Newsweek: "Bush hates 'Yes' Men" (NOT a satire piece).

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6831823/site/newsweek/

Window of Opportunity
He's hands-on, detail-oriented and hates 'yes' men. The George Bush you don't know has big dreams—and is racing the clock to realize them
Looking forward: From rewriting the tax code to remaking Social Security, Bush has big plans
By Richard Wolffe, Newsweek



Jan. 24 issue - It was time to clean out his cabinet. The top jobs in his administration, President Bush decided last fall, had left people burned out and too beholden to the perks of high office. Besides, he was planning a big new agenda for his second term and wanted fresh legs to power it through. When asked how many cabinet officials he would fire, Bush told one close friend: "Basically everybody." The official story was that many of the cabinet officials were ready to move on; members would volunteer their own resignations. But as the election neared, several began to waver; it became clear they'd need to be shown the door. Other presidents might leave the tough stuff to subordinates, but Bush wanted to do the job himself. When it came time to say farewell, the exchanges in the Oval Office were surprisingly emotional. "They were shocked and really hurt, and that hurt him," says one confidant.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was one of the walking wounded. A former governor like Bush, he'd toiled on the president's first White House campaign and considered himself a friend. Thompson talked openly of moving to the private sector after 40 years in public life. Yet behind the scenes he also floated the idea of staying around as head of Homeland Security. Early in the new year, three weeks after Bernard Kerik's nomination had fallen apart, Thompson traveled to the Oval Office for one final chat as a cabinet member. Thompson grew tearful, saying he'd always be there for Bush, and hinted one more time that he would jump at the chance to stay on. But Bush stuck to his plan, and said goodbye. "There are strong emotions from the president and strong emotions from the people who are leaving," says White House chief of staff Andrew Card. "But he's looking for a new term and changes. Agents of change frequently are new people."

As he starts his final four years in the White House, President Bush is by far the biggest agent of change in his own cabinet. Whether he's remaking his team or plotting his second-term policies, Bush's leadership style belies his caricature as a disengaged president who is blindly loyal, dislikes dissent and covets his own downtime. In fact, Bush's aides and friends describe the mirror image of a restless man who masters details and reads avidly, who chews over his mistakes and the failings of those around him, and who has grown ever more comfortable pulling the levers of power. Of course, those closest to Bush have a vested interest in singing his praises. But they also make a compelling case that the president is a more complex and engaged character than his popular image suggests. And that he—not Karl Rove, Dick Cheney or anyone else—bears the full weight of responsibility for the ultimate successes and failures of his reign.

Instead of scaling back his ambition like other second-termers in recent years, Bush has expanded it. From rewriting the entire tax code to remaking the 70-year-old safety net of Social Security, from securing Iraq to spreading democracy across the Muslim world, Bush is being driven by a self-confidence that was only boosted by his clear election victory. Bush likes to say he intends to spend the political capital he earned in November. Yet, faced with his approval numbers hovering around 50 percent and a restive Republican caucus on the Hill, it's unclear how much capital he's really got in the bank—and how much time he has left to spend it. With just two years before presidential candidates take to the stage for '08, Bush and his closest aides know they need to cash in before the clock runs out.

:eyes:

What a self-centered turd.

On edit: I wasn't thinking. The business about the Chimp being "hurt" is propaganda. It is much more likely that he ridiculed anyone who got upset by being booted.

these kinds of things come pretty easy when you don't care how much damage you do to people.

And, of course, it gives the new hires and the few remaining the right amount of insecurity about their position to ensure they faithfully tow the adminsitration line.

"Bush is a strong leader" (although all evidence indicates the opposite)

"Bush is a uniter" (once again...)

"Bush is a man of faith and spirituality" (Yeah, maybe for the cameras)

"Bush is a straight shooter" (except for the countless lies, WMD ring a bell?)

and now: "Bush hates 'yes-men'"????

It sometimes seems that this administration delights in putting out the same bullshit, affirming it again and again despite all contradiction, and any attempt to disporve them only emboldens their committment.

When will someone finally expose Bush as he truly is: A vile, contemptuous, hateful, idiotic, moronic, short-sighted, disinterested, jerkoff who is completely incapible of spotting faults in himself or anyone around him?

Jesus fucking Christ, he and his administration spent two years blaming George Tenent for 9/11 and for the WMD deceptions. AND THEN HE GAVE HIM A FUCKING MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!

to fool? Donald Trump is another big "yes" man. These two clowns should get an act together.

the table that writer received for writing that crap.

The Post: You used partial privatization yourself last year, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes?
The Post: Yes, three times in one sentence. We had to figure this out, because we're in an argument with the RNC about how we should actually word this.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12570-2005Jan15.html

They left that part out. ;)

doesn't read!

"Spreading democracy across the Muslim world"...so bush LIED when he so many times said he was AGAINST NATION BUILDING?

This entire piece of bullshit is pure & utter bush apologist BULLSHIT.

Another popular misperception: that Bush doesn't read. Aides describe numerous debates inside the Oval Office, where the president digs deep into his briefing books. "I've seen it time and time again," says Rove. "We all get the briefing papers the night before, we've all read them, and he'll inevitably have thought about three steps ahead of anyone in the room." And he's not just poring over white papers. Friends and aides speak of his passion for novels, including Mark Mills's "Amagansett" (a murder mystery set in postwar Long Island), and Tom Wolfe's racy college tale "I Am Charlotte Simmons." Bush has also adopted Natan Sharansky's "The Case for Democracy" as his own manifesto in the Middle East—a tome he recommends to all comers in the Oval Office.

than Charlote Simmons!!

Ah good it really eases my mind that he's reading mysteries.

And even better he's actually already read the propaganda that was specifically prepared for his highness-he's such the leader! In other words he's getting complimented in this piece for reading whatever it is they are going to have a debate about. Woo hoo.

I hope those people come out and tell the real truth about this moron.

the right wing marketing/sound machine. They had to try and save face because so many of his cabinet members left, so they turn it around to make it look like this was HIS idea. Yeah, right. He doesn't have any plans for America until he's told what his plans are. HE'S the yes man!

:puke:

the treatment it so richly deserves? The chimp an "avid reader" !?! Since when has carrying a book as a camera prop made you an avid reader? And he is the ultimate "yes-man"! This article sounds like recent history revisionism run amok!!

You won't even remember America by the time BFEE is done with it.
Only idiots believe in the "4 years" myth.

They get the money/power...he gets the glory/bad name/blame

Well, good for him!

There's an article on CNN.com that talks about the books Bush reads: http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/bush.readinglist.tm/index.html. This suggests to me that there's an effort on their side to try and project a more thoughtful version of GWB.

Clearly, the media is working the Rovian angles.

Citing Bush friends and aides....helps...oh, yes, it helps.

Rove smiles....Bush is recommending a book, and the reporter is touting Bush's reading habits when the pResident hasn't even finished reading the ideas contained therein in their entirety.

<<When Sharansky stopped by, Bush sheepishly pointed out in his copy that he was only up to page 211 --but said he would finish the remaining 92 pages soon.>>

And CNN, MSN, and Rove keep spinning and spinning and spinning.

Bush's staff and aides are nothing BUT "yes" men.

...my monitor rose two inches off the desktop while I was reading it.




http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13
Buttons for brainy people - educate your local freepers today!

"The president doesn't have any yes-men. When he says no, we all say no."

Can't remember who it's by, though.

while holding Bush's cock in his mouth at the same time.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6830306/newsweek/site/

The Next Four Years

Join NEWSWEEK's Senior White House Correspondent for a chat about what's in store for Bush's second term during a Live Talk on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at noon ET. WEB EXCLUSIVE

<snip>

Join NEWSWEEK's Richard Wolffe for a discussion about the next four years during a Live Talk on the day before the president's inauguration—Wednesday, Jan. 19—at noon ET.

submit questions at:

http://discuss.washingtonpost.com/zforum/04/submit_050119_wolffe.htm

Of course, those closest to Bush have a vested interest in singing his praises. But they also make a compelling case that the president is a more complex and engaged character than his popular image suggests.

:puke:

This is such preposterous balderdash that the paper itself must be having trouble holding the ink.

He specifically demands blind obedience, and the very fact that people like him love to hide their deficiencies by proclaiming the precise opposite. What hogwash.

"I've seen it time and time again," says Rove. "We all get the briefing papers the night before, we've all read them, and he'll inevitably have thought about three steps ahead of anyone in the room." And he's not just poring over white papers. Friends and aides speak of his passion for novels, including Mark Mills's "Amagansett" (a murder mystery set in postwar Long Island), and Tom Wolfe's racy college tale "I Am Charlotte Simmons." Bush has also adopted Natan Sharansky's "The Case for Democracy" as his own manifesto in the Middle East—a tome he recommends to all comers in the Oval Office.


Crap. Pure crap.

What BS is this? Compelling, my ass!

such lies about Der Fuhrer.

here in cowardly, slavish Imperial Amerika we whore ourselves out to the most odious lies of Der Fuhrer with not a single KGB agent pointing a gun at us, not a single SS Man threatening us with deportation.

We are as cowardly and disgraceful a nation as ever licked the boots of any Tyrant.

As they put it in "When Harry Met Sally".

I don't buy it.

left and wrote a book because he was a "yes man"? Richard Clarke?

How dumb does he think the American People are? Don't answer..he's got proof..they're pretty damn dumb..he's in for a second regime.

the naysayers said he was too stupid but Newsweek says not....ergo, the AC
which I always suspected.

to think that * is now a reader, a detail man who is 3 steps ahead of everyone in the room. Interesting how Rove was quoted on this last one. Maybe he wrote the whole piece. Compelling, indeed.

:puke:

talker?!