Iraq and Ailing Economy Leave Bush* Aides on Edge

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 — When George W. Bush addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday as the unapologetic commander in chief, administration officials acknowledge, behind the proud words will be a president in a less potent political position than a year ago because of setbacks in Iraq and the loss of jobs at home.

People close to the president say that as the 2004 campaign approaches, the mood at the White House is not one of panic, but that Mr. Bush is worried and his top officials are on edge, particularly about the nearly three million jobs lost since Mr. Bush became president and about the so-far jobless recovery.

At the same time, Bush advisers acknowledge a high level of anxiety among House Republicans over what they perceive as the White House's inability to communicate its policies on Iraq effectively.

The problems have led to a new sense of urgency at the White House, Republicans say, with much riding on the president's speech to the General Assembly. In words written as much for a domestic audience as for an international one, Mr. Bush is expected to make limited concessions giving the United Nations more control in Baghdad, as the allies would like. But he will keep real authority in American hands.

(snip)

But unofficially, some administration officials say they are experiencing the unpleasant sensation of not feeling in control of events. "I think there is a sense of being under assault and not being able to reclaim the upper hand in a way that seemed so effortless in the past," said one Bush adviser.

more…
http://nytimes.com/2003/09/23/politics/23BUSH.html

[Fovea]

1. Oh, dear, the poor things.

"I think there is a sense of being under assault and not being able to reclaim the upper hand in a way that seemed so effortless in the past," said one Bush adviser.


Only one thing to do...
Kick them again in the head.

Makes me think of Malcolm McDowell imitating Gene Kelly.
"What a glorious feeling..."

[ninkasi]

2. So with so much riding on this speech...

Smirky is still determined to go in with a condescending, arrogant attitude. Americans have indicated a preference for U.N. intervention, and he's going in with an attitude like that...not very smart.

[candy331]

4. Pride and arrogance

along with presumptiouness go hand and with a crash. I'd say he's got all the ingredients.

[Nevernose]

3. This one got me giggling

"At the same time, Bush advisers acknowledge a high level of anxiety among House Republicans over what they perceive as the White House's inability to communicate its policies on Iraq effectively."

Their only problem is the fact that they keep changing the policy one step ahead of impeachment -- they're having problems coordinating all the lies!

[FauxNewsBlues]

5. Chimpeachment

It's for his own good. Their problem is that their explanations are "no longer operable." They can't sustain their lies any more, so they are going to try new ones.

[Yavin4]

7. How Does One Communicate "Quagmire" Effectively?

Or ass-backward plan? Or "up shyte creek without a paddle"?

[Gman]

6. They're scared

and I, for one, am starting to love and savor every single minute of their political agony. They see a huge catastrophic train wreck about to happen and they can't do a damn thing about it.

[Melsky]

8. What a bunch of whining losers

The right loves to talk about the sense of "entitlement" when people want crazy things like living wage jobs and healthcare. It's privileged people like the bushies who think everything has to go their way all the time that have the biggest sense of entitlement of anyone. When it doesn't go exactly their way, they can't deal with it and fall apart. These people couldn't run a medium sized corporation and they are in charge of one of the most important countries on earth.

[sendero]

20. well said...

... the "entitlement" expectations of the rank and file pale in comparison to those held by the privileged, after all they've gotten everything they want all their life. And they are damn sure they are entitled to it and earned it, it never occurs to many of them that they didn't hit a triple - they were born on third base.

It is a pathetic display of the pathology of human behavior.

[Paschall]

9. "As the 2004 campaign approaches...

...Mr. Bush is worried and his top officials are on edge, particularly about the nearly three million jobs lost since Mr. Bush became president..."

Job losses are now a worry because the campaign's just around the corner. Odd, three million jobless Americans have been a negligible quantity for the past 33 months.

Too little, too late, again, Chimpster! By the way, who did you think pays your salary?

[Avalon Sparks]

10. There's more than...

There's more than 3 million jobs lost, didn't they stop tracking layoffs or something last Jan? Everyday I see more headlines for companies laying off people in large numbers... it seems like it's been "3 million" for months now.

[wabeewoman]

11. Ah the sweet smell of reality

snip "some Republicans say the White House is more worried than it lets on about the ability of Howard Dean to energize the Democrats."
You just knew it when Karl Rove said he was supporting Dean. It may not be nice but I am going to relish every moment of their fall..no, every second.

[Mackay]

12. They are as afraid of Dean as they are of Clark

A lot of people are going to turn out en masse to vote these bastards out of office no matter who the Dems put in the field. This is an election where a lot of people are going to be voting (or not voting) against Bush.

My only regret is that Bush and Co have an entire year to pillage... and shred all the evidence which should put them in jail once this fiasco is over.

[WilliamPitt]

13. On edge? ON EDGE???

Christ.

[Skittles]

22. yes

imagine how the soldiers feel, how the people in Iraq feel.

[dusty64]

14. They have every reason

to be scared. I may enjoy this campaign afterall, if only there wasn't the issue of the riggable electronic "voting" machines.

[GCP]

15. Bizarro World yet again

William Kristol, a conservative publisher with close ties to the administration, said that White House officials understood they had made mistakes, and that they had switched tactics.

"Until about two weeks ago they believed their own propaganda that all was well in Iraq and at home," Mr. Kristol said. "But reality has set in, and they're hard-headed in dealing with the problems they face."

Erhem, excuse me, Mr. Kristol, but weren't you one of the chief propagandists about this fuckin' war in the first place?

Talk about rats leaving sinking ships.

[WilliamPitt]

18. "they believed their own propaganda"

BECAUSE YOU FUCKING WROTE IT, BILL.

[NNN0LHI]

16. I bet it ain't doning much good for the Republican congresscritters either

Especially the ones up for election next year.

Don

[DrBB]

17. Reality has a way of kicking ideology in the ass

...and when that happens, these guys ALWAYS go with ideology. The policy's not working? Then we're not doing ENOUGH of it! Standard response to everything.

"I think there is a sense of being under assault and not being able to reclaim the upper hand in a way that seemed so effortless in the past," said one Bush adviser.

"Gosh, this is all so mysterious. One minute you're Master of the Universe, the next, things just get all 'unpleasant' and you aren't controlling events anymore. We followed the ideology, so what could possibly be wrong? We musta nota done ENOUGH of it, that's it!"

Same logic used by Stalinists everywhere, left and right.

I think the country wanted strength after 9/11, and mistook the unleashing of ideological zealotry for it. But the mask is slipping now. I think the Dem has to come across as a can-do pragmatist, who can throw the extremism of the NeoConGOP into high relief. We need stuff that WORKS, not high-flying adventures and using the Middle East as a Frankenstein's laboratory for PNAC experiments.

[priller]

21. It was effortless in the past

because it was all bluster and dreams and confident assertions and pie-in-the-sky idealism.

But, as you said, reality has struck, and it turns out that the real world isn't nearly as neat and tidy as the black & white fantasy world of their dreams. But so far their reaction has been to insist that their fantasy world is really the way it is, they just need better PR to communicate their vision better.

[teryang]

19. Lebanon, Israel/Palestine all over again

Any low ranking intelligence analyst straight out of college could have told them what the likely outcome of unjustified Anglo-American invasion in Iraq was before it started: interminable guerilla war.

Pretending this is some kind of surprise is part of the Orwellian propaganda spin that never ends.

When you buy the Israeli version of foreign policy and "national security" for the US that is what you get.

[cliss]

23. It's pretty hard to hide 3 million jobs lost

unless they're lying about that one, too. Let's see, how do you "PR" the fact that there are 3 million unemployed people?

It's kinda tough to do.

Bottom line: they never were in control of anything. They just deluded themselves into believing that. Lots of PR went into reinforcing that "illusion" so the rest of us would believe it, too.