Ex Bush SpeechWriter tell all.

[MathiasOfAthens]

“ 'You know, just wait a few days until the bloom is off the rose.' Then he made a very smart assessment. 'This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for,' he said. 'She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.' It was a rare dose of reality in a White House that liked to believe every decision was great, every Republican was a genius, and McCain was the hope of the world because, well, because he chose to be a member of our party."

I have some respect for Bush, hes a very smart man at times.

A new tell all about the Bush Presidency from an ex speechwriter. What Bush thought of McCain, Obama, Palin. How he couldnt convince congress on his economic recovery proposal that his aids fumbled. Very Interesting if anyones interested. This isnt exactly an attack Bush per se, just a look into how things were run in the last days.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thega...-tell-all.aspx

[spartan117]

I read about this a couple hours ago. I snickered. lol. "What is she, the governor of Guam?"

[Pontifex Maximus]

I actually think Bush was very accurate in his predictions. I Don't see how this can make him look bad. He has opinions and stated them, but if this is indeed a ploy to make him look bad then I say shame on the journalists. Let it go and focus on curent events that much of the public wants to hear about.

[MathiasOfAthens]

Lol hilarious, but wonderful that he had the insight into what was going to unfold.

[spartan117]

Maybe I should mention, I was not questioning bush's knowledge as according to the story, he thought he might have met her before. I was just amused with his reaction and it is a funny acknowledgment of Alaska's obscurity on the national stage. Let alone the governor of alaska.

I think this is more a of statement of sarah palin, and is sort of showing some of the political savy of george bush. At least that was my reaction after reading the 'article'.

[Last Roman]

Later, when many aides are euphoric about McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Bush predicts Palin’s disintegration as a candidate.

This in particular caught my attention. It makes me scratch my head how someone known for epic political blunders could foresee this while the best and brightest of the McCain campaign couldn't.

[♔Jean-Luc Picard♔]

This in particular caught my attention. It makes me scratch my head how someone known for epic political blunders could foresee this while the best and brightest of the McCain campaign couldn't.

A bad public speaker doesn't mean one is stupid. He may have predicted this, but by this point in his term, I doubt he did. He didn't seem to care much as he seemed happy to be on his way out.

[Valiant Champion]

Bushstradamus

[danzig]

Maybe I should mention, I was not questioning bush's knowledge as according to the story, he thought he might have met her before. I was just amused with his reaction and it is a funny acknowledgment of Alaska's obscurity on the national stage. Let alone the governor of alaska.

I think this is more a of statement of sarah palin, and is sort of showing some of the political savy of george bush. At least that was my reaction after reading the 'article'.

Yeah it was what I took away from it as well especially knowing Bush's tendency to be a bit of a smartass with humor that the Guam thing was meant as a knock on Palin rather oh Bush didnt know she was Gov of Alaska.

This in particular caught my attention. It makes me scratch my head how someone known for epic political blunders could foresee this while the best and brightest of the McCain campaign couldn't.

I think we tend to forget Bush was a very good governor and on the ball in Texas, yes his presidency was a mess (to be kindly) but it doesnt mean he is stupid or anything.

[Last Roman]

A bad public speaker doesn't mean one is stupid. He may have predicted this, but by this point in his term, I doubt he did. He didn't seem to care much as he seemed happy to be on his way out.

I realize that. That's not what I was getting at.

[El Brujo]

Perhaps we misunderestimated him after all?

Bush was a very good governor and on the ball in Texas

The governor of Texas is like a judge at a chili cookoff. Purely ceremonial.

[Future Filmmaker]

I think we tend to forget Bush was a very good governor and on the ball in Texas, yes his presidency was a mess (to be kindly) but it doesnt mean he is stupid or anything.

Not really. Neither of the Bush's were worth a damn as Governor.

[Adar]

I think this section clearly explain the major issue with the Bush administration

The Bush administration, which was famously fixated on loyalty and message control, has seen a number of damning tell-alls from former insiders. Here are some of those who have criticized Bush after leaving the White House, in chronological order.
John DiIulio: A Democrat who was the first head of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in 2001, he wrote a scathing 2002 letter to journalist Ron Suskind that later ran in Esquire. “In eight months, I heard many, many staff discussions, but not three meaningful, substantive policy discussions,” he wrote. “This gave rise to what you might call Mayberry Machiavellis─staff, senior and junior, who consistently talked and acted as if the height of political sophistication consisted in reducing every issue to its simplest, black-and-white terms for public consumption, then steering legislative initiatives or policy proposals as far right as possible.”

An administration can not work effectively under these circumstances since it causes exactly the same kind of groupthink that preceded the bay of pigs invasion. I think we see this several times under the Bush administration where the administration consistently convinced themselves that the world was working in a way it in reality was not. This is why they carried out the Iraq invasion, tried to do it on a tight budget with Apaches replacing Abrams, did not prepare for the occupation, destroyed diplomatic relations with Russia and failed to prepare for the economic crash.


They just did not have anyone who could question the beliefs of the group. Thus making them commit many serious mistakes without learning. Kennedy learned this after the pay of pigs, Bush never did.

[ivan_the_terrible]

Bushstradamus

Hahah. Yep. I think the man is smarter than he looks or sounds. He has to be...

[MathiasOfAthens]

I think this section clearly explain the major issue with the Bush administration




An administration can not work effectively under these circumstances since it causes exactly the same kind of groupthink that preceded the bay of pigs invasion. I think we see this several times under the Bush administration where the administration consistently convinced themselves that the world was working in a way it in reality was not. This is why they carried out the Iraq invasion, tried to do it on a tight budget with Apaches replacing Abrams, did not prepare for the occupation, destroyed diplomatic relations with Russia and failed to prepare for the economic crash.


They just did not have anyone who could question the beliefs of the group. Thus making them commit many serious mistakes without learning. Kennedy learned this after the pay of pigs, Bush never did.

Beautiful.

[Darth Red]

I may have a different take on George W Bush. I commended his seven years of dedication and service to this great country, but were he lost my confidence with the bailouts. I never was for the bailout and thought that the money should have gone to Americans that would be struggling in this economic downturn.

As It may be painfully obvious already to most, but I thought that Dick Cheney was everything that was correct about the last Presidency and belive he was the real genius behind the scenes. He doesn't seem to get any credit for the work that he has done but gets all the pot shots. My feeling is the George W Bush buckled under pressure with the massive bailouts because he didn't heed the council of his Vice President, as he had done for the seven prior years. As Dick Cheney said about Joe Biden I think it also should apply to Bush as well. "If your worried about the poll numbers your probably in the wrong line of work."

I have found an article in CNN of all places that parallels my feeling on this issue here.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

WASHINGTON (Fortune) -- President Bush's economic legacy is emerging as a central debate point in the 2008 presidential campaign. But it's important to remember that this is also Dick Cheney's legacy - the fact is, the Vice President plays a surprisingly major role in shaping the administration's economic policy.

In the coming months, as the administration struggles with the threat of recession brought on in part by the subprime credit crisis, White House insiders say the staunchly free-market Vice President can be expected to resist any impulse to soften the blow with government action.

"The fact is, the markets work, and they are working," said Cheney in an interview in his White House office. "And people - some of the big companies obviously - have taken risks. Risk means risk. And there's an upside as well as a downside in some of the choices they've made. We have to be careful not to have this set of developments lead us to significantly expand the role of government in ways that may do damage long-term for the economy."

The same goes for Democratic efforts to curb the predatory lending practices that left naive homeowners in trouble, says Cheney: "We don't want to interfere with the basic, fundamental working of the markets."

Those words carry weight on Pennsylvania Avenue. Inside the White House the Vice President's role is both formal and informal.

"I sit in on virtually all the economic policy sessions," Cheney says, including the regular Wednesday luncheon of economic principals. And he stands out as the one economic policy advisor with routine private access to Bush.

As he did with intelligence matters, Cheney has built his own independent network of information gathering, relying on an outside brain trust of economists.

As the 2008 presidential race shifts into high gear, watch for the supply-sider Vice President to robustly defend the twin tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which he played a central role in crafting.
Each of the major Democratic candidates wants to allow much of that tax relief to expire - especially for wealthy Americans.

Cheney opposes any rollback. "This is identical to a big tax increase," Cheney argues. "And it will slow down the economy. We already have a tax system that is very, very progressive. The top 1% [of earners] pay 36% of all the income taxes in the country."
So what is Cheney worried about? Oil. Specifically, the prospect of sabotage aimed at disrupting the oil market.

"Clearly the world depends on a global supply of oil, and that will continue to be true for some considerable period of time. Efforts to shut down the flow of oil could conceivably have a significant impact."

Cheney has done more than worry about it. When President Bush's 2008 budget was coming together, with the goal of balancing the budget in five years, Cheney nevertheless insisted on a $947 million line item: a speedup of the flow of crude into the Texas and Louisiana salt caverns housing the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The budget guys pushed back: Can't we wait until crude prices level off? No, the word came back from Cheney, this was urgent. That was all it took. "He doesn't weigh in on a ton of issues," said a person close to those negotiations. "But when he does . . ."

[MathiasOfAthens]

I would of hoped that you had a problem with Bush's harsh interrogation techniques, Getmo, Wiretaps, Iraq, and most importantly his handling of Katrina.

thought that the money should have gone to Americans that would be struggling in this economic downturn.

Thats Socialism Sir.

[danzig]

I would of hoped that you had a problem with Bush's harsh interrogation techniques, Getmo, Wiretaps, Iraq, and most importantly his handling of Katrina.
Thats Socialism Sir.

Actually it would be capitalism, since the money belongs to americans to begin with...had the bailout money actually ended up/remained in the pockets of citizens then capitalism is working

[MathiasOfAthens]

Well Bush didnt exactly take the money from Americans pockets in the last days of his election, the money came from taxpayers. None of us never even touched the money before in our life, its the money we paid in taxes. But I see where your going here, still have to disagree, theres the risk that certain industry fail creating a bigger problem, loss of jobs that affect other sectors of the economy. The car industry is a great example. The lost of jobs in one city can cause the city to suffer greatly. Anyway his wording on giving the money to americans suffering made me interpret that as individual bailouts like stimilus checks.

[Darth Red]

I would of hoped that you had a problem with Bush's harsh interrogation techniques, Getmo, Wiretaps, Iraq,

No I don't have a problem with The Patriot Act,it is Constitutional, and Barak Obama himself has extended it

The harsh interogation teq. I would accept blows for my position on that but I would like to point ot that it was only 4 people and thier actions proved warrenting harsh interogation, that Nancy Pelosi herself knew was going on. I would like her to explain herself on her positions and what she has to say now that more than one CIA offical has debunked her claim she never knew.

and most importantly his handling of Katrina.

Yes Katrina was an epic fail, I'm with you on that one

Thats Socialism Sir.

True, but I feel that socialism is a total government redistribution and control, and as some have pointed out food stamps, WICK [program for single mothers] and some types of welfare are OK in moderation.

Anyway his wording on giving the money to americans suffering made me interpret that as individual bailouts like stimilus checks.

I also agreed with Danzig's post as well, and I can see where you could have mis-interprited what I said. I wasn't a big fan of the stimilus checks but I guess I could say I would rather have it that give it back to the government.

The Americans suffering could be the ones that were taken advantage of during the housing meltdown. I could see giving some people that were foreclosed on, money they have already invested in thier home minus the interest that the bank would get. The banks in turn could use that to pay back the government and taxpayers. I am no economist so I don't want to give a false impression but I am trying to think of an equal way where everyone gets treated fairly. I feel for people that were taken advantage of by big corperations but I also fault the people themselves for not questioning something that sounded too good to be true.

I did't feel the bailouts did that considering that most of the law makers like Henry Paulsin, Ben Bernake and the rest all had vested interests in that same companies that recieve massive amouts of stimulis. I guess I see that as a confilct of interest. Same with Cheney and Haliburton, I can be fair, even though he may have a good explanation, I can see this also didn't look good in the public's eye either...