Tuesday, November 15, 2005

"BUSH IN THE BUNKER!"

I found out about this Insight on the News article via Skimble; you probably found out via Drudge or Wonkette. You have to register to get the full article from the Insight Web page, but Liberty Post, an imitation Free Republic, has a nice excerpt:

President Bush feels betrayed by several of his most senior aides and advisors and has severely restricted access to the Oval Office, administration sources say....

"The atmosphere in the Oval Office has become unbearable," a source said. "Even the family is split." ...

The sources said Mr. Bush maintains daily contact with only four people: first lady Laura Bush, his mother, Barbara Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes. The sources also say that Mr. Bush has stopped talking with his father, except on family occasions.

For the president, what triggered the break with his father was the interview given to the New Yorker magazine in October by Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security advisor in the first Bush presidency....

"Bush is living from hour to hour," said a senior Republican source who visits the White House frequently....


(There's more at the Liberty Post link.)

The important thing here is not the article, but who published it: Insight is a sister publication of The Washington Times. That means one of the most important organs of the right-wing media is burning its bridges to Bush.

Apparently the conservative movement, or at least a part of it, has decided that Bush is a traitor to the right (on government spending, immigration, and at least one judicial nomination), and/or believes he's an unpopular liability who threatens to bring down the GOP (if so, there's good reason -- go to Rasmussen Reports and check out some of the current Senate polls: Democrat Bill Nelson leads Katherine Harris in Florida by 17 points; Democrat Maria Cantwell has a 15-point lead in Washington State; Rick Santorum is trailing Democrat Bob Casey Jr. by 20 points in Pennsylvania; GOP incumbent Jim Talent is trailing Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill by 2 points in Missouri). What more will these people do if they've decided he's expendable?

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