New: Sullen, Depressed President Retreats Into Private, Paranoid World

[Renew Deal]

By TERESA HAMPTON & WILLIAM D. McTAVISH
Capitol Hill Blue Staff
Jul 29, 2004, 09:08

A sullen President George W. Bush is withdrawing more and more from aides and senior staff, retreating into a private, paranoid world where only the ardent loyalists are welcome.

Cabinet officials, senior White House aides and leaders on Capitol Hill complain privately about the increasing lack of “face time” with the President and campaign advisors are worried the depressed President may not be up to the rigors of a tough re-election campaign.

“Yes, there are concerns,” a top Republican political advisor admitted privately Wednesday. “The George W. Bush we see today is not the same, gregarious, back-slapping President of old. He’s moody, distrustful and withdrawn.”

Bush’s erratic behavior and sharp mood swings led White House physician Col. Richard J. Tubb to put the President on powerful anti-depressant drugs after he stormed off stage rather than answer reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron executive Richard J. Lay, but White House insiders say the strong, prescription medications seem to increase Bush’s sullen behavior towards those around him.

“This is a President known for his ability to charm people one-on-one,” says a staff member to House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert. “Not any more.”
<snip>
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_4930.shtml

[madmax]

1. Nixon reincarnated!!!

:scared:

[redqueen]

2. Just like ole' Tricky Dick

Will be quite a pleasure to sit back, relax and read the tell-alls after the dust settles.

[swag]

3. My favorite Nixon story from "The Final Days" (other than

"Henry, we must pray!") was his gnaw marks on the child-proof cap of his prescription bottle.

I've gotta read that shit again, even though it was Woodward.

[WilliamPitt]

4. Again I must ask

Is Capitol Hill Blue reporting the news, or reporting what they'd like the news to be?

There's some history here with CHB.

[madmax]

7. Damn it, Will

Don't be a wet blanket. I liked the article :evilgrin:

Hey, when did it ever stop the pugs from printing fabrications or stretching the truth. Why do we have to play by the rules. }(

:P

[thebigidea]

11. Well, CHB is not exactly on our side.

In fact, the guy who runs it compares us to Freepers:

"Visit most conservative computer bulletin boards (like Free Republic) and you will find gobs of hate directed at Democrats in general and John F. Kerry in particular. Then venture over to a left-leaning board like Democratic Underground and you will find pretty much the same rhetoric directed at Republicans and George W. Bush."

[gatlingforme]

17. Every editor has their opinion. I personally take CHB with a

grain of salt as for any media outlet.

[gatlingforme]

13. CHB reporteda story on this (re: Bushes sulleness) a while ago

The article stated (I am going on memory) that Bush was becoming more eratic than he ever was i.e. swearing at people one minute and praising them the next. Looks to be on the same plane with this article. IMO

[Jackpine Radical]

30. The Tenet firing was supposedly done in a fit of rage.

Shrubby just popped his cork & canned Tenet out of the blue.

[DrBB]

14. CHB Telling us what we want to believe

If CHB wants to provide some hard evidence that would be useful in convincing those not already convinced, that would be nice. Otherwise, I'm not sure what use this stuff is really. I can come up with political masturbatory material all on my own, thanks.

[Walt Starr]

19. I think they may be planting stories

so that the GOP can point to them and decry the "liburl media".

[Renew Deal]

Isn'ttheir owner a former freeper?

Thompson or something like that.

[goclark]

24. True? It is what I believe

is happening in the WH Mental Ward. Something grave is happening with * and he is set to crash big time. He is not made of the Big Dog stuff. He does not know how to fight. He is a bully.

We Democrats are so nice and kind. We would never want to say anything that we have not verified.While that is PC, it is not the way that this election will play out in favor of our side.

Every single day, Rush hits the airways with big lies! He is not questioned or called on anything. O'Lielly tells the public lies all the time and he never proves his stuff.

But, not us.
We know the Chimp is NUTS! He is an accident that is not waiting to happen,it is happening.

Ann Richards said today that what struck her about the Goat Book Tape is that Andrew Card had to have told Bush that "the 2nd plane hit the WTC, not the 1st plane.

That means that Bush Boy KNEW about the 1st and still sat like a deer in head lights and did nothing. This is a VERY SICK MAN.

We should be screaming it to the roof tops that we have a dangerous man in the WH. He is mentally ill and we need to know exactly what is going on with him.

Helen Thomas, or some brave brave person with a spine, needs to ask him point blank," Mr. President(that is the only way that he will speak)are you on strong medication for your mental state?" We have read the reports."

So what if the reports are not in the NY Times! They lie to us all the time. What newspaper in this land would you believe could or would really tell us the truth about these crooks. They can't. They are all bought and paid for.

[democrat_patriot]

34. I couldn't agree more.

Can you count on your hands how many conservative right wing nutjob talk shows are being played right now?

Are they apologizing? When they call Al Gore and Howard Dean crazy, wild, out of control hate mongers, do they feel bad? Did they get these'facts' from a reliable source? Nope.

It would be a beautiful world if all discourse was conducted in an adult way. Unfortunately the right wing tends to act childish. I mean "John Kerry speaks French!" ??

In the theme of the childlike rightwing: "Well....they started it".

We however shall finish it. In 96 days.

[seemslikeadream]

37. Yours is the best post yet on this, would you

please repost it in LBN, either thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x715345

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=712979&mesg_id=712979

Thanks so much

[Rockholm]

35. Kinda sounds like what Faux does?

And every other media outlet. REPORTING WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE THE NEWS TO BE. What bastards and whores.

[Stuckinthebush]

39. You've mentioned this before

What is the history with CHB regarding fake stories? What is their history with good, well researched reporting?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

40. This time they've added an aide to Hastert as a source....

...but, like the Republican consultant, his or her name is not mentioned.

I do know the doctor's name is real...you can go to the White House website and do a search and his name will come up along with his title.

Hard to know what to think about this story...but FratBoy has been acting a little more strangely in public over the last six months to a year.

[ellie]

5. Here's to hoping

the mo fo loses it on live television! Must see t.v. indeed! :toast:

[tnlefty]

12. I'd gladly stay up late to see that!!!!

Must see t.v. indeed...

[thebigidea]

6. bwhahahahah. I love it.

It sounds quite like the world I imagine Bush inhabits now that he's no longer a "very popular wartime president."

And if he doesn't, it means he's delusional! The house of cards has crumbled, his war has turned to shit, Kerry is going to beat him, and time is running out...

I don't buy the Ashcroft being one of the real powers behind the throne, though. Maybe from a jealous HS aide under his thumb... but Ashcroft is NOT a very intelligent man.

[TWiley]

8. The same thing happed to a fella

named Adolph at the end didn't it?

[Gin]

15. who cares if it's legit..the whore media puts out shit enough times to

make it seem true...keep spreading this news..or whatever it is..By the way...this story makes sense to me.

I look forward to seeing shrub at the debate...first time around..he was UNDER-estimated...now...he has to live up to expectations and what he has done....it will be good tv to say the least.

[TWiley]

33. He was under-estimated

by the republican imbeciles commenting on the debate.

[ewagner]

9. They really want us to believe this

They're pushing the story hard.......

I don't trust this at all......

[Renew Deal]

18. This is the third suck story from them in 2 months.

But I think the owner is a former freeper.

[truth2power]

36. ewagner...

"They really want us to believe this"

Problem is....there really is something terribly wrong.

Bush is flaming NUTS!!! So, if the reality is not this story, it's something very similar to it IMHO.

[Stuckinthebush]

41. Why?

What would be the strategy of planting stories that Bush is unhinged? It makes no sense.

I believe there is a great deal of truth in this story.

[ewagner]

46. Marginalize and ridicule

brand anybody who repeats the story as a nut/whack job/conspiracy theorist etc...

the story line goes something like this: Look, look! Anybody who opposes the pResident is a whack job....don't be a whack job, vote with REAL Americans...vote Bush/Cheney.

[Renew Deal]

10. More

<snip>
“Too many make the mistake of thinking Dick Cheney is the real power in the Bush administration,” says one senior Homeland Security aide. “They’re wrong. It’s Ashcroft and that is reason enough for all of us to be very, very afraid.”
<snip>
:scared:

[napi21]

22. Nah, Ashcroft is the strong support behind shrub's religious side.

THAT I believe! Certainly not one of the decision makers...unless they are insinuating the "Rapture Idea" is really the strength behind EVERYTHING. If it's that, then I do believe it's Ashcroft.

[elehhhhna]

16. Pol Pot said House Arrest is a BITCH.

Maybe he's practicing.



I can't want to see him go all CharlieManson and speak in tongues during the debates!

[John_Shadows_1]

20. Who is Capitol Hill Blue?

These last couple of articles have been great - whether they're true or not .

[Chelsea Patriot]

43. And why all the Hostility?

These articles report behavior that I, for one, have been expecting would occur.

The Son Of The Bitch can't handle any pressure.

He's going freak out, live, sooner or later.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Well, let's hope the symptoms are nothing trivial.

He's probably boo-hooing to Babs and Jesus.

[terrya]

23. God, I wish there were a White House taping system right now.

Those tapes would certainly be interesting to listen to, don't you think?

[Media_Lies_Daily]

45. There is a White House taping system, but there may be at least two....

...of them.

When Nixon was President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were also spying on the White House through a couple of military orderlies that went through the trash every night.

When Reagan and Bush were top dogs, I don't think they knew that the email system was being backed-up...Ollie North thought he had destroyed all of his emails, but the back-ups were safe and sound. I knew the guy that had installed the system.

I strongly suspect that the CIA knows exactly what's going on in the White House...which is why they felt very safe in asking the DoJ to formally investigate the White House on the leaks that exposed Plame.

[giant_robot]

25. I don't know if the people at CHB...

...have a scoop or an active imagination, but these articles have a hell of an entertainment value, IMHO.

[AmerDem]

26. interesting!

[Elidor]

27. As Atrios said, "porn for democrats"

Enron executive Richard J. Lay? Jesus Henry Christ, can't they do a little better job? I like my pron to have at least a smattering of credibility.

I love their stuff, but I love the Weekly World News, too. I don't confuse either with reality. Except for the story about aliens coming to earth to disco and smoke pot. That's certainly true.

[Beam Me Up]

28. OUR pResident ON DRUGS!!

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time. It has been said that Kennedy was on pain killers (among other things) throughout his Presidency.

But this statement is, indeed, chilling: “Too many make the mistake of thinking Dick Cheney is the real power in the Bush administration,” says one senior Homeland Security aide. “They’re wrong. It’s Ashcroft and that is reason enough for all of us to be very, very afraid.”

HOLLY Kool-Aid KIDS!

[swag]

29. Smells like some kind of stinky-bait, though, a little bit

dunnit?

A little while ago I asked if it was true that Josh Marshall was collaborating with the CHB peeps on the "tectonic plates" thing as one post suggested.

Anybody got an idea?

[fishnfla]

31. What was that bogus story CHB ran with last year?

for the life of me I cant recall the details. Thompson used a bogus source, or was duped by a source.

I cant buy these stories, I need a better sell than CHB

[ClassWarrior]

32. DON'T FALL FOR IT.

They're trying to manage expectations again. He's cracking up!! Only to emerge from Crawford smirkin' and yukkin' it up like a Conneticut yokel pretending to be a bubba.

[truth2power]

38. I agree that their MO is

to put out disinformation just to make us look like fools.

OTOH, if the Chimp behavior that's out there for all the world to see is an act, then there should be a special category at the Oscars next year, just to honor the Boy King.

I'm not disputing that CHB is not a credible source, but every time I see Bush on TV, I know in my gut that there's something SERIOUSLY mentally wrong with that boy!!

[Batgirl]

42. entertainment value

When I read: “The George W. Bush we see today is not the same, gregarious, back-slapping President of old. He’s moody, distrustful and withdrawn.” I pictured the scene in 'O Brother Where Art Thou' where a suddenly depressive George "Baby Face" Nelson sighs dejectedly then walks away from the crackling bonfire, having come down from an exuberantly manic day of robbing banks and machine gunning cops and cows. Maybe the infamous "flight suit" signified the peaking of GWB's mania, then when major combat operations were declared over, life just became so drab and colorless.

[Stuckinthebush]

44. A dangerous game

I seriously doubt that the GOP is pushing these stories. You don't plant an idea in the public mind such as, "The President is whacko!" and then hope to turn it around in the end.

No, there is no way that the GOP would sanction this type of reporting. It is either true or a complete fabrication. Why would CHB fabricate such a story when they know that the GOP attack machine is ready with lawyers and slime makers just waiting for a chance to sue or discredit.

I have to believe that there is truth here.