As with most days, I read the most recent online edition of the WaPo. One of the lead stories was titled, "Two Advisers Reflect on Eight Years With Bush", which can be found here.
It is actually very amusing, as even the WaPo synopsis had to say
Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and national security adviser Stephen Hadley express frustration over inability to improve the president's popularity.
I think the subtitle, "Bolten and Hadley Decry 'Mythologies' " says a great deal, in and of itself.
The first thing to come to mind was, what the hell is this recent and sudden concern with the president’s popularity? And then I thought, oh yes, it is all spin to bolster his legacy from topping the ‘worst president ever’ list!
For amusement, you really should read the article, but I will share burden you with a few of my other thoughts, if you don’t mind reading on a bit.
White House Chief of Staff, John Bolton recalls, in the article, how the president got daily casualty figures from Iraq and Afghanistan each day at 7 a.m. as an illustration that the president was always on top of things, cognizant of events. He topped it off with
This notion that somehow the president didn't know what was going on, information was withheld from him in some way, he didn't have a picture of what was going on: He got that picture.
Well, I am somewhat colorblind, and I can see the ‘picture’, but if I do not see the particular color combinations properly, the ‘picture’ means nothing to me. Enough said, I think.
Then, there is this:
As two of the top officials who have had to defend controversial administration policies for the duration of the Bush presidency, they voiced frustration over their inability to improve Bush's popularity and to counter the administration's image of arrogance.
Frustration? Could it have something to do with the unpopular (and in some cases, anti-American) policies they supported, forced foisted upon the nation, championed? The misrepresentations, the spin, the outright lies to the public? Arrogance... how, possibly, could such a misperception take hold? Could it be because they, Bolton and Hadley and others, through the policies they supported, and the president thumbed their noses at the electorate, essentially said F.U., and behaved in an arrogant and aloof fashion? (Surely, that could all have nothing to do with the Bush/Bushco image, could it?)
Another gem...
...the two men also rebutted what they consider common misconceptions of the George W. Bush era, such as the president's alleged insulation from bad news and the view that Vice President Cheney wielded unbridled behind-the-scenes power.
Does this mean that GWB, personally, pulled the chains for ‘enhanced interrogations’ and domestic spying without warrants?
Just to cement the proper relationship of people and things,
"He's a good decision-maker," Bolten said. "If it's important enough to be a presidential issue, we ought to expose the president to more information and more views, and we ought to let him decide."
There you have it, from the horse’s ass mouth. GWB really IS the decider!
As to the most current events (the financial meltdown).
"If we had gotten control of Fannie and Freddie substantially earlier than we did, I think the problem could have been substantially mitigated. I don't think it would have prevented it," Bolten said, referring to the meltdown of the housing market. Other than that, he adds, "maybe there's stuff you would go back and do differently in this administration, but I don't know what that is today."
There you have it, the wisdom of a completely partisan chief of staff... who also happens to be an expert on matters economic and financial (in case no one had noticed).
Bolton and Hadley are a pair, indeed! They try to add polish to the turd rotten apple that is this administration, and they try to polish their own images, as well. If you haven’t, please read the entire article... it is not long... and be prepared to chuckle uncontrollably for hours.
Cheers to all:)
P.S. - Amazing how all of the little 'Bushies' are suddenly coming out of the woodwork with interviews, trying to spin and rewrite history, all for a 'legacy' that is already set in stone!