The President Has 'Ovalitis'

[kskiska]

Op/Ed - Richard Reeves

(snip)

What happened to Bush? What's wrong with him? I would say he has a bad case of Ovalitis -- an ear infection endemic to the Oval Office. Sit there long enough, and you don't hear anything you don't want to hear.

The people who come into the president's office know all about shooting messengers, so they bring only tidings of great joy. Anyone who doesn't do that gets fired. That's what happened to both his chief economic adviser, Lawrence Lindsey, and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, when they said, correctly, that occupying and stabilizing Iraq (news - web sites) would take more money and men than Bush had imagined.

At first the president must have seen through all the bowing and scraping, but gradually it became his due; he is the boy in the bubble. And the bubble moves with him around the country as his staff and the Secret Service protect him from any unpleasant words or people. Tickets to his rallies are given only to the loyal. He holds no press conferences. He hides away out there in the Crawford sagebrush. He's alone.

Thursday night visibly shocked Bush. He was shocked by what Kerry was saying, particularly about the poisoned chaos that is Iraq. Why, the Democrat even raised questions about Ayad Allawi, the Iraqi tough guy Bush picked as prime minister -- and seemed on the verge of comparing to Winston Churchill. How could Kerry say such things about such a man? How could Kerry say things are going badly in Iraq? No one told the president that, or he didn't hear it. Why, that could demoralize our troops -- as if those soldiers in harm's way did not know what was going on long before Kerry spoke out.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=123&e=19&u=/ucrr/thepresidenthasovalitis

[salin]

1. Isn't Reeves a traditional conservative writer?

Youch for teambush. Bush appearing like a teenager being lectured by parents.... (not presidential); Bush not being told... or chosing not to listen...

I know that Reeves has been critical of the Iraq war and the administration - but still... he paints a picture that, after the debates, seems to be resonating with more and more "traditional conservatives."

Is that momentum switching that I hear in the wind?

[Gyre]

2. more like 'vaginosis'

Yech!

Gyre