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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (760781)	4/1/2007 7:37:11 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Bush ex-strategist says loses faith in president By Randall Mikkelsen Sun Apr 1, 11:56 AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief strategist of George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign said he had lost faith in the U.S. president over Iraq and other issues, in a high-level rupture of Bush's famously loyal inner circle. Matthew Dowd, a polling expert who switched parties to become a Republican and also served as a senior strategist in Bush's 2000 presidential campaign, told The New York Times in an interview on Sunday that Bush must face up to Americans' growing disillusionment with the war. Dowd said he had found himself agreeing with calls by Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush's opponent in 2004, for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. "If the American public says they're done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want," Dowd said. "They're saying, 'Get out of Iraq."' He also cited the administration's bungled handling of the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Bush's refusal to meet Cindy Sheehan, who had lost a son in Iraq, while she was leading a protest outside Bush's Texas ranch. "I had finally come to the conclusion that maybe all these things along do add up," Dowd said. "That it's not the same, it's not the person I thought." Although some other administration officials have expressed similar views over the years, the Times said Dowd is the first member of Bush's inner circle to break so publicly with him. Dowd said he had been attracted to Bush by his ability as Texas governor to work across party lines but Bush had failed to do the same as president and had become isolated with his views hardening. The Times said Dowd was speaking out partly in an effort to get through to Bush. "I really like him, which is why I'm so disappointed in things," Dowd said. "I think he's become more, in my view, secluded and bubbled in." SHARED SACRIFICE He said Bush had failed to call for a shared sacrifice among Americans after the September 11 attacks and followed a divisive political strategy. Dowd helped develop Bush's successful re-election strategy of rallying his Republican "base" but sounded a different note in the Times interview. "I think we should design campaigns that appeal not to 51 percent of the people," he said, "but to bring the country together as a whole." White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Dowd's criticism reflects the U.S. debate over the war. "This war is a complicated and difficult one and it brings out emotions in people from both sides of the aisle, even those who work closely for the president, and the president respects his position," Bartlett said on CBS television's "Face the Nation." "Obviously, we disagree with him as far as him (Bush) being too insular or him bringing the troops home," Bartlett said. "What troubles me is that there is a perception that this president doesn't understand the difficulties of this war ... there's nothing that weighs more heavily on his mind." The Times said Dowd acknowledged that the expected deployment to Iraq of his oldest son, Daniel, an Army intelligence specialist, was a factor in his changed view of Bush. Dowd said he now wanted to "do my part in fixing fissures that I may have been a part of." The Times said Dowd cited Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois as the only 2008 presidential candidate who appeals to him but said the idea of mission work also was attractive as a way to "re-establish a level of gentleness in the world."

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (760781)	4/1/2007 7:53:14 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Remember Matt Sanchez, the porn-star Marine reservist touted so strongly by Fox News? youtube.com Seems he has some troubles ahead..this from the Marine Corp Times. If this is true, Sanchez snowed a lot of people! _______________________________________ Sanchez investigation wraps up today By John Hoellwarth - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Apr 1, 2007 8:22:25 EDT The Corps on Friday was slated to wrap up an investigation into allegations that a corporal in the Individual Ready Reserve who appeared in gay porn films before enlisting solicited more than $12,000 from private organizations by asking them to fund a deployment to Iraq he never made, according to e-mails from the investigating officer forwarded to Marine Corps Times. Reserve Col. Charles Jones, a staff judge advocate called to Marine Corps Mobilization Command in Kansas City, Mo., on temporary orders that expire Saturday, informed Reserve Cpl. Matt Sanchez of the allegations against him in a March 22 e-mail that advised Sanchez of his rights. Jones wrote that Sanchez’s participation in porn films was part of the investigation, but that two of the three allegations against him involved lying “to various people, including but not limited to, representatives of the New York City United War Veterans Council and U-Haul Corporation” about deploying to Iraq at the commandant’s request. “Specifically, you wrongfully solicited funds to support your purported deployment to Iraq” by coordinating a $300 payment from the UWVC and $12,000 from U-Haul, Jones wrote. In an interview Thursday with Marine Corps Times, Sanchez said the fund-raising allegations are “demonstrably false” and that he never collected money from either organization. Sanchez, 36, recently admitted to appearing in such films as “Man to Men” and “Jawbreaker” in the early 1990s under the name Rod Majors after liberal bloggers identified him from photos taken at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., during the first week of March. In a March letter addressed to MobCom commander Brig. Gen. Darrell Moore, who will ultimately decide what to do with Jones’ investigation, Sanchez said he’s never done anything to bring dishonor on the Corps since enlisting and that “my past is behind me.” “The Marine Corps is a conversion experience, what men were before they joined is not as important as what they become,” Sanchez wrote. Sanchez has risen to prominence in recent months after accusing other students at Columbia University, where he is also a student, of publicly ridiculing him for serving in the military. They have also posted signs of him around campus as part of an anti-war campaign. Sanchez wrote columns for newspapers, including Marine Corps Times, explaining his side of the Columbia dispute. He also appeared at the conservative conference in Washington, where he was embraced by right-wing personalities. Shortly after that appearance, news of his gay porn past came to light. marinecorpstimes.com