Geo Bush July 2007: It's Lonely At The Top

The White House was in the midst of tough negotiations with Rangel over trade pacts. But Bush did not try to cut a deal with Rangel, chatting instead about baseball. "He talked a lot about the Rangers," Rangel said. "I didn't know what the hell he was talking about."

"I don't know how he copes with it," said Donald Burnham Ensenat, a friend for 43 years who just stepped down as State Department protocol officer. Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.), another longtime friend who once worked for Bush, said he looks worn down. "It's a marked difference in his physical appearance," Conaway said. "It's an incredibly heavy load. When you ask men and women to take risks, to send them into war knowing they might not come home, that's got to be an incredible burden to have on your shoulders."

And yet Bush does not come across like a man lamenting his plight. In public and in private, according to intimates, he exhibits an inexorable upbeat energy that defies the political storms. Even when he convenes philosophical discussions with scholars, he avoids second-guessing his actions. He still acts as if he were master of the universe, even if the rest of Washington no longer sees him that way.

UH

"You don't get any feeling of somebody crouching down in the bunker," said Irwin M. Stelzer, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who was part of one group of scholars who met with Bush. "This is either extraordinary self-confidence or out of touch with reality. I can't tell you which."

I can

Stelzer said Bush seemed smarter than he expected. The conversation ranged from history to religion and touched on sensitive topics for a president wrestling with his legacy. "He asked me, 'Do you think our unpopularity abroad is a result of my personality?' And he laughed," Stelzer recalled. "I said, 'In part.' And he laughed again."

Bush to stress that he too wants Iraq troop pullout

Guess he wants to hang out with the cool kids.

Why doesn't he just appoint Bill Kristol as "war czar"? He practically is!

hahahaha

After more 'I won't be swayed blah blah blah' talk:

In stops through the Cleveland area, he hoped to draw attention to a strung-together list of topics: energy alternatives, affordable health insurance and restrained spending.

He began in Parma with a tour of GrafTech, a maker of graphite products that are used in fuel cells. Bush playfully climbed about a fork lift powered by such a fuel cell.

obviously the plan is to start withdrawing troops this fall (following Petraeus' report) and then have most of it done by the time the 2008 election comes around - thereby shielding Reps up for reelection from being sandbagged by the war, they'll be able to claim "victory" (however they want to define it) and steal the Dems thunder.

Its so transparently obvious and disgusting and completely goddamn murderously amoral

In stops through the Cleveland area, he hoped to draw attention to a strung-together list of topics: energy alternatives, affordable health insurance and restrained spending.

He began in Parma with a tour of GrafTech, a maker of graphite products that are used in fuel cells. Bush playfully climbed about a fork lift powered by such a fuel cell.

Afterwards, GrafTech president Fred Smith fed Bush a banana while rubbing the president behind his ears. "He's a cute little fella," observed Smith, "definitely not what we were expecting."

The WaPo article linked at the top is just inexcusable. Pretending to shine some hard light into a situation that any sane person has already known about for months if not years, the "reporter" says Bush:

"remains resolute"

"is looking for answers"

"remains unflinching"

etc. - all in the first three paragraphs! Maybe that's what they call "balance". Larding a somewhat critical story with state propaganda and hagiography typed directly from RNC scripts.

cf glenn greenwald for the past, uh, six years

fuck the washington press. at this point if I meet rumsfled, maybe I'll spit on him, if I meet somebody who works white house pc's, I'll make 'em wish they'd been born the other gender

that doesn't really work does it

ok

I'll fuckin kill 'em

I'll make 'em wish they'd been born the other gender

purple nurples vs. rear admirals

reminds me of bob woodward's "bush at war," where every single member of the administration is introduced with a brief description that invariably includes some variation of "with a winning/ready smile."

^^ beside the point at this point? as all-powerful as our media is I don't think nearly as many people are conned by the smiles anymore

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN THE GREAT OZ KNOWS ALL AND SEES...

^^they've moved on to being charmed by Fred Thompson and The Mayor of 9/11. Same tricks, different dogs.

let's see how far bozo & sgt friday get w/the general public. agreed they've bamboozled the media so far. we'll see how many ppl believe the hype about these two over the next year I guess. hopefully it's only a matter of time til rudy shoots himself in the foot (crosses fingers)

mccain crashing and burning is pretty fun to watch at least