The Staton Jones Report: November 2005 Archives

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November 29, 2005

The Ghosts of Nixon

Hey, guess which U.S. President is more paranoid: Bush or Nixon? Give up? You needn't, it's obvious.

Bush is coming unglued, according to several reports based upon interviews with government officials who have been in "the presence" of His Majesty, George the 2nd. He thinks God put him in power. He thinks the war in Iraq is going well. He thinks his friends are out to get him (one out of three isn't that awful a record).

The president returns to Washington today after another vacation in Crawford, Texas, and the White House hopes that talk of immigration reform and the Samuel Alito nomination will distract the public from worries over the war in Iraq and continuing developments in the CIA leak case.
As for George W. Bush? He doesn't need any distracting. Two new reports -- one in the New Yorker, one in the New York Daily News -- suggest that the president is living in a state of denial about the troubles facing him and the country he is supposed to lead for three more years.

In the New Yorker, Seymour Hersh tells the tale of a former senior administration official who visited Iraq after the 2004 presidential election and returned to inform Bush that the war wasn't going well. "I said to the president, 'We're not winning the war,'" the official told Hersh. "And he asked, 'Are we losing?' I said, 'Not yet.'" Bush was "displeased" with the answer, the official told Hersh. "I tried to tell him. And he couldn't hear it."

Hersh paints the picture of a president who believes that he was chosen by God to lead the United States after 9/11, a man whose faith blots out any concern over setbacks in Iraq. "The president is more determined than ever to stay the course," a former defense official tells Hersh. "Bush is a believer in the adage 'People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.'" The former official tells Hersh that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney reinforce the president's delusions by having him appear only in front of friendly audiences and keeping him "in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway." Bush, the former official says, has no idea that he's living in a bubble.

In the Daily News, Thomas DeFrank and Kenneth Bazinet say the state of denial extends well beyond Bush. They quote a "card-carrying member of the Washington GOP establishment with close ties to the White House" who dined recently with several senior presidential aides and left shaking his head. "There is just no introspection there at all," he said. "It is everybody else's fault -- the press, gutless Republicans on the Hill. They're still in denial." Another "close Bush confidant" says: "The staff basically still has an unyielding belief in the wisdom of what they're doing. They're talking to people who could help them, but they're not listening."

Meanwhile, the Daily News says, the president is growing paranoid about the people around him, furious over leaks about the mood inside the White House but unsure which of his aides is spreading the stories. One "knowledgeable source" says: "He's asking [friends] for opinions on who he can trust and who he can't."

Posted by Steven at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

Wild, Wild Iraq

Remember your poor, lamented booglemeter? It's about to explode.

One of the "security agencies" that runs amok in Iraq, literally runs amok.

From the "Can It Get Any Worse?" Department comes news of what appears to be a trophy video of somebody firing an automatic weapon at drivers in Iraq, all set to the tune of Elvis Presley's "Mystery Train."
The Sunday Telegraph broke the story yesterday, saying that the discovery of the video on a Web site "unofficially linked" to a major private security contractor operating in Iraq has prompted investigations by both the contractor and the British government.

Last year, the Bush administration granted the contractor, Aegis Defense Services, a $293 million contract for security work in Iraq. The contract was controversial at the time it was granted because of questions about the past of Aegis chief executive Tim Spicer, a former lieutenant colonel in the Scots Guard. Among other things, Spicer was accused of selling weapons to Sierra Leone in violation of United Nations sanctions.

While it's not clear whether Aegis employees were involved in making the video, the Telegraph says voices with Irish or Scottish accents can be heard on the tape as somebody fires rounds out of the back of a car. A spokesman for Aegis tells the Telegraph that there is "nothing to indicate" that the film clips are connected to the company. At the same time, however, the Web site on which the video was found also contains what appears to be a notice from Spicer in which he notes the "media interest in the site" and reminds "everyone of their contractual obligation not to speak to or assist the media without clearing it with the project management or Aegis London."

Posted by Steven at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

Another GOP House Member Busted

In case you hadn't heard, GOP Rep. Cunningham pleaded guilty to bribery (and other) charges today, and (mirableu!) resigned from the House.

Over at TPM, they are cataloging this guy's crimes, and they go well beyond petty theft and bribery.

On the other hand, you gotta admit, it takes guts for a GOP member to say:

"The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office," he told reporters, his voice strained with emotion. "I know I will forfeit my reputation, my worldly possessions -- most importantly the trust of my friends and family."

Almost makes me wanna hug the lug, for being honest for the first time in so long, he can't remember. And then send him to the Big House.

Can't wait for DeLay's turn at the screw.

Posted by Steven at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2005

World Embarassment Tour

No wonder Preznit Chimpy is afraid of an exit strategy in Iraq: he can't even exit a fucking press conference. Check out this footage from the BBC.

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