Posted on 06/04/2004 10:45:29 AM PDT by dead
President George W. Bushs increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leaders state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as enemies of the state.
Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.
It reminds me of the Nixon days, says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. Thats the mood over there.
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be Gods will and then tells aides to fuck over anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
Were at war, theres no doubt about it. What I dont know anymore is just who the enemy might be, says one troubled White House aide. We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing.
Aides say the President gets hung up on minor details, micromanaging to the extreme while ignoring the bigger picture. He will spend hours personally reviewing and approving every attack ad against his Democratic opponent and then kiss off a meeting on economic issues.
This is what is killing us on Iraq, one aide says. We lost focus. The President got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda. We could have found other justifiable reasons for the war but the President insisted the focus stay on those two, tenuous items.
Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves shut out of access to the President or other top advisors. Among top officials, Bushs inner circle is shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his growing doubts about the administrations war against Iraq.
The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works.
"Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."
Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked staff of the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually described the decision as "God's will."
God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administrations lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing staffers call Bush and Ashcroft the Blues Brothers because theyre on a mission from God.
The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion, says one aide. They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God.
But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them fucking assholes in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him unpatriotic or anti-American.
The mood here is that were under siege, theres no doubt about it, says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. In this administration, you dont have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the record.
LOL! This is too funny.
Anyone, in public or private service, that disagrees with the policies of a superior, needs to resign their position. The exception is military service.
If such an employee exists in the White House, speaking off the record is dishonorable. The country would be better served by a White House staff marching to the same tune.
This is typical of the looney left.
Rudy Giuliani for President!
"...how that was a rumor put to the winds that had little merit."
Where/what is the status of that story now? No where, no there, there - just like the 'fact'hat Bush is craking up. They both show you don't need fact/truth for a story to become widespread, just the reporting from unnamed sources that something is out there. The 24/7 nature of 'news' only needs a spark to start the conflagation.
As this sort of hit and run style goes mainstream the tendency toward vulgarity likewise will probably increase, it seems as though they've found license.
Are you talking about Doug? Has he been banned? If not, I thought it might be entertaining to ping him here to defend his story.
Who can tell the difference anymore?
Yes sir.
Has he been banned?
Definitely not.
If not, I thought it might be entertaining to ping him here to defend his story.
He won't show up. Free Republic exposed him as a "reporter" who invents sources out of thin air. It's been proven and he's admitted it.
He doesn't come here anymore. He's found a much more gullible audience over at DU. They're very dumb. Like Doug.
fyi... more games people play
"Doug Thompson" and "unsourced quotes?"
Well then, let's just MoveOn....
JULY 10, 2003 : 11:51 AM : (CHB'S DOUG THOMPSON ANNOUNCES HE WILL USE NO MORE UNNAMED SOURCES; CLAIMS HE TURNED THE MATTER OVER TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, BUT DELETES 6 OF THOSE ARTICLES FROM CHB SITE) - "A message from Capitol Hill Blue. . .No more "unnamed sources," DOUG THOMPSON, Jul 10, 2003, 11:51
(* My note : I hear Doug has oceanfront property to sell in North Dakota.)
Recently, this web site discovered it has been played as a sucker by a source that was used in seven stories that ran in Capitol Hill Blue from September 2002 until July of 2003. The person in question was quoted as an unnamed source in six of the seven articles and by name (Terrance J. Wilkinson) in the seventh. We later learned the name was bogus even though I had known (or thought I knew) the person by that name for more than 20 years. We have turned all our information on this source over to the appropriate law enforcement agencies and, at their instruction, will not discuss the matter publicly until they have concluded their investigations. When those investigations are complete, we will publish a full accounting with every piece of detail that we can produce or uncover about the individual involved. We owe that to our readers.
This is pure bull sh*t.
If this isn't a pile of dog doo doo I don't know what is. I heard just the opposite from an insider on the radio just yesterday. This SUCKS, and I don't believe one word of it. Yet another vicious bunch of lies.
Leftists are the masters at propaganda.
This doesn't even measure up to their usual "ve vill hav power vat any cost or lie".
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