What is going on with Paul O'Neil

[Blue_Roses]

and his candid admission of the farce of this administration? When he was fired a year ago, it was clear he didn't like the idea of another tax cut, but I never in my wildest dreams thought he would EVER speak out so candidly. He has the credibility that people might actually stand up and take notice to.

And surely he isn't naive' enough to think that Bush will not attack him for coming clean with the truth... :shrug:

This is really big news.

Saddam's Ouster Planned In 2001?
Jan. 10, 2004

CBS) The Bush Administration began laying plans for an invasion of Iraq, including the use of American troops, within days of President Bush's inauguration in January of 2001...

-snip-

"I will be really disappointed if reacts that way," he tells Stahl. "I can't imagine that I am going to be attacked for telling the truth."


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

[Skittles]

1. he is an ex-Bush Whore who is now whoring for his book

it sure is fun to watch, eh? Pass the popcorn please.

[chookie]

12. Not correct, Skittles

Paul O'Neill was never a Bush lapdog. Even worse than Colin Powell, he was the odd man out. Now, here's a guy who really knows how to run a huge corporation successfully, in the classic Northeastern manner, not the southern corporate pirate winkwinknudgenudge Enron manner. He certainly tried to make his voice of reason heard within the administration, and was repeatedly ostracized for not getting with the program, which he thought was absolutely insane, and told them so. He certainly paid for being sane in this madhouse.

Not only was he in the doghouse with the administration, and being expected to participate in a level of irrationality and mismanagement he had never witnessed in his life before, but the press was on his ass as well, and O'Neill maybe didn't handle the pressure all that well and appeared petulant at times.

It was only a matter of time when a sane person who had been within the administration would blow the whistle. O'Neill is the first. He is highly thought of, especially here in Pittsburgh, where his leadership of Alcoa is highly respected.

This is no whore. This is a guy who is appalled by what is happening to the country, as many economists are extremely nervous about possible scenarios to unfold in the next couple of years, who wants the public to know what exactly is going on in this secretive White House, and get them to rethink voting for this dangerous idiot.

Give him a chance, Skittles. AT least watch 60 minutes, and make your assessment of his character then, please.

[spooky3]

18. he's not the first whistle-blower but he may be the highest profile so far

[readmylips]

19. Colon Powell is a YES military man...

and a prop for the administration. The real person in charge of Powell's job is James Baker III. Colon was ordered to go and cleanout his colon while ganster Baker flew around the world twisting arms for the boosh gansters. (boosh is bush)

[Elidor]

30. I've seen enough of his "character"

This is the same idiot who called for the abolition of Social Security and Medicare because he feels everyone ought to save enough for their own medical needs. He also wanted to abolish ALL taxes on corporations. I don't need to listen to his whining on tv to know he's an elitist tool of the plutocracy.

[Blue_Roses]

36. Chookie

Does O'Neill still work for Alcoa and do you think the good people of Pittsburg will sit up and take notice of this--that is those who have supported Bush?

[Junkdrawer]

2. I was wondering about that too, Then I remembered an exchange...

between O'Neil and Robert Byrd where Byrd shamed him for forgetting his roots. I wonder if that stuck in the craw of the old man. :shrug:

[acmavm]

3. Maybe pangs of conscience, maybe the realization that this administration

is very, very close to destroying this country, and maybe little bit of "paybacks are a bitch".

The rise of the Pretender has left a lot of injured victims along the way. Maybe, just maybe, people who come equipped with a sense of decency are beginning to see that we can't allow this crazed moron with delusions of grandeur and his henchmen keep taking us down the road to ruin. One can only hope.

[Pegleg Thd]

7. Just maybe he

'got religion' and decided it was time to tell the truth about bushco.

[havocmom]

17. anybody wonder if CIA might have helped him 'get religion?'

Keep wondering about what they must be up to since the outing of Ms Plame. Perhaps the implosion of the maladministration has had some help from some clever and well placed fires under certain butts.

Some people in the government employ are there due to a true sense of duty and service to the nation. Not hard to envision some of them taking action to rid the halls of government from the vermin who have invaded.

[Kolesar]

4. The Iraqi oilfields were detailed in Cheney's Energy documents pre 9/11

Last year's war was going to be called:
Operation
Iraq
Liberation
It all fits.

[cthrumatrix]

5. I think he has seen enough and wants the truth out...he doesn't need $$$

[Faygo Kid]

6. Truth, and a CEO's ego

Doesn't like the way he was unceremoniously booted, so is spilling the beans about we here at DU have known all along. No hero though. CEOs like him are used to having their behinds kissed, and their egos are limitless. This is his revenge, not his mea culpa. Still, great to see them turning on each other, and about time. Looking forward to seeing the interview.

[spooky3]

29. good point. But I've met a few CEOs in my work and some of them are

great guys (I've never met a female CEO of a big company, sadly). Unlike most of us, they also have the freedom to say exactly what they are thinking, and do what they think is right, because they won't get fired and have a lot of power. And when they are great people or evolve there, and use this freedom, "that's a good thing."

[no_arbusto]

8. He's been talking since at least June 2003

Paul O'Neill says business ethics start with respect
June 6, 2003
By Patricia Sabatini, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

---------
O'Neill said moral and ethical leadership "is about setting rules and boundaries" and "practicing in even the most minute issues of the day ... respect and dignity of others, and truth telling all the time."

He also implied he was relieved to have been fired last year from his job at the White House, where his penchant for candor and speaking out was believed to have gotten him in hot water with the boss.

"Something that really resonates with me is the biblical notion that the truth shall set you free," O'Neill said. "I found it really worked for me."
---------
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03157/189033.stm

[Blue_Roses]

21. this is quite

telling of his character. I had no idea he was a "moral" and "ethical" man. It's no wonder he got fired--ethics and this administration don't exactly go "hand-in-hand!"

[readmylips]

9. Lou Dobbs has been on fire lately, hope he's a friend

of O'Neil and has him on his show. That will for sure give credibility to O'Neil.

[cthrumatrix]

11. you do wonder if he knew something....he has been scathing this week

on the admin's policies

This would set him off.

[cliss]

10. There's an old saying,

knock a man down, and he will come after you if he has nothing to lose. I was actually expecting O'Neill to come out with some statement shortly after he was ousted.

It obviously took him a while to gather his thoughts, and now he has a book which I think is coming out on Tuesday. I'd like to get my hands on it.

Of course, the more voices we have going against BeelzeBush, the better off we are, especially now.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

[Carni]

34. He was smart

He kept his mouth shut until right before the release of the book.
If he had started yakking immediately... he never would have gotten a book published.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. I'm thinking they are ready to do another Perot depending on who

gets the nomination.

[Bertha Venation]

16. Who would have to get the nod in order for

the GOP to pull that kind of subterfuge out of its hat? Surely not Dean, the way every Republican I see at work* react to my Dean bumper sticker. The general reaction is "Heheh... yeah, go Dean. :eyes:" Or similar derision.

* I daily see "big" Repubs on their way to the office of one of *'s top guys. My desk is between the elevator and his office, and Top Guy's secretary walks them past. Every day.

[spooky3]

20. that would be great, wouldn't it?

[anarchy1999]

14. Don't forget trip to Africa with Bono.

Surely that had to have some effect. I also agree with post about Byrd.

[cthrumatrix]

15. Maybe the 911 commission should speak with him...?

[spooky3]

22. He's not nåive. He's framing how we should perceive any attacks on him.

It's clever.

[spooky3]

25. maybe he'll join forces with Soros?

[Blue_Roses]

26. ya know

I actually thought the same thing. It is very clever

[JanMichael]

23. In "It Can't Happen Here", by S. Lewis, the leader of the Resistance...

...(who intended to establish a Cooperative Commonwealth, or Socialist style Republic, after the fighting was done) was a former Republican Presidential candidate and Senator.

Sometimes even the privilidged catch a conscience.

[DS1]

24. Paul, avoid small planes for the rest of your life

:think:

[readmylips]

27. This really proves that boosh...

doesn't even run his own family, forget about running the country. The guy running the country is that evil cheney and his shadow government. Boosh is just a figure-head, placed there because of his ego, his low self-estime, his name, his corrupt family connections. Just listen to how this guy constructs a simple English sentence. Not even McDowell would hire that fook.

[BeyondGeography]

28. Payback

ChimpyCo did a classic corporate back-stab on O'Neil when they brought in Snow. Part of the reason they got rid of him is they never could control him. They should have thought about that before they unceremoniously fired his terminally wealthy behind. The guy has nothing to fear and he obviously enjoys a good fight.

This statement, coming from an ex-cabinet member is explosive. Adds credibility to Clark, who has been very explicit in his allegations about this sideshow war all along.

[spooky3]

31. good point

[Capeador]

32. After 15 seasons in the majors, Paul retired. That's all.

He won five rings. He'd had enough baseball.

[newyawker99]

37. Hi capeador!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Kurt Remarque]

33. wouldn't it be great...

...if he revealed that laura bush is consulting an astrologist?

[JPace]

35. Paul O'Neil suffered public humiliation when

fired by the WH. At the time even people
on the inside said it could have been done
more sensitively.

People do not forgive you for shaming them.

[Lisa]

38. no kidding -- remember what happened with Jim Jeffords!

It was heavy-handed "enforcement" by the White House that prompted him to quit the GOP.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

39. And don't forget one of the...

prime reasons he was canned was his report that concluded that the economic picture was one of huge future deficits which required raising taxes if they were to be avoided.

This report was the one that was "shelved" when Bush was pushing for his first tax cut.

O'Neill called it like it was on that issue and Bush booted him for it.