A White House Out of Step?

[Judi Lynn]

A White House Out of Step?

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, January 28, 2005; 12:00 PM

The first-term Bush White House was justifiably renowned for its nearly flawless message execution. But in just the first few days of the second term there have been a surprising number of missteps.

The elephant in the room, as it were, is of course the very first thing President Bush said after being sworn in a second time. His soaring inaugural address about bringing liberty to the globe struck so many people as being out of touch with conditions on the ground that the White House and Bush himself have spent much of the last week qualifying it and trying to anchor it in reality.
(snip)

National Journal media columnist William Powers observes that Bush appears to have lost any trace of humility. "He's CEO of the world, and he walks and talks as if he's about to fire everybody. His indifference to tone is mesmerizing, like a work of conceptual art designed to provoke and madden his audience. He's the Marcel Duchamp of American politics."
(snip)

"He laughed when asked about his admission on Wednesday, during a news conference, that he had not read the article in the periodical Foreign Affairs written in 2000 by Condoleezza Rice, his new secretary of state, laying out his foreign policy.

" 'I don't know what you think the world is like, but a lot of people don't just sit around reading Foreign Affairs,' he said, chuckling. 'I know this is shocking to you.' "
(snip)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44390-2005Jan28.html

[kiraboo]

1. No, Mr. Bush.

I don't find it at all shocking to hear that you don't read anything about foreign affairs.

[elehhhhna]

2. Like "OBL Plans to Attack US" August '01 PDB. Who has time for that crap?

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Yeah, but 'a lot of people' aren't president of the USA, dumbshit!!

[bemildred]

4. More pompous drool from WaPO. nt

[Demeter]

5. They Certainly March to a Different Drummer

[struggle4progress]

6. A White House Out of Step? (Froomkin / WP)

By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
Friday, January 28, 2005; 12:00 PM

<snip> The conservative Economist magazine, for instance, opines that "the gap between Mr Bush's rhetoric and what is actually happening, or is likely to happen, is embarrassingly wide."

National Journal media columnist William Powers observes that Bush appears to have lost any trace of humility. "He's CEO of the world, and he walks and talks as if he's about to fire everybody. His indifference to tone is mesmerizing, like a work of conceptual art designed to provoke and madden his audience. He's the Marcel Duchamp of American politics." <snip>

Eric Boehlert writes in Salon: "One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.
<snip>

Blogger Wolcott writes: "Imagine if Bill Clinton had been chirpy and chipper having just received the news of 31 soldiers dying in the theater of combat -- Rush Limbaugh would have devoted three hours to it, and Fox News would have dragged Dick Morris out of the all-you-can-eat buffet for his 'expert analysis.' " <snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44390-2005Jan28.html

[PROGRESSIVE1]

7. .

[pacifictiger]

8. just wondering

if Bush ever writes any of his own speeches? Anyone know the history of which presidents wrote their own and which presidents didn't?

[AuntiBush]

9. Oh. Mr. Bush. I fail to see "what's so funny,"

except you're blatent ego-mania that's killing our country and the world. How can he laugh when so much saddness is upon his soul?

Want to see him really laugh... go here: http://www.truthandhope.org/Funny.mov

[AuntiBush]

10. It just dosn't get any funnier than that.

I hope everyone see's this movie (above link) and here it is again:

Sad, leaves you with a total loss of words.

http://www.truthandhope.org/Funny.mov

[Babel_17]

11. Much thanks

I'll be putting this link to good use!