who's afraid of virginia wolfowitz, page-7

Jones! Bush very much his own man you say? Or could it be he's a dopey stooge who takes his advisor's views on everything and doesn't even read the papers? When he does have a view he expects yes men around him.

You keep looking for the faintest sign that this idiot knows what he is doing, just because you agree with what he is doing. Bring back Reagan - at least he could deliver a line.


By John Shovelan in Washington and agencies

Former US treasury secretary Paul O'Neill has blasted his former boss, President George W Bush, describing Cabinet meetings with him as "a blind man in a room full of deaf people".

Mr O'Neill, who was sacked by Mr Bush in December 2002, told CBS television the President did not ask him a single question during their first one-on-one meeting, which lasted an hour.

"I went in with a long list of things to talk about and, I thought, to engage (him) on. ... I was surprised it turned out me talking and the president just listening. ... It was mostly a monologue," Mr O'Neill said in the interview to be aired this weekend.

He says his description of the President as a "blind man" was a reference to his dislike of a free flow of ideas or open debate.

Mr O'Neill is quoted as saying that Mr Bush's lack of engagement left his advisers with "little more than hunches about what the President might think".


(now for the yes man to paper over the cracks)

White House spokesman Scott McClellan deflected repeated questions about O'Neill's assertions, saying: "I don't do book reviews." "It's well known the way the president approaches governing and setting priorities. The president is someone that leads and acts decisively on our biggest priorities, and that is exactly what he'll continue to do," he added.