Discipline Takes a Break at the White House

[maddezmom]

By DAVID E. SANGER

Published: May 30, 2004


ASHINGTON — The country may be deeply divided about President Bush, but even his harshest critics used to offer their grudging admiration of one of the greatest talents of this White House: its extraordinary discipline and message control.

No more.

For months now, the same administration whose members once prided themselves on never contradicting one another in public has been riven by conflicting pronouncements. Senior officials keep missing opportunities to keep their signals straight, prompting cases of vicious backbiting that one senior member of Mr. Bush's national security staff said with disgust the other day "make us sound like Democrats.''

Reporters who spent the first two-thirds of Mr. Bush's term looking for any crack between the tight-lipped members of the administration suddenly feel as if they have stepped into an amusement park, with different hawkers openly selling disparate policies, explanations and critiques.

And as a few candid members of the administration are starting to admit, it is beginning to take a toll - leaving allies to wonder how Mr. Bush might next change course in Iraq. It is one reason, foreign leaders say, that despite President Bush's recent string of speeches, they are uncertain how sovereign the new "sovereign" government of Iraq will be after the handover on June 30, or how long American troops might remain.

~snip~
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/weekinreview/30sang.html

[wtmusic]

1. Some would call it obduracy

Not really something to be admired.

[mike1963]

6. 'obduracy'. A wonderful word that has ruefully fallen from discourse.

I suspect that the vocabulary of too many Americans no longer contains the word 'vocabulary', as well.
:eyes:

[MikeG]

2. From what I could see, they did a lot of disciplining at Abu Ghraib.

[Beetwasher]

3. Related Thread in GD

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1684832&mesg_id=1684832

[maddezmom]

4. thanks..I'll take a look

:)

[Hand]

5. Hmm... just noticed...

The article mentions KKKaren Huighes in passing toward the end. Seems like the current unraveling sort of really got going after her return. Anyone care to bet that she and KKKarl Rove are at daggers drawn?

Now that would be sweeeeeee-eeeet!

:evilgrin: