Gergen On MSNBC: WH In Trouble If They Go Into Denial

[Dinger]

about CIA leak case, or see it as a "bump in the road." Gergen definitely thinks more is coming. However, if they (WHIG) use this to change their course (which they will NEVER do) they could recover, so to speak. He cited Clinton as an example - said he went from 37% to 67% in his second term.

[hippiegranny]

1. They need to immediately begin planning

to withdraw from Iraq. That would be the first step in the right direction. And what we ALL want.

[SHRED]

2. They are up shit's creek anyway

[MrBenchley]

3. The thing about Chimpy's entire career is that he kept steering

into lose-lose situations and hoping Daddy could bail him out...

Now he's got another one--either he levels with the American people, cleans house, and destroys his own administration; OR he goes on the attack and into denial, starts handing out pardons and destroys his own administration.

[INdemo]

4. Clinton's rating was never ever that low

[AlCzervik]

7. Clinton didn't out a CIA operative.

[Mme. Defarge]

22. Heck, he didn't even have sex

with a White House intern!

[pearl]

8. These people have

overdosed on their own Kool-aid.

[Pirate Smile]

10. I like this comment from Podesta about this:

"John D. Podesta, who was chief of staff to Clinton, said Bush may be more constrained by his troubles than Clinton was by his. Noting that Clinton's approval ratings remained above 60 percent throughout the impeachment battle, while Bush's are in the low 40s, Podesta said, "When Clinton said, 'I'm going back to do my work,' people cheered," Podesta said. "When Bush says, 'I'm going to do the job I've been doing,' people say, 'Oh, no.' "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/28/AR2005102802150_2.html

[kikiek]

13. Because love him or hate him the country was in great shape with him at

the helm.

[Pirate Smile]

5. I believe he compared it to Reagan after Iran-Contra when his

approval dropped to 37% but then he "cleaned house" and brought in new people, became more bipartisan and when he left his approval was around 67% (that is what Gergen said).

I saw a segment with Gergen this morning and I believe he was talking about Reagan, not Clinton, although both have been used as examples of how to come through a scandal in the second term.

Gergen is definitely trying to send emergency flares to the WH to change course.

[MADem]

26. Gergen used to work for Clinton

He is not your garden-variety political operative. He is GOP, but not an ideologue. He has, indeed, seen it ALL:
David Gergen is currently a professor of public service at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and director of its Center for Public Leadership. He is also editor-at-large for U.S. News & World Report. In earlier years, he served as a White House advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

http://www.davidgergen.com/

[Pirate Smile]

27. I know, but the comparison he was making was to Reagan, not Clinton.

I saw the segment on MSNBC this morning.

Reagan cleaned house after Iran-Contra.

Bill Clinton's job approval never fell that low in the second term during the Lewinski crap. Reagan's did fall that low during Iran-Contra.

Gergen said Bush needs to do what Reagan did - but he probably wont because they seem to still be arguing that they didn't do anything wrong.

[goclark]

28. Am I wrong in liking Gergen? He seems to be sending

huge hints to the Chimp, non of which he will listen to.

Gergan really seems to be the kind of Republican that I could at least sit in the same room with, he is no idiot.

Sometimes when I listen to him he seems to be telling the Middle of the Road Republicans,"wake up and get GW out of the WH in order to save the party,"

I believe they should be listening to George.

But, is it Casper McCain that Gergan wants? If so, I take my comments back. I hate McCain.

[Pirate Smile]

29. I like Gergen. I don't always agree with him, though I frequently do.

I respect him.

[terip64]

6. Of course they are in denial! They are dysfunctional!

That is not going to change, that we can count on.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

9. They went into denial 30 seconds after the indictment was announced

"I got a JOB to do, Stretch! So do the folks in the White House! We gotta protect the 'murcan people, and we'll keep on protectin' them!"

[notadmblnd]

16. loooks like the little f-er has started biting his nails

that can't be a good sign.

[morningglory]

20. Ooh, link! Please! nt

[notadmblnd]

21. I was looking at the pic posted in post #9 of this thread

his nails look like nubs to me.

[morningglory]

23. Thx! nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. I don't think the Bush Administration has anywhere to go.

The truth about 9/11 will come out and they'll be toast. I understand they changed the procedure that would have allowed planes to intercept the commercial planes, and that someone told Air Force pilots that were on the ready, to stand down. If I'm wondering why they did that, expect the mainstream to ask the same questions when they find out about it.

This is only one of many revelations that will come back to haunt them. The Bush Administration has lots of s'plaining to do, and they'll never regain their footing again once these revelations start coming out.

[flyarm]

18. ohhh yes they do..another federal investigation!!

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1122014,00.html

snip:

But in at least one instance, Reed acknowledges he used his White House access for Abramoff. In December 2001 the lobbyist was eager to prevent Angela Williams from being appointed head of the Interior Department's Office of Insular Affairs, which oversees the government's dealings with the Northern Mariana Islands, an important Abramoff client. Williams is married to former Federal Trade Commissioner Orson Swindle, who was a Vietnam POW with Senator John McCain. The subject header of Abramoff and Reed's e-mail exchange (it is unclear who initiated it) contained a misstatement about Williams that is practically Freudian in what it reveals about their animosity toward McCain: "Were you able to whack McCain's wife yet?" Reed assured Abramoff he had "weighed in heavily" with the White House personnel office to block her appointment but had received no commitment. "Any ideas on how we can make sure she does not get it?" Abramoff asked. "Can you ping Karl on this? I can't believe they just don't get this done?" Reed replied, "I am seeing him tomorrow at the WH and plan to discuss it with him as well." Baron says, "Ralph passed the information on to the White House. He is confident the Administration's decision was based on the merit." As for Rove, White House spokeswoman Erin Healy tells TIME, "It is my understanding that Mr. Rove does not recall any of these incidents."


*****and don't forget the indictments just handed down on coingate!!

[kikiek]

12. No that would be admitting you weren't right. Bush is always right

and always wins. He owns the bat and ball and just takes it home if he is losing. Play so he will win or he won't play. He hasn't grown up, and he never will. Daddy took care of everything, and still does. He just has more "daddies" to help cover his tracks now.

[Why Syzygy]

14. Someone is still looking

for a Nazi war criminal .. who is in his 90's. Remember?

No freaking way can they get away from this. NO WAY!

Too late, fruitcakes.

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. As so often, Toles got it right in his cartoons:

[indie_voter]

17. He used Reagan and Iran Contra as an example of how to recover n/t

[tularetom]

19. They can't recover

Bush isn't Clinton - he lacks the charisma and leadership ability to convince the public he's changed. What's more he'll never change course - he thinks that would be a sign of weakness. He's a spineless coward trying to masquerade as a tough guy by never changing his mind about anything. He's staked so much on maintaining this image he'll go down the shitter before he changes. Besides, even a complete mea culpa at this point wouldn't convince a skeptical public that he's telling the truth. I see no way out of this mess for him - I only hope the country can overcome the damage he's caused.

[janx]

24. Right. It's just not in his nature to be able to do so. n/t

[tulsakatz]

25. moving on.......

some people on the news channels said the White House wants to move on from this investigation but they also said they won't be able to move on until they address the issues that this investigation brought up.

For instance, they would either have to change their war position or they would have to clean house.....in other words, they would have to replace everyone with new people. They said Reagan did that after Iran Contra.

And knowing the way Bush likes to keep everything a secret, it's not likely that he or Cheney would ever address the problems that this investigation exposed. And knowing the high value Bush places on loyalty, it's also not likely that he would replace the people either.

[LoZoccolo]

30. I'm not so sure they could recover as much as Clinton.

Clinton's approval rating shot up because he was being attacked for the scandal. It was like people didn't want someone's sex life to be a big public issue and rallied behind him to show their disapproval of the Republicans.

[goclark]

31. Clinton had very smart people all around him

and he had a brilliant mind!

Chimp is working on ZERO.