Posted on 06/04/2004 10:45:29 AM PDT by dead
President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s 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. That’s 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 “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t 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, Bush’s inner circle is shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his growing doubts about the administration’s 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 administration’s 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 “they’re 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 we’re under siege, there’s no doubt about it,” says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. “In this administration, you don’t 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.
Are you sure this isn't sourced from a supermarket tabloid? The reason you know it's just a hit piece is the hysteria. Someone may need to slap the author for his own good.
Garbage. Nobody's buying it (unless it'd be with public funds).
Nothing crazier than a crazed ex-Freeper.
LOL! It’s true.
Any bets on who around here will be the next to go cyber-postal?
"We're at war, there's no doubt about it. What I don't 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."
Will he come on here and explain himself?
It looks like his account is still active, but beyond that, I don't know.
He had to apologize for a piece last year, and he'll have to do it on this one, as well.
Hey, Doug! This is the lowest thing you've ever written.
Not one named source, which means you made 'em all up!
The Pres. actualy got into that exact question today..
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040604-2.html
Q Could you understand -- your political action is inspired by God, you say a number of times --
THE PRESIDENT: I said what?
Q Is inspired by God, I mean, your --
THE PRESIDENT: My political action? I've never said that.
Q You've never said that? I mean, I'm not quoting you.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I've never said that.
Q I said, in general, you relate to God as a --
THE PRESIDENT: You said, my political action is caused by God, I think.
Q No, no, no, no, I said your political action is inspired by God.
THE PRESIDENT: No, my political action is -- my life is inspired by God.
Q But this has a political consequence when you speak about freedom, the notion of freedom, you relate it to God.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I see what you're saying. What I say is, I say that freedom is not America's gift to the world. In other words, I'm making it clear to people that freedom is more universal than a country. Freedom is more universal than man. See, I believe freedom is the Almighty's gift to everybody in the world. And the reason I say that is because I don't want people to think that there is such thing as -- that we want the world to look like America. I understand it's not going to. But freedom is universal. Freedom is applied here. Freedom is applied in France. Freedom is a part of -- will be a part of a new Iraq.
Doug was a freeper?!
Still is, technically:
He is also a "reporter" with a proven history of making up sources.
LOL! I can beat that! I have a bunch of sourced (sauced?) sources saying he foully curses SS agents sworn to protect him, lies about everything he touches, goes jockstrap shopping with his DAUGHTER for heaven's sake, uses the "f" word like he's an 8th grader who just figured out he won't be sent to his room for doing so, wounded himself to get out of combat so that he could betray his country and help plan the assassinations of members of Congress, and is so stone-cold stupid and arrogant he is perpetually stuck in his own version of the past, ending around 1973 sometime.
What a f***ing joke. Dougie needs to do something positive with his life...
Where do you find these loads of steaming-hot BS, D?
This one's a bowlfull!
"By the way...isn't this author (Doug Thompson) one of the gents who was in trouble for another lie he was caught in? "
yes, check post 40 for the link. I remember that now; thanks for posting it, CD.
This is the biggest load of garbage I have ever heard. White House staffers off the record?
This really shows how desperate the Democrats are. The economy is humming, Iraq is turning around, Bin Laden will be caught in the coming months.
All they can do is paint Bush as an extremist and try to paint him as a paranoid religious zealot who is dangerous for this country.
They liberals are desperate and cannot figure out how to defeat Bush.
Anytime!
From the Soros memoranda, direct to you for your enjoyment.
Sick MF's.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/943260/posts
LOL, his last posts were him apologizing for pushing faulty 'news'.
I would pay cash money to see Doug Thompson publicly humiliated.
It is a BS hit piece manufactured out of thin air....note that the description of Bush closely matches that of Hitler in his final days as Dictator! The hit on Ashcroft as a freedom Grabber and the attacks on religion give it all away!
Thanks for giving this its own thread; everybody needs to see what a certifiable liar Doug Thompson is.
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