Kristol: Reality Check - There is disarray in George W. Bush's admin

[dd123]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/195vxqyk.asp

"...The civil war in the Bush administration has become crippling. The CIA is in open revolt against the White House. The State Department and the Defense Department aren't working together at all. We are way beyond "fruitful tension" and all the other normal excuses for bureaucratic conflict. This is a situation that only the president can fix. Perhaps a serious talk with Messrs. Tenet, Powell, and Rumsfeld can do the trick, followed by strengthening the National Security Council's role in resolving intra-administration disputes. Perhaps a head or two has to roll. But the present condition is debilitating, and, given the challenges facing us in postwar Iraq, in Iran, and in North Korea, it is irresponsible to let it fester.

To govern is to choose. Only one man can make the choices necessary to get the administration back on course. President Bush has problems with his White House, his administration's execution of his policy, and its internal decision-making ability. He should fix them sooner rather than later. Time is not on his side."

-Yup, Bush in deep doo doo.

[Raenelle]

1. Time is on our side, though.

Ha, ha, ha. The guy with the big military and the control of the media forgot that time is always a tool in everybody's tactic toolkit. You can't fool everybody ALL OF THE TIME.

[whathappened]

2. one thing to add

he just don't no how to deal with this , he mite have to go to daddy to help him out , me thinks his father and him havent gotten along all there lifes and now jr. won't ask him what to do

[ima_sinnic]

3. got popcorn?

the show is just beginning

[Cha]

7. Excellent Picture!

Got your hot buttery right here!

[Dudley_DUright]

9. No thanks

I already have a big bucket of my own. Munch, munch.

[burythehatchet]

22. I sure would have a hard time celebrating - you forget that

you're going to be affected as much as anyone else. The looting has already taken place. The infrastructure has become diseased. We will all suffer, but you have to hit bottom before you can recover. We're not even close to the bottom.

Can we save ourselves?

[HPLeft]

4. Oh, what a wicked web we weave...

when we practice to deceive.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of people, don't you think.

[cosmicdot]

5. "situation that only the president can fix"

Kristol thinks * is in charge or has the skills to manage conflict?

maybe he'll draw upon his life skills


bwhahahahahaha

[Cha]

6. If it's a "situation that only the pres(sic) can fix"...then they are

in deep dung..And we could have predicted it was going to happen..if we could see it why couldn't they?

[Grins]

24. It WAS predicted...!

we could have predicted it was going to happen..if we could see it why couldn't they?

"Could" is the wrong word. We didn't have to make a prediction, it was already made.

Remember back before the Court turned a election into a “selection”. Bush named the members of his cabinet well before any court ruled. You know why the Bush team did it, so there is no need to go further.

But there were innumerable commentaries in the press on the battles that were sure to come from those nominees.

Rumsfeld never had any regard for Powell – or the State Department. The idiot even put Gingrich on the Defense Policy Board where the damn fool actually went after Powell saying he should be fired – in public!! (And where was Bush when this idiot went after HIS Secretary of State? I wonder how Powell felt about that little slight. The fact that he didn’t pee on Bush’s desk demanding Gingrich be off the Defense Board, or Rumsfeld to publicly apologize – and fire the bastard – or he’s gone, tells me that Powell has little of the “right stuff”. I have no respect for him. Hell, I have no respect for any of them.)

The other battle was Rummy’s alter Nazi, Paul “Wolfowicz of Arabia” and State’s Richard Armitage. Powell uses Richard as the tip of his sword against Wolfie.

[Rowdyboy]

8. Over-confidence will kill us ....

He may be an idiot, but he's President today and a very intelligent Al Gore isn't. Never, never, never, never relax...

[rfranklin]

10. The Republicans are like bedbugs...

You have to spray again and again to keep them down. Just ask Tom Delay!

Hey, will Arnold play Tom in the Hollywood version of
"The Ex-Terminator?"

[BeHereNow]

11. Completely BIZARRO

NOW what are the Pnac-ers up too?
Kristol is one of the neocons who put the shrub
on the throne, and NOW he is criticizing him?
Frankly, this scares me- one can only shudder
in dread at what the cabal has planned next.
I think this signals that they are through with
the monkey boy which can only mean that
they are ready to put satan himself on the throne.
NOT good, this article- it signals a serious shift
in the strategy; they know they are close to
a full on revolution and major civil disobedience.
They have not even come close to their hegemonic aims,
so its time to get serious- police state anyone?
BHN

Check out the newest doc at the
PNAC site- they want to attack China.
They are INSANE.

[Terwilliger]

12. This is not something you should listen to

as much as I think Bill Kristol might be treacherous enough to betray Bush, it doesn't stand to reason that he's truthful here, either.

Kristol is PNAC, however, so it could be a real indicator of shifting winds. Still, let's not just put it in our mouths like a sweet treat from a stranger.

[BeHereNow]

13. Check out the PNAC doc I just posted-

The author is condemning the Shrub in a round-about way too-
Yes, the wind is shifting.
God knows what fresh new shit storm awaits us.
Any one know of a cave I could lease for cheap.
I aint coming out for at least a hundred years.

[diplomats]

15. Other people have alluded to this

so Kristol isn't alone. And he was one of the first GOPers to complain the Bush WH wasn't committed enough to rebuilding Iraq. So this column is food for thought, if nothing else.

[cliss]

14. It's not only the WH against various agencies,

It's the administration itself that is in a state of disarray. This is exactly what Stratfor.com reported back in July. The Niger uranium controversy hit like a grenade in those hallowed halls. First, Bush immediately fingered George Tenet. Next, Cobra-leeza pointed her finger at George Tenet. When that didn't work, they dragged out Steven Hadley to walk the plank. It didn't do much good, because Bush got pressured into taking the responsibility himself, which he quickly blurted out, with a disclaimer sandwiched in.

So it has become very apparent to those who watch, that the White House is not functioning very well.

Someone here at DU mentioned that the WH was like a medieval court, with members jockeying for power, rather than serving the public interest (sorry, I'll find your post).

The question is: can Bush manage these medieval brawlers? Can he pull them together, and get them to work as a team to overcome their differences?

To quote Stratfor, "we have very low expectations of this happening".

http://www.stratfor.com/

[BeHereNow]

16. COBRA-LEEZA!

That is SO great!
Thanks for that!
BHN

[DrBB]

23. That was me, actually. And what Kristol is up to

...is not all that mysterious. He thinks the non-PNAC people are getting in the way of the Grand Plan, especially Tenet. The PNAC has always thought the "bureaucrats" of CIA and State were the problem and need to be whipped into line. When he says "heads should roll," he doesn't mean Rummy or Wolfie, he means Tenet and even Colin. Of course canning Tenet at this juncture would be a PR disaster....

[BQueen]

17. I read it all and feel slimy. urgggh, Kristol!

He's very wily, that one. He appears to be on the "criticize Bush" bandwagon, and, he does criticize, in a way. But the undertone is more planting the seeds to cut the dead wood. His criticism of Shrub is almost fatherly - "Son, you're in denial. If you want to keep ahead of this, you're going to have to offer up a *lot* of sacrificial lambs. And be sure to use the situation to *our* advantage."

<Perhaps a serious talk with Messrs. Tenet, Powell, and Rumsfeld can do the trick, followed by strengthening the National Security Council's role in resolving intra-administration disputes. Perhaps a head or two has to roll.>

Ah, here it is. Translation: "Talk to the boys and tell them to play nice, but make sure Tenet can't get out of line again by giving more power to our cronies at the NSC. You can't just fire him, people would notice. Probably a good pre-emptive move as to Powell, too. I always knew that <insert perjorative term here> wasn't *really* a 'team player.' Oh, offer up whatever amoral thug you need to on the leak, we've got plenty more where they came from."

The conclusion is basically an exhortation to get it done with quick, just like when Babs pulled those nasty Band-Aids off his ouchies. (Pickles does it now.) And gives Shrub the tone to take - one of resolute leadership in time of internal crisis. You know, Rove could probably get past the vomit to even work in a parallel to Lincoln (he was a Republican, you know).

Kristol is one scary <"Shut your mouth!" "Just talkin' bout Bill!" - with all apologies to Isaac Hayes>. I couldn't stand to follow the other link, but I believe he would think it was a good idea to invade China.


edited painfully, to convey particular meaning without immediately apparent profanity. ;)

aaand, typo!

[Beetwasher]

25. Excellent and pithy summary!

Good job!

[cliss]

18. Heh heh

I'm glad you liked it. I got my post yanked for the first time last night, for writing something similar. I wrote that Powell "is an Oreo Cookie", and they pulled it.

So I'm - a little more careful these days....

[fizzana]

19. If there is one person incapable of exerting the authority to sort

everything out, it's the one person who's in a position to do it.

He's never really been in a position where he's had to take control of a situation. I expect things to get worse.

Kristoff's politics might be totally odious but he's no fool.

[kskiska]

20. But…but

I heard today that in the White House it's business as usual…no one is fazed by any of these problems, especially the Wilson Affair. I'm sure the Chimp himself is snoozing away right now.

[scarface2004]

21. the moron doesn t read papers...

his lackies tell him what s going on...he s insane and just nods his head and drools!!

[KG]

26. another slimey chicken-hawk pro-war cheerleader playing CYA

jeez, why do we waste perfectly good bandwidth on posting the scat of slime-bags like kristol and friedman? :eyes:

[Loyal]

27. No shit kristol

:shrug:

[Skittles]

28. F*** YOU KRISTOL

STILL MANAGING TO BLAME THE "LIBERAL MEDIA" I SEE. WHAT A F***ING JERK.