Bush White House starting to resemble last days of Nixon

[pberq]

http://www.antiwar.com/justin/

<snip>
The president, however, doesn't have to respond to any questions: he lives in a bubble, where anyone who contradicts him is summarily exiled or otherwise intimidated into silence. Word is out that the Bush White House is beginning to resemble the place during the last days of Richard Nixon: "Buy beleaguered, overworked White House aides enough drinks," says one wag, and

"They describe a president whose public persona masks an angry, obscenity-spouting man who berates staff, unleashes tirades against those who disagree with him and ends meetings in the Oval Office with 'get out of here!' In fact, George W. Bush's mood swings have become so drastic that White House e-mails often contain 'weather reports' to warn of the president's demeanor. 'Calm seas' means Bush is calm while 'tornado alert' is a warning that he is pissed at the world."

[Richard D]

1. More food for thought from this article - well worth a read!

"Wartime often transforms party labels, rendering traditional political categories of "left" and "right," "liberal" and "conservative" similarly meaningless. We seem to be at the beginning of some such transformative phrase.

Amid all the debate, the name-calling, and the obfuscating fog of charges and counter-charges, what is clear to ordinary folks – Republicans as well as Democrats and independents – is that there are two wings of the War Party, represented by the leadership of both "major" parties. That's how we got into this mess to begin with, and only a break with the political patterns of the past can get us out. What is developing is a populist rebellion of the grassroots against the bipartisan pro-war elites, made possible by the emergence of a new antiwar majority in this country. Half of all Americans now believe the president "misled" – i.e., lied – them into war. A majority want out of Iraq within the next year. A third want out now.

The War Party, however, is not going to give up quite so easily. Arrayed against this antiwar "people power" personified by Cindy Sheehan is the institutional power and majesty of the pro-war Establishment. They control the party machinery, major redoubts in the media, and most of all, the vast egos of major party politicians who are loath to admit they were wrong. The pro-war politicos don't have to have the majority behind them: they need only manipulate the levers of power and tip the balance in their favor.

As long as they can keep the people – and the voters – corralled inside the two-party system, the authors and enablers of this criminal war will probably continue in power, defying the antiwar majority. Working against them, however, is the enormous pressure brought to bear by the emotional, financial, and military costs of this war, which could finally cause the dam to break, unleashing the floodgates of antiwar sentiment in America. On that day, the entire structure and rationale for our interventionist foreign policy will be swept away, and the two major parties could count among the casualties. By 2008, as the war escalates out of control and the full measure of the disaster that's befallen us becomes apparent, we should be ready for a Hagel-Feingold peace fusion ticket. (Feingold-Hagel? Whatever!)"

[Richard D]

2. More food for thought from this article - well worth a read!

"Wartime often transforms party labels, rendering traditional political categories of "left" and "right," "liberal" and "conservative" similarly meaningless. We seem to be at the beginning of some such transformative phrase.

Amid all the debate, the name-calling, and the obfuscating fog of charges and counter-charges, what is clear to ordinary folks – Republicans as well as Democrats and independents – is that there are two wings of the War Party, represented by the leadership of both "major" parties. That's how we got into this mess to begin with, and only a break with the political patterns of the past can get us out. What is developing is a populist rebellion of the grassroots against the bipartisan pro-war elites, made possible by the emergence of a new antiwar majority in this country. Half of all Americans now believe the president "misled" – i.e., lied – them into war. A majority want out of Iraq within the next year. A third want out now.

The War Party, however, is not going to give up quite so easily. Arrayed against this antiwar "people power" personified by Cindy Sheehan is the institutional power and majesty of the pro-war Establishment. They control the party machinery, major redoubts in the media, and most of all, the vast egos of major party politicians who are loath to admit they were wrong. The pro-war politicos don't have to have the majority behind them: they need only manipulate the levers of power and tip the balance in their favor.

As long as they can keep the people – and the voters – corralled inside the two-party system, the authors and enablers of this criminal war will probably continue in power, defying the antiwar majority. Working against them, however, is the enormous pressure brought to bear by the emotional, financial, and military costs of this war, which could finally cause the dam to break, unleashing the floodgates of antiwar sentiment in America. On that day, the entire structure and rationale for our interventionist foreign policy will be swept away, and the two major parties could count among the casualties. By 2008, as the war escalates out of control and the full measure of the disaster that's befallen us becomes apparent, we should be ready for a Hagel-Feingold peace fusion ticket. (Feingold-Hagel? Whatever!)"

[Junkdrawer]

3. Who'd a thunk it...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4316026#4316077

[wli]

4. anti-war is not the issue, it's the corruption

If we let ourselves be "bought off" by a pullout from Iraq and/or Afghanistan, we've lost. These fascists need to be put away for treason.

[pberq]

5. I agree, but both need to happen

With Able Danger, maybe we are seeing the beginning of the end for them.