Capitol Hill Blue: Bush's Depression: Been There, Reported That

[DemsUnited]

Now I know how some DUers feel about the credibility of Capitol Hill Blue, but I think we may have to give them this one...

By DOUG THOMPSON
Sep 28, 2005, 06:38


Depressed and demoralized White House staffers say working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is “life in a hellhole” as they try to deal with a sullen, moody President whose temper tantrums drive staffers crying from the room and bring the business of running the country to a halt.

“It’s like working in an insane asylum,” says one White House aide. “People walk around like they’re in a trance. We’re the dance band on the Titanic, playing out our last songs to people who know the ship is sinking and none of us are going to make it.”

Increasing reports from the usually tight-lipped staff of the Bush Administration talk of a West Wing dominated by gallows humor, long faces and a depression that has all but paralyzed daily routines.

“If POTUS (President of the United States) is on the road you can breathe a little easier for the day, knowing that those with him are catching hell and the mood will be a little easier in the Wing (West Wing) until he returns,” says another aide.

<snip>

Last year, the naysayers said we got it wrong.

But they got it wrong.

Again.

And we got it right and ahead of everyone else.

Again.

Yes, we're gloating. We all too often read reports in the big boys and have a feeling of deja vu because we're already been there and reported that.

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7445.shtml

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. didn't some here laugh at this writer earlier?

seems like he was right about the president, after all.

Then again, I have a watch in a drawer that is right twice a day, too. Made in the USSR, if wound properly, it is either 20 minutes fast or 10 minutes slow each day. Never no which. Kind of like we never know which president will appear.

I, too, have no doubts that he is drinking and that he is sick. Mentally sick. But that does not make him dumb. No one could be truly stupid and get where he got, regardless of family connections. Sick? yes. Truly moronically dumber than a pet rock? no way.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. The essay is consistent with the premises in "Bush on the Couch"

wherein he is psychoanalyzed by a psychiatrist (theoretically) and it appears to be credible.

[Atman]

3. Think realistically...Bush is the only one who doesn't read the papers

All of these other people go home to real lives, with television, newspapers, no staffs to burn them sterilized DVD's of the events they missed while on month-long vacations. They see the real poll numbers about their boss.

Tell me, if YOU worked in the WH and saw what was going on in the press, would YOU be thrilled about it?

I don't know this writer from Adam, and I don't think it matters. There is nothing implausible about this story.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Does he _really_ not read the papers?

I'd just assumed that was a lie he used to avoid certain types of tough questions.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. He works on a 'need to know' basis -

if he doesn't know anything, he can't give anything away.

Except the treasury, of course.

[genieroze]

7. Not just that, the press is being kind to *. If this were a Democrat he

would have been toast four years ago.

edited for spelling

[flordehinojos]

6. in the article, the following paragraph really caught my attention:

“Bush can be petulant about dissent; he equates disagreement with disloyalty."

because dissent usually comes from owning your own mind to think through issues and stuff with your own mind, which usually may, and can lead, to a difference of opinion, and THE ADULT STANCE of being able to agree to disagree and continue to get along; except when you are a DICTATOR, or a DICTATORIAL sort of being.

Sort of like (although perhaps not exactly like it) the arrogant and immature grandfather who will not ever call on his grandchild (on whom he has never called) because... the grandchild (who has never received any nurturing from him) has not and will not call the grandfather first.

No flexibility in either case to be an adult. And both are cases of pompous arrogance.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

8. one of my parental units spent some time with the shrub

(she apologized later-but she was doing some immigrant rights stuff) She thought that when he wanted to be, he was charming. But, once someone "more important" came in (Rove, in this case) everyone was shooed out as though they were old stale food. The difference was so stark, that she was taken aback. Everyone there was struck by the same idea - that his performance was just that.

It wasn't as though there was some war or major emergency, it was merely that their time was over and his brain appeared.

There have been other rumors from a number of different sources talking about his sneaking drinks, his temper, and his absolute lack of concern for most aspects of his job. This fits with the article and even that rag weekly article. Where there is smoke, there's fire. Where there's bourbon, there's a burning Bush and where there's Laura, there is bound to be trouble.

[KoKo]

9. And, anyone who saw him on C-Span over wkend sitting in that Contol

Headquarters in San Antonia being briefed would have seen the scowl and impatience he had with the NG Officer. There was a picture here on DU showing him, but to watch it live was incredible. It wasn't the Bush the Media has shown ..it was a figety, bored unpleasant man sitting there. You could almost see him thinking..."why do I have to sit here and listen to this boring stuff."

His father used to act the same way when folks saw him unguarded.

[Marie26]

10. Newsweek had an article reporting just that.

Fidgeting, bored, taking no notes, glaring at reporters. Bush really looks incredibly different in the recent photos/video I've seen. He's not even trying to be charming anymore, & looks very groughy & tired. If I didn't know better, I'd say he looks like a man with a hangover. :) Does anyone have any theories? What is up with Bush? Sept. 11 was a major trauma, but he seemed to handle that w/o becoming unhinged. Katrina is another trauma, one that is passing, yet Bush continues to look worse * worse everyday. Any psychologists out there want to speculate on what's going on?

[belle]

13. classic narcissism. And if you ever wondered what motivated Rove,

there you have it. it is a very strange and particular sort of relationship. symbiotic. Bush depends on Rove, though he'd never ever admit it; and Rove gets off on knowing that Bush is dependent on him, to the point where he ignores abuses that eventually drive most people away. which makes Bush more dependent on him than ever, because he's the only one he *knows* he can rely on. and around it goes.

[onager]

11. The hell with gallows humor! I want some...

...guillotine humor!!!

[MADem]

12. Doug Thompson is VERY WELL KNOWN around the Hill

He was a staffer for a rep during the Reagan years. Before that he was a reporter for a long time. He is a recovering alcoholic, and has been on the wagon for quite some time.

He used to lean rather right, though called himself a libertarian.

Alot of the friends he worked with on the Hill during the Reagan years have climbed the ladder of success, and are high enough up the food chain to work in the WH...

I think his sources are good, and his reporting is accurate. I always have believed this, though I have not, in previous years, always agreed with his stances on issues. But there are tons of folk in DC who know Doug...