Bushies feeling
the boss' wrath
Prez's anger growing in hard times - pals
BY THOMAS M. DeFRANK
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
WASHINGTON - Facing the darkest days of his presidency, President
Bush is frustrated, sometimes angry and even bitter, his associates say.
With a seemingly uncontrollable insurgency in Iraq, the White House
is bracing for the political fallout from a grim milestone that could come
any day: the combat death of the 2,000th American G.I.
Last week alone, 23 military personnel were killed in Iraq, and five
were wounded yesterday in a relentless series of attacks across the
country.
This week could also bring a special prosecutor's decision that
could shake the foundations of the Bush government.
The President's top political guru, Karl Rove, and Vice President
Cheney's right-hand man, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, are at the center of a
two-year criminal probe into the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Many Bush
staffers believe indictments are likely.
"He's like the lion in winter," observed a political friend of Bush.
"He's frustrated. He remains quite confident in the decisions he has made.
But this is a guy who wanted to do big things in a second term. Given his
nature, there's no way he'd be happy about the way things have gone."
Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because
he knows they can take it. Lately, however, some junior staffers have also
faced the boss' wrath.
"This is not some manager at McDonald's chewing out the help," said
a source with close ties to the White House when told about these
outbursts. "This is the President of the United States, and it's not a
pleasant sight."
The specter of losing Rove, his only truly irreplaceable assistant,
lies at the heart of Bush's distress. But a string of political reversals,
including growing opposition to the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina's
aftermath and Harriet Miers' bungled Supreme Court nomination, have also
exacted a personal toll.
Presidential advisers and friends say Bush is a mass of
contradictions: cheerful and serene, peevish and melancholy, occasionally
lapsing into what he once derided as the "blame game." They describe him
as beset but unbowed, convinced that history will vindicate the major
decisions of his presidency even if they damage him and his party in the
2006 and 2008 elections.
At the same time, these sources say Bush, who has a long history of
keeping staffers in their place, has lashed out at aides as his political
woes have mounted.
"The President is just unhappy in general and casting blame all
about," said one Bush insider. "Andy [Card, the chief of staff] gets his
share. Karl gets his share. Even Cheney gets his share. And the press gets
a big share."
The vice president remains Bush's most trusted political confidant.
Even so, the Daily News has learned Bush has told associates Cheney was
overly involved in intelligence issues in the runup to the Iraq war that
have been seized on by Bush critics.
Bush is so dismayed that "the only person escaping blame is the
President himself," said a sympathetic official, who delicately termed
such self-exoneration "illogical."
A second senior Bush loyalist disagreed, saying Bush knows "some of
these things are self-inflicted," like the Miers nomination, where Bush
jettisoned contrary advice from his advisers and appointed his longtime
personal lawyer.
"He must know that the way he did that, relying on his own judgment
and instinct, was not good," another key adviser said.
Despite the turmoil, Bush is determined to soldier on, already
preparing for two major overseas trips in November and helping shape next
year's legislative agenda.
"I've got a job to do," he told reporters last week. "The American
people expect me to do my job, and I'm going to."
Originally published on October 24, 2005
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/358714p-305660c.html
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| User: "Untouchable" |
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| Title: Re: Bushies Feeling the Boss' Wrath |
25 Oct 2005 06:13:57 AM |
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Didn't he accept blame for the hurricane mess?
This article, sounds like they're making people think president bush
thinks he is God.
However it sounds like to me, he's trying to keep a calm tempter in a
crap time. Any politician isn't equipped to handle troubled times and
can never expect to.
I would feel sorry for president Bush but he is a politician :)
Does anyone actually think of what is going on inside president Bush?
Poor man, heheh that would be a good way to test him.
Feel sorry for him, give him a heart to heart.
And see if he get's angry with you.
I'm sure God will sort him out, if he's not holding it together.
I'll just let the public and God sort him out, they did with Jesus :-)
Anyway enough riotous behaviour.
President Bush is the President of the US
He must have something going for him?
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| User: "mondo" |
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| Title: Re: Bushies Feeling the Boss' Wrath |
25 Oct 2005 07:12:52 AM |
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President Bush is the President of the US
He must have something going for him?
Americans like to make idols out of "nobodies"!!!
mondo
"Untouchable" <GiantPencil@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1130238837.367517.203920@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Didn't he accept blame for the hurricane mess?
This article, sounds like they're making people think president bush
thinks he is God.
However it sounds like to me, he's trying to keep a calm tempter in a
crap time. Any politician isn't equipped to handle troubled times and
can never expect to.
I would feel sorry for president Bush but he is a politician :)
Does anyone actually think of what is going on inside president Bush?
Poor man, heheh that would be a good way to test him.
Feel sorry for him, give him a heart to heart.
And see if he get's angry with you.
I'm sure God will sort him out, if he's not holding it together.
I'll just let the public and God sort him out, they did with Jesus :-)
Anyway enough riotous behaviour.
.
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