Secret tapes show Bush's combative side

By Howard Fineman
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - Here are two stories about young “Georgie” Bush that you
may not have heard, but which are worth recounting as he travels the
globe as a world leader.

As a boy in Maine, he was the oldest of many cousins, and would set the
rules for summer games at the family compound. “If he was losing he’d
change the rules – or take the ball and leave,” one cousin told me. Then
there was the time when, as a new kid, just up from Texas at his prep
school Andover, Bush was tripped and mocked early in an intramural
soccer match. He waited for a chance to exact revenge – then blindsided
his foe so viciously he nearly broke the boy’s ankle. “He spent that
match angling to take me out,” said the Andover alum, now a successful
businessman. “And he did.”

I was reminded of these adolescent tales by the recent disclosure of
Doug Wead’s surreptitious tapes of conversations with George W. Bush in
the late 1990s, when Dubya was preparing to run for the Republican
nomination. I was spending a lot of time in Austin back then, trying to
get a fix on the then-governor of Texas. The tapes are confirmation –
the clearest and best so far – of the sense I got of him at the time:
that, far from being the dim-bulb tool of Karl Rove’s genius, Bush was a
shrewd, prickly, win-at-all-costs guy who never should have been
underestimated – as he was, for a decade – by the tottering Eastern
power structure that dismissed him as a foolish, errant son of privilege.

I recommend the Wead tapes to Jacques Chirac and Harry Reid – not to
mention the mullahs in Iran.

Predictably, commentators poring over this Rosetta Stone have focused on
the hieroglyphics about drug use in the Sixties (Bush is a little more
candid in private than he was in public) and his careful (but not too
public) wooing of evangelicals.

Far more revealing are the glimpses into the combative, even arrogant
heart of Bush’s character – and that of the Bush Clan. These are people
expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind
a veil of bumbling nonchalance.

At the time of the tapes, the governor of Texas was worried, almost
obsessed, by the threat posed to his chances by a guy far richer and
ideologically-vetted than he: Steve Forbes. A key to Bush’s strategy was
to scare others out of the Republican nomination race by amassing a
horde of contributions and endorsements, and by drying up those
resources for the other candidates. The idea was to render the race a
fait accompli before it even started.

It was easy to muscle the hapless Dan Quayle. As Poppy Bush went around
quietly soliciting contributions for his son, the elder Bush let it be
known that the Family would track gifts to other candidates, including
Quayle. The former vice president had little chance in any case, but the
Bushes were not taking chances. “They stepped on his air hose,” a Quayle
advisor later told me.

But there was no stepping on Forbes. The guy had untold millions of
dollars of his own, a geeky fearlessness that make him oblivious to
threats and close, deep ties to the libertarian wing of the conservative
movement in the GOP. Forbes' dad made life miserable for Bob Dole in the
’96 Republican race, and Bush was worried that he might well do the same
to him in the year 2000.

Bush’s response? To Wead – who might pass word along to Forbes – Bush
threatened to take his ball and go home, then wait for the moment of
payback. Were Forbes to win the GOP nomination by attacking him too
hard, Bush told Wead, he could forget any support from the Bush family,
including from his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida. Forbes “can
forget Texas,” Bush tells Wead. “And he can forget Florida. And I will
sit on my hands.” In other words, Bush would rather see the Democrats
win the White House than a Republican who humiliated him by defeating
him in the nomination race.

While he fretted that Forbes might play too rough, it was of course okay
for Bush himself to do so. Taking the measure of Al Gore in the summer
of 2000, demonizing him as “pathologically a liar,” Bush was getting an
angle on his foe – and cited family tradition. In 1988, then
Vice-President George H.W. Bush ran a campaign that used cultural
“wedge” issues to savage the candidacy of Democrat Michael Dukakis. “I
may have to get a little rough for a while,” Bush the Younger tells
Wead. “But that is what the old man had to do with Dukakis, remember?”
Of course he remembered: Dubya and Wead had worked together on that
campaign.

But the key words are “had to do.” No Bush wants to play rough, of
course. But to win – or at least maintain their dignity and pride – they
have to.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7017489/

Give your head a shake,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, coward.

It is good to know that you have a leader with balls, with a competitive
advantage.

It is good news for the world. The U.S. (lead by GWB) is doing more on this
planet than any other country to rid the world of terrorism, disease,
hunger, starvation, etc etc.

If you cannot see it, then just sit back and enjoy the benefits. If you do
not understand it then shut up and let those who do understand it make
comments.
You and your puppet master krause can badmouth your leader all day long if
you like, you can badmouth those who are obviously more knowledgeable than
you all day also if you like, it simply shows your ignorance.

Now Bush won the election, get over it already.








"Jim," wrote in message
...
Secret tapes show Bush's combative side

By Howard Fineman
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - Here are two stories about young “Georgie” Bush that you may
not have heard, but which are worth recounting as he travels the globe as
a world leader.

As a boy in Maine, he was the oldest of many cousins, and would set the
rules for summer games at the family compound. “If he was losing he’d
change the rules – or take the ball and leave,” one cousin told me. Then
there was the time when, as a new kid, just up from Texas at his prep
school Andover, Bush was tripped and mocked early in an intramural soccer
match. He waited for a chance to exact revenge – then blindsided his foe
so viciously he nearly broke the boy’s ankle. “He spent that match angling
to take me out,” said the Andover alum, now a successful businessman. “And
he did.”

I was reminded of these adolescent tales by the recent disclosure of Doug
Wead’s surreptitious tapes of conversations with George W. Bush in the
late 1990s, when Dubya was preparing to run for the Republican nomination.
I was spending a lot of time in Austin back then, trying to get a fix on
the then-governor of Texas. The tapes are confirmation – the clearest and
best so far – of the sense I got of him at the time: that, far from being
the dim-bulb tool of Karl Rove’s genius, Bush was a shrewd, prickly,
win-at-all-costs guy who never should have been underestimated – as he
was, for a decade – by the tottering Eastern power structure that
dismissed him as a foolish, errant son of privilege.

I recommend the Wead tapes to Jacques Chirac and Harry Reid – not to
mention the mullahs in Iran.

Predictably, commentators poring over this Rosetta Stone have focused on
the hieroglyphics about drug use in the Sixties (Bush is a little more
candid in private than he was in public) and his careful (but not too
public) wooing of evangelicals.

Far more revealing are the glimpses into the combative, even arrogant
heart of Bush’s character – and that of the Bush Clan. These are people
expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind a
veil of bumbling nonchalance.

At the time of the tapes, the governor of Texas was worried, almost
obsessed, by the threat posed to his chances by a guy far richer and
ideologically-vetted than he: Steve Forbes. A key to Bush’s strategy was
to scare others out of the Republican nomination race by amassing a horde
of contributions and endorsements, and by drying up those resources for
the other candidates. The idea was to render the race a fait accompli
before it even started.

It was easy to muscle the hapless Dan Quayle. As Poppy Bush went around
quietly soliciting contributions for his son, the elder Bush let it be
known that the Family would track gifts to other candidates, including
Quayle. The former vice president had little chance in any case, but the
Bushes were not taking chances. “They stepped on his air hose,” a Quayle
advisor later told me.

But there was no stepping on Forbes. The guy had untold millions of
dollars of his own, a geeky fearlessness that make him oblivious to
threats and close, deep ties to the libertarian wing of the conservative
movement in the GOP. Forbes' dad made life miserable for Bob Dole in the ’96
Republican race, and Bush was worried that he might well do the same to
him in the year 2000.

Bush’s response? To Wead – who might pass word along to Forbes – Bush
threatened to take his ball and go home, then wait for the moment of
payback. Were Forbes to win the GOP nomination by attacking him too hard,
Bush told Wead, he could forget any support from the Bush family,
including from his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida. Forbes “can
forget Texas,” Bush tells Wead. “And he can forget Florida. And I will sit
on my hands.” In other words, Bush would rather see the Democrats win the
White House than a Republican who humiliated him by defeating him in the
nomination race.

While he fretted that Forbes might play too rough, it was of course okay
for Bush himself to do so. Taking the measure of Al Gore in the summer of
2000, demonizing him as “pathologically a liar,” Bush was getting an angle
on his foe – and cited family tradition. In 1988, then Vice-President
George H.W. Bush ran a campaign that used cultural “wedge” issues to
savage the candidacy of Democrat Michael Dukakis. “I may have to get a
little rough for a while,” Bush the Younger tells Wead. “But that is what
the old man had to do with Dukakis, remember?” Of course he remembered:
Dubya and Wead had worked together on that campaign.

But the key words are “had to do.” No Bush wants to play rough, of course.
But to win – or at least maintain their dignity and pride – they have to.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7017489/

Bush is a liar, a cheater and a deserter. His only objective is to line
the pockets of his closest friends at the expense of the soldiers, the
environment, world opinion, human rights and our economy. The man is
stupid and short-sighted. I am continually amazed at the stupidity of
our citizens, and anyone else in the rest of the world who supports him,
although there are very few outside the US.

Capt. Jeff

"Tamaroak" wrote in message
...
Bush is a liar, a cheater and a deserter. His only objective is to line
the pockets of his closest friends at the expense of the soldiers, the
environment, world opinion, human rights and our economy. The man is
stupid and short-sighted. I am continually amazed at the stupidity of our
citizens, and anyone else in the rest of the world who supports him,
although there are very few outside the US.

I'm continually amazed at how the left continues to underestimate the man.
According to Einstein, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results. Well, you guys are "insane". Bush leaves his
adversaries in a trail of destruction, and you guys just sit there and say
"how'd he do that...again?"

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:38:08 -0600, Tamaroak wrote:

Bush is a liar, a cheater and a deserter. His only objective is to line
the pockets of his closest friends at the expense of the soldiers, the
environment, world opinion, human rights and our economy. The man is
stupid and short-sighted. I am continually amazed at the stupidity of
our citizens, and anyone else in the rest of the world who supports him,
although there are very few outside the US.

Capt. Jeff

I wonder why he bothers arguing with Putin about democracy.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

John H wrote:
I wonder why he bothers arguing with Putin about democracy.


Bush isn't arguing with Putin, he's getting pointers

DSK

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 13:48:50 -0500, DSK wrote:

John H wrote:
I wonder why he bothers arguing with Putin about democracy.


Bush isn't arguing with Putin, he's getting pointers

DSK

Yeah, but if it's true, as Capt. Jeff said, that:

"His only objective is to line
the pockets of his closest friends at the expense of the soldiers, the
environment, world opinion, human rights and our economy."

Then why waste his time? Here he and Putin are spending time putting together
measures to counter global terrorism. It doesn't make sense. Why should he worry
about it? Or is it just another means of lining his pocket?

I guess only the Shadow knows.

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:44:38 GMT, "Jim," wrote:

Some bull**** which was snipped and replaced with:


Iraqi brigade takes control of area, future

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ, COMBINED PRESS INFORMATION CENTER, BAGHDAD, Iraq

KHADAMIYA, Iraq -- Iraqi and Coalition Forces made history Feb. 21 when the 40th
Iraqi National Guard Brigade officially assumed control of its area of
operation.

This is the first ING brigade to stand alone and have direct control over an
area of operation.

Brig. Gen. Jaleel Khalaf Shwail, 40th Brigade commander, said he is proud to
represent his country and his more than 2,800 Soldiers.

“This is a historical event in the history of Iraq,” he said. “It is our time to
take the liberty and democracy (Coalition Forces) gave to us on a golden plate.”

Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, 1st Cavalry Division commander, attended the ceremony
and applauded the strides the ING made over the past year.

“This is just the beginning,” Chiarelli said. “No one can doubt your high level
of readiness. No one can doubt your resolve. No one can doubt your patriotism.
This is just the beginning.”

He encouraged the Soldiers of the 40th ING to be responsible for their areas of
operation as the first brigade to assume their own sector.

“You are the pioneers of a nation that is free at last,” he said. “Thank you for
the privilege of working with such extraordinary patriots.”

The ceremony was shadowed by clouds as well as mourning over sacrifices made by
ING soldiers during the democratic elections. Following the transfer of
authority, Chiarelli presented a plaque to Jaleel in memory of those men who
gave their lives Jan. 31 to ensure that all Iraqi’s were free to cast their vote
in the first democratic election. Fourteen members of combined security forces,
including ING Soldiers and Iraqi Police, were killed trying to protect their
people.

“We dedicate this plaque to the martyrs, your brothers in arms,” he said. “They
are heroes whose great work will not be forgotten.”

Khalaf said post election Iraq is full of hope for the future and faith in his
Soldiers and Coalition Forces

“After the elections, Iraqi people started gaining trust back in the American
forces,” he said. The elections “gave the image that the ING could provide
security for Iraq.”

Khalaf praised Coalition Forces for their assistance in liberating Iraq and
training ING Soldiers. He said the training they received helped them take this
next big step towards Iraqi autonomy.

For months, a group of Soldiers of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, also known as
Task Force Bengal, has been training Soldiers of the 40th Infantry Brigade of
the Iraqi National Guard on combat and staff operations.

“Americans trained us very well,” Khalaf said. “When they give us a direct
responsibility, it means we are at a level that we can control ourselves.”

The new brigade’s area of operations covers numerous spots in Baghdad, including
Haifa Street, Ahdamiyah, Sheikh Malouf and Al Shaab. Coalition Forces will
continue to advise the brigade, but the areas will be under complete Iraqi
control.

Fouad Alhilaly, a doctor with the 40th ING, said the ING has its work cut out
for it, but is fully capable of handling the area. If they can handle Baghdad,
they can handle Iraq.

“Baghdad is the cornerstone of Iraq,” he said. “If we can control Baghdad, we
will have 70 percent of the security of Iraq handled.”

Khalaf vowed he would not rest until his nation is safe from terrorists.

“Every single second before I die I will use to finish them,” he said. “All I
wish is to give the Iraqi people rest (and the means to) enjoy freedom. When I
feel Iraq gets to that level, I accomplished my mission and I will rest.”

The ING brigade has approximately 2,300 Soldiers and will patrol an area that is
about 16 square kilometers in size.
To return to the U.S. Central Command home page, click here.

Good news, huh JImcomma?

John H

On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD,
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

"Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
Rene Descartes

"Jim," wrote in message
...
Secret tapes show Bush's combative side

By Howard Fineman
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - Here are two stories about young “Georgie” Bush that you may
not have heard, but which are worth recounting as he travels the globe as
a world leader.

As a boy in Maine, he was the oldest of many cousins, and would set the
rules for summer games at the family compound. “If he was losing he’d
change the rules – or take the ball and leave,” one cousin told me. Then
there was the time when, as a new kid, just up from Texas at his prep
school Andover, Bush was tripped and mocked early in an intramural soccer
match. He waited for a chance to exact revenge – then blindsided his foe
so viciously he nearly broke the boy’s ankle. “He spent that match angling
to take me out,” said the Andover alum, now a successful businessman. “And
he did.”

What self-respecting kid *did not* do such a thing?



I was reminded of these adolescent tales by the recent disclosure of Doug
Wead’s surreptitious tapes of conversations with George W. Bush in the
late 1990s, when Dubya was preparing to run for the Republican nomination.
I was spending a lot of time in Austin back then, trying to get a fix on
the then-governor of Texas. The tapes are confirmation – the clearest and
best so far – of the sense I got of him at the time: that, far from being
the dim-bulb tool of Karl Rove’s genius, Bush was a shrewd, prickly,
win-at-all-costs guy who never should have been underestimated – as he
was, for a decade – by the tottering Eastern power structure that
dismissed him as a foolish, errant son of privilege.

Hehehe. They "misunderestimated" him.




I recommend the Wead tapes to Jacques Chirac and Harry Reid – not to
mention the mullahs in Iran.

Predictably, commentators poring over this Rosetta Stone have focused on
the hieroglyphics about drug use in the Sixties (Bush is a little more
candid in private than he was in public) and his careful (but not too
public) wooing of evangelicals.

Far more revealing are the glimpses into the combative, even arrogant
heart of Bush’s character – and that of the Bush Clan. These are people
expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind a
veil of bumbling nonchalance.

At the time of the tapes, the governor of Texas was worried, almost
obsessed, by the threat posed to his chances by a guy far richer and
ideologically-vetted than he: Steve Forbes. A key to Bush’s strategy was
to scare others out of the Republican nomination race by amassing a horde
of contributions and endorsements, and by drying up those resources for
the other candidates. The idea was to render the race a fait accompli
before it even started.

It was easy to muscle the hapless Dan Quayle. As Poppy Bush went around
quietly soliciting contributions for his son, the elder Bush let it be
known that the Family would track gifts to other candidates, including
Quayle. The former vice president had little chance in any case, but the
Bushes were not taking chances. “They stepped on his air hose,” a Quayle
advisor later told me.

But there was no stepping on Forbes. The guy had untold millions of
dollars of his own, a geeky fearlessness that make him oblivious to
threats and close, deep ties to the libertarian wing of the conservative
movement in the GOP. Forbes' dad made life miserable for Bob Dole in the ’96
Republican race, and Bush was worried that he might well do the same to
him in the year 2000.

Bush’s response? To Wead – who might pass word along to Forbes – Bush
threatened to take his ball and go home, then wait for the moment of
payback. Were Forbes to win the GOP nomination by attacking him too hard,
Bush told Wead, he could forget any support from the Bush family,
including from his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida. Forbes “can
forget Texas,” Bush tells Wead. “And he can forget Florida. And I will sit
on my hands.” In other words, Bush would rather see the Democrats win the
White House than a Republican who humiliated him by defeating him in the
nomination race.

While he fretted that Forbes might play too rough, it was of course okay
for Bush himself to do so. Taking the measure of Al Gore in the summer of
2000, demonizing him as “pathologically a liar,” Bush was getting an angle
on his foe – and cited family tradition. In 1988, then Vice-President
George H.W. Bush ran a campaign that used cultural “wedge” issues to
savage the candidacy of Democrat Michael Dukakis. “I may have to get a
little rough for a while,” Bush the Younger tells Wead. “But that is what
the old man had to do with Dukakis, remember?” Of course he remembered:
Dubya and Wead had worked together on that campaign.

But the key words are “had to do.” No Bush wants to play rough, of course.
But to win – or at least maintain their dignity and pride – they have to.


Would you rather have a pussy for President?

"NOYB" wrote in message
news

"Jim," wrote in message
...
Secret tapes show Bush's combative side

By Howard Fineman
MSNBC contributor
Updated: 2:58 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005

WASHINGTON - Here are two stories about young "Georgie" Bush that you may
not have heard, but which are worth recounting as he travels the globe as
a world leader.

As a boy in Maine, he was the oldest of many cousins, and would set the
rules for summer games at the family compound. "If he was losing he'd
change the rules - or take the ball and leave," one cousin told me. Then
there was the time when, as a new kid, just up from Texas at his prep
school Andover, Bush was tripped and mocked early in an intramural soccer
match. He waited for a chance to exact revenge - then blindsided his foe
so viciously he nearly broke the boy's ankle. "He spent that match
angling to take me out," said the Andover alum, now a successful
businessman. "And he did."

What self-respecting kid *did not* do such a thing?



I was reminded of these adolescent tales by the recent disclosure of Doug
Wead's surreptitious tapes of conversations with George W. Bush in the
late 1990s, when Dubya was preparing to run for the Republican
nomination. I was spending a lot of time in Austin back then, trying to
get a fix on the then-governor of Texas. The tapes are confirmation - the
clearest and best so far - of the sense I got of him at the time: that,
far from being the dim-bulb tool of Karl Rove's genius, Bush was a
shrewd, prickly, win-at-all-costs guy who never should have been
underestimated - as he was, for a decade - by the tottering Eastern power
structure that dismissed him as a foolish, errant son of privilege.

Hehehe. They "misunderestimated" him.




I recommend the Wead tapes to Jacques Chirac and Harry Reid - not to
mention the mullahs in Iran.

Predictably, commentators poring over this Rosetta Stone have focused on
the hieroglyphics about drug use in the Sixties (Bush is a little more
candid in private than he was in public) and his careful (but not too
public) wooing of evangelicals.

Far more revealing are the glimpses into the combative, even arrogant
heart of Bush's character - and that of the Bush Clan. These are people
expert at boarding-school blasé, at hiding a seething need to win behind
a veil of bumbling nonchalance.

At the time of the tapes, the governor of Texas was worried, almost
obsessed, by the threat posed to his chances by a guy far richer and
ideologically-vetted than he: Steve Forbes. A key to Bush's strategy was
to scare others out of the Republican nomination race by amassing a horde
of contributions and endorsements, and by drying up those resources for
the other candidates. The idea was to render the race a fait accompli
before it even started.

It was easy to muscle the hapless Dan Quayle. As Poppy Bush went around
quietly soliciting contributions for his son, the elder Bush let it be
known that the Family would track gifts to other candidates, including
Quayle. The former vice president had little chance in any case, but the
Bushes were not taking chances. "They stepped on his air hose," a Quayle
advisor later told me.

But there was no stepping on Forbes. The guy had untold millions of
dollars of his own, a geeky fearlessness that make him oblivious to
threats and close, deep ties to the libertarian wing of the conservative
movement in the GOP. Forbes' dad made life miserable for Bob Dole in the
'96 Republican race, and Bush was worried that he might well do the same
to him in the year 2000.

Bush's response? To Wead - who might pass word along to Forbes - Bush
threatened to take his ball and go home, then wait for the moment of
payback. Were Forbes to win the GOP nomination by attacking him too hard,
Bush told Wead, he could forget any support from the Bush family,
including from his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida. Forbes "can
forget Texas," Bush tells Wead. "And he can forget Florida. And I will
sit on my hands." In other words, Bush would rather see the Democrats win
the White House than a Republican who humiliated him by defeating him in
the nomination race.

While he fretted that Forbes might play too rough, it was of course okay
for Bush himself to do so. Taking the measure of Al Gore in the summer of
2000, demonizing him as "pathologically a liar," Bush was getting an
angle on his foe - and cited family tradition. In 1988, then
Vice-President George H.W. Bush ran a campaign that used cultural "wedge"
issues to savage the candidacy of Democrat Michael Dukakis. "I may have
to get a little rough for a while," Bush the Younger tells Wead. "But
that is what the old man had to do with Dukakis, remember?" Of course he
remembered: Dubya and Wead had worked together on that campaign.

But the key words are "had to do." No Bush wants to play rough, of
course. But to win - or at least maintain their dignity and pride - they
have to.


Would you rather have a pussy for President?

Those that voted for Kerry, have already answered yes to that question.