I Sniff Some Politics (Bush approval rating: 73%)

Newsweek ^ | 05/27/2002 | Howard Fineman

[Pokey78]

It was supposed to be a routine drop-by, little more: A quick strategic review with the president before he awarded a medal to Nancy Reagan in the Capitol Rotunda. But by the time George W. Bush arrived at a private gathering of Republican senators in the Mansfield Room, a vicious political war had erupted on the Hill, ignited by the disclosure that he had been warned last August about the possibility of Al Qaeda hijackings in the United States. A suddenly embattled president felt the need to talk tough

[lsee]

I hate Newsweek....yet, the article DOES contain this tiny admission "The rest of the (Dem) party joined in, conveniently ignoring Clinton-administration failures and the extensive pre-9-11 knowledge of their own members of congressional intelligence committees."

One has to wonder which "top White House aide" and/or "one staffer" would risk their job by revealing anything about private meetings and their impressions of weakness since these kinds of loose-lipped remarks are frowned upon by the President.

[speedy]

Nice try, Fineman. The horse is already dead, but you just keep right on beating it. Loser.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

He's still sporting an Algore sticker on his Volvo.

[CONSERVATIVE ALWAYS]

He said he’d asked the Israeli leader if he really hated Yasir Arafat. Sharon had answered yes, according to the president. “I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘Well, are you going to kill him?’ ” Sharon said no, to which the president said he’d replied, “That’s good.”

[rmgatto]

Howard Fineman is a self-satisfied man of mediocre intelligence and writing ability--a charter member of the Clymer Brigade. Picture that on the cover of newsweek.

[Alas Babylon!]

So the democrats attack Bush with FALSE & DISTORTED CHARGES and he gets mad and fights back. Oh, the humanity! Big Media spins once again for the demoncratic party. Yawn.

[linn37]

'whacking the rats' hmmmmmmmmmm sounds good please tell us more!

[iopscusa]

Agreed, Fineman is a stooge, just another vacuous talking head....cheap and pliable.

[Dixielander]

"Whack the Rats". Great fighting words! Appropriate wording too, for a bumper sticker with graphics designed by someone like Registered. Good wording for a tuneful parody. (Who's that oh so talented lyricist from Missouri?) Good wording for a Republican campaign theme.

The Bush aide who used the phrase "Whacking the Rats" is my kind of Republican.

[LS]

It is funny to watch these Libs trying to get an issue. Which is it Howard? Is it that Bush was "not ready for prime time?" Or that he "misses Karen Hughes?" Or is it that the public doesn't like him (after telling us his popularity is an astounding 73% in MAY 2002, some EIGHT MONTHS after the attacks and a year and a half after he took office?

Howie KNOWS that this issue will engulf Clinton and the Dems, likely sucking in both "Puff" and Hillary.

[Cicero]

Killing someone on the spot isn't always the best or most prudent revenge. Bush knows how to stick the knife into people who cross him, but he does it with elegance and gentlemanly finesse. Peggy Noonan remarked on this last year. She said not to estimate the dangers of crossing Bush. She said he will wait and choose his own time to put the knife in.

[cardinal4]

He's still sporting an Algore sticker on his Volvo.

I have an NRA, Annoy a liberal, and a Bush2000 sticker on MY volvo. Driving one does not make one a liberal.

[thucydides]

The media wing of the democrat party hard at work, this time in the person of Chris Matthews's favorite, Howard Fineman. A perfect example of liberal sneering condescension trying to pass itself off as objective reporting and dramatic writing.

[thucydides]

Frantic liberals have tried to undermine Bush in every area they could. Not getting any traction, they apparently decided their goose was cooked in the Fall unless they could shake public confidence in his handling of the war on terror, enormously successful to date. Their trying to do so is highly dangerous, and a measure of their desperation.

Their move follows a formula seen before: make wild accusations, then demand disclosure of material that cannot properly be made public, then claim this shows a "cover-up" and somehow proves the charges. (The American public is getting sufficiently dumbed down by the public education wing of their party, and they have the collaboration of the media wing of their party, so that such tactics can work.)

Apparently, the internal overnight polls and focus groups showed this was backfiring badly, so they quickly backed off. Also, they couldn't get some of their party members on board who come from states where this kind of dirty politics on an issue of national security would badly damage them (Bob Graham of Florida, for example).

[ReaganRevolution]

The WH might want to find out who the "Republican" Senator was that told Newsweek what went on in that meeting. From the description it was to make the President look weak. It may be the same loser who leaked to CBS. The President was "shaken"? I doubt it. He was probably livid.

[ReaganRevolution]

... disclosure that he had been warned last August about the possibility of Al Qaeda hijackings in the United States

I just read this again, and two things pop out at me. One, it wasn't a warning and two, I don't think the information ever mentioned hijackings in the United States. I think it was just "hijackings". Nice try Fineman.

[jrlc]

Howard "not-so-fine"Man going RAT again. "What did Clinton know and when did he know it?" Why was he more interested in getting BJs in the Oval Office and selling Pardons than tracking down OBL. The warnings go back to the first WTC bombing in 1993.

[Bobber58]

certainly not Registered quality, but....

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Sorry about the snide remark.
I used to own a '65 122 S. I bought it used in the early 70's. The previous owner had put almost 200,000 miles on it, with only one valve job as major repair. I put another 120,000 without much more than regular oil changes, untill an idiot ran into the back of me and pushed me into a car in front. The Volvo was "sandwiched," but the motor and tranny were still good. I sold the running gear to a guy doing a street rod project and he has put another 40,000 on it.
A more durable car would be hard to find.