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.
This is a left-wing hit-piece right out of the DUmpster.
What a crock.
No doubt about it. You know, the typist of this drivel used to be a Freeper? He's looney tunes.
This sounds like rumor mongering and gossip unchecked. It'll be on the alphabet networks tonight.
And the lead story on CBS news....
Pretty much the way I spend my day on FR.
Is one of those aides named Terry Wilkinson, Doug?
This thing already has been removed from the boards twice. Going for three.
Forgive me for doubting that anyone in the White Hose would pick up the phone for Doug Thompson.
Of course, it's possible that someone was in a pixieish mood and decided to feed him a line of BS, knowing he'd run with it.
When they get something believable with a named source I'll read it. Until then, this is GARBAGE.
And this is a bad thing because?
Counghing into hand: Bulls**t
This is a made-up piece of fodder for the truly ignorant. This is the second item from this publication that has a lot of unattributable quotes and an axe to grind. Let's do some quick research on the writer and the "newspaper".
Doug Thompson is a sick, lying b*stard.
LOL .... shocking
3,2,1....
This looks like a piece from STAR or NATIONAL ENQUIRER...an "aide" here...a "consultant with connections" there... hmmmmm....
This ties right into the DNC talking points about linking "W" to Nixon -- remember the "Nixon too drunk" story a week or two ago? The next leftie attack on the President will be slurs and innuendo that he's fallen off the wagon and is drinking again...
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