On the Bush Bunker

"Normally, the Guard is under the control of the state governor, but the Feds can take over—if the governor asks them to. Nagin suggested that Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, the Pentagon's on-scene commander, be put in charge. According to Senator Vitter, Bush turned to Governor Blanco and said, 'Well, what do you think of that, Governor?' Blanco told Bush, 'I'd rather talk to you about that privately.' To which Nagin responded, 'Well, why don't you do that now?'

The meeting broke up. Bush and Blanco disappeared to talk. More than a week later, there was still no agreement. Blanco didn't want to give up her authority, and Bush didn't press."

From Newsweek. The whole piece presents a decently fair assessment, I think. And, importantly, it doesn't extrapolate into things it doesnt know. Bush and Blanco didn't agree - they spoke privately. That's what we've got.

But I also think the reason the Bush White House dismisses the major media sources is it knows it will never get a fair hearing there. The Bush team deeply distrusts the media, and expects Anti-Bush journalistic malfeasance and bias, like this, and this, and this.

But George Bush is still the President and its still his job to get the right people in the right jobs and that obviously needs to happen. I don't have the tiniest pretention that John Kerry would have shown more empathy or decisiveness; he is gifted in neither. But I do think there can and will be changes in the way President Bush gets information from here on out.

The picture painted by the Newsweek piece reveals again of the consequences of a White House (such as Clinton's during impeachment or Nixon's during Watergate) when the trust and respect between the Administration and the Press is gone. It's no way to run a railroad.