In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
More from O'Neill's book
O'Neill Calls Bush a Disengaged President
Below I say Bush is only thinking about re-election and Iraq. That seems to be the truth:
O'Neill said that a lack of real dialogue characterized the Cabinet meetings he attended during the first two years of the administration and gave O'Neill the feeling that Bush "was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people."
O'Neill was also quoted in the book as saying that the administration's decision-making process was so flawed that often top officials had no real sense of what the president wanted them to do, forcing them to act on "little more than hunches about what the president might think."
O'Neill said in his CBS interview that the atmosphere was similar during the one-on-one meetings he held with Bush.
Speaking of his first meeting with the president, O'Neill said, "I went in with a long list of things to talk about and, I thought, to engage (Bush) on. ... I was surprised it turned out me talking and the president just listening. It was mostly a monologue."
And in today's news: Bush is barely even thinking about Iraq. It's all politics, all the time:
Aides Say Bush Is Already Absorbed in 2004 Race
The official White House line, repeated once again by President Bush at a fund-raiser at a lush Palm Beach golf resort only on Thursday, is that "there's plenty of time for politics." The message is that he is so focused on the business of running the nation that he has paid little attention to the details of his re-election campaign.
In reality, presidential advisers say, Mr. Bush is wholly absorbed by the race.
The president personally made the decision to hold the Republican National Convention in New York City, one adviser said. He talks daily to Karl Rove, his chief political aide, about the ups and downs of his Democratic competitors. He keeps a close eye on his fund-raising totals, which now amount to more than $130 million.
Other advisers say that Mr. Bush, who was deeply involved in his father's presidential campaigns, is far more immersed at this point than his re-election staff likes to admit, and often sets strategy hand in hand with Mr. Rove.
His picking of NYC for the convention is going to be the nail in the coffin of his presidency. He won't win re-election after such a gross display of politics near a time of national mourning. It will be sickening.
- rob 9:54 AM - [PermaLink] -
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