WHITE HOUSE ANGER AT BOOK BY BUSH 'AXIS OF EVIL' SPEECHWRITER!

Drudge ^ | January 5th 2002. | Drudge

[ConservativeMan55]

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN JAN 05, 2003 19:25:38 ET XXXXX

WHITE HOUSE ANGER AT BOOK BY BUSH 'AXIS OF EVIL' SPEECHWRITER; CONCERN MEDIA TOUR WILL MUDDLE MESSAGE; FRUM DESCRIBES PRESIDENT AS 'TART'

**World Exclusive**

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum -- credited with the phrase 'Axis of Evil' -- has infuriated top officials at the White House with his controversial new book, the first insider account of the W. Bush Administration, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Frum helped make international headlines when President Bush's 2002 State of the Union address linked international terrorists to Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

But now Axis Man must walk a fine line between the art of hyping a book and overshadowing a president's own words and policy.

WARNINGS NOT TO GRANDSTAND

"He's going on the TODAY show to talk about North Korea, Iraq?!" an alarmed Bush intimate told the DRUDGE REPORT on Sunday. "Mr. Frum should seriously consider letting the president speak for himself on these highly volatile matters."

MORE

Frum, who left the White House less than a year ago, is set to launch THE RIGHT MAN: THE SURPRISE PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W, BUSH on Tuesday with a high-impact media tour, giving the speechwriter and journalist a platform to elaborate on his Bush insights.

Among the White House staff, there was a "dearth of really high-powered brains," Frum, a neoconservative, writes in RIGHT MAN, obtained exclusively by the DRUDGE REPORT.

"One seldom heard an unexpected thought in the Bush White House or met someone who possessed unusual knowledge."

MORE

"Bush was a sharp exception to the White House code of niceness. He was tart, not sweet," charges Frum.

[RIGHT MAN was ranked #2134 on the AMAZON hit parade Sunday evening]

Native Canadian-style quips not withstanding, Frum reveals a grudging admiration for Bush throughout his prose.

Frum writes of the president: He "was hardly the obvious man for the job. But by a very strange fate, he turned out to be, of all unlikely things, the right man."

Bush is neither dumb [as portrayed by the left] nor nice [the president assigns cute nicknames to people only to remember who they are], Frum claims.

With his upclose look at White House players Rove, Hughes and Card, Frum is the first Bush staffer to publish a firsthand account.

Insiders question the "quick turn around" of the book, and one top Bush adviser is said to believe Frum rushed to cashout on his direct access to the president, sources said.

RANDOM HOUSE has printed 125,000 copies of the book. The TODAY SHOW has reserved a money slot for Frum on Tuesday morning. And with North Korea/Iraq currently on the covers of both NEWSWEEK and TIME: Enter the speechwriter.

Developing...

----------------------------------------------------------- Filed By Matt Drudge Reports are moved when circumstances warrant http://www.drudgereport.com for updates (c)DRUDGE REPORT 2003 Not for reproduction without permission of the author

[FreeTheHostages]

Hmm, if he read my comments would he know who I was? LOL -- actually, the answer to that question is probably "no." Like I said, he kinda annoyed me by assuming I was a liberal just 'cause I was anti-apartheid. I really don't think he appreciated the fact that I was a conservative.

I will tell you this: David Frum suffered more publicly, and I more quietly, in our HLS classes together. It's not like I went through Harvard Law wearing a sign that said "Hi, I'm conservative." That would be asking for trouble. There were definitely classmates who frowned on people just for not being left.

E.g., I remember one rather famous class in our first year, a criminal law class taught by Professor Weinberg. He was teaching us the law of rape -- a topic in previous years he had avoided (no doubt to avoid big political debates) until the Women's Law Association complained. So there he was, teaching us the law of rape, and David Frum said something to suggest that the law should be so-and-so so that the crime of rape wasn't done differently than other crimes for prosecution purposes. (I'm vague on what the issue was -- perhaps how thoroughly one can impeach the victim.) Well, there was this lady Clair LaPorte I believe her name was who just *lashed* out at David -- she first of all led the class in laughter and then dug into him.

Now David's not sexist any more than he's racist. He was taking a reasonable position from a legal perspective. And she just *went* for his throat. He wanted to respond but Prof. Weinberg cut the conversation off. And started the next class with a reminder not to laugh at the comments of fellow students.

So, to David's credit, he was always doing things like that. I remember thinking: he said what he said anyway, knowing that the riot would ensue. So, to his credit, he was fearless and articulate and he wasn't easily silenced. Speaking out in sensitive situations and giving the conservative point of view was something he did often, even though he knew he was going to get a shrill liberal response.

So, having chided him for his over-pronunciation of consonants, I do feel compelled to say something nice. He was a perfect gentleman in debate at HLS and that's far more than you could say for the opposition. I recall many such episodes of him holding his own there.

[archy]

FRUM DESCRIBES PRESIDENT AS "TART"...

Oh! I knew a couple of those when I was last in Blackpool...

[Quilla]

Clearly. I will never forget that Bill Kristol went on Fox News shortly before President Bush's State of the Union Address to "predict" that Rudy Guiliani was to be named the first ever Homeland Security Chief. Hours later I collapsed in guffaws when Tom Ridge was named. Later I learned that David Frum, who was formerly a writer for the Weakly Standard was one of the speechwriters. (Although not the head speechwriter.) It was months later that all this flap occurred about the axis of evil, and Frum's wife taking credit for her hubby. I will always believe that the WH was smokin' out their leakers......and Frum was one of the first to fall.......

After reading your post yesterday, I just couldn't stop thinking about what you had written. Let me get this straight. Are you saying that Frum was more than likely given Guiliani's name as Chief of Homeland Security; that he leaked it to that snake in conservative clothing, Kristol; who then predicted the appointment on Fox? The White House then made the connection and poof, Frum is out!

If I understand this correctly, I'd like to thank you. When I tell this to my 83 year old mother this evening, she's going to dance a jig.

[A Citizen Reporter]

That's what I'm saying, however it's only a theory in my addled brain, based on my observations. I note that there is a story out about Frum and his book today, which states that he had already given notice prior to the axis of evil speech......oh, and that "he is not viewed as having left on bad terms"....

[Quilla]

Thanks for the reply. Addled schmaddled - it's brilliant and I suspect right on the money. As to his not leaving on bad terms, our President is too much of a gentleman to air the dirty laundry of ex-staff members to the public.