A Rocket and Planet Zito
October 2nd, 2006Republicans seem to be taking advantage, or trying to, of the fact that newspapers and broadcast stations are not airing the full details of the Foley incident as doing so might induce fines from the FCC for public indecency. Tony Snow referred to this scandal as nothing but “naughty emails” and conveniently failed to note that they were perverted emails and attempts to have sex with sixteen year old boys by a man who was in charge of protecting children from pedophiles through his subcommittee. My good friends at This Century Sucks have a good take on the matter.
Over at the Washington Post, there are good notes on Andrew Card and Donald Rumsfeld, as well as Laura Bush’s thoughts on the matter, and through this article, I’ve seen what I consider the most fascinating glimpse into the Bush White House.
Every six weeks or so, Card tried to have a private, candid session with first lady Laura Bush to hear her concerns. The first lady was worried that Rumsfeld was hurting her husband, and her perspective seemed to reflect Rice’s concern about Rumsfeld’s overbearing style and tendency to dominate. Card knew that the first lady and Rice often took long walks together on the Camp David weekends.
“I agree with you,” Card said. On one level he was trying to educate and explain, but he was also lobbying. So he outlined his problems with Rumsfeld and said he believed it was time for a change. “Well, does the president know about that?” she asked. Was Card being candid with her husband? Card said he was. “That’s why I’m arguing.” He said, however, that so far his advice on the Rumsfeld situation had been considered and rejected. “He’s happy with this,” the first lady said, “but I’m not.” Another time she said, “I don’t know why he’s not upset with this.”
Card’s relationship with Rumsfeld was always difficult. Last year, in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans with devastating effect, Bush decided more troops were needed and asked Card to relay the message to Rumsfeld. “You know I don’t report to you,” Rumsfeld said. “I know you don’t report to me,” Card replied. “You report to the president. But believe me, he would like you to do this.” “I’m not going to do it unless the president tells me,” Rumsfeld told the chief of staff. Too many strains and obligations were being placed on the National Guard. Card protested that he had just talked to the president, who had made an absolute decision. “Then he’s going to have to tell me,” Rumsfeld said.
“Hey,” the president said to Card later. “Rumsfeld called me up. I thought you were going to handle that.”
That, my friends, is everything that is wrong with this White House. Before the excerpt I made, it’s noted that Dick Cheney all-but-demanded that his old best friend stay on as Secretary of Defense, while Card and Rice and Laura were all opposed to his remainder.
We’ve all heard the shots against Bush saying he’s Cheney’s pawn, and that he’s as dumb as a rock. Curious as one, too. I’ve always been sure that he’s an incompetent, a bumbler, and a bit of a moron — but I never knew it was at this level, that things were this bad, that Rumsfeld would refuse to answer Rice’s phone calls and that’d be okay with the President. That he’d be fine with his DOD refusing to speak to the National Security Advisor, refusing to take an order from the Chief of Staff, and that he’d be fine with it. Maybe I should be less surprised, but I wanted to have some faith in the President’s ability rather than none at all.
But like with the news this weekend that Roger Clemens was named as a steroid user by an admitted juicer, I shouldn’t be surprised at all, because like with his hero Roger, George Bush is what he obviously is: a man far too simple, far too dumb to count on. Truman, the man he’s most often compared to by his friends, never would’ve sent such an order with the Chief of Staff, but if he had, he’d have personally busted that DOD Chairman down if he were to give the Chief such a hard time. With George? It doesn’t matter, because Uncle Dick said it was okay. Yes, my friends, it appears that Roger Clemens is a steroid user, and who really doubts it?
While we’re on the subject of baseball, I’ve an open message to my hero, Barry Zito: Dear Barry, Don’t join the NY Yankees in the offseason. Money talks, but, please, it isn’t so loud that you ought to sell your soul. (Since I read this weekend that Jason “HGH” Giambi and his dear friend Johnny “Genital Warts” Damon were advising him to come to the Bankees, I thought I’d balance the karma and ask him to go somewhere else, anywhere else.) (Recently, I’ve found that I wish to move to Planet Zito, and for anyone wondering what that is, you should take a look, here. Cool beans.)