"As President of the United States, George W. Bush is in very far over his head. "

[BurtWorm]

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/061120ta_talk_hertzberg

The day after the election, at a press conference in the East Room of the White House, the curtain rose on Act III of “Oedipus Bush.” On one level, the current President Bush was all crisp decisiveness as he announced the replacement of his Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, with Robert Gates, a former C.I.A. director and the president of Texas A. & M. University. Below the surface, but only a little below, something altogether more unsettling was going on. Rumsfeld was one of the first President Bush’s least favorite people; Gates is one of his most trusted confidants. He is also an active member of the Iraq Study Group, which is headed by another of the father’s intimates, James Baker. The group’s report, expected in the New Year, will offer the outlines of a different course in Iraq—an offer the President may be unable to refuse. At the Pentagon, Rumsfeld yields to Gates; in the Oval Office, adolescent rebellion gives way to sullen acquiescence.

Bush said some of the right things at his press conference, but he chose his words carelessly. He congratulated the “Democrat leaders” and promised bipartisanship—a goal he is unlikely to advance by referring to his hoped-for new partners by a name calculated solely to annoy them. Impressions are inherently subjective, of course; but he looked like a man who at that moment would much prefer to be commissioner of baseball, the job he longed for in 1993, before falling back on running for governor of Texas. It has been obvious for some time that, as President of the United States, George W. Bush is in very far over his head. He does not know how to use power wisely. He will now have a Democratic Congress to restrain him, and, perhaps, to protect him—and us—from his unfettered impulses. This may not be the Thanksgiving he was looking forward to, but the rest of us have reason to be grateful.


— Hendrik Hertzberg

[izzie]

Just what I feel. He just never did his home work.

You know I really worried about Clinton when he came in for this very reason but he seemed to have done his home work and even if from a small state must have been watching the world as he was up to speed fast. Bush is like the lazy student the opens the book before the test and ask a friend what should I know to get Thur this? It is a pattern he seems to have been doing his whole life, so why would any one feel he would change? It is hard to change your make up and way of life. His un-sureness makes him stick fast to what he wants to believe he is right on. It is what people get from leaders when they get 'birth' rule and pick from a well known name who knows little. You need talent to be a great country.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

4. I agree with you.

Clinton didn't know what he was doing in this first year in office, but by 1994-1995, he was clearly on top of things and by the time he left office, he was masterful in doing his job.

Truthless Leader is just as clueless today as he was January 20, 2001.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

14. Amazingly, amid all that chaff the Corporate/Right Media...

threw at him, the people seemed to get that Clinton (a) cared about their plight and was trying to do something about it relentlessly and (b) was growing in his job and doing better every day. This is evidenced by the fact that his lowest ratings were in 94 and they steadily climbed to a stable high in the 60's.

Sometimes, I am amazed at how ordinary people (not junkies like us) seem to be able to cut through all the nonsense and "get it"...

Edited for grammar...

[livetohike]

1. Too bad this wasn't written before the 2004 elections

It may have saved us from the four more years of ineptitude we have to endure.

Got to love it "Oedipus Bush".

[BurtWorm]

6. Hertzberg has been writing columns like these since day one of Bush's regime.

He is the only talking head I've ever heard who said Bush's drive to war was problematic because of questions about the legitimacy of his election. Which is probably a major reason why he's not a talking head any more.

[livetohike]

9. Maybe more people will speak out now that Bush is such a

lame duck.....Cudos to Hertzberg for showing some guts.

:toast:

[Patiod]

17. You beat me to it!

He's been saying this from the get-go. I've loved his pieces in the New Yorker - always grateful that someone was pointing out that the Emperor was both naked and wearing a dunce cap.

[electropop]

13. FOUR more years?

Do you know something I don't? :scared:

[livetohike]

15. Nah, I meant four years after the 2004 elections

God help us if we had to go to 2010 with this doofus. Hopefully, he will step down.

[ClintonTyree]

2. Interesting that they brought up the.....

"Commissioner of Baseball" topic. In 2000 it was reported that being President of the United States was seen by George W. Bush as a springboard to his real heart's desire: Commissioner of Baseball. I thought that ludicrous until I did a little research into the matter and, lo and behold, that WAS one of George W. Bush's goals in life and he DID see President as being the best way of achieving that goal. :wtf: President of the United States as a resume' filler for a do-nothing, mostly honorary position that could be handled by any usher at any ballpark? I repeat, :wtf:

I think the disgraced President has about as much chance of being Commissioner of Baseball now as he has of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Baseball doesn't want to associate itself with an abject failure unable to transform the most simple thought into a coherent sentence. Or maybe they do. :shrug: As if having the chimp being President added some sort of gravitas to their organization. In my opinion that would make professional baseball a true farce, where as now, they're simply a bunch of rich old men playing with their ultimate toys.

[livetohike]

8. Well said - too bad we can't nominate replies for the greatest

page because this deserves one! :hi:

[Bad Penny]

12. didn't condi say she wanted to be NFL commissioner too?

Will Rummy resurface as head of NASCAR now? Let's hope Cheney doesn't get his long hoped for position as Caesar of the Colosseum

[demgurl]

20. ClintonTyree....

I find the articles where it states he wanted to be commissioner. Could you please give me a link to where they say he wanted to use this job as a springboard? I believe it but hubby likes to see everything in print. He actually thought I was telling a joke when I mentioned it to him!!! Thanks.

[Turbineguy]

3. Tom Lehrer on Oedipus Rex

There once lived a man named oedipus rex.
You may have heard about his odd complex.
His name appears in freuds index
cause he loved his mother.

His rivals used to say quite a bit,
That as a monarch he was most unfit.
But still in all they had to admit
That he loved his mother.

Yes he loved his mother like no other.
His daughter was his sister and his son was his brother.
One thing on which you can depend is,
He sure knew who a boys best friend is!

When he found what he had done,
He tore his eyes out one by one.
A tragic end to a loyal son
Who loved his mother.

So be sweet and kind to mother,
Now and then have a chat.
Buy her candy or some flowers or a brand new hat.
But maybe you had better let it go at that!

Or you may find yourself with a quite complex complex,
And you may end up like oedipus.
Id rather marry a duck-billed platypus,
Than end up like old oedipus rex.

[annabanana]

5. I love Tom Lehrer. .

Back in the 50's my folks used to play his records around the house. (Mom had some problems with my singing along to "Rickity-tikity-tin". . )

[Turbineguy]

16. Yes.

"The water tasted bad for a week
and we had to make do with gin"

[JuniperLea]

7. He never finished anything he ever started

I wonder sometimes if he is going to step down.

[BurtWorm]

10. I suspect he is going to just stop showing up for work.

Sort of like he did in the Guard.

[JuniperLea]

18. Yep. I bet you're right!

He can't face his own failures. He knows he can't be king now, so I'm betting he loses interest:) Time for a nice, long vacation.

[BlueEyedSon]

11. ....and has been for 6 years and we will all pay the price for it

[Ms. Clio]

19. the "sullen acquiescence" appears to have worn off & it's back to adolescent rebellion

Bush intends to push back with his own report, now:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2615525

[BurtWorm]

21. Nice timing.

:eyes:

[happydreams]

22. Measure the size of his nasal passages and compare them

to population of non-coke snorters. Bush fried his fuckhead a long time ago.