Who Knows Bush's Mind Best? (Time)

[Canuckistanian]

Who Knows Bush's Mind Best?

No, it's not Karl Rove. It's a 26-year-old whiz with no college degree

By MIKE ALLEN
The only words he ever says in public are, "This is the official two-minute warning for the press. Two minutes." He delivers them with effortless authority to vast crowds after placing President George W. Bush's note cards or speech text on the podium just so. His declarations sometimes cause networks to go live.

Blake Gottesman, a 26-year-old Texan who met the President when he was dating Bush's daughter Jenna in high school, has the title of personal aide to the President. It's a job that traditionally meant being "body guy" to the chief, the young aide who carries the souvenirs and dispenses the Purell. But Bush is uniquely sensitive about his personal ecology, and Gottesman has blossomed into a systems analyst, gatekeeper and diplomat who serves as the membrane between the President and the rest of the staff.

~snip

"If the aide looks nervous, the President will think there's something to be nervous about," Gottesman, who is intensely private even for a Bushie, tells TIME in a rare interview. "So you look calm even when everything is going wrong."

~snip

The President sometimes barks at him just because he's there and can take it. At Bush's ranch, Gottesman, who makes $95,000 a year, sleeps in the senior-staff trailer, where he gets teased for his array of hair- and skin-care products in the shared bathroom.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1202932,00.html
The article doesn't mention it, but Shrub's occasional name for him is "Peanut"

[SteppingRazor]

1. I love how the answer to this question is always someone other than Bush!

:rofl:
Because it goes without saying that Bush doesn't do any of his own thinking.

[Canuckistanian]

2. The second para. makes him sound like an idiot

Shrub's so clueless, he doesn't even know if he SHOULD be scared in any situation. So, if Blake shits his pants, Shrub will, too.

:rofl:

[SteppingRazor]

4. Yeah, I loved that bit...

it's like Bush is some 5-year-old who starts to cry if his parents -- in this case, a 26-year-old kid -- look nervous

[flordehinojos]

3. does he even have a mind to think with?

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Excellent point. The man is a totally empty vessel. That is why PNAC

chose him for this job.

:thumbsup:

[BrklynLiberal]

6. Frankly, it sounds like a very strange relationship.