Bryan Thomas. Soul Rock. Singer-Songwriter. Albany, New York.

Another conservative voice senses the tide may be turning against the White House.

This time it's John Podheretz of the National Review:

TIME AND NEWSWEEK AND WHITE HOUSE "SOURCES"

[John Podhoretz]

Both magazines [Time | Newsweek] have huge finger-pointing packages -- packages that rely heavily on self-exculpatory detail from people like Gov. Kathleen Blanco and officials in Louisiana and New Orleans. What's interesting about the stories is that they suggest there's been a change at the Bush White House because they feature unnamed sources saying nasty things about the president. One of the remarkable aspects of this White House has been the fanatical loyalty its people have displayed toward Bush -- even talking to friendly journalists like me, it's been nearly impossible to get past the feel-good spin. If that's really changing, if staffers are beginning to separate themselves from their boss emotionally and indulge in on-background carping and cavilling, then two things are true. 1) Bush is about to suffer the agony that has afflicted all previous recent administrations -- the "who said that!" rages that distract our leaders and make them feel isolated in their jobs. 2) News stories are about to get a whole lot more interesting, and White House reporters are going to stop complaining about how hard it is to cover Bush.

Maybe someone in the White House is as disgusted with the recent actions and inactions of this administration as the rest of America.

Labels: in the news

2 Comments:

Jeff said...: I doubt they are. It's a tight-knit crew that could be starting to stray a little with the impending changing of the guard.

By the way, Megan Gurley said to ask you nicely to link to my site - http://www.jeffcutler.com/jblog

There's very little there right now, but you can read a lot more about me by googling my whole name "jeff cutler" or visiting my site proper - www.jeffcutler.com or my business site - www.ideas2words.com.

Thanks and positive thoughts for you and your family.

Jeff; 9:27 PM
BT1SOUL said...: Oh man, thanks for writing Jeff. I'm reluctant to admit that there's been such little comment activity lately that I overlooked your post.

I know that this White House a tight-knit crew. SUPER tight-knit. And the loyalty to the president is extraordinary - especially in contrast to the kiss-and-tell that went on with Clinton aides the second they were out of the White House.

Which is why the recent leaking is so symptomatic of something very different going on in the White House in the wake of Katrina - so absolutely and compeltely incongruous with the way the White House usually operates.

And I thought it was just wishful thinking on my part until I started seeing that conservative papers and pundits started picking up on it.

The latest? The American Spectator:

But at this stage of the game, barring some imaginative political moves that bear some resemblance to the Bush Administration circa 2002, Republicans on Capitol Hill and even some longtime Bush team members in various Cabinet level departments say this Administration is done for.

"You run down the list of things we thought we could accomplish and you have to wonder what we thought we were thinking," says a Bush Administration member who joined on in 2001. "You get the impression that we're more than listless. We're sunk."

Too pessimistic? Maybe not. Rumors are flying through various departments of longtime senior Bush loyalists looking to jump, but with few opportunities in the private sector to make the jump look like anything more than desperation [...]

Congressional committee sources on both sides of Capitol Hill predict tough slogging on anything of policy consequence. "Social Security is dead as far as my chairman is concerned. So are the tax cuts," says a Ways and Means staffer of Chairman Bill Thomas.

And it's not just Katrina: there's every indication that White House staff is also getting ansy about what special prosecutor Fiztgerald has in store for 'em in October regarding the CIA leak case.

Knowing the attention span of the American public is less than the length of the average commercial break, we could be back to normal soon enough. I wouldn't be surprised.

But I'm crossing my fingers. And popping the popcorn.

Okay, I'm off to check out your site now. Thanks again for the dialogue.

B.; 4:48 PM