Sidney Blumenthal has a must-read article in Salon (also at True Blue Liberal) that paints a disturbing portrait of President Bush.
Republicans representative of their permanent establishment have recently and quietly sent emissaries to President Bush, like diplomats to a foreign ruler isolated in his forbidden city, to probe whether he could be persuaded to become politically flexible. These ambassadors were not connected to the elder Bush or his closest associate, former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, who was purged last year from the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and scorned by the current president. Scowcroft privately tells friends who ask whether he could somehow help that Bush would never turn to him for advice. So, in one case, a Republican wise man, a prominent lawyer in Washington who had served in the Reagan White House, sought no appointments or favors and was thought to be unthreatening to Bush, gained an audience with him. In a gentle tone, he explained that many presidents had difficult second terms, but that by adapting their approaches they ended successfully, as President Reagan had. Bush instantly replied with a vehement blast. He would not change. He would stay the course. He would not follow the polls. The Republican wise man tried again. Oh, no, he didn’t mean anything about polls. But Bush fortified his wall of self-defensiveness and let fly with another heated riposte that he would not change.
I hate to say I told you so — well, um, actually I get a charge out of saying I told you so, truth be told — but I predicted this. Late last year all manner of conservative pundits smugly assured us that Bush’s falling poll numbers didn’t mean nothin’. Lots of presidents were low in the polls going into the second term. All Bush had to do is make some staff changes, maybe launch some new initiatives, and he’d be back on track. But I wrote last November that no way was Bush going to make staff changes:
Bush’s White House staff is not so much a staff as it is a coccoon of co-dependency, a team dedicated to the care and maintenance of Bush’s mighty persona. New people might actually try to follow their job descriptions and be staff, rather than enablers. That would not do at all.
Bush needs his old gang around him, because they are extensions of himself.
Blumenthal writes,
Within the sanctum of the White House, his aides often handle him with flattery. They tell him that he is among the greatest presidents, that his difficulties are testimony to his greatness, that his refusal to change is also a sign of his greatness. The more is he flattered, the more he approves of the flatterer. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has risen along with her current of flattery. She is expert at the handwritten little note extolling his historical radiance. Karen Hughes, now undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, was a pioneer of the flatterer’s method. White House legal counsel Harriet Miers is also adept.
Bush the Bubble Boy is eatin’ this up. He’s persuaded himself that he is FDR, Harry Truman and Abe Lincoln rolled together into one package of presidential perfection. The entire United States of America, its people and institutions, exist only to give George W. Bush his glory fix.
Meanwhile, the flamingly delusional Dick Cheney is actually in charge. Blumenthal continues,
But it is Vice President Dick Cheney who has sought and gained the most through flattery. While Bush is constantly and lavishly complimented as supreme leader, Cheney runs the show. Through his chief of staff, David Addington, he controls most of the flow of information, especially on national security, that reaches the incurious president. Bush seeks no contrary information or independent sources. He does not delve into the recesses of government himself, as Presidents Kennedy and Clinton did. He never demands worst-case scenarios. Cheney and his team oversee the writing of key decision memos before Bush finally gets to check the box indicating approval.
Addington also dominates much of the bureaucracy through a network of conservative lawyers placed in key departments and agencies. The Justice Department regularly produces memos to justify the latest wrinkle in the doctrine of the “unitary executive,” whether on domestic surveillance or torture. At the Defense Department, the counsel’s office takes direction from Addington and acts at his behest to suppress dissent from the senior military on matters such as detainees or the “global war on terror.”
Tightly regulated by Cheney and Bush’s own aides (who live in fear of Cheney), the president hears what he wishes to hear. They also know what particular flattery he wants to receive, and they ensure that he receives it
There’s a word for organizations like this — dysfunctional.
In Iraq right now, the terrorists are playing from the exact same playbook as the Algerians. They are murdering innocent civilians indiscriminantely. The hope is that the Americans will clamp down with even greater ferocity and the population will turn against the liberators. For make no mistake about it, the average Iraqi is relieved that Saddam and his gang of torturers, rapists and killers are gone.
So far, the Americans are playing it smart. They are reacting calmly and professionally. The terrorists are getting desperate, thus the attack on the Golden Mosque. An attempt to spark a civil war.
But on the homefront, the mainstrem media have not a clue as to the grand strategy the terrorists are using. They see car bombs, body parts, chaos and assume that all is lost. They do not understand warfare, worse, they do not understand evil.
In fact they enable evil with their foolish dispatches.
But there are some of us who understand jihad, some of us who understand evil, comprehend that this is a hundred years war that will be fought on a hundred far shores. We must be patient and yes, steadfast. It takes time and blood to defeat evil, but it can and must be done or we will be thrown back to the seventh century and its barbarians.
Is there anything you can say besides name calling?
Is there anything you can say besides name calling?
Terrence, dear, get a clue: The terrorists, meaning al Qaeda, are not the ones pulling Iraq to the brink of Civil War.
And enjoy your time in the twit filter.
moron.
when it comes to me terrence, the answer is no. i’m done giving feeble arguments like yours legitimacy by acknowleding them.
you are an idiot.
a dumbass.
a rube.
sincerely, may God look after you and have mercy on your soul.
but I sure as hell won’t.
You see the problem is that we need to elect the Democratic candidate in the next election.
There will be many undecided voters. I am not undecided. I would vote for a vegetable garden over the Republican candidate. But there are many undecided. Who will think and ponder. This is the long view those of us who see the problem, should handle.
By way of intro, I voted bush ( i call him bish usually) the first time. After I tasted unemployment for close to 3 years, I learnt about life.
Jobber: I hope things are getting better for you now, in spite of the Administration.
I think Richard Hofstadter (Paranoid Style in American Politics) does a good job of describing comment #1: “Since the enemy is thought of as being totally evil and totally unappeasable, he must be totally eliminated—if not from the world, at least from the theatre of operations to which the paranoid directs his attention. This demand for total triumph leads to the formulation of hopelessly unrealistic goals, and since these goals are not even remotely attainable, failure constantly heightens the paranoid’s sense of frustration. Even partial success leaves him with the same feeling of powerlessness with which he began, and this in turn only strengthens his awareness of the vast and terrifying quality of the enemy he opposes.”
Slightly better. I have a ways to go, but I am out of the basement, so to speak. Through luck really, sort of paisano style, something I never had to resort to. Still, at age 50, I must take on odd jobs, that a college student would likely sneer at.
But it could be worse so I mustn’t complaim, Thanks Maha, I have FINALLY found a blog that not speaks to me and makes total sense.
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Actually, I would say that the name for organizations like this is malignant.
MARIONETTE
With the Bush administration unraveling like socks made in China and approval ratings dropping as fast as middle class income, there is much speculation as to how to stop the downward spiral. With V.P. Cheney a liability perhaps the President will allow him to step down citing health reasons. Enter Dr. Rice. She would please the base and allow Cheney to pull the strings. Such a move would divert the media from the real issues such as the ports deal, Iraq, Katrina and on and on and on. This could douse Sen. Clintons fire while grooming Dr. Rice for 2008. Rudy G. and John McCain just don’t cut the mustard.
Seems the battle lines have been drawn, the beating drums of political and religious warfare drown the refrain; America, America God shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood— how wise the words “a house divided cannot standâ€. Torn and weary, the true patriots heart longs to say along with W. McKinley “Reunited – one country again and one country forever! Proclaim it from the press and the pulpit; teach it in the schools; write it across the skies.The world sees it and feels it. It cheers every heart North and South, and brightens the life of every American home. Let nothing ever strain it again. At peace with all the world and with each other, what can stand in the pathway of our progress and prosperity?â€
The status Quo is a proven failure.Let us not be marionettes for neither the left nor the right.Come Let us reason!
http://www.samsrhetoric.com
Hah prosperity. I was very peeved at the begining when bish did nothing about the jobs going to India. I thought he should at least make a plea for the American middle class person who would suffer.
But the right said no, that is not his job.
I thought a President of the US should be concerned about Americans, first.
If you’ll indulge me, I actually had a dream last night featuring Dear Leader. The dream took place in a corporate boardroom, I was not a player, just an observer. Bush looked good in an uncharacteristic springy pale blue/green suit. He was trying to get some measure passed, and made some veiled threat to everyone there that they had better follow along if they knew what was good for them.
What struck me about the Bush figure was his absolute steely confidence in himself. And how nobody on the board dared question him.
This cuts to the root his popularity, those who need a father figure who projects immense self confidence, and who are willing to discount any evidence that he is unworthy of their trust. They so badly want what he’s got, that they’ll pay anything to get it.
I awoke pissed off that this clown has even invaded my dreams. But it gave me some “first hand” insight.
I am reading a book by Yossef Bodansky, ” The Secret History of the Iraq War”, 2004, Regan Books. He states several times that there were many contacts and support bet. Saddam and AL Keida including getting them ricin and other such chemicals.
Do you intelligent people have any real proofs against this claim?
Why don’t you admit that you are against military action. But don’t be ridiculous about the connections bet. Saddam and OBL.
I’m having trouble, based on his comments, believing that Terrence has ever read a book at all. Too bad for his one experience in literacy, he didn’t choose a book based in actual fact. The Bubble Boy’s cabana boy.
Terrence, just because you read something in a book doesn’t mean it’s true. Regen Books specializes in right-wing propaganda. They just publish junk.
Even the Bush Administration now admits there was no collaboration between OBL and Saddam. The 9/11 Commission found no collaboration between OBL and Saddam. No one except hard-right whackjobs still believe there was any connection between OBL and Saddam.
Charles in #11: Rice will never be placed in a position such as veep or pres. candidate. The Bush inner circle folks know her orientation and are fine with such…..but they will never risk the exposure that would certainly come and very likely alienate most of the far right base in the spotlighted event of trying to promote her beyond the position she now holds.
Why don’t you admit that you are against military action.
Because I’m not, under the proper circumstances. There are such things as “just wars” and there are even specific criteria for a just war.
A famous Indian scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, is all about getting the hero, a charioteer named Arjuna to take up arms and fight in a just war.
But everything I and various investigative bodies have learned about our misadventure in Iraq have concluded that we really had no business invading. There is much more that could be said, and I may regret taking your bait, but I wanted to clarify this point for you. I’ll only add, that it’s my belief that we are going to pay big time for this blunder.
It takes time and blood to defeat evil, but it can and must be done or we will be thrown back to the seventh century and its barbarians.
🙂
It’s nice to see that Terrence does know about wars that America has fought in. And yes, the Algerian war was nasty, brutal and full of terror, on all sides. Would it surprise you to know that the Algerian war is one of the reasons that I don’t support this war? If you look at French sources, the Algerian war is one of the reasons they didn’t support this one; they could see the paralells, even if we can’t.
The lack of mixing between the occupiers and the occupiees, the racial schisming, the torture, the clueless leaders, the desire by the average everyday occupiee to have the occupiers go home, the insurgency/freedom fighters, it’s all there. The French played this game and they lost. Is there another conclusion to be drawn?
And to be perfectly honest, how on earth to you see the movement to liberate Algeria as a jihad only? Yes, religious rhetoric was used, and religion came into play? But you had people who were trying to take back their own country. Sounds a darn sight more like people we should be helping than people we ought to have bombed.
Oh, and Terrence? The seventh century? Bloody in the Middle East, though not quite as bad as many people seem to think. The eighth-tenth century? The Asian contient was definitely the hot spot of the globe. Come on, didn’t you even get Sinbad read to you? Go find a decent global timeline. Europe had Charlemagne and a lot of tribal conflict. The Middle Easta and China had art, science, literature, travel, culture…all sorts of good stuff. The Renaissance was jumpstarted by the Reconquista, if you recall.
The chimperor is naked, but all the mirrors have been smashed.
Terence is obviously a right-wing college student who gets $10.50 an hour from the RNC to go on progressive blogs and spout nonsense. Ignore him.
Terence is obviously a right-wing college student who gets $10.50 an hour from the RNC to go on progressive blogs and spout nonsense. Ignore him.
Selling out his country for $10.50 an hour? That’s pathetic. If you’re going to be a traitor you should at least get big bucks for it.
em, not to be seditious or anything, but that is OK money for me. Where do I apply?
how shocking.
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/US/Bush_Administration
The difference bet. Terrence and me.
Terrence has a noble idea. There should be no terrorism, anywhere, ever again.
To accomplish this goal, he has so far lost bet. 2-3000 American holy lives. (Forgive me; I don’t know the exact count). On a daily basis, at least one American holy martyr is killed just about. Then there are those who will be scarred and maimed for life, missing limbs and such. The cost to provide for their needs will be borne by the tax payer. (The aggregate estimate for this so far is 3 trillion $).
Still we have no alternative to the Arabs oil. We could develop alternatives, but this does cost money. Still we have not enough jobs for Americans. In my sector, software development, the only jobs there are is bec. Someone retired. That is how I got mine finally after over 3 yrs. (1 year sitting at home 2 years as a messenger boy.)
Let’s say we hadn’t gone into Iraq. So we would have these thousands of holy martyred Americans alive. Now maybe there would have been a terrorist attack on US soil. BTW, we should not be so provincial regarding our great efforts. There have been hundreds of AL Keida attacks, such as in Bali, in London, Madrid, and so many more. So let’s say even there were deaths from this potential attack IN the US. So the Americans would have to learn to be nobler, as they are in Israel. It will not be easy. I recall a week after 9/11, in NYC on Fifth Ave. there was a suspicious box bet. 5th and 6th, 34th St. in the heart of the city. Police were telling people to go via 35th or elsewhere. The groaning and whining I heard, you would not believe. They had already forgotten about a week earlier as we saw in horror people walking from downtown covered in soot.
But in Israel, when I visit there once a year, and hopefully G-d willing more often, one of the high points of my trip, is seeing how the Israelis adhere to the constant security demands, the going through metal detectors, the baggage checks, with a seriousness and understanding, that I was not aware of, in the Israeli character. Americans would learn a little patience. Of course, it is still very likely that they can and will strike on US soil. We don’t really understand all of their moves.
Still there would not be as many incidents due to the fact that the terrorists in Israel live there on the west bank.
We are not seeing American Arabs behave in such a way by and large. We would still have a huge Intelligence & military effort.
To get the actual terrorists, to prevent their actions. But even if there were a few bombings here and there, the number so lives lost, would be less. We would not have to bankrupt our country and the future.
Remember the character Chauncy Gardener? He was played by the actor Peter Sellers. I think I would rather him as President. Sorry, I don’t remember the name of the movie but it was a riot. I believe Shirley McLean was also in the film.
Terrence – your no. 14 and maha no. 16 –
maha is correct. Regan publishes garbage. J. Regan is the one who was having an affair with Rudy G.’s former business partner while she was helping him write a book. He was married. I’m sure you remember the guy, Bush nominated him per referral from Rudy G. to be head of Homeland Security. He had to later withdraw when some very negative stories came out about his “shady” dealings. Rudy G. later dropped him as business partner.
If you are trying to educate yourself, you need to get serious.
Bubble Boy reminded me of Paul O’Neill’s book – remember he was Bubble’s first Sec of Treas. O’Neill recounted his one on one meetings with B where O’Neill would update B on issues at Treasury and B would never utter a word. At the end of an hour, exactly, B would say thank you and that was the end of that. O’Neill said he always felt like he was talking to himself. White House meetings were equally peculiar with Cheney’s looming presence on a large TV screen hovering over the proceedings, which were completely scripted. The cast, department heads, advisors etc. never deviated from the script. O’Neill said no questions were allowed, no real discussions took place, nothing happened that hadn’t been scripted beforehand.
comment no 29
felicity – I do remember that. Thanks for reminding everyone.
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