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Aug. 21st, 2007 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hiddenmuseWhile politics may not be my big thing, I admit to being fascinated by the in-fighting among groups within the individual political parties. The Republicans make for especially fun politico fight-watching. The fact that there are Christian groups that think of Shrub as not being conservative enough is quite scary and nightmare-provoking, in and of itself.
On another tangent, with Karl Rove gone, whatever will Shrub do with himself? Will he haveLord Voldemort Dick Cheney ordering him around even more? Seriously, I just want to know if Shrub has ever had an independent thought - or if he's just parroting what he is told by consultants and others within his administration/ political circle.
And speaking of Karl Rove, this month's issue of The Atlantic has a good - and slightly unsettling - article about Karl Rove and his hand in the failed BushCo presidency, written by Joshua Green.
One thing that stuck out for me - besides Rove's William McKinley fetish - was this comment made by Dick Armey (R-Texas) about the difference between the attitudes of Clinton and Bush:
"Dick Armey, the House Republican majority leader when Bush took office (and no more a shrinking violet than {Tom} DeLay), told a story that captures the exquisite pettiness of most members of Congress and the arrogance that made Bush and Rove so inept at handling them.
"'For all the years he was president,' Armey told me, 'Bill Clinton and I had a little thing we'd do where every time I went to the White House, I would take the little name tag they give you and pass it to the President, who, without saying a word, would sign and date it. Bill Clinton and I didn't like each other. He said I was his least-favorite member of Congress. But he knew that when I left his office, the first schoolkid I came across would be given that card, and some kid who had come to Washington with his mama would go home with the President's autograph. I think Clinton thought it was a nice thing to do for some kid, and he was happy to do it.'
"Armey said that when he went to his first meeting in the White House with President Bush, he explained the tradition with Clinton and asked the President if he would care to continue it. 'Bush refused to sign the card. Rove, who was sitting across the table, said 'It would probably wind up on eBay', Armey continued. 'Do I give a damn? No. But can you imagine refusing a simple request like that with an insult? It's stupid. From the point of view of your own self-interest, it's stupid. I was from Texas, and I was the majority leader. If my expectations of civility and collegiality were disappointed, what do you think it was like for the congressmen they dealt with? The Bush White House was tone-deaf to the normal courtesies of the office.'"
Yeah ... there's probably more, but that part just stuck out to me.
I'll be glad when those haughty jackasses are out of office.
On another tangent, with Karl Rove gone, whatever will Shrub do with himself? Will he have
And speaking of Karl Rove, this month's issue of The Atlantic has a good - and slightly unsettling - article about Karl Rove and his hand in the failed BushCo presidency, written by Joshua Green.
One thing that stuck out for me - besides Rove's William McKinley fetish - was this comment made by Dick Armey (R-Texas) about the difference between the attitudes of Clinton and Bush:
"Dick Armey, the House Republican majority leader when Bush took office (and no more a shrinking violet than {Tom} DeLay), told a story that captures the exquisite pettiness of most members of Congress and the arrogance that made Bush and Rove so inept at handling them.
"'For all the years he was president,' Armey told me, 'Bill Clinton and I had a little thing we'd do where every time I went to the White House, I would take the little name tag they give you and pass it to the President, who, without saying a word, would sign and date it. Bill Clinton and I didn't like each other. He said I was his least-favorite member of Congress. But he knew that when I left his office, the first schoolkid I came across would be given that card, and some kid who had come to Washington with his mama would go home with the President's autograph. I think Clinton thought it was a nice thing to do for some kid, and he was happy to do it.'
"Armey said that when he went to his first meeting in the White House with President Bush, he explained the tradition with Clinton and asked the President if he would care to continue it. 'Bush refused to sign the card. Rove, who was sitting across the table, said 'It would probably wind up on eBay', Armey continued. 'Do I give a damn? No. But can you imagine refusing a simple request like that with an insult? It's stupid. From the point of view of your own self-interest, it's stupid. I was from Texas, and I was the majority leader. If my expectations of civility and collegiality were disappointed, what do you think it was like for the congressmen they dealt with? The Bush White House was tone-deaf to the normal courtesies of the office.'"
Yeah ... there's probably more, but that part just stuck out to me.
I'll be glad when those haughty jackasses are out of office.
