Watergate conspirator calls Bush 'ignorant'

[kskiska]

Watergate conspirator John W. Dean III unleashed a scathing attack Wednesday on President Bush, calling him an "ignorant man" and saying that Vice President Dick Cheney runs the White House.

Dean's attack came while he was in Denver promoting his new book, Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.

(snip)

Dean spoke to a sold-out audience of about 1,600 in East High School's auditorium, where many appeared to be anti-Bush.

(snip)

"Incidentally, I do not think Bush is a stupid man, by any stretch of the imagination," Dean said.

"However, I'd be the first to tell you that I think he is an ignorant man. I mean he's ignorant by design."

Many in the audience broke into applause.

"He's ignorant because he doesn't have any interest in these areas. He's good at being head of state. He likes the pomp of the presidency. He likes the politics of the presidency. He's good at meeting and greeting and projecting the image of everybody's friend," Dean said.

But when it comes to the work of running the government, Dean said Bush lacks what it takes to be at the helm.

(snip)

"So the president has delegated to Cheney enormous authority, and Cheney has been around long enough as a former White House chief of staff and as a former Cabinet officer, and knowing the way Washington works and knowing the way presidents think and act, Cheney is shrewd enough to let George Bush wake up every morning and believe he's president."

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2882285,00.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. Dean spoke....where many appeared to be anti-Bush

duh! but glad it got some coverage in a CO paper.

I fear he was preaching to the choir tho, we dems already know how ignat Bushit is

[pinto]

3. I think the key phrase is "ignorant by design".....

the RNC and the WH gang are not so subtly selling "plausible deniability" as a virtue, for cryin' out loud, or some kind of commendable management style...and there are those who buy the ticket...go figure.

[zonmoy]

4. So the true evil in this mess is using his feigning of ignorance

to cover his ass.

[pinto]

5. In a sense the true evil is the Pandora's box left opened at the Pentagon

and the White House while Busboy was (wink, wink) cuttin' brush at his "ranch". His biggest failure is repeating the charade which has been proven dramatically and fatally wrong by reality.

[xchrom]

2. well, dean should certainly know.

[Mountainman]

6. We all knew that before the 2000 elections

The media knew that also. Why did they give Bush a free pass and attack Gore all the time? I don't buy the line that the liked Bush and didn't like Gore. That is so shallow when it comes to electing a President.

The thing they said was that Bush lacked gravitas but he would get from the people he surrounded himself with. Well look where that got us!

[rexcat]

7. His book goes into great detail concerning Bush*

not being in charge. Dean also lays out the case for impeachment of Bush*, but is honest enough to realize that there is no way in hell impeachment will happen considering the Senate and House are controlled by the repugs. He also quotes a Texas Congressman (libertarian type) who defines what a neocon is as noted in the Congressional Record (I think). This alone was worth the price of the book. The book is a good read. When I originally saw the book on the bookstore shelf I dismissed (my bias against Nixon and his cronies) but while in Milwaukee, WI on business I heard an interview with John Dean on a local public radio station. He has good insight of Nixon WH and Bush WH and the parallels between the two. I went out and purchased the book that night. I recommend this book for anyone. There are some really good debating points that one can use against the necons and Bush* supporters.