NYT Editorial: President Bush's Walkabout

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/08/opinion/08tue1.html?hp

After President Bush's disastrous visit to Latin America, it's unnerving to realize that his presidency still has more than three years to run. An administration with no agenda and no competence would be hard enough to live with on the domestic front. But the rest of the world simply can't afford an American government this bad for that long.

In Argentina, Mr. Bush, who prides himself on his ability to relate to world leaders face to face, could barely summon the energy to chat with the 33 other leaders there, almost all of whom would be considered friendly to the United States under normal circumstances. He and his delegation failed to get even a minimally face-saving outcome at the collapsed trade talks and allowed a loudmouthed opportunist like the president of Venezuela to steal the show.

It's amazing to remember that when Mr. Bush first ran for president, he bragged about his understanding of Latin America, his ability to speak Spanish and his friendship with Mexico. But he also made fun of Al Gore for believing that nation-building was a job for the United States military.

The White House is in an uproar over the future of Karl Rove, the president's political adviser, and spinning off rumors that some top cabinet members may be asked to walk the plank. Mr. Bush could certainly afford to replace some of his top advisers. But the central problem is not Karl Rove or Treasury Secretary John Snow or even Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary. It is President Bush himself.

[Cha]

1. "Loudmouth opportunist"?

What's so opportunist about Chavez? And even at that ..is that not better than a sniveling mass murderer?

[GliderGuider]

11. I have no problem with that characterization

I just happen to agree totally with the things he speaks loudly about and the opportunities he seizes.

[Cha]

14. Ya got me there! I'm used

to taking "opportunist" as negative but as you so succinctly pointed out, it doesn't have to be.

[stumblnrose]

2. New Journalism Prize for The Times

The Aw Shucks We May Have Disseminated False Info To Start A War But Now We've Got Stones Award

[stilpist]

3. Funny editorial.

They write about former Governor Bush* as if he were a regular human being and as if he were a real president.

Silly editorial writers.

[Pirate Smile]

4. Funny but scary at the same time. It is scary to think this idiot is

supposed to be President for three more years.

Like the inaugural parade sign said in Fahrenheit 9/11 - "LORD HELP US".

[Marlie]

5. Maybe

This is the beginning of the end. Impeachment sure has been
tossed about lately. Three more years is a hideous thought.

[Diane R]

6. Amazing...

The allowed their front pages to be used as propaganda for the administration. They surpressed the story about the wire up his back during the debates. Then, helped their reporter stonewall the Fitzgerald investigation, preventing the findings from being announced before the 2004 election. Now they claim to be 'unnerved' that he has three more years left in his term?

[Cassandra]

8. I think this is Gail Collins' personal commentary

She's a pretty sensible person. I like this part:
"The place to begin is with Dick Cheney, the dark force behind many of the administration's most disastrous policies, like the Iraq invasion and the stubborn resistance to energy conservation. Right now, the vice president is devoting himself to beating back Congressional legislation that would prohibit the torture of prisoners. This is truly a remarkable set of priorities: his former chief aide was indicted, Mr. Cheney's back is against the wall, and he's declared war on the Geneva Conventions."

[enough]

7. kick

[Catfight]

9. Bush broke America, he can FIX it. nt

[3waygeek]

15. By resigning n/t

[indepat]

10. It's unnerving the NYT has shilled for this Administration's obscenities

[yellowcanine]

12. "the central problem is not Karl Rove... It is President Bush himself."

[ProSense]

13. Clear, succinct...

but how many commentaries like this have to be written before Bush is removed from office?

And yet another:

BLOG | Posted 11/07/2005 @ 1:53pm
¿Cómo Se Dice 'Spin'?

George Bush had a tough time of it last weekend in Argentina.

Mass demonstrations of opposition to the President's trade and economic policies greeted his every move. And even inside the cloistered gathering rooms of luxury hotel where the the Summit of the Americas was convened, Bush was the odd man out. Leaders of Latin American countries, many of them elected because of their explicit opposition to the American President's approach, made it clear that Bush will have a hard time establishing a hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americans that his campaign contributors so desperately seek.

It wasn't supposed to be this way...


Unfortunately, four years into the Bush presidency, it is now clear that the suggestion that Bush would seek to understand and work with Latin America--perhaps even in the language of many of the region's countries--was merely another example of Karl Rove's campaign spin.

When he does not have a script in front of him, Bush can barely mumble a restaurant order in Spanish. And his mastery of the intricacies of the western hemisphere is even less impressive.

more here:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=34106

[fencesitter]

16. But the president as policymaker and leader is not George Bush

It's Rove and Cheyney and the rest of the crew that installed him. W/o his handlers, he's just a shell. With those guys gone, he can't operate more than his basic bodily functions.

[Matilda]

17. My thoughts too.

"Mr Bush would still have to turn his administration around, but it
would at least send a signal to the nation and the world that he
was in charge ...."

Don't they realise that taking charge is one thing he's not capable
of doing?