INCONVENIENT FACTS….This is odd. Paul O’Neill, who has many unflattering things to say about the Bush administration, was quoted yesterday as saying he didn’t think anyone would take offense at his remarks. “I can’t imagine that I am going to be attacked for telling the truth,” he said.
How naive, I thought. But today I see this in Time magazine:
“These people are nasty and they have a long memory,” he tells Suskind. But he also believes that by speaking out even in the face of inevitable White House wrath, he can demonstrate loyalty to something he prizes: the truth….That goal is worth the price of retribution, O’Neill says. Plus, as he told Suskind, “I’m an old guy, and I’m rich. And there’s nothing they can do to hurt me.”
That’s more like it. I guess he knows what kind of people he’s dealing with after all.
Anyway, here’s the nut of the book:
According to the book, ideology and electoral politics so dominated the domestic-policy process during his tenure that it was often impossible to have a rational exchange of ideas. The incurious President was so opaque on some important issues that top Cabinet officials were left guessing his mind even after face-to-face meetings. Cheney is portrayed as an unstoppable force, unbowed by inconvenient facts as he drives Administration policy toward his goals.
I think that about covers it. Be sure to read the whole thing.
