The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
#0The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 8:45am
No-agenda analysis from David Broder in the WaPo. Basic point:
"...historically what leads to ultimate failure for orthodox innovator presidents is "sectarian infighting." They fail, he said, not because the political opposition becomes so strong but because their own supporters fall out among themselves -- some insisting on the original orthodoxy of the inherited philosophy, others demanding more change to adapt to the new conditions."
Bush's Fraying Presidency
MasterLcZ
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
#1re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 10:25am
I can always count on PalJoey to start my day in a happy way! 
#2re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 10:25amYep...when you got David Brooks and George Will blasting you--you know you're in trouble. Frank Rich was especially sharp on Sunday. It's so depressing to see what havoc this admin. is wreaking and I don't know what we will be able to do to fix his mess.
#3re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:00amHow can I get the Rich piece from Sunday? Is it posted anywhere but in The Times?
#4re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:00am
I LIVE to start your day ion a happy way, Master!
Let's meditate a moment on what it means that Karl lied to the president about his involvement in outing a CIA operative, which Karl, Scooter, Cheney, Bolton, Powell and Condi all had to know was a criminal act. They just thought they were so powerful they could get away with it.
So if my boss asked me a question about this criminal act and I lied to him, how could he keep me on the payroll?
And if my job involved a national security clearance, what would happen to my clearance, if a prosecutor proved I lied?
And if I TOLD my boss about my criminal activity and HE ALSO LIED to PROTECT me, what would happen to my boss?
And if I used a MALE PROSTITUTE on OFFICE TIME to perform this criminal activity...
#5re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:05amNot sure gymman--that's the only place I know about--unless Frank has a blog or a website...it's apip--and he manages to get Miss Cruise at the end!
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#6re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:19amPJ - Cokie Roberts said this morning that Karl was out of the loop on the Miers nomination and that Andy Card made the pick.
#7re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:21am
"Karl was out of the loop"
The sweetest words I've ever heard...SO FAR!
Auggie27
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/13/03
#8re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:22am
The right wing pundits on Sunday a.m. were most revealing, as they went after their leader with unexpected outrage and d vitriol.
Start with Kate O'Bierne on MEET THE PRESS Sunday? I used to find her insufferable on the Capitol Gang, but she had powerful insights into the Bush unraveling, in particular the nomination of Harriet. She brought up something unexpected from her faction -- how insulting it is that Miers was chosen as a sycophantic female caretaker of the President, because she might "...channel George Bush" once on the high court. She was offended as a woman. I was startled by the acidity and accuracy of the charge, from a true believer like Kate.
Then, the biggest of Bush's back-up singers, Tony Blankely on the Mc. Group. Even more than Eleanor Clift, he is deeply offended by the selection of Miers, to the point of disgust, and says she must go, sooner rather than later.
Nothing has surprised me more than this business of the Miers nomination backlash. And now that Dobson may be subpoened in the Miers confirmation hearings? That will be damned good TV.
#9re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:37amI saw both of those shows too! I make my bf watch them--he hates TV--and I normally despise Tony, but I was glad to see that he can at least SOMETIMES see beyond the party ticket. And for a conservative, I do find Pat Buchanan to be at least introspective and articulate, even though I rarely agree. Eleanor didn't have to say much--they did it for her.
ZONEACE
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/10/05
#10re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:09pmout of curiousity, when can we expect those indictments?
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#11re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:12pmThat would be funny to see Dobson refuse to testify as to what Rove told him.
#12re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:21pm
The Grand Jury term expires October 28. The recent flurry of activity--Judith Miller's additional tesimony, her suddenly "found" documents, the additional testimony of Libby, Rove and several others--all adds up to a real nail-biter!
Fitzgerald is now doing what he's known as a shark for: carefully re-questioning witnesses who testified falsely under oath, so that he can indict them for perjury.
Does anyone DOUBT that Rove and Libby perjured themselves in an attenpt to whitewash what went on?
The big unknown is: How far will Fitzgerald have the guts to go?
#13re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:23pmWhy is Dobson being told anything? All this religious support is going to backfire big time...it's just a question of when
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#14re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:26pm
PJ - the former Illinois Governor is on trial this week, I would guess that Pat does not have the guts not to make an indictment.
Maybe Rove will also lie before Congress as to what he told Dobson.
#15re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:27pmKarl just wants to go to prison...he's been saving cigarettes for months now...
#16re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 3:57pm
More from WaPo--apparently the Republican Party is breaking down at the national AND local level.
snippet:
---
Republican politicians in multiple states have recently decided not to run for Senate next year, stirring anxiety among Washington operatives about the effectiveness of the party's recruiting efforts and whether this signals a broader decline in GOP congressional prospects.
Prominent Republicans have passed up races in North Dakota and West Virginia, both GOP-leaning states with potentially vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Earlier, Republican recruiters on Capitol Hill and at the White House failed to lure their first choices to run in Florida, Michigan and Vermont.
These setbacks have prompted grumbling. Some Republican operatives, including some who work closely with the White House, privately point to what they regard as a lackluster performance by Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group that heads fundraising and candidate recruitment for GOP senators.
But some strategists more sympathetic to Dole point the finger right back. With an unpopular war in Iraq, ethical controversies shadowing top Republicans in the House and Senate, and President Bush suffering the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, the waters look less inviting to politicians deciding whether to plunge into an election bid. Additionally, some Capitol Hill operatives complain that preoccupied senior White House officials have been less engaged in candidate recruitment than they were for the 2002 and 2004 elections. These sources would speak only on background because of the sensitivity of partisan strategies.
Historically, Senate and House races are often won or lost in the year before the election...
Last month, White House political strategist Karl Rove flew to Bismarck to implore the North Dakota's popular Republican governor, John Hoeven, to challenge Sen. Kent Conrad (D). Rove could argue with some compelling numbers: Bush won 63 percent of the state's presidential votes last year, and Hoeven trounced his Democratic opponents in 2000 and 2004. But the governor said no thanks, and Republicans concede they have no strong second choice.
Perhaps no state has frustrated the GOP elite more than Florida, where Sen. Bill Nelson (D) is trying for a second term after winning his first with 51 percent of the vote. After failing to persuade Rep. Katherine Harris to stay out of the race, GOP leaders began a public search for an alternative candidate. State House Speaker Allan Bense was courted by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) before bowing out. Dole took a private plane to New York in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade conservative commentator and former Florida representative Joe Scarborough to make the race.
Many Democrats and some independents revile Harris for the role she played, as Florida secretary of state, in favoring George W. Bush in the 2000 recount process. But she has enough hard-core conservative fans to scare away other Republican Senate hopefuls, and Democrats are gleefully watching the dispute roil their rivals.
For GOP, Election Anxiety Mounts
#17re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 4:03pmLiz Dole has been awfully quiet huh? Not that I'm complaining...
brdlwyr
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/14/05
#18re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 4:05pmPJ - thanks again, spirits lifted!
#19re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 4:14pm
It is kind of nice to just sit back and watch them all self-implode. A nice glass of Zinfandel and this is about as good as it gets in terms of a political circus.
Serves them right for hoisting Shrub on us.
A story similar ran in the LA times:
GOP Feels Sting of Candidates' Rejection
Updated On: 10/10/05 at 04:14 PM
#20re: The Unraveling of the Bush Presidency
Posted: 10/10/05 at 4:27pmThe LA Times and the Washington Post are putting the NY Times to shame.
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