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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (185834)	4/27/2006 9:20:44 PM
From: jttmab	Respond to of 281500

So what does Tony Snow need to do to “stop the tribal warfare?” * Tell the president that this isn’t Texas any more, and never really was. He already knows it's not Texas, that's why he spends so much time at the Crawford ranch. * Put him back on the campaign plane, so to speak. The press corps is a global phenomenon – the whole planet is an unwieldy “plane.” And the reporters are unhappy. I got a sense of that recently by participating in an Aspen Institute panel at the State Department with top reporters from around the world. Their attitude toward America (and the American press corps) was nothing short of acidic. Bush has no choice but to try to create a shared sense of mission, in this case for the survival of freedom. And that means more contact with them than he has ever had as president – in circumstances where he can’t be in full control. Bush doesn't do well on the campaign trail. He chatted up SS reform and that convinced the people it was a bad idea. He campaigned for the war in Iraq and lost polling points. Bush started his Presidency as a bumbling idiot. But his polling numbers were good. He got much better as a speaker, then Karen Hughes went back home. Now that his polling numbers are bad, he's speaking like a bumbling idiot again. * Encourage the president to talk much more frankly about the war in Iraq. There is progress to crow about -– the forging of a new government, for example -– but that element of the story won’t get traction without candor about the rest. LOL. Not on Bush's life. Bush just said that the right number of troops were sent to Iraq. What are the odds, he's going to jump up and say maybe we should have sent more. * Stop the dragnet of subpoenas to reporters. I know: there are security concerns, legitimate ones. But it’s the administration’s job to stop the leaks, not the reporters’ job to ignore them. And you can’t blithely leak when you feel it serves your purposes, and then expect the press to support you when you go after reporters for printing leaks you didn’t like. Bush says: You're not making any sense Tony. We have enemies in the Administration and on the outside. They must be found and stomped like the cockroaches they are. ........If Tony Snow thinks he's going to be able to sit at the adult table and make policy recommendations, I suspect that he's going to be disappointed very soon. ...Bush: Tony, look you're the f---ing Press Secretary. I'm the decider. Shut your f---ing yap, take notes and explain it to the press. And don't f--- up. If you do, I'll make damn well sure the only job you ever get is picking f---ing strawberies. jttmab