No Gains Except for the Base

Bush's trip to China was about as unproductive as it could possibly be. He achieved no promises on human rights, but did manage to get a few Chinese Christians arrested by the Chinese government ahead of Bush's appearance at a Christian church. While the Chinese who were arrested come out behind, Bush gained a photo-op moment that will make his right-wing religious base happy. Bush did also get to go mountain biking with the Chinese Olympic team. And he gets to come back to the hostile political environment of the U.S. without anything to distract the public from the problems his Administration has caused.