The pinnochio presidency

[SuperTool]

http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news1/wilson-salon.html

No more will we stand idly by while the Bush campaign lies about John Kerry's record on defense and national security. The criticism of his vote to shut down the B-2 bomber program came about as the result of recommendations by then Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and President George H.W. Bush. It is outrageous for the Bush-Cheney campaign to take that vote out of context, as it is outrageous to suggest that a unanimously adopted congressional resolution to return monies hidden away in the National Reconnaissance Office to the taxpayer is to be weak on national security.

 

[Ldir]

The truth is our friend.

 

[Red Dawn]

Obviously after they BS'd the American Public into supporting their excellent adventure into Iraq the Dub/Cheney machine realized that dishonesty was far more effective to achieve their goals than telling the truth.

 

[conjur]

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill

From Our Editors
The Barnes & Noble Review
Penned by Pulitzer Prize?winning writer Ron Suskind and based on the revelations of former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, this controversial exposé is an eye-opening look at the first two years of President George W. Bush's uniquely eventful administration.
Suskind recounts how Alcoa CEO O'Neill -- a plainspoken businessman with unimpeachable ethics and a reputation for getting things done -- was recruited for the prestigious cabinet post; how, despite misgivings, he signed on to join a team he truly believed was committed to a centrist ideal; and how, 23 months later, he was summarily fired for his tell-it-like-it-is brand of pragmatic leadership. Chronicling the ups and downs of his tenure in the Bush White House, O'Neill describes some genuinely surreal scenes -- from the National Security Council meeting in February 2001, where regime change in Iraq mysteriously soars to the top of the foreign policy agenda, to mystifying presidential flip-flops on tax cuts, global warming, and corporate accountability that leave even top-tier officials scratching their heads. Tarred as a contrarian in an administration that valued ideology over analysis, O'Neill soon found himself blindsided by an inner circle of advisers that included his longtime friend Dick Cheney.

Inarguably, the most fascinating portrait (in a gallery that includes Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Alan Greenspan) is of POTUS himself. George W. Bush emerges as an inscrutable enigma, bereft of curiosity, intolerant of dissent, and curiously content to be scripted, rehearsed, and handled. It's evident that Paul O'Neill, with his passionate commitment to transparency and candor, and the opaque, super-secretive Bushites were a bad match from the get-go. Anne Markowski



From the Publisher
This narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency - or any that is likely to be written soon. At its core are the assessments of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, for two years the administration's top economic official, a principal of the National Security Council, and a tutor to the new President. He is the only member of Bush's innermost circle to leave and then to agree to speak frankly about what has really been happening inside the White House.
O'Neill's account is supported by Suskind's interviews with many participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by documents that cover most areas of domestic and foreign policy. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, this volume offers a view of the characters and conduct of Bush and his closest advisers as they manage crucial domestic policies and global strategies at a time of life-and-death crises.



From The Critics
The New York Times
Mr. O'Neill is describing the takeover of the Republican Party ? and consequently of the executive branch ? by what is portrayed as a group of single-minded right-wing ideologues with loyalty only to their narrow and rapacious political self-interest ? Mr. O'Neill is appalled by what he sees as a betrayal of real conservatism; he even at one point draws a parallel between the absolutists fighting to take over Pakistan for Muslim fundamentalism and the absolutism at work in the Bush White House. ? Katrina vanden Heuvel

NY Times Sunday Book Review
? whether O'Neill was a brilliant Treasury secretary or a mediocre one, he did regard the public trust as a serious matter, and the case The Price of Loyalty makes about the debasement of the policy process is a strong one. ''Politics, as it's now played, is not about being right,'' O'Neill concludes. ''It's about doing whatever's necessary to win. They're not the same.'' One finishes this book hoping that those who consider themselves the guardians of Washington integrity will do more to demand that the distinction be honored. ? Michael Tomasky

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: conjur
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill

From Our Editors
The Barnes & Noble Review
Penned by Pulitzer Prize?winning writer Ron Suskind and based on the revelations of former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, this controversial exposé is an eye-opening look at the first two years of President George W. Bush's uniquely eventful administration.
Suskind recounts how Alcoa CEO O'Neill -- a plainspoken businessman with unimpeachable ethics and a reputation for getting things done -- was recruited for the prestigious cabinet post; how, despite misgivings, he signed on to join a team he truly believed was committed to a centrist ideal; and how, 23 months later, he was summarily fired for his tell-it-like-it-is brand of pragmatic leadership. Chronicling the ups and downs of his tenure in the Bush White House, O'Neill describes some genuinely surreal scenes -- from the National Security Council meeting in February 2001, where regime change in Iraq mysteriously soars to the top of the foreign policy agenda, to mystifying presidential flip-flops on tax cuts, global warming, and corporate accountability that leave even top-tier officials scratching their heads. Tarred as a contrarian in an administration that valued ideology over analysis, O'Neill soon found himself blindsided by an inner circle of advisers that included his longtime friend Dick Cheney.

Inarguably, the most fascinating portrait (in a gallery that includes Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove, and Alan Greenspan) is of POTUS himself. George W. Bush emerges as an inscrutable enigma, bereft of curiosity, intolerant of dissent, and curiously content to be scripted, rehearsed, and handled. It's evident that Paul O'Neill, with his passionate commitment to transparency and candor, and the opaque, super-secretive Bushites were a bad match from the get-go. Anne Markowski



From the Publisher
This narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency - or any that is likely to be written soon. At its core are the assessments of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, for two years the administration's top economic official, a principal of the National Security Council, and a tutor to the new President. He is the only member of Bush's innermost circle to leave and then to agree to speak frankly about what has really been happening inside the White House.
O'Neill's account is supported by Suskind's interviews with many participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by documents that cover most areas of domestic and foreign policy. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, this volume offers a view of the characters and conduct of Bush and his closest advisers as they manage crucial domestic policies and global strategies at a time of life-and-death crises.



From The Critics
The New York Times
Mr. O'Neill is describing the takeover of the Republican Party ? and consequently of the executive branch ? by what is portrayed as a group of single-minded right-wing ideologues with loyalty only to their narrow and rapacious political self-interest ? Mr. O'Neill is appalled by what he sees as a betrayal of real conservatism; he even at one point draws a parallel between the absolutists fighting to take over Pakistan for Muslim fundamentalism and the absolutism at work in the Bush White House. ? Katrina vanden Heuvel

NY Times Sunday Book Review
? whether O'Neill was a brilliant Treasury secretary or a mediocre one, he did regard the public trust as a serious matter, and the case The Price of Loyalty makes about the debasement of the policy process is a strong one. ''Politics, as it's now played, is not about being right,'' O'Neill concludes. ''It's about doing whatever's necessary to win. They're not the same.'' One finishes this book hoping that those who consider themselves the guardians of Washington integrity will do more to demand that the distinction be honored. ? Michael Tomasky

thx :beer:

looks like a good read

just ordered it from Amazon

 

[XZeroII]

Um, this is done in EVERY presidential race by EVERY candidate. It just shows how far the anti-Bush crowd will go.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
Um, this is done in EVERY presidential race by EVERY candidate. It just shows how far the anti-Bush crowd will go.

So said the Bush apologist.

 

[NumbersGuy]

Dubya, Dubya,
What's with your nose?
You never stop lying,
It looks like a hose.

 

[chess9]

Hitler did the exact same thing in the '30's. Lied, manipulated, knifed his enemies, ad nauseam. I've been re-reading Shirer's book with a buddy and discussing it. The parallels are troublesome. I'm not saying Bush is a Nazi, 'cause he ain't that bad, but many of his and Rove's tactics are remarkably similar.

-Robert

 

[Sspidie99]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
Um, this is done in EVERY presidential race by EVERY candidate. It just shows how far the anti-Bush crowd will go.

Thats funny, turning the tables. I thought people were talking about how Bush has decieved the American public. Very tricky, you must be a republican. Ah, you have mastered the republican way well young one.