Bush "Beseiged and Isolated" (Wizbang Blue)

Washington Post story:

Bush is fixated on Iraq, according to friends and advisers. One former aide went to see him recently to discuss various matters, only to find Bush turning the conversation back to Iraq again and again. He recognizes that his presidency hinges on whether Iraq can be turned around in 18 months. "Nothing matters except the war," said one person close to Bush. "That's all that matters. The whole thing rides on that."

And yet Bush does not come across like a man lamenting his plight. In public and in private, according to intimates, he exhibits an inexorable upbeat energy that defies the political storms. Even when he convenes philosophical discussions with scholars, he avoids second-guessing his actions. He still acts as if he were master of the universe, even if the rest of Washington no longer sees him that way.

"You don't get any feeling of somebody crouching down in the bunker," said Irwin M. Stelzer, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who was part of one group of scholars who met with Bush. "This is either extraordinary self-confidence or out of touch with reality. I can't tell you which."

Wizbang Blue: Four More Years for Jack Abramoff

Four More Years for Jack. Jack Abramoff, the one-time flamboyant lobbyist who amassed a fortune by showering officials, especially members of Congress and their aides, with gifts, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison. Mr. Abramoff has already...

9:27 AM | 0 comments

Wizbang Pop!: Stevie Wonder To Recieve Gershwin Prize

Stevie Wonder is set to receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, in the second year of the already-prestigious award's existence. The ceremony will take place...

6:09 PM | 0 comments

Wizbang Blue: The Democratic View of Palin's Speech

This report pretty much echoes my own sentiment after watching Palin last night. She's a great little Teleprompter reader, and she reads the stand-up comedy one-liners fed to her by the McCain speech writing team like a champ, but other than her ability to smirk on cue there wasn't much to brag about in her speech - just 'more of the same' attack lines, interspersed with 'more of the same' applause lines.

4:03 PM | 21 comments

Wizbang Blue: Republican Pinhead Sexist Hypocrites on Palin

I can't stop laughing... These red state hypocrites have caught themselves in another reality trap....

1:46 PM | 1 comments

Wizbang Pop!: Oprah Starts Season with Olympic Champs

Oprah Winfrey is trying to help Chicago win the 2016 Olympic Games - and brought more than 170 American medallists in the Beijing Games to town Wednesday to help....

1:26 PM | 1 comments

Wizbang Pop!: Real Estate: Denny Hamlin

SELLER: Denny Hamlin (Nascar Driver) LOCATION: Peninsula Point Drive, Cornelius, NC PRICE: $4,900,000 SIZE: 9,969 square feet (as per assessor), 5 bedrooms, 6 full and 2 half bathrooms...

1:18 PM | 0 comments

Wizbang Pop!: Mackenzie Philips charged with heroin possession

Former "One Day at Time" television star Mackenzie Phillips was charged on Wednesday with cocaine and heroin possession after being arrested last week while going through airport security. Prosecutors...

1:07 PM | 0 comments

Wizbang Sports: NFL QB Daunte Culpepper announces his retirement

In the NFL since 1999, Culpepper last played for the Oakland Raiders. From AP- Daunte Culpepper, unable to land a starting or backup job this offseason, announced his retirement at...

1:01 PM | 0 comments

Wizbang Blue: Palin: Iraq is a Task from God

Republican Veep'ette Sarah Palin seems to be another believer who thinks God and Government mix.

12:54 PM | 13 comments

Wizbang Pop!: Buy Bob Dylan's Harmonica

From Bruce Springsteen to Van Morrison, talent has kissed a great number of harmonicas. But no mouth-harps are so storied as those of Bob Dylan. And now, at last,...

12:48 PM | 0 comments

Comments (1)

Steve Crickmore:

"Nothing matters except the war," said one person close to Bush. "That's all that matters" This complements the Cheney series nicely... But it's a bit late in the day for being worried about Iraq after all the mistakes of over-confidence and hubris were made about the occupation, the biggest probably being the conception of the invasion itself as pushed by Cheney and his neo-cons....All the signs of disaster were there initially in the first few weeks of the invasion, but with Bush riding high in the polls, he chose to ignore them or fired the dissenters. For this over-weening braggadocio (today is four years to the day of 'bring em on') it's hard to muster much sympathy for the emperor now that he is down.

1. Posted by Steve Crickmore | July 2, 2007 8:22 PM

Posted on July 2, 2007 20:22