Linda Chavez: Bush in A Bubble

Dallas Morning News ^ | 10/20/05 | Former US Labor Secretary Nominee Linda Chavez

[gopwinsin04]

President George W. Bush is a smart man, but he's in trouble. And no one in his adminstation seems willing to tell him why.

The White House can become a haven for yes-men (and women). Toadyism is an occupational hazard in such a rareified enviornment, and few are willing to risk their own status and power to tell the boss he's making a big mistake.

The flap over Harriet Miers is a perfect example. Apparently, no one has stepped forward to warn the president what a monumentally bad idea he'd come up with when he selected Ms. Miers over dozens of better qualifed candidates.

Karl Rove might have done so in the past, but he's too busy worrying about his fate in the Valerie Plame leak investigation and may have lost some of the presidents confidence for not admitting his role in the leak earlier.

White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has the presidents trust, but he was never demonstrated a willingness to challenge his boss, especially when the president asked him to vet the Miers nomination.

So that left the president to go with his gut, and never look back. And one thing we know about this president is that he doesn't like to admit to a mistake.

Instead of listening to what conservatives are saying about this nomination, the White House strategy is to attack the critics. We are suddenly the enemy: disloyal elitists and sexists, and we really don't represent anyone anyway.

Meanwhile, no one at the White House has the nerve to tell the president that he should be worried when Democratic Senator Harry Reid is more enthusiastic about 'his' nominee that the editors of National Review Magazine.

[gopwinsin04]

Another high profile columnist in the opposition column.

[edcoil]

Come on Linda, get a clue and get current. "no one has stepped forward to warn the president"

What planet are you on? Clearly 1/3 of the party has and have for over a week. That day the VP had to call Rush on his show.

I think at this point adding this 2 cents is a waste and your just piling on.

[edcoil]

Come on Linda, get a clue and get current. "no one has stepped forward to warn the president"

What planet are you on? Clearly 1/3 of the party has and have for over a week. The day of the announcement the VP had to call Rush on his show.

I think at this point adding this 2 cents is a waste and your just piling on.

[curtisgardner]

Leader of the Free World is a lonely place to be.

[Redgirl]

When Reid endorsed her I knew the nomination was a mistake.

[southernindymom]

I guess I don't know the entire story on this lady, but I have to give the President the benefit of the doubt and hope that he knows her as well as he says he does. I was really hoping for a Janice Rogers Brown, but we didn't get that. I really wanted a fight with the Dem's but given the pitiful preformance by the Republicans in the Senate, in support of this President, I can't really blame him for trying to go with what he thought was a safe pick. I'm really really torn. Heck, the guy has a full plate, as it is, so I can see on one hand, but I really really wanted a fight and stuff it down the Dem's throats. Hopefully, she will be a good conservative and then Bush will get to appoint another justice next year, and he goes with Brown or Gonzales. That would be way cool.

[gopwinsin04]

Bob Novak says today that conservative senators on the Juiciary Committee are on board after WH aides pleaded to 'save the presidency.'

We'll see after the hearings...

[safisoft]

Linda Chavez

Another far-right, Bush-bashing, McCain-loving, Buchanan-kissing, whinning, liberal, cry-baby, idiot-savant joins the crowd. When is G.W. Bush going to finally figure out that he and his bush-bot army are the only people with their heads on straight!

I can't wait till the President's masterful stategery springs the trap on them all!

/sarcasm

[Stellar Dendrite]

ping

[glory2]

Sorry... I agree with her. Why are they more concerned how the Democrats are going to accept the nomination than the Republicans. Piling on? I think this is free speech and she has every right to voice her opinion without being demeaned.

I don't enjoy being called a sexist or an elitist for being a conservative Republican who finds this a very weak nomination and as an Evangelical Christian am offended by the manipulation of Christian leader (Dobson) to shepherd in the fellow conservative Christians to the Meir's side. We are the ones that worked so hard to get him in office. Now we are sexists and elitists?

[gopwinsin04]

IMO, These hearings may be a disaster.

[RexBeach]

George Bush - "Bubble Boy"?

[Monti Cello]

I am very leery of articles that claim the President is isolated and running a closed shop, and then go on to explain in detail the social dynamics of White House operations.

It's simply speculation and trying to read tea leaves, which almost inevitably reveals the analyst's frame of mind, and little other insight.

This is the stock and trade of lib columnists who routinely claim to have intimate knowledge of the super-duper-secret Bush-Rove machinations.

[GregoTX]

Bush in a bubble?? I dont know. But here is Bush in a box.

[Dick Vomer]

all your branches of government are belong to us...

it's part of our strategery for you to misunderestimate us....

[gopwinsin04]

Rove needs to get back in there and clean house quick, IMO.

[Dallas59]

My suggestion is she get in on the White House next press conference and just stand up and TELL the president that he's in trouble....better yet she needs to scale the White House fence and run up to the front door and knock....

[Blood of Tyrants]

I can't believe it either. I don't think ANYONE is unaware of how upset conservatives are over this pick.

[ANGGAPO]

It's a vast left wing conspiracy.

[Das Outsider]

I don't enjoy being called a sexist or an elitist for being a conservative Republican who finds this a very weak nomination and as an Evangelical Christian am offended by the manipulation of Christian leader (Dobson) to shepherd in the fellow conservative Christians to the Meir's side. We are the ones that worked so hard to get him in office. Now we are sexists and elitists?

'Sexist' has just about lost its meaning. The same goes for 'racist.' The two terms have been misused and abused so much over the years that they've lost that sense of importance or reality. "Evangelical" is a political label, meaning what these days, I don't know--other than the fact that Harriet Miers apparently is one.

Are these people being PAID to come up with such grade school caliber charges?