I like this article's opening.

[novapsyche]

Amid a slew of stories this weekend about the embattled presidency and the blundering government response to the drowning of New Orleans, some journalists who are long-time observers of the White House are suddenly sharing scathing observations about President Bush that may be new to many of their readers.

Is Bush the commanding, decisive, jovial president you've been hearing about for years in so much of the mainstream press?

Maybe not so much.

Judging from the blistering analyses in Time, Newsweek, and elsewhere these past few days, it turns out that Bush is in fact fidgety, cold and snappish in private. He yells at those who dare give him bad news and is therefore not surprisingly surrounded by an echo chamber of terrified sycophants. He is slow to comprehend concepts that don't emerge from his gut. He is uncomprehending of the speeches that he is given to read. And oh yes, one of his most significant legacies -- the immense post-Sept. 11 reorganization of the federal government which created the Homeland Security Department -- has failed a big test.

Maybe it's Bush's sinking poll numbers -- he is, after all, undeniably an unpopular president now. Maybe it's the way that the federal response to the flood has cut so deeply against Bush's most compelling claim to greatness: His resoluteness when it comes to protecting Americans.

But for whatever reason, critical observations and insights that for so long have been zealously guarded by mainstream journalists, and only doled out in teaspoons if at all, now seem to be flooding into the public sphere.

An emperor-has-no-clothes moment seems upon us.

Now They Tell Us

Comments

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

better late than never i guess.... but one wonders at their journalism. previously not reporting these things so as to not offend or whatever the reason.... and now, riding on the back of polls which show his approval rating has dropped. easy to do it now. why not before? where is the integrity in that?

don't comment much here, but i really enjoy your journal, thank you. :-)

[timiathan.livejournal.com]

Two weeks before the 2004 election, the New York Times ran a long feature called "Without a Doubt" about the arrogant bubble from which Bush runs the country. None of this is new, though it is suddenly much more wide-spread.

[zhenzhi.livejournal.com]

and since?

the same thing happens here in my country. and it's getting worse, as our present government has the monopoly of parliament.
the most daring of our television journalism is usually on our state owned public tv station! LOL!! (still thankfully the bastion of die hards)
my hope is that if bush falls, he will take our suck arse prime minister with him.

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

He's got a way about him...mhmmmm...don't know what it is...

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

...but I know that I can live without him...

[xterminal.livejournal.com]

Is Bush the commanding, decisive, jovial president you've been hearing about for years in so much of the mainstream press?

Erm...

I must have missed the last six years of "mainstream press." It's always seemed to me they treat him with that special affection one reserves for an eager, but developmentally disabled, child, no matter what station I'm watching. (The exception, naturally, being when I'm crashing with the parents, who always watch Fox News.)

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

HEHE~~!!!!