Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!!!

[CatWoman]

That's how I feel about the Bush Presidency today, or rather, the Wizard of Oz Presidency.

Bush's "courage" speech, as lampooned by the Daily Show, triggered my thinking of them in this way.

Chimpy got out of town just in time, didn't he?

You think he saw all this stuff coming?

Last night two major stories were broken. I was up until 2 a.m., reading about Woodward and Cheney.

It's all coming so quickly. I'm scared I'm going to miss something.

Who is spilling the beans? Why now?

What the hell is going on in Washington?

[H2O Man]

1. Someone on DU

(and I cannot remember, though I'd like to give proper credit) compared Bush's only giving speeches to military audiences to LBJ. The opportunity to compare his scandals to Watergate tends to make me overlook this important similarity between George and the last Texas president.

[CatWoman]

3. Helen Thomas made that observation about Bush

when she was interviewed by Phil Donohue before MSNBC cancelled his show.

She said that towards the end of LBJ and Nixon's presidencies, they could only speak before "safe" (read: military) audiences, and that George Bush shares that distinction.

[H2O Man]

5. Their isolation

became fertile ground for paranoia. I always thought it interesting that those two were the only presidents to suffer serious psychological breaks. Others may have dealt with depression (Lincoln), or other issues. But not the clear breaks that LBJ and Nixon had. While I do not place any value on the rumors about Bush drinking etc, I do think that he is at risk of the paranoid ideation associated with the other two.

[CatWoman]

7. I had heard that Nixon "lost it" due to the pressure, but

I never heard that about LBJ.

But then, I really don't know much about him, and haven't taken the initiative to learn more about that era.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Ok, I missed it!

What were the two major stories? (I was sleeping)

[CatWoman]

4. Go to LBN and you'll see what I'm talking about

several good "hot damn!!" stories.

The Woodward story was broken by Josh Marshall late last night.

[Norquist Nemesis]

6. Thanks! Catching up now

at least on the Woodward one.