WP/Milbank: 'Full Confidence'? Uh-Oh.

[kskiska]

"We have full confidence in his integrity," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said of would-be homeland security secretary Bernard B. Kerik on Friday afternoon -- mere hours before the nomination was doomed by reports of unpaid taxes to an undocumented nanny, unreported gifts from an unsavory company and an unpleasant lawsuit linked to an unseemly assignation.

The White House's rapid distancing from and disparaging of Kerik suggest that McClellan and his colleagues had something less than "full confidence" in Kerik from the start. But that logic implies that when White House officials say "full confidence," they mean "full confidence." In fact, the phrase has become a Bush euphemism, a warning to the person in question that this might be a good time to circulate the résumé.

Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer had President Bush's "full confidence" -- but his incautious admission that more U.S. troops were needed in Iraq later cost him a top job in the second term. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft enjoyed the "full confidence" of the president before a series of tussles with the White House made many Bush aides eager for him to depart. George J. Tenet, too, had the "full confidence" of Bush when he quit as the embattled director of central intelligence. And Bush was "fully confident" in American relations with Spain -- before the pro-U.S. Spanish government fell.

(snip)

At the moment, the most favored euphemism is "We never speculate." Of course, Bush and his aides speculate all the time, about democracy in Iraq, improvement in the economy and victory at the polls. But when McClellan declines to speculate -- as he did an impressive 13 times in Monday's afternoon briefing -- he's merely stating, "I will not answer."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62028-2004Dec13.html

[rooboy]

1. "Full confidence" is a euphemism used in sport over here all the time...

it means the board is about one week away from firing the team's coach.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

2. At least we all know Bush-speak now

"Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer had President Bush's "full confidence" -- but his incautious admission that more U.S. troops were needed in Iraq later cost him a top job in the second term."

I was no fan of Bremmer, but at least he spoke out when he could.

[proud patriot]

3. POW right in the kisser

:thumbsup:

[GeorgeGist]

4. Wanna have some fun with: Bush "full confidence"

try this Google. The results are compelling.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22full+confidence%22+Bush&ie=UTF-8&lr=&sa=N&tab=nw

[0rganism]

5. Whoa! Even uglier than I thought

First page is half allegations of FARC assassination plots, half Bremer. Then it gets really funny. Damn near every failed policy or bumbling administration official is in there.

Yep. Full Confidence in ___ = ___ Really Sucks!

[Rose Siding]

6. Milbank won't be on the WH beat anymore

The bushies would have been relieved (if he had any access left- Every now and then, he took a good shot) Is this his new column or one of the last of the last WH reports?

snip>
It's not just the cabinet secretaries moving on as the Bush second term nears. The revolving door is also clogged with White House reporters, a typical switch-out at this point in an administration. Included are some of the biggest names in the journalism biz, like Washington Post writers Mike Allen and Dana Milbank. Allen is headed to the Hill, and Milbank will write a column.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/041213/whispers/13whisplead_2.htm

[Sara Beverley]

7. Keeping mistresses, questionable contracts and stock windfalls, lying,

cheating on taxes, not paying nannys, and ties with organized crime seem to be ok with this administration so long as you are not a Democrat. The letcherous lives of Rudi and Kerik are almost applauded by the media and administration supporters. I did something this morning that I had not done for about 5 weeks. I flipped through the moring cable news channels just to see what they were saying about the Kerik incident. FOX all but crowned Kerik a hero and even said that the business about his former wife and the morality issues were much ado about nothing. MSNBC and CNN were not much better. It's almost as though Kerik is being unfairly attacked. I haven't heard Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell come out and say anything about this man and I can remember when they were all over Clinton when some of his appointments were charged with having mistresses and accused of flying in corporate planes and taking gifts. It was a charged to the Clinton administration as an indication of their blanket "immorality" eventhough all of the charges against Epsy and O'Leart were dropped and they were exonerated. But baseless smearing was all that was reported by the media and Pat and Jerry were out in full forece. The hypocrisy of the RW and the so-called "Christian right" is astounding!

[leesa]

8. Of course. His "integrity" matches theirs.

[Supersedeas]

9. Do they mean what they say? Let's beat around the BUSH then.

[Tempest]

10. Was there really a nanny?

Josuah Marshall (talkingpointsmemo.com) doesn't seem to think so, and I think he's on to something.

Did the nanny story surface as a way to tactically dump Kerik after all his skeletons started coming out of the closet?

[gratuitous]

11. That's something I noticed, too

And I thought it mickle odd that the nanny in question has no identifying characteristics. At least none that match up from story to story, such as when she allegedly worked for Mr. Kerik, how long she was in the country, whether she remains in the United States or has returned to wherever she was from, and if she returned, just when that was. Those details seem to shift with every story that's filed. Very odd, indeed.

JMM at Talking Points Memo has fleshed this out pretty well, and has brought together an impressive bunch of disparate sources on the story.

I certainly hope to see the mainstream media giving every Republican on every program the treatment about their ties and their opinion of Mr. Kerik. You know like how every Democratic guest is required to denounce Michael Moore, a person with no standing in the Democratic party.

[lutefisk]

12. nanny problem=want to spend more time with family

"Here Kevin Drum perceptively notes how the 'nanny problem' is becoming Washington's turbo-charged version of 'wanting to spend more time with the family.'":

"Remember that the next time you think the cops are closing in on you for selling secrets to the Russians or something. Just confess to a nanny problem! Everyone will believe you, the cops will suddenly understand why you've been acting shifty, and you might even get some sympathy in the bargain. It's perfect!"

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_12/005301.php