posted April 21, 2003 at 4:59 p.m. MDT
"Henny Penny" Rumsfeld tells us that Pentagon never ever even considered establishing long-term military facilities in Iraq. *long pause* Ohhhhh com'on, Donald, who the fuck are you talking to?!
Oh-wooops ... I keep forgetting these pathological assholes know precisely and exactly who they're talking to. "The limits to what the oppressed will suffer are the constraints of the oppressors", remember? Well the Bush Whitehouse knows that the American people are now positioned to eat shit by the bucket-full ... and that's not good for anyone at all.
You know how I keep talking about Perle hanging from the rafters by his heels? Well, Karl Rove scares me a hell of a lot more than Perle does ... from a cursory examination of anecdotal evidence, I'd say the guy is a class-A psychopath. (on the off chance that you consider Mr. Nice Guy behaviour proof positive of quality character, I have three pieces of advice: 1) give your head a shake, 2) read a book, 3) have a thought.)
Why Are These Men Laughing?; (Esquire; Jan03) - " ...President George W. Bush called John DiIulio "one of the most influential social entrepreneurs in America" when he appointed the University of Pennsylvania professor, author, historian, and domestic-affairs expert to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He was the Bush administration’s big brain, controversial but deeply respected by Republicans and Democrats, academicians and policy players. The appointment was rightfully hailed: DiIulio provided gravity to national policy debates and launched the most innovative of President Bush’s campaign ideas—the faith-based initiative, which he managed until this past February, the last four months from Philadelphia.
"There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus," says DiIulio. "What you’ve got is everything—and I mean everything—being run by the political arm. It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis."
In a seven-page letter sent a few weeks after our first conversation, DiIulio, who still considers himself a passionate supporter of the president, offers a detailed account and critique of the time he spent in the Bush White House.
"I heard many, many staff discussions but not three meaningful, substantive policy discussions," he writes. "There were no actual policy white papers on domestic issues. There were, truth be told, only a couple of people in the West Wing who worried at all about policy substance and analysis, and they were even more overworked than the stereotypical nonstop, twenty-hour-a-day White House staff."