Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President
AUSTIN, Tex., March 29 ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ In 1999, Matthew Dowd became a symbol of George W. Bush’s early success at positioning himself as a Republican with Democratic appeal. A top strategist for the Texas Democrats who was disappointed by the Bill Clinton years, Mr. Dowd was impressed by the pledge of Mr. Bush, then governor of Texas, to bring a spirit of cooperation to Washington. He switched parties, joined Mr. Bush’s political brain trust and dedicated the next six years to getting him to the Oval Office and keeping him there. In 2004, he was appointed the president’s chief campaign strategist. Looking back, Mr. Dowd now says his faith in Mr. Bush was misplaced…. He criticized the president as failing to call the nation to a shared sense of sacrifice at a time of war, failing to reach across the political divide to build consensus and ignoring the will of the people on Iraq. He said he believed the president had not moved aggressively enough to hold anyone accountable for the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and that Mr. Bush still approached governing with a “my way or the highway” mentality reinforced by a shrinking circle of trusted aides.
When Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © was Governor of Texas, he was respected by legislators and politicians on boths sides of the aisle for his willingness and his ability to reach across party lines in an effort to get things done. He will never be remembered as one of this state’s great governors- perhaps not even one of the mediocre ones- but he at least understood that governing sometimes means finding common ground.
The Worst President EVER © rode into Washington promising more of the same. He was going to be a uniter, not a divider. He was going to restore honor and dignity to the White House. There was no reason to believe that he would govern any differently than he did while living in the Governor’s Mansion in Austin. Boy, did THAT change in one Hell of a hurry, or what??
Any of Sir Bombs-a-lot’s © many professional propagandists apologists will tell you with a straight face that 9.11 changed everything, that dealing with terrorism required firm, resolute leadership and the willing to what needed to be done. Yeah, that would explain why we stopped fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and invading Iraq instead, eh?
Yes, 9.11 did change the equation, but after six years of watching Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © conduct himself as if the Presidency was a monarchy, I’ve become convinced that 9.11 was merely a smokescreen, a convenient excuse used to justify something that would have happened anyway. All 9.11 did was to provide himself and his neoCon thugs with an air of legitimacy.
In Austin, The Worst President EVER © surrounded himself with pragmatists, staffers who were Conservative Republicans (this is Texas, after all) but also realists. In Washington, he surrounded himself with neoConservative, slash-an-burn ideologues who would by and large rather commit seppuku than compromise on matters of policy.
In speaking out, Mr. Dowd became the first member of Mr. Bush’s inner circle to break so publicly with him.
He said his decision to step forward had not come easily. But, he said, his disappointment in Mr. Bush’s presidency is so great that he feels a sense of duty to go public given his role in helping Mr. Bush gain and keep power.
Mr. Dowd, a crucial part of a team that cast Senator John Kerry as a flip-flopper who could not be trusted with national security during wartime, said he had even written but never submitted an op-ed article titled “Kerry Was Right,” arguing that Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat and 2004 presidential candidate, was correct in calling last year for a withdrawal from Iraq.
“I’m a big believer that in part what we’re called to do ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ to me, by God; other people call it karma ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ is to restore balance when things didn’t turn out the way they should have,” Mr. Dowd said. “Just being quiet is not an option when I was so publicly advocating an election.”
Would that more former Bushies could have the moral courage to stand up and call this sorry excuse for a President on his bulls—t. Perhaps if more former aides stepped forward- and I have a hard time believing Dowd is the only one who feels this way- things might begin to change. Perhaps impeachment might even become a reality. It’s the least he deserves.
What this country needs right now is more good and decent people like Matthew Dowd who are willing to do the right thing and speak out against the Bush Monarchy. I can’t imagine that this country as it is now is what Dowd and other idealists like him had in mind when they signed on to the Bush campaign.
Be careful what you ask for…’cuz you just might get it, eh??
