This is the sort of quote that makes me want to roll about on the floor and howl:
… even some Bush supporters remain anxious about the economy, the federal deficit, the war in Iraq and the extent of the administration’s warrantless wiretapping.
“The White House has been taking it on the chin lately, and the reverberations are being felt throughout the GOP,” Republican blogger Bobby Eberle wrote this week. “From the Harriet Miers nomination to the Dubai Ports and more, the folks in charge of message strategy appear to be asleep at the wheel.”
The folks in charge of message strategy? That’s the only problem the White House has, substandard bleeping message strategy?
The quote comes from a story by Steven Thomma and James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder about increasing GOP anger about President Bush’s “missteps.”
A series of political missteps has raised questions about the Bush administration’s candor, competence and credibility and left the White House off-balance, off-message and unable to command either the nation’s policy agenda or its politics the way the president did during his first term.
This week, newly released video of Bush listening passively to warnings about the dire threat posed by Hurricane Katrina and a report that intelligence analysts warned for more than two years that the insurgency in Iraq could swell into a civil war provided fresh fodder for charges that the president ignores unwelcome alarms.
His attacks on those who questioned his administration’s approval of a seaports deal with the United Arab Emirates and his ill-fated nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court have angered some conservatives and Republican members of Congress.
I really don’t want to pick on Knight Ridder — it has a better record of honest reporting than most other U.S. news outlets — but we’re not really talking about “political missteps.” We’re talking about — finally — facing the inevitable consequences of five years of flaming incompetence.
Paul Krugman writes in today’s New York Times (and True Blue Liberal):
Some commentators speak of the series of disasters now afflicting the Bush administration — there seems to be a new one every week — as if it were just a string of bad luck. But it isn’t.
If good luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, bad luck is what happens when lack of preparation meets a challenge. And our leaders, who think they can govern through a mix of wishful thinking and intimidation, are never, ever prepared.
Krugman looks at three Bush disasters — Iraq, Katrina, the Medicare prescription drug program — and asks what they all have in common. “In each case experts warned about the impending disaster” Krugman says. And in each case, “experts who warned of trouble ahead were told to shut up.”
Eugene Robinson writes in today’s Washington Post:
At least now I know why the White House is so obsessively secretive about its decision-making process. The leaked videotapes and transcripts of pre-Katrina briefings that were obtained this week by the Associated Press leave in tatters the defining myth of the Bush administration — an undeserved aura of cool, unflinching competence and steely resolve. Instead, the tapes show bureaucratic inertia and a president for whom delegation seems to mean detachment. …
… A chief executive who isolates himself from bad news is one thing. A chief executive who hears bad news, in detail, and then plays it back as “heck of a job” is something else.
Robinson adds:
Oh, and health authorities agree that it’s just a matter of time before the avian flu pandemic reaches U.S. shores. The administration says the government is prepared to provide all necessary help to local officials.
Be very afraid.
Also in today’s WaPo A new study warns that Antarctic ice sheets are melting rapidly. Meanwhile, scientists warning about global warming are told to shut up.
At Slate, John Dickerson agrees with Robsinson that the pre-Katrina video shatters Bush myth.
Based on what I’d been told by White House aides over the years, I expected to see the president asking piercing questions that punctured the fog of the moment and inspired bold action. Bush’s question-asking talents are a central tenet of the president’s hagiography. He may not be much for details, say aides, but he can zero in on a weak spot in a briefing and ask out-of-the-box questions.
Yet in the video, Bush doesn’t ask a single question. All he says is ” “I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared,” And he had no idea what he was talking about.
The Bush Administration is a witch’s brew of incompetence, arrogance, avarice, self-deception, and unchecked power. Time and time again, we see the same pattern … the Bushies ignore warnings and expert advice and refuse to acknowledge the consequences.
And this pattern dates from before Bush’s first inauguration, when the outgoing Clinton administration warned Condi Rice and other Bush “security” staff to beware of Osama bin Laden. In April 2001, the State Department issued its annual terrorism report and downplayed the thread posed by Osama bin Laden. At CNN, Judy Woodruff reported,
The State Department officially released its annual terrorism report just a little more than an hour ago, but unlike last year, there’s no extensive mention of alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. A senior State Department official tells CNN the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much energy on bin Laden and “personalizing terrorism.”
The administration’s competence problem is already at the yadda, yadda, yadda stage. They were supposed to protect us from terrorist attacks, they said Iraq would be a cakewalk, that we only needed 50,000 troops. They failed to plan for the occupation or Hurricane Katrina or the prescription drug plan. Yadda.
Yet Republican blogger Bobby Eberle sees Bush’s problems as a failure of message strategy.
The President’s ever-shrinking base of die-hard supporters (can we call ’em “bitter enders” yet?) are retreating into a cocoon of finely parsed talking points and absurdist technicalities. Some random examples:
Cue music — “You’re travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead–your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”
The Bush Bitter Enders have arrived.
What a great post, Maha! The ‘message strategy’ phrase makes me think of some other inane fads…….
Maybe the Bush Bitter Enders are ripe for some marketeer to sell them “My Pet Bush” souvenirs…….
Bush as a person would have been about as useless as a pet rock……but, marketed by Rove as ‘a rock to rely on’ , what we got from W & pals was a loose scree starting a rock slide…. threatening America’s future.
BU$HCO- all style (all the time)/no substance!
If your policies ares sound and for America’s good you don’t need secrecy, misdirection, lies, threats, uber-yes men,…et. al.
(ok, maybe a little arm twisting..if you smile while you do it)
Maha,
As always Kudos for a great post. So many points and links all tied together so beautifully. Its like going home during the holidays and seeing all the old ornaments on my mother’s Christmas tree. Brilliant.
The folks in charge of the substance strategy died at the wheel 5 years ago.
Isn’t Bobby Eberle the guy who fielded Jimmy Jeff( bulldog) Gannon?
The Bush Administration is a witch’s brew of incompetence, arrogance, avarice, self-deception, and unchecked power.
A big amen..here!
Maha,
Nice post as usual.
The fact that the right wing “bitter enders” are even acknowledging that bu$h-co is off message is very telling. I mean there is not one MSM television news program (with the exception of Countdown on MSNBC and sometimes Lou Dobbs) that is not actively involved in the rehabilitation of the administration’s policies daily. It seems they have screwed up so completely that even the largest corporate media conglomerates led by FAUX can’t even help them know. But we can all be assured that they will continue to try!
A senior State Department official tells CNN the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much energy on bin Laden and “personalizing terrorism.â€
a Mistake in focusing?..NO They intentionally decided to take the terrorism aspect out into the abstract as a means to control their agenda. Rather than focus on the people responsible for 9/11., Bush, Rove, Cheney and the rest of the minions realized that the more out of focus terrorism is, the more power and control they have. They have succeeded getting us sheeple to chase rainbows to our detriment. Until America wakes up and sees the deception for what it is, we will be doomed by the power we have abandoned. Again , I’ll say.. The war on terror is a joke and the ultimate deception upon the American people. And to those who have sucked it up..you’ve given away your power.
It’s those deadend insurgents… damn them
People get fiesty when they know they’re losing….
“STAY OUT THE BUSH’S”
Rev. Jesse Jackson at the 2000 democratic convention.
In honor of old jesse I penned the following
Stay Out the BU$H’s
Once was a man who could be the man. Tried everything he could. Rode around his ranch in a pickup truck we’ll he even tried choppin wood. This was a man who’d do anything just so his papa would care. Even got selected president he did it on a dare.
That’s right he did it on dare, just so his papa would care.
Yeah man he did it on a whim; he never dreamed he would win.
Once was a man he could be the man. His daddy bought him a baseball team. He rode around the field in a chandelier he was set for life it seemed. This was a man who’d do anything just so his papa would care. Once his little brother entered politics he did it on a dare.
That’s right he did it on dare, just so his papa would care.
Yeah man he did it on a whim; he never dreamed he would win.
Well he was only in the big job less than a year, then all hell broke free. He rode around his ranch in a pickup truck and thought how can this benefit me. This was a man who’d do anything just so his papa would care. So he started two wars in a foreign land he did it on a dare.
That’s right he did it on dare, just so his papa would care.
Yeah man he did it on a whim; he never dreamed he would win.
Once was a man who could be the man. Tried everything he could. Rode around his ranch in a pickup truck we’ll he even tried choppin wood. This was a man who’d do anything just so his papa would care. Even got selected president he did it on a dare.
copy write 2003, uncledad
barbara,
i found this sentence at the end of the story on LA times poll…
“Party identification is a dynamic variable that changes with the popularity of the party in control,” said Susan Pinkus, the Los Angeles Times’s polling director. “The proportion of people who identified with the Republican Party was higher when Bush had more positive approval ratings.”
Hilarious, for the Faux Newsers who complain about the low proportion of Repugs in this new batch of polls. People are so ashamed to name themselves Republicans anymore, the pollsters can’t even find them!!
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The bitter-enders are like battered wives who insist that their husbands are really good people, they just get angry, and maybe they should get a better handle on their temper, but it’s really my fault that I didn’t understand the message well enough…
Pathetic and sad.
The bitter-enders are ignorant fools. I worked with one back when Bush was riding high. These people are blind twits and will believe anything. They base their contorted arguments on technicalities – your post displayed some great examples – tiny straws, and think this is the height of reason.
They lack both the vision and the courage to fight for the truth, no matter where it may take them. Weenies and cowards all.
This is off topic, but it’s a telling sign of being drawn deeper into the quagmire.. Last throes? What’s funny is that they are claiming its going to prevent insurgents from placing IED’s but gunships can’t recognize exact activities on the ground..Gunships are a totally indiscriminate means of killing an unspecified target. somebody is desperate
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11657894/from/RS.2/
Great collection of pieces and analysis. One more thing I would like to see commentary on is what Incurious George did say at the Katrina briefing. He was concerned first about property, then people. What was the plan? He would PRAY that there would be no loss of life. Gee, I guess God’s evacuation plan was also sub-par.
That statement also reminded me of hearing that W felt he had been told by God that there would be no loss of U.S. lives in Iraq. He probably responds to all these disasters the way too many of my Christian friends do: “Alas, God works in mysterious ways.” (i.e. not my problem, not my fault)
God himself must be wondering what he can do to distance himself from W before the next elections!
“Can we call ’em” bitter enders” yet?
More like “dead enders”, Maha.
It appears that Rep Ron Paul, R Texas, has said he expects impeachment to begin shortly. It “appears” there is a Neil Bush “connection” or “link” to the Dubai Port Wold fiasco.
Forget the Arabophobia and follow the money, Neil Bush escaped the Silverado Savings scam mostly untouched.
This should get interesting, Neo-con Frank Gaffney was on tweety’s show this week, just livid about the presidents’ blessing of the port deal. If he disses that portion of his base, he will be meat for the beast.
It appears that Rep Ron Paul, R Texas, has said he expects impeachment to begin shortly. It “appears†there is a Neil Bush “connection†or “link†to the Dubai Port Wold fiasco.
And round and round she goes … Silverado Springs takes us back to the BCCI scandal, and BCCI funneled U.S. and other dollars to terrorists like Abu Nidal, who was one of the world’s most notorious terrorists before the rise of Osama bin Laden. Abu Nidal was gunned down on the streets of Baghdad in 2002, allegedly by Palestinians. Round and round and round.
Bush is truly the Wizard of Oz, a nasty little man hiding behind a curtain projecting this horrible, scary persona. As for “bitter enders” I prefer “Bush cargo cultists,” like Abu Gonzalez (sp?), it’s a neat blending of disasters, tagging the idiots with their own turds.
And round and round she goes:
I was giving my spouse her daily news update today (she so looks forward to it?), when I mentioned that Air Force One had to fly into Pakistan with the lights out and curtains drawn, I said (sarcastically) isn’t it great that our president is so hated that he has to hide when he makes a visit. Her reply was “I’m sure many people in Pakistan are glad he’s our president.” I asked “what do you mean”. She said you know the fundamentalists they must love him, it gives them something to do”. And around and around and around it goes.
The Bush Administration is a witch’s brew of incompetence, arrogance, avarice, self-deception, and unchecked power. Time and time again, we see the same pattern … the Bushies ignore warnings and expert advice and refuse to acknowledge the consequences.
I’d only add to that brilliant summation that a pattern that precedes his Presidency is the codependent preppie kid belief that “if I screw up, Dad will buy my way out of trouble.” Only now, ‘Dad’ is our public treasury.
Iraq’s fubar? Buy a Shia, a Sunni, anyone, just make it right (ever wonder where the ‘missing’ $9 billion went?)
Katrina? Okay, we’ll buy the biggest reconstruction in history.
Completion of either task is optional. The goal’s not to aid anyone but Bush. We pay and pay and pay for his self-centeredness, and Congress is too partisan to turn off the spigot.
A vote for Republicans is now a vote to enable a teenage tyrant who’s never grown up and never will.
Round and round indeed. “Pastor” John Hagee was on T.V. last night, telling his sheep that Iran is planning an E.M.P. attack on America! That’s right folks, Iran, the mightiest of planet Earths’ air forces is planning to bomb the U.S.A. I guess they plan to use wave after wave of magic flying carpets to deliver the WMD . Hagee said it, it MUST be in the Bible.
Here we go again…..
wave after wave of magic flying carpets
Reminds me of 40 years ago when the mighty North Vietnamese navy was gonna invade California.
I am very sorry that I do have to admit that I am deeply disturb by the realization of the fact that, the once respectfully government of this wonderful country, has been hijacked for a bunch of crocks and gangsters.
They are cunning enough to rig an electoral process, ruthless to the point of backstabbing anybody who may tray to expose them, hypocrites and liars under the self assurance they can manipulate the perceptions of the badly informed public at large, and, so blind by greed, that they don’t care if our children are been massacred in wars tailored to line theirs pockets. As a Republican, I do feel like committing hara-kiri, as a citizen, sad.
We the People have been duped
Wonderful post, Barbara (as usual).
But the decisive event is actually a seemingly silly one. Here’s the thing: the public has factored in Junior’s incompetence, inexperience, even downright stupidness, a long, long time ago, and still managed to elect him… or shall we say, “get him elected” President twice running. The “comfort factor” was that “grown-ups” were in charge, notably the slow and low talking Dick Cheney.
What Fudd-gate has done, however, is show us that Dick Cheney too is, at his most fundamental, human level, an idiot. More than the callousness of shooting your friend and then hiding your recklessness (and probable alcohol impairment) is, of course, shooting him in the first place. This, the American people cannot abide: the great “grown-up” is, in fact, not merely human, but stupid. Because that’s how we view grown men running around in SUVs pretending to be Elmer Fudd who shoot their friends. Whatever the word is, it is not “serious” and “gravitas” does not come to mind.
So, just as the macro events (the war, the deficit– don’t forget that one, Katrina and its non-response, Medicare, the environment, No Child Left Behind and just about everything these clowns have touched) have shown fundamental incompetence, culminating in the strange cognitive dissonance caused by the ports fiasco (hug an Arab Emir today) have slowly chipped at the illusion of Bush Administration competence, Dick Cheney, who we universally acknowledged to be sinister… comes along and shows that he is not merely a villain, but a clown and knave who can’t even hold his liquor.
And there you have it: an implosion at all levels. Could the 1600 crew just be unraveling? They are incompetent, of course. Or could this be a Rovian ju jit su move to let their allies in Congress appear strong by comparison, so they can hold serve in the mid-terms to save the crew from investigations, indictments and impeachment?
Stay tuned…
The sorry truth in all of this is that absent a will in the Republican-lead Congress to impeach George W. Bush, this incompetent man will continue to draw his regular exhorbitant paycheck and leave office whereupon he will receive a handsome pension, and medical and other benefits that most of us can only dream about. He’s still a young man with a long life ahead of him, he will reap the benefits of having been elected to the Presidency and successfully left after eight years leaving the country in a complete shambles–much like all of his other enterprises that were handed to him by friends of his daddy.
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