Posted on 02/23/2005 8:36:27 AM PST by pissant
With friends like Douglas Wead, President Bush doesn't need an enemy. Wead, a professed evangelical and nondescript aide to President George H. W. Bush during his presidency, is pushing his new book about the second member of the Bush family to become president.
In conjunction with his book tour interviews, he released last week secretly made tapes of conversations he had with his former employer's son, George W. Bush, in 1998-2000. He admits that only one page of his book, "The Raising of a President," came from the tapes, but yet he felt compelled to release the phone conversations he had with then-candidate Bush.
Wead maintains his motives in making the tapes were to record for posterity the musings of a future historic figure. In fact, he claimed credit in 2003 for first realizing the potential of a second Bush family member as president. In a November interview on the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline program about the importance of the "Jesus factor" on both Bush presidencies , he said, "I must be one of the earliest people to have ever imagined him (George W.) as president."
Then again, he said he taped Bush because he thought he'd be asked to write a book about the campaign. He wasn't. But not one to want the tapes to go to waste, he found a ready reason to release them for another commercial purpose, to help his own book sales.
A Los Angeles Times editorial about Wead and the tapes takes an analytical approach as to what the recorded conversations reveal about President Bush rather than about the deed of recording them. It opines that the conversations "display flashes of the sort of personality quirks that endear Bush to his supporters and frighten his critics." Maybe so, but that's not the point.
Wead has been called Judas Preacher by others (he was at one time an Assemblies of God minister) for his betrayal of confidence in releasing what were intended as private conversations. We prefer to think of Wead as a weasel, an opportunist like Linda Tripp who parlayed a friendship into notoriety, for self aggrandizement.
Gain the world, yet loose your soul...
He's just taking a page out of Micheal Moores book, come up with something anti-Bush, and lefties will buy it.
Wead betrayed W.
Anyone who would tape their "friends" is bad enough but to then release the tapes to promote their book has to be the lowest!
Nuff said!
I won't dispute that.
Linda Tripp - tapes conversations as evidence to protect herself from being falsley accused in a criminal conspiracy - denounced as a snitch.
Doug Wead - tapes conversations to embarass friend and promote book sales for himself - Lauded by media for giving insight.
I wrote Doug Wead and objected loudly about his betrayal. This is the response I got from Mr. Wead:
Quote:
I know it looks that way. Wish I could live my life over and do things differently. Actually, I think the released tapes made him look good, that unlike other tape stories this was not about catching someone doing something wrong but catching someone doing something right. This is what I am doing now, not sure what else I can do.
A Personal Note: My thanks to those who have let me share my heart and regrets about recent events. Contrary to a statement that I made to the New York Times, I have come to realize that personal relationships are more important than history. I am asking my attorney to direct any future proceeds from the book to charity and to find the best way to get these tapes and give them back to the president to whom they belong.
Doug Wead
END OF QUOTE
Like others have said: Too late; damage done. And I don't believe him for a minute that Wead will sacrifice personal financial gain. If he will betray a personal friend, if he will use his credentials as a minister to gain someone's confidence and then "use" them for financial gain -- how can he ever by trusted again?
We know the true nature of Doug Wead. He worships at the throne of the almighty dollar. A man of God, I think not!
Hope Wead is happy that he shafted his longtime friend. Bush is better off without this opportunist betrayer and knows that his circle of friends consists of those whom he can trust.
Wead can blather on all he likes about whatever his justification of the moment is for betraying his friend but, the fact is, that pretty much no one but Dems will trust him in the future . . . . .and they better keep one eye on Wead at all times. He's a sneak and an opportunist and not worthy of anyone's trust.
First, don't be so sure Wead is the bad guy.
George Bush is and always has been steps ahead of the competition.
DEMOCRATS believe that if you are in private, and not being taped, that you will tell the truth, whereas otherwise you would be lying (as in ...in public). They believe that because they know they would.
George Bush is not one of 'them'. He is the same on record/off record.
If you want your opponent to believe what you say, you must have him believe you were 'off record, not being taped'.
If you opponent believes that, he will insist what you said is the truth.
This is where the phrase, "give them enough rope to hang themselves" holds true.
The DEMS are picking on one single reference to the Marijuana question. Therefore they will insist EVERY WORD HE SAID IS TRUE. Problem is, the other 99.99999% of what he said makes them look like IDIOTS and even that reference to Marijuana, and 'not wanting to influence the children in the wrong way' looks good for him.
The DEMS will insist that these 'tapes' are gospel, trying to use one single reference to embarrass this administration, and it will end up being only to their detriment.
WEAD: Traitor, or Hero. (I know, do you?)
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