http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...ter_4636.shtml

extract


President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood
swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately
express growing concern over their leader's state of mind.

In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes
from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media,
Democrats and others that he classifies as "enemies of the state."

Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge,
increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public
that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

"It reminds me of the Nixon days," says a longtime GOP political consultant
with contacts in the White House. "Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out
to get him. That's the mood over there."

....



The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday
night is, aides say, an example of how he works.

"Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and
wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time
to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the
director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the
President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide
disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."

Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked
staff of the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually
described the decision as "God's will."