PsychoticDan
13-09-2006, 17:56
This is a great article about what the Bush administration did to a Republican lawmaker who opposed the war. It is actually an excerpt from a book called "Hubris" about how Bush shoved the war through Congress. A couple quick blurbs:
But in the Cabinet Room , watching Bush pressure his congressional colleagues, Armey realized that Bush was serious, that he seemed committed to launching a war and overthrowing Saddam. He thought of another president from Texas, Lyndon Johnson, and what a reckless war had done to his administration. Armey, who had not said anything else about Iraq after his Iowa outburst, decided this was the moment to speak his mind directly to Bush. "Mr. President," he said, "if you go in there, you're likely to be stuck in a quagmire that will endanger your domestic agenda for the rest of your presidency."
As he explained his thinking, Armey got worked up and ended his comments with a bowdlerized line from Shakespeare he had gleaned from a country music song: "Our fears make cowards of us all." What did he mean by this? Armey believed that Bush and other administration officials were over-reacting to the country’s post-9/11 fears. It was as if the Iraq warriors were gripped with what he later called a "he-man macho psychosis where they felt the need to go out and shoot somebody to show you’re the tough guy on the block." Armey could tell his comments were not going over well. "I was the skunk in the garden party," he said later.
What really makes me proud to be an American is our extraordinarily articulate president.
At one point, other members of Congress were able to witness Bush's intense feelings about Saddam up close. At a breakfast with a few congressional leaders in late September, Bush expressed exasperation when the issue of a diplomatic settlement arose. Saddam had shown his contempt for the United States, he told the legislators. There was no use in talking to him. “Do you want to know what the foreign policy of Iraq is to the United States is?” Bush asked angrily. The president then answered his own question by raising his middle finger and thrusting it inches in front Senator Daschle's face, according to a witness. “F--k the United States!" Bush continued. "That’s what it is—and that’s why we’re going to get him!"
The whole story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14740070/site/newsweek/
But in the Cabinet Room , watching Bush pressure his congressional colleagues, Armey realized that Bush was serious, that he seemed committed to launching a war and overthrowing Saddam. He thought of another president from Texas, Lyndon Johnson, and what a reckless war had done to his administration. Armey, who had not said anything else about Iraq after his Iowa outburst, decided this was the moment to speak his mind directly to Bush. "Mr. President," he said, "if you go in there, you're likely to be stuck in a quagmire that will endanger your domestic agenda for the rest of your presidency."
As he explained his thinking, Armey got worked up and ended his comments with a bowdlerized line from Shakespeare he had gleaned from a country music song: "Our fears make cowards of us all." What did he mean by this? Armey believed that Bush and other administration officials were over-reacting to the country’s post-9/11 fears. It was as if the Iraq warriors were gripped with what he later called a "he-man macho psychosis where they felt the need to go out and shoot somebody to show you’re the tough guy on the block." Armey could tell his comments were not going over well. "I was the skunk in the garden party," he said later.
What really makes me proud to be an American is our extraordinarily articulate president.
At one point, other members of Congress were able to witness Bush's intense feelings about Saddam up close. At a breakfast with a few congressional leaders in late September, Bush expressed exasperation when the issue of a diplomatic settlement arose. Saddam had shown his contempt for the United States, he told the legislators. There was no use in talking to him. “Do you want to know what the foreign policy of Iraq is to the United States is?” Bush asked angrily. The president then answered his own question by raising his middle finger and thrusting it inches in front Senator Daschle's face, according to a witness. “F--k the United States!" Bush continued. "That’s what it is—and that’s why we’re going to get him!"
The whole story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14740070/site/newsweek/