SECTION FIVE
sm
COLUMN
106,
JUNE 1, 2004
(Copyright © 2004 The Blacklisted Journalist)
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_4636.shtml
BUSH BEHAVIOR WORRIES SOME WHITE HOUSE AIDES
By DOUG THOMPSON
Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue
President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing
concern over their leader's state of mind.
In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from
quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, against Democrats
and against others that he classifies as "enemies of the state."
Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer
trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.
"It reminds me of the Nixon days," says a longtime GOP political consultant with
contacts in the White House. "Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That's the mood over there."
In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off
the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions
Bush says
his decisions are
'God's will'
to be "God's will" and then tells aides to "fuck over"
anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.
"We're at war, there's no doubt about it. What I don't know anymore is just who the enemy might be," says one troubled White House aide. "We seem to spend
more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing."
Aides say the President gets "hung up on minor details," micromanaging to the extreme while ignoring the bigger picture. He will spend hours personally
reviewing and approving every attack ad against his Democratic opponent and then kiss off a meeting on economic issues.
"This is what is killing us on Iraq," one aide says. "We lost focus. The President
got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda. We could have found other justifiable reasons for the war but the
President insisted the focus stay on those two, tenuous items."
Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves shut out of access to the President or other top advisors. Among top officials, Bush's inner circle is
shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his
growing doubts about the administration's war against Iraq.
The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Director George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works.
"Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a
change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off
by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I
want it now."
Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked staff of
the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually described the decision as "God's will."
God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administration's lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens
freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing
staffers call Bush and Ashcroft "the Blues Brothers" because "they're on a mission
from God."
"The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion," says one
aide. "They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God."
But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them "fucking assholes" in front of other
staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him "unpatriotic" or "anti-American."
"The mood here is that we're under siege, there's no doubt about it," says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. "In this
administration, you don't have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of
the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President."
The White House did not respond to requests for comment. ##
FOR
AS LONG AS PEOPLE KEEP
IN THIS 615-PAGE PAPERBACK, AL ARONOWITZ, ACCLAIMED AS THE "GODFATHER OF ROCK JOURNALISM", TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT BOB DYLAN AND THE BEATLES THAN ANY OTHER WRITER CAN TELL YOU BECAUSE NO OTHER WRITER WAS THERE AT THE TIME. AS THE MAN WHO INTRODUCED ALLEN GINSBERG TO BOB DYLAN, BOB DYLAN TO THE BEATLES AND THE BEATLES TO MARIJUANA, ARONOWITZ BOASTS, "THE '60S WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT ME."
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX OF COLUMN 106
CLICK HERE TO GET TO INDEX
OF COLUMNS
The
Blacklisted Journalist can be contacted at P.O.Box 964, Elizabeth, NJ 07208-0964
The Blacklisted Journalist's E-Mail Address:
info@blacklistedjournalist.com
THE BLACKLISTED JOURNALIST IS A SERVICE MARK OF AL ARONOWITZ