Fineman - "Bush spoke with the confidence of a perp in a police lineup"

[NightOwwl]

A Crisis of Confidence

Bush's way forward may be sensible. But his face showed fear—and that's no way to rally a war-weary nation.

I first interviewed the guy in 1987 and began covering his political rise in 1993, and I have never seen him, in public or private, look less convincing, less sure of himself, less cocky. With his knitted brow and stricken features, he looked, well, scared. Not surprising since what he was doing in the White House library was announcing the escalation of an unpopular war.

<snip>

What the voters saw on TV just now was a man struggling to come to grips with his own unwillingness to face facts. It's still a struggle. His acknowledgement of mistakes was oblique and not as brave as it sounded at first blush. Mistakes were made, and he said. "The responsibility rests with me," he said. What he meant to convey was that others had made the mistakes, but that he was stepped up to take the hit. Hoo-aw! He said that he had "consulted" congressional leaders of both parties before he came to a decision on sending more than 20,000 additional troops. He didn't really consult with members of Congress, and certainly not with Democrats, unless you consider Sen. Joe Lieberman a Democrat.

<snip>

The president's chances of success, such as they are, now rest with the reasonableness and details of his plan. Will it work? His says that his generals "report" that it will. Do the American people believe that it will? I'm not sure that they are really listening, but if they were watching, they can't have been reassured by the man they saw in the basement of the White House.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16568507/site/newsweek

[babylonsister]

1. I have not read the article...but... that TITLE!

[eleny]

2. K&R

I don't often appreciate Fineman. But he didn't dare give W a pass and I appreciate that.

[DireStrike]

3. Yeah, I too appreciate it when shills can feel which way the wind is blowing

and face appropriately.

</sarcasm>


Fineman is a total whore.

[eleny]

7. Yes - and not so much that he seems to have finally gotten it...

...But that the language of Fineman's article is like "ouch".

I bet he's pissed at W for letting down all the whores and making them look as bad as you know them to be. They tossed their lot in with him and now they scramble, like Chris Matthews to save face.

[JohnnyLib2]

4. Love the title but have to admit,

I thought it was his best effort at appearing all serious and grown up. Oh, well.

[Innocent Smith]

5. He looked pale tonight

I didn't watch much of the speech, but the in the small part I did see his eyes had a scared look to them.

[montanto]

6. I didn't see/hear the speech,

I was at dinner, but read the text later. What I wonder is why would * appear scared? He doesn't answer to anyone but god, he doesn't listen to anyone but god. What's he got to be ascairt of? The American people? Lost profits?

[NightOwwl]

9. Or maybe the fraidy cat is skeered of this:

[pa28]

8. He looked doomstruck.

He looked like he knew he was making a huge mistake but putting his chips on the table anyway.

It also looked like he was forced into admitting a mistake for the first time in a life filled with whoppers. He didn't quite know how to handle it judging from the shaking voice and hyperventilating.

Daddy help!