Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

Gah! You beat me to the post!

Verry interesting stuff. They guy is a lifelong bureaucrat and republican. But his 7 months in NSC made him so angry and bitter that he's devoted his energies to getting rid of Bush.

It may be a generation before enough of what has happend in the last two and-a-half years becomes clear and certain die-hards will never admit to anything but excellent motives and performance -- i.e. see Kissinger. But, based on what trickles out day-by-day and week-by-week, something is rotten in the White House.

 

Iraq will have to become a major disaster for this to be a problem for Bush. When was the last time a Democrat beat a Republican over foreign policy?

And having a low-profile NSC guy join Kerry's campaign can't be much of a bonus for him. The Demos had 8 years to develop some foreign policy expertise, hopefully he come up with more than Clinton had in '92.

 

Wow. Very interesting article, with some pretty poor reviews of the current White House. If the press choose to make a big deal out of this - and they probably won't - it could really bury Bush amongst swing voters.

Smiley, how many "major disasters" must one president have before he's held accountable? It's not like, as a whole, Iraq and Afghanistan have gone swimmingly.

 

You didn't get the point of my post. Democrats are wasting their time trying to beat Bush on foreign policy. To a lefty maybe Iraq and Afghanistan are disasters, but to normal people they were victories.

If the Demos beat Bush on foreign policy it will be because Bush gave it to them on a silver platter, like thousands of deaths in Iraq with a quagmire looming. Maybe that will happen in a year but not yet.

As far as being held accountable....that's an elusive concept in politics. Nixon was re-elected in '72 even though he promised to get us out of Vietnam. You can get away with some pretty flagrant lies and disasters in politics, if the stars are aligned. Look at Gray Davis here in California.

 

Ah, another item to add the ever-growing list of qualities associated with the liberal/leftist sensibility, another to add to the ever-predictable list of....

--cynicism
--pessimism
--loathing
--America being the world's biggest problem
--hypocrisy being the greatest sin

yada, yada, yada...

It's the

"here's hoping that wishing will make it so!!!

turn of mind.

Or, for those with a more juvenile inclination, the

"I think it can, I think it can..." liberal/leftist little engine that could.

Keep it up, guys...never a dull moment.

 

You are correct. My bad.

 

I'll not begrudge you that popular perceptions re: Iraq and Afghanistan is that they were unqualified victories. However, that can be changed in a heartbeat by one really bad day, see Mogadishu. Ditto over two years by a slow, steady dripping of lies, fu**ups and disinformation.

I will take issue with the quote above though. They guy was the head of counterterrorism responsible for threat assesment. He was neither low profile nor ignorant of the big picture. It is a HUGE coup for Kerry. What JFK (he's not trying to play that up... yet) does with the information is up to him. But it is a major opportunity to play merry hell with the administration. Probably lot like what Churchill had on Baldwin and Chamberlin, in fact.

 

Re: Re: Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

Karl, you seem to be a smart guy. So can you add anything of substance? Or would you rather stick with liberal bashing posts such as this?

So obviously, you think the defection is no big deal. Politically speaking, you could be correct because the general public is still basking in military victory, patriotism and fear of terrorism. And the Bushies are smart in playing to this.

But if this defection, along with quotes from CIA officials and field generals regarding the Bushies pre-ordained agenda (and thus picking and choosing what intelligence they paid attention to), along with the rebuilding effort in both Afghanistan and Iraq going along rather poortly, along with a lack of WMDs, all start to add up finally in the public's mind, the Bushies will have it tough in the next election and the Dem nominee (whoever that ends up being) will have all kinds of ammunition.

The indications are there. Bush's approval rating has dropped dramatically (albiet it is still high at 57%).

The quotes from the article can only hurt Bush.

 

Re: Re: Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

not that i approve of this list in any way, but which is it? are leftists pessimists or optimists?

 

Dave, for the time being you're overstating the impact of this. Most of the country doesn't really care about the Iraq aftermath and ceased thinking seriously about AQ somewhere around the fourth Code Orange alert. And they certainly don't care if Bush's inner circle refuses to listen to other opinions -- in fact, many of his biggest supporters count on that singularity of mind.

If there's another terrorist attack on our soil between now and next November, it will go back to being a major campaign issue. But right now it's not. Someone needs to repost the Clinton '92 sign prominently in DNC headquarters -- "It's the economy, stupid."

 

I'd be surprised if Kerry didn't know 98% of what this guy is privy to. He is in the senate, you know.

Each one of these candidates must have putative cabinet members, and this guy isn't close to that, either, so my guess is that he's just enough to relieve superdave's summer doldrums for a day or two.

If Condoleeza Rice quits and calls Bush a nitwit, then he may have a little trouble.

 

Re: Re: Re: Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

Don't you see? They are both. That is why liberals are so predictable - they are always either pessimistic or optimistic, never anything else.

 

Yes I did.

Just because I choose not to discuss it in a fashion that suits you and your ilk -- you know, "goody goody, gum drops, Bush is in trouble!!!" -- doesn't mean

a) it's not worth discussing

b) I have nothing to say about it

c) it is, or isn't, everything you wish and hope and pray it is.

I just find your reaction to this one newspaper article, and the reaction of your leftist compatriots, amusingly predictable, and easily pigeon-holed.

That's all.

 

Re: Re: Re: Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

Anyone who wishes that disaster happen to someone else, or that things are horrible and awful where that someone else happens to be, such as the current White House...

well, that's a pessimist by any definition.

You can be a HOPEFUL pessimist -- hopeful that things are bad for others, or a HOPELESS pessimist, that things are bad everywhere.

....but you're a pessimist nonetheless.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Potential problem for Bush...former NSC aide volunteers for Kerry campaign

No, no quite...

They're optimistic about their pessimism...

They hope and wish and pray SO hard that things are SO bad for the other side, that they almost gleefully rejoice in their "predicament."

Be it real, or imagined, it probably doesn't matter.

For me, it's the psychology that's so fascinating. Kinda like having your eyes drawn to a 12 car pileup, and hamburger strewn all over the highway.

 

Oh boy.

Pessimism generally indicates a gloomy outlook on life, or whatever you are thinking of.

A rightist would be pessimistic about what a leftist government can accomplish, and the other way around.

Compared to many, I am an optimist about what government institutions can accomplish. I am an optimist that good government may win out in the end. I am a pessimist about what this president can do. I don't wish him evil. I with the American people, and future generations, well.

 

> For me, it's the psychology that's so fascinating.

Actually, I think it is something else. Here we start with a thread about a Bush official going into Kerry's camp, and we end up talking about you. You are clearly attention-deprived, and will say anything to become the topic of discussion.

 

I am not surprised that a career bureaucrat got fed up with the Bushies, those people tend not be idealogues, unlike Dickie, Rummy & co.

Nor am I surprised that Karl used this thread to hop back onto his "Everything I disagree with is proof that I am right" hobby horse. It sounds like he's trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

 

It's not so much that the Democrats can hope to beat the Republicans over foreign policy (I agree, that's very unlikely). More like a hope that if they can reduce Bush's perceived edge in that area, the election will be decided more on other issues.

Iraq almost certainly won't be a liability for Bush per se, but if significant WMD evidence doesn't turn up and there are nagging doubts that the invasion and postwar commitment aren't strongly contributing to domestic security, Bush's ability to campaign and run solely on those issues will be limited, which could move the economy back toward center stage.