I have been reading State of Denial and let me tell you

[boston bean]

that I thought I knew how incompetent these "leaders" were.

But they have really outdone themselves. They planned for nothing, absolutely nothing.

Rumsfeld wouldn't let the State Department do shit. They were completely locked out.

The military had to have yes men that reported to Rumsfeld first, not the President, which is reverse of what it should be by law.

The President was so uninquisitive, all people who Woodward interviewed said they would have expected more questions, but they got none. It appears the President only relied on Rumsfeld and Condi. There was absolutely no room or tolerance for differing views.

It really is very chilling how utterly incompetent these people were, are.

[cynatnite]

1. I'm starting on that after I finish 'Conservatives without Conscience'

:)

[Dem2theMax]

2. Incompetent on purpose maybe?

Who needs a plan when you don't want to leave Iraq?
Leaving Iraq means losing money. * and his cabal love money. They hate peace.

[ginnyinWI]

36. he's never had to be really responsible for his actions

He doesn't ask questions, because he figures if he screws up, somebody will come and cover for him--like has happened all of his life. And he's right--they do cover for him over and over and over.

So we've got a president who, if he doesn't think he's omnipotent, at least he feels that he can just say what's true and what's not true, and all of the stars will align for him--because people working under him will simply agree with whatever he says is true--reality be damned.

[sufrommich]

3. Bush isn't smart

enough to be inquisitive,I think it's really that simple.Can't wait to read the book.

[suziedemocrat]

34. Which is why he has 33% who will always like him.

The same 33% who were threatened by Clinton's intelligence. Seriously, I think some people like Bush BECAUSE he is not smart.

[Greeby]

4. Ever considered that maybe it's not incompetence?

THat maybe they're a bunch of evil bastards who wanted it this way so they and their buddies can get richer :think:

[elehhhhna]

7. Great fortunes are stolen under cover of chaos. Their PLAN is working

beautifully. They are exactly what we used to think the mafia was. EXACTLY.

[boston bean]

15. This is probably true. Bush and Cheney wanted it that way. That

is what I get from the book anyhow.

They didn't want any differing opinions. Basically let the psychopath
Rumsfeld run everything. And Dough Feith was a real help. Tenet thought he was a spy for another gov't agency I forget the exact word Powell used, but he had no use for him.

[Ian David]

14. His buddies getting richer is the "rational" cover for his real agenda...

to intentionally destroy the world for Jee-zuss.

[blm]

27. perpetual chaos for perpetual war for perpetual PROFITS and

a sickass form of population control.

[napi21]

5. It's good to hear someone is confirming what lots of us believed

since the idiot son was given power!!!!

I can only hopemany voters will get to know this too!

[Monkeyman]

6. We got the Foley story now get this out this week

[eleny]

8. They didn't even RTFM!

[boston bean]

11. whats rtfm mean. sorry I don't know. thanks. nt

[eleny]

13. "read the f*****g manual"

old computer technician joke.

[boston bean]

16. you're right they didn't. Thanks!! nt

[MnFats]

9. taken in total, all the material that has come out,,,,Paul O'Neil,

who was an ally, all the others, show that this was an administration that expected to just skate through the presidency. They had no idea what they were getting into, and no idea how to adjust once their half-baked schemes went awry.now well above 2,600 Americans and untold thousands of Iraqis have paid for all this with their blood....Bush has not even lost any sleep....
IN sum...."worst president ever" is true.

[Amonester]

32. Add more than a thousand more... (Katrina)

The pretzeldentorturer is "so uninquisitive, all people who Woodward interviewed said they would have expected more questions, but they got none." (OP).

Remember the video session ** got before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast States? The arrogant smirk didn't ask a single question before he jumped out to go eat cake and play guitar at parties, while grandys drowned in their bed on second floor alone, totally abandoned to suffocate... :cry: :grr:

Remember New Orleans

[Vexatious Ape]

10. Yes

I was reading the excerpt in Newsweek--stunning. Not just the lack of planning, and the bone in the nose idiocy of bush on display, but the arrogance that dribbles out of Rummy's vile mouth will make your head spin. I truly believe that Rummy is a sociopath.

[Ian David]

12. They're not incompetent. They're deliberately "failing"

Do a google-search on "Immanentize the eschaton"

See also:

Michael Ortiz Hill: George Bush's Messianic Complex
George W. Bush is certainly the plaything of such forces as the geopolitics of oil but it seems that he is susceptible to other even darker archetypal ...
http://www.counterpunch.org/hill01042003.html


Bush is The Antichrist as played by Detective Colombo.

[boston bean]

18. I will say that while reading the book, what you say did cross my mind. nt

[sufrommich]

Bush is no more religious

than he is a Texas good ol' boy.He's a spoiled little c average frat boy with an overblown sense of entitlement.How much more proof does anyone need beyond this last week that they are playing caricatures designed to appeal to their base.It's all bunk,and he and his comrades know it.(edit to reply to post #12)

[Ksec]

17. Bushs history of destroying companies he was involved with

just continued, only now its the country hes destroying.

[Kali]

28. and not just THIS country that he is destroying!

[spooked]

19. I love the part about Rumsfeld's "snowflakes"

--little white memos that fluttered down all over the pentagon to be answered within 24 hours.

And they thought Carter micromanaged?!

[boston bean]

21. Yeah the snowflakes, he wanted complete control of absolutely

everything.

No one was to know something he didn't.

He is very scary.

[tanyev]

23. I had a boss like that.

He didn't send out snowflakes, but we never had enough time to do the work we should have been doing because we were constantly tracking ourselves and justifying our decisions to him and he came up with new forms and paperwork every week so that he could keep a "better handle on things". He supervised 7 people. Maybe if he'd spent less time on the phone every with his stockbroker and schmoozing his superiors he would have had that better handle on things.

Guess which party he always voted for?

[Blue_In_AK]

20. I was going to buy that book today

but Barnes & Noble was all sold out. The clerk said they flew out the door before they even hit the shelf. :evilgrin:

So instead I bought "Hubris" and "Fiasco," which I'm sure will be enlightening. I'm on the list for the next shipment of Woodward's book.

[Danascot]

33. Support Keith and buy his book

The Worst Person in the World: And 202 Strong Contenders

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2337639

Nightly on MSNBC, the controversial and outspoken Keith Olbermann counts down the day's top stories with satire and style on his show Countdown with Keith Olbermann. One feature of this increasingly popular newscast is his daily award for "The Worst Person in the World," which is bestowed upon the careless, the clueless, and the just plain cruel.

Now, Olbermann brings these legendary offenders together in The Worst Person in the World: And 202 Strong Contenders. Awarding bronze, silver, and gold medals, Olbermann offers a brash appraisal of humanity at its lowest—politically, socially, and morally.

From Amber Frey to Ann Coulter, from Donald Rumsfeld to the FOX News Channel, from sports figures to schoolteachers to stupid criminals, no one eludes Olbermann's gimlet eye. Winners include:

22-year-old Ronald MacDonald, who was accused of theft at his place of employment . . . Wendy's
Mario Edney, the bus driver who literally threw a woman under the bus when she complained he bypassed her stop
U. S. Olympic skier Bode Miller, who revealed that he has often competed while drunk—and that he may do so again
Rush Limbaugh, who, among other things, admitted to taking some pleasure in the kidnappings in Iraq "because I'm eager for people to see reality"
FEMA, for sending planes full of injured Hurricane Katrina evacuees to West Virginia when they were supposed to meet medical teams in South Carolina—not once, but twice
As the recipient of a bumper crop of medals, Bill O'Reilly receives special attention. Olbermann offers readers a handy "O'Reilly Code" of key terms to aid in the understanding of "this generation's Joe McCarthy."

Olbermann also explains his methodology for choosing these unlucky winners, presents new honorary "Worsts," and in the end names one person "Worst in Show."

[mrdmk]

43. Try Costco

Its $16.95 there!

[wakeme2008]

22. If you have not read Richard Clarke's book (just added a Nom :)

add it to your list. I have hated Condi since I have read that and will probably hate her more after S of D.

edited to add

If you have not seen PBS The Man who Knew on John O'Neill view it on line at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/knew/john/ or order the DVD...

[we can do it]

38. Good Reminder For Those Who HAven't Read It Yet

[RufusEarl]

24. Fiasco is pretty telling, cant wait to read Woodwards new book.

[indepat]

25. It is chilling how utterly determined these people are to implement a PNAC

agenda in the full no matter how ludicrously flawed and disastrous.

[femrap]

26. I don't think the word, Incompetent, is apt...

IMHO, these neo-cons DON'T CARE! I think they wanted Iraq to fall into civil war so they could have their never-ending war.

And since they got every bill...from bankruptcy to Torture PASSED, we certainly can't call them incompetent.

They're EVIL. And very deceitful...they are so deceitful that they fooled everyone into thinking they are 'dumb.'

[Justice Is Comin]

29. Yup between rumsfeld and bush,

the war is a fruit bowl and a comma :hurts:

[Disturbed]

30. Busholini is merely a Spokesperson for the Neo-Fascists

and a pathetic one at that. His credibilty is lower than any Pres. in recent US History.

[Renew Deal]

31. Read Fiasco when you're done

It's a great book and goes deeply into the military dysfunction starting with Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

[bagrman]

35. bush is a born again christian, He's happy

to help bring about the 2nd or 3rd coming of His lord, which ever it is. They have turned large parts of Iraq in to a no mans land with Deplete Uranium. DU is killing Gulf 1 soldiers even today. they don't care it's just part of business. Facism came to amerika wrapped in the flag and carring a cross.

Latr
Bagrman

[we can do it]

37. Many Murkins Like A President Dumb As They Are Don't You Know?

[bonito]

39. It's just criminal and yet they have managed to get away with it

How? well I can only relate with fertilizing my garden, too much shit in it, and thats all it is, a big pile of shit that has taken over, and than we eat what we can that didn't get burned.

[Marrak]

40. Right from the get go -lost- the CPA staffing - the custerf*ck ...

"Rumsfeld wouldn't let the State Department do shit"

<>

[springhill]

41. I agree with Thom Hartmann on this point.........

They are not incompetent. The events are unfolding as they intended. You think their handling of Katrina was incompetent? I think their response, or lack thereof, was indicative of their belief that it is not the federal governments job to help in natural disasters. The states are on their own. No, any chaos is intended to further their goals.

[Hissyspit]

42. Media was uninquisitive, too. n/t