Slate: Bush Admin Discipline Slips Further - "Every Man For Himself"

[Hissyspit]

http://www.slate.com/id/2162773

Every Man for Himself
Bush administration discipline slips further.
By John Dickerson
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2007, at 6:00 PM ET

As George Bush's tenure winds down, he has started thinking about building his presidential library. Somewhere off the Mission Accomplished Atrium he should put a boxing ring. An administration that came into office boasting of exemplary teamwork looks like it's going to end in a hail of blame-placing, finger-pointing, and backbiting.

The Justice Department's White House liaison, Monica Goodling, has refused to testify before the judiciary committee because she is worried she'll be blamed for the controversy over the eight fired U.S. attorneys. Her lawyer explained in a press release that she would take the Fifth in part because one of her former bosses at the Justice Department was blaming his false testimony on her, claiming that Goodling "did not inform him of certain pertinent facts."

- snip -

The finger-pointing over the U.S. attorney firings comes just a few weeks after a long display of it in the Scooter Libby trial. The defense portrayed the vice president's former chief of staff as the victim of a plot by his former colleagues to make him take the blame for outing a CIA agent. (Goodling mentioned the Libby example as the specter she fears; Democratic senators cited Libby when referring to Sampson's role.) Like the U.S. attorney scandal, Scooter Libby's trial was a forum for displaying years of bitter acrimony between different parts of the administration.

All administrations produce unhappy people in the second term. At the end of Bill Clinton's tenure, George Stephanopoulos and Robert Reich wrote memoirs that were unflattering to some of their former colleagues. The Bush team has already had such disgruntled types: Paul O'Neill, David Kuo, and Richard Clarke. What has changed at this point, though, "is that it feels like it's every man for himself," says one former senior administration official.

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[mod mom]

1. It should read: "every crook for themselves".

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Soon It Will Spread Outwards

To the rest of the Rethuglican Party. Then they will impeach/resign Cheney. Then Bush.

Once the tipping point is reached, things move fast.

[Cobalt-60]

4. But will it be enough to permanently disrupt the party cohesion?

We are looking for a solid kill here.
I won't be satisfied until the Republicons join the Nazis and the Italian Fascists on the refuse heap.

[juno jones]

5. AND the tories and whigs.....

:)

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Sadly, I Think Not

The opposition wants to keep the Rethugs in place to triangulate against - they have no interest in making them irrelevent.

[Jackpine Radical]

19. You're right.

Now, I believe in a 2-party system. But I think the 2 parties should be the (liberal wing of the) Dems on the right & the Greens on the left.

[More Than A Feeling]

27. What exactly is the difference between the liberal wing of the Dems and the Greens?

Seriously. How many liberal Dems would be Greens if we had a system that did not put obstacles in front of third parties?

[Jackpine Radical]

30. OK, so I'm for one party & 2 names.

Just like we have now.

(Jeez, where'd I put my flame-retardant suit?)

[yardwork]

21. The "opposition?" Do you mean the Democratic Party?

[knight_of_the_star]

43. They might when they see how bad this got

Nevermind the writing on the wall, wait until they see the proof in black and white, hopefully while it won't destroy the GOP I hope this collapse will destroy the power of the Religious Right and the other extremists. Taking out the corporatists in the GOP will be nearly impossible, they've been there since the Party's inception, but if we can remove that cancer we'll have made some progress. They've done more damage to the body politic than anything else out there.

[NewJeffCT]

18. It will take more than Bush to take down the RW machine

If all of that couldn't take them down, I doubt the crimes of Team Bush can do it.

[wordpix]

39. Right now the "party" has declined to 30% of the electorate

[ChairmanAgnostic]

53. still think that's inflated.

When the Mormons are only at 47%, and Montana barely cracks 50%, that tells you that even the religious evangelical group of sheeple are having a first or even a second thought.

[Qutzupalotl]

48. See post 16.

You'll smile.

[Gabi Hayes]

3. as in rats...sinking ship?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x508339

[WillyT]

6. I'm Definitely Gonna Have To Go Get More Butter And Popcorn - K & R !!!

:popcorn::evilgrin::popcorn:

[gratuitous]

8. Discipline?

Shit, this administration has had the freest of free rides for six years. Finally they're getting just a pinch of the scrutiny they should have had all this time, and they're falling to pieces. If you're a sports fan, you're familiar with the team: They start off 4-0 or 5-0, fattening up on weak opponents like Cupcake State and Set-up Tech, maybe even crack the Top 10. Then they run into a conference opponent with a bad attitude. After their 47-10 whippin', they go like 1-6 the rest of the season and everyone wonders if the team fell apart or if they were never really that good to begin with.

Trust me on this one: This team was never that good to begin with. If they had had real oversight from Congress or some actual push back from the media, they would have looked much lamer for much longer. And now that America doesn't wet its pants on demand anymore, they're up shit creek without a paddle, and all these Peter Principle exemplars are angling for the quickest exit, hoping against hope that the taint of this administration doesn't linger with them for life.

[bklyncowgirl]

12. I don't think they ever believed they'd lose Congress

The Republican Congress and a compliant media were their shields.

The media proved a less than reliable cover. Unflattering stories got out and even though mainstream outlets might ignore things like the Downing Street Memos the new media ran with the ball and in the end the media was reluctantly forced to examine the evidence. Hurricane Katrina and the incomprehensible lack of response to the plight of thousands in full view of the cameras sent a shock wave through the country. Jack Abramoff was the tip of the whole stinking iceberg of cronyism and payoffs.

The Republicans in Congress refused to allow real investigations into administration incompetence and corruption. The 2006 election took that shield away. They now face a Congress controlled by Democrats with committees chaired by people like Henry Waxman, John Conyers and Pat Leahy. These guys are experienced and they are out for blood.

We now get to watch the spectacle of an administration at war with itself where higher ups through their aides under the proverbial bus and aides rat out their bosses to save themselves.

Pass the popcorn please.

[yardwork]

23. I think that the corporate-owned media is still a big problem for real democracy

The media will (reluctantly) report things that become so obvious there's no ignoring them, but they still bury 99% of the information and facts.

A good example is the U.S. attorney firings. Why do so many people still think that this is comparable to Clinton firing all 93 attorneys when he first took office? Why didn't the media explain, on day two of this scandal, that ALL presidents replace ALL 93 U.S. attorneys as soon as they take office, but firing eight of them mid-term, in order to interfere with criminal investigations, is unprecedented? A simple graphic would have taken care of that, but instead it's spin-spin-spin.

[riverdeep]

13. Heh, good analysis

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

16. This was posted in another thread regarding oversight. It's beautiful

[frogcycle]

50. you're spot on w/respect to most of the worker bees

and some of the senior staff like gonzo

there is a machine behind them all, though, that no doubt realizes it screwed up when it signed these wannabe players, and will go back to the drawing board for a "rebuilding year" or two and be right back at us.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

9. Well, these people deserve a "zero tolerance" dose of justice.

I have no empathy as they have shown none. If they are in a 'it's every man for himself' position, I STRONGLY URGE they earn back their souls and,...embrace the laws and ideals, honor and integrity taught to school children across this continent and TELL THE GOSHDAMNED TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING OTHER THAN THE TRUTH to Congress and the American people.

And, please, stop excusing/rationalizing this administration's abhorent uses and abuses of this nation and its people, producing rivers of human blood and pocketing tons of human capital, by asserting Bill Clinton's throw in the hay with an intern who profiteered greatly off her affections with the former President is in some way/shape/form comparable.

THERE IS NO COMPARISON, WHATSOEVER!!!
:puke:

[corkhead]

10. Shouldn't be a surprise, that's the Republick Credo

It is also at the bottom of the BFEE Family Crest, only it is in Latin.

[formercia]

11. Get them all before the statute of limitations expires

these people should pay in spades.

[riverdeep]

14. Isn't this just the logical outcome of their philosophy?

We are now watching what happens when a Lord of the Flies mentality is allowed to flourish.

BTW Piggy is Karl Rove.

[Sapere aude]

22. Piggy in Lord of the Flies was a victim of the others not a culprit.

[yardwork]

24. Yes. Unfortunately, WE appear to be Piggy in this particular version.

It's time to change the storyline.

[wordpix]

40. good analysis, go to head of the class

[riverdeep]

42. Yeah, I know

I was thinking in terms of physical appearance and general smarminess.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

15. There is no honor among thieves

That quote seems appropriate for the Bushistas.

May this unraveling expose their crimes to the light of day and justice be served for the American people and the other people of this world who/whom these criminals have victimized.

Question for the grammar police: Is who or whom more appropriate above?

[Eurobabe]

17. They unfortunately are cohesive enough to start WW3 though

:mad: :nuke: :grr:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

20. The neocons are really going to do it, aren't they?

Big Dick's gonna pull the trigger.

I was starting to get a little hopeful, there for awhile.

But this British/Iran business is all they need.

They'll leave it to Fux News to spin it to the sheep.

The rest of us can go to hell.

[Lil Missy]

28. That's what I'm afraid of. Trapped rats can become very dangerous ...

[wordpix]

41. not really---with 70% of the people opposed to the war now, BushCo's troops are

wearing thin and/or don't want to participate. :nuke: :grr:

[Cha]

25. If they did everything on the up and up

what are they all so clamming up with the "5th Amendment(one Amendment they're not shredding of our Constitution!), pointing fingers and stating they weren't "in the loop". What are they afraid we'll find out when the truth gets bared?

[IWantAChange]

26. My fear is that team Bushco backed into a corner desperately needs a diversion..

since 9/11 that has been FEAR - what could be more convenient than an 'incident'(manufactured or otherwise) of some sort in the Straits of Hormuz w/our Navy and the WAR PRESIDENT dropping the hammer on Iran to 'protect' us from imminent harm??

[Chimichurri]

29. The rats are doing what they do best - jump ship.

[disndat]

31. High Noon at the Persian Gulf?

Dare the Bush Bullies wag this dog? They would either be invite immediate impeachment or confrontation with China, and Japan over their vital line of oil supply and Russia would stand by watching the U.S. self-destruct.

[whistle]

32. Bush and Cheney are just crazy enough to do it...wag the Iranian dog

...impeach them both now before it is too late

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. Ed Schultz just anounced that 2 more DOJ will plea the 5th.

You have to wonder, just how bad is it?

[bdamomma]

37. crimes committed big time. geez, just bring them all down.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

44. the sooner, the better.

like a cornered, injured animal, they are the most dangerous now.

[Felix Mala]

34. Time to stop playing and go home, President Trelane...

[mistertrickster]

35. Never forget the famous line at the end of "Hamlet."

The Queen has been poisoned and lies dead. Hamlet and Laertes are mortally stricken and near death.

With his dying breath, Laertes points at the Claudius. "The King! The King is to blame!"

As our own body bags pile up, as the economy sinks, the national debt explodes, the scandles bloom like spring flowers, remember . . . "the King is to blame."

[LuckyLib]

36. Frontline has a continual parade of disaffected State, CIA, and military types who are now

"telling it like it is." Those aspens are turning, big time.

[curiousdemo]

38. Feet don't fell me now!!!

These lowlife piece of human waste are scattering like the cockroaches they are. Bush is like a bad growth on the body, and if you don't cut it out it will destroy you. I get a joy at seen their miserable life being destroyed by the great decider. I'm the decider!!!I'm the decider!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

What a bunch of losers..

[matt819]

45. Regardless of Goodling's intentions, she should be subpoenaed

What a sight that will be - the Dems asking all the hard questions and a loyalist is sitting there pleading the fifth. What an indictment that will be.

[The Count]

46. That's why Hagel wondered off plantation with his war vote/impeachment talk

he's been disciplined once, but felt safe to misbehave again!

[onehandle]

47. Roll over on Bush or go to jail.

Rats, you're on a sinking ship. Save yourselves.

[ClintonTyree]

49. I can't get past the first sentence...

anytime someone mentions a "Bush Presidential Library" :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: .....I'm sorry...

I just can't help myself. The thought of that incurious simpleton planning a Presidential Library...... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I'm sorry..

there I go again. Ohhhh, my sides are splitting and blood is gushing out of my ears.

Bush Presidential Lib........ :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[frogcycle]

51. well put

i think a little bit of pee came out

[PinkyisBlue]

54. Bush Presidential Library

It will feature copies of "My Pet Goat" translated into several different languages (none of which Bush can read, including English).

It will also be the first presidential library to hold archived copies of comic books and only comic books. W's comment on the library? "Hey, if you want to read real books, intelligent books, head to the JFK or Clinton Libraries."

[19jet54]

52. RATS & SINKING SHIP

:kick: