‘He’s ticked off big-time’

October 9, 2006

Oddly enough, it appears the president was actually looking forward to October. [tag]Bush[/tag] has never been particularly fond of hard work and pesky presidential responsibilities such as governing, but heading out to campaign events where he can condemn his Democratic rivals in front of pre-screened adoring crowds is the president’s idea of a good time.

He even had his speechwriters come up with some new, over-the-top rhetoric, including the classy refrain that Bush believes Democrats want to wait until we’re attacked again before doing anything about the terrorist threat.

Of course, October isn’t quite working out as the [tag]president[/tag] planned (North Korea, Foley, NIE, Abramoff, etc.). How’s Bush holding up? According to the New York Daily News’ Thomas DeFrank, who enjoys top-notch White House sources, “Bush’s private mood has blackened.”

[F]riends, aides and close political allies tell the Daily News Bush is furious with his own side for helping create a political downdraft that has blunted his momentum and endangered GOP prospects for keeping control of Congress next month.

Some of his anger is directed at former aides who helped Watergate journalist Bob Woodward paint a lurid portrait of a dysfunctional, chaotic administration in his new book, “State of Denial.”

In the obsessively private Bush clan, talking out of school is the ultimate act of disloyalty, and Bush feels betrayed from within.

“He’s ticked off big-time,” said a well-informed source, “even if what they said was the truth.”

I can understand nearly all of this, particularly Bush’s realization that a Democratic Congress would mean two years of vetoes, but congressional Republicans “blunted his momentum”? When did Bush have momentum?

The president’s approval ratings have been reeling lately, falling to just 33% — an all-time low — in a Newsweek poll released over the weekend. That’s not because of Foley; it’s because the electorate has little use for the president’s failed agenda, particularly in Iraq.

I don’t doubt the Foley fiasco has had a serious impact on the political landscape, but if Bush is looking for someone to blame for his problems, shouldn’t he be looking inward?

“f Bush is looking for someone to blame for his problems, shouldn’t he be looking inward?”

Dream on!

  • I don’t doubt the Foley fiasco has had a serious impact on the political landscape,…

    You really think so? Given that GOP congressional leaders are in hiding rather than out hitting people up for money or spreading their “message” on the talk shows–and with the stakes being so high on this election–I’d say that the Foley scandal has had probably the biggest impact of any Republican scandal so far. They’ve had to get defensive and are in effect playing with a good part of an arm tied behind their back because of Foley.

  • “…congressional Republicans “blunted his momentum”? When did Bush have momentum?” – CB

    That would be after 9/11/06 when his speechs got him from 39% to 42% in the polls and all the topic of discussion was the War on Terror (God, I hate that title!).

    Of course, the fact is that the Bushites are blowing the War on Terror. They did nothing about al Qaeda before 9/11/01 and they punted the war against the Taliban and search for Osama bin Laden because they wanted a war with Iraq. Now more Americans have been maimed by the Iraq War than were wounded by 9/11/01 and soon more Americans will have died in the Iraq war than were lost in 9/11/01.

    And Port Security? Funding to Omaha rather than New York City (and I was born in Omaha and consider that a crime)? Torturing false plots out of secretly held prisoners?

    Letting the bin Laden family members fly out of America unquestioned?

    Attack the Republican’ts strength. Go after the public perception that they are stronger on Terrorism. Let all their other failures recede to the back of the public’s awareness and demolish their last stronghold with a litiny of their failures. That is the surest way to win both houses of Congress.

  • ‘He’s ticked off big-time’…”Bush’s private mood has blackened.”

    HA-ha! *in a Nelson Muntz voice*

    sorry, after all the anxiety ruining my health over the past five years, i’ll take my Schadenfreude wherever i can these days.

    ps, Death of a Prez is on tonight here. 🙂

  • The problem with bad policies is that they eventually result in bad outcomes.

    Bad outcomes can hurt you politically.

    I wonder if Karl Rove ever mentioned that to the President.

    I thought that Bush’s plan for the election was to ratchet up the rhetoric on Iran, while simulatneously holding trials for leading terror suspects. This way he could be sure that people were talking about topics that help Republicans.

    Instead the agenda has been hijacked by a horny congressman and a depraved dictator.

    Isn’t this where a rich Bush family friend comes in and solves all the problems by buying up everything in sight.

  • Republicans TV operatives are trying to “scare” people by saying John Conyers wants to impeach Bush, so vote Republican.

    I say, even if you like the moderate Republican congressman in your district, vote Democrat JUST TO SEE Conyers as Judiciary Committee chairman and an impeachment.

  • Two telling snippets from the artice:

    1) In the obsessively private Bush clan, talking out of school is the ultimate act of disloyalty, and Bush feels betrayed from within.

    “He’s ticked off big-time,” said a well-informed source, “even if what they said was the truth.”

    (and if you click through to the articel you will find this one)

    2) “For all the misery, Bush remains defiantly resolute. He will campaign relentlessly in the next month and has told friends he’s determined to prove his Democratic and media enemies wrong on Election Day.”

    This is just more of the same from Bush. Can never admit mistakes – its the Republican Congress’s fault this time. And will fight at the drop of hat – even when he admits that the other side (his emenies) is telling the truth.

    The Republican era of “Personal Responsibility” is a sad joke.

  • …but if Bush is looking for someone to blame for his problems, shouldn’t he be looking inward?

    Addicts have a curious form of tunnel vision that prevents them from looking in that particular direction. Everything is going wrong and because he can’t make a connection between his actions and the results they bring, it must be someone else’s fault. He perceives himself as infalliable and that idea has been reinforced for five years. Remember his Mandate?

    Now it is becoming abundantly, undeniably, constantly clear that he is the biggest putz to ever disappoint the world by failing to choke on a pretzel and talking about terra doesn’t help and things are happening that he doesn’t want to happen and why are people saying such mean things about me? Waaaaah!

    I will say this now and people can point and laugh (even in a Nelson Muntz voice) if I’m wrong. If he appears in public over the next few weeks, you will see some very odd behavior from the Crowned Monkey. Odd even for the Crowned Monkey. Look for plenty of open mike bloopers.

  • yeah, another telling quote from the story:

    …a longtime political confidant of the President reported early this month. “He’s got the microphone and thinks he’s controlling the political debate.”

    gw probably thinks he’s doing a lot of things.

  • How much more black could this be? and the answer is ‘None. None…more black’

  • Maybe the administration can get some mileage from the new story du jour. The only thing CNN is covering thhis morning is North Korea, despite new developments over the weekend in the Foley and Abramoff scandals.

    When did the media start developing such hyper-focus on one issue at a time? O.J.? 9/11? I took a media class back in 1989, where all we did was watch CNN for the entire class period and then keep a diary of what we saw. At the time, CNN easily mentioned 30-40 stories each half-hour, some with 1-2 minute segments, most with 10-second blurbs. It was difficult to keep up they switched stories so often.

    Now, it seems they pick a subject each morning and devote 90% of their time to it, regardless of how critical or trivial the daily topic is. It’s maddening to watch. Is it really that difficult to cover more than one issue when you have 24 hours a day of programming to fill?

  • NeilS: Bad outcomes can hurt you politically.

    I wonder if Karl Rove ever mentioned that to the President.

    why would he bother? he already knows that all the preznit has to do is stand on his Optimistic Rug screaming ‘la la laaah! i can’t heeear youuuuu!’

    the answer is orange: Look for plenty of open mike bloopers.

    y’mean more of his usual or like when he doesn’t know it’s on?

  • Beware the petulant child.

    He is dangerous…

    Wasn’t there a Star Trek episode that threated that?
    Or was it Outer Limits?

    Comment by koreyel — 10/9/2006 @ 12:09 pm

    [geek]Actually, there were at least two – Charlie X and the Squire of Gothos[/geek] – and both of the main characters were quite a bit more mature than the Chimperor.

    I will say this now and people can point and laugh (even in a Nelson Muntz voice) if I’m wrong. If he appears in public over the next few weeks, you will see some very odd behavior from the Crowned Monkey. Odd even for the Crowned Monkey. Look for plenty of open mike bloopers.

    Comment by The answer is orange — 10/9/2006 @ 11:57 am

    I would look for plenty of coverups of those open mike bloopers by the Republican’t media. Like to see ’em publicized, but I can’t feel confident that I will…

  • Is it just me, or is Bush doing a lot less campaigning for Republican candidates than he did in 2002? Someone should compare his travel schedule then to his travel schedule now.

  • As always, Bush sees his first responsibility to the Republican Party and somewhere after that–who knows exactly where–to the American people.

    I still don’t think impeachment of a lame-duck president makes political sense, but I love the thought of him utterly impotent for his final two years, with ever more of his awful processes and corruptions exposed.

  • “[Bush] has told friends he’s determined to prove his Democratic and media enemies wrong on Election Day.”

    How exactly is winning congressional seats in a Midterm election going to prove anything about Boy George II being right or wrong? Isn’t the fact that Osama is not dead but thousands more Americans are proof enough that Boy George II is wrong?

    Tom beat me to the Squire of Gothos cite. Ah, Trelaine, what a fellow. Though I think the morale of the story more about parental inattention. “What, my son shot your cat with the bb gun I gave him? I’ll have to talk to him about that.”

    When is GHWB going to talk to his son about engulfing the middle east in war and breaking the U.S. military too?

  • As usual the failed policy and indefensable positions, that are defenced so tenaciously, are not the problem. The problem is that someone told Woodward. Let’s think about where we have seen this before:
    Foley
    NIE
    Plame
    Wire tapping
    ?????

    The only thing that seems to fire George up is a breach in the circle of trust. It is a telling fact about what is important to W. Personal loyalty is above all, America be damned.

  • Momentum? I think he meant to say Joementum, which is like momentum, but in reverse.

    Bush has made his bed and has to lie in. Too bed Mark Foley’s also lying in it with a former page.

  • @16 [Pontifex]

    I don’t think its just you. Shrub isn’t just a lame duck, he’s a concrete albatross to his party. A lot of people who want a political career after he gets out of office (assuming he doesn’t abolish term limits…) now see him as a huge liability.

    If the GOP is a grade school BushBaby is fast becoming the kid who smells like cabbage and always has boogies in his nose. If the GOP is a party Shrubby is the guy who has pissed himself and doesn’t know it.

  • And of course Bush being Bush, would never think to look in the mirror or down the hall to the VP for some of his problems.

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