bush’s second-term appointments have linked the nominations of Secretary Rice to her position at State, Paul Wolfowitz to the World Bank, and John Bolton to the United Nations as a troika making a particular statement. The Guardian, for example, published a column by Martin Jacques to this effect under the portentous heading “The neoconservative revolution.”

Certain of the mainstream media have suggested that by appointing officials who support his administration’s policies, President Bush has demonstrated a troubling audacity. The Los Angeles Times thought it appropriate in this context to ask, in mulling over Wolfowitz’s nomination, whether Wolfowitz can “display sufficient independence from the Bush administration[.]” Perhaps this is a standard the Los Angeles Times would like to apply generally to Bush’s cabinet officers, as well.