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Sullen, Depressed President Retreats Into Private, Paranoid World

By TERESA HAMPTON & WILLIAM D. McTAVISH

Capitol Hill Blue Staff

Jul 29, 2004, 09:08

 

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4930.shtml

 

A sullen President George W. Bush is withdrawing more and more from

aides and senior staff, retreating into a private, paranoid world

where only the ardent loyalists are welcome.

 

Cabinet officials, senior White House aides and leaders on Capitol

Hill complain privately about the increasing lack of " face time "

with the President and campaign advisors are worried the depressed

President may not be up to the rigors of a tough re-election

campaign.

 

" Yes, there are concerns, " a top Republican political advisor

admitted privately Wednesday. " The George W. Bush we see today is

not the same, gregarious, back-slapping President of old. He's

moody, distrustful and withdrawn. "

 

 

Bush Walks Alone

Bush's erratic behavior and sharp mood swings led White House

physician Col. Richard J. Tubb to put the President on powerful anti-

depressant drugs after he stormed off stage rather than answer

reporters' questions about his relationship with indicted Enron

executive Kenneth J. Lay, but White House insiders say the strong,

prescription medications seem to increase Bush's sullen behavior

towards those around him.

 

" This is a President known for his ability to charm people one-on-

one, " says a staff member to House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert. " Not

any more. "

 

White House aides say Bush has retreated into a tightly-controlled

environment where only top political advisors like Karl Rove and

Karen Hughes are allowed. Even White House chief of staff Andrew

Card complains he has less and less access to the President.

 

Among cabinet members, only Attorney General John Ashcroft, a

fundamentalist who shares many of Bush's strict religious

convictions, remains part of the inner circle. White House aides

call Bush and Ashcroft the " Blue Brothers " because, like the

mythical movie characters, " both believe they are on a mission from

God. "

 

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, the man most responsible for

waging America's war on terrorism, complains to staff that he gets

very little time with the President and gets most of his marching

orders lately from Ashcroft. Some on Ridge's staff gripe privately

that Ashcroft is " Bush's Himmler, " a reference to Heinrich Himmler,

Chief of the SS (the German Police) under Adolph Hitler.

 

" Too many make the mistake of thinking Dick Cheney is the real power

in the Bush administration, " says one senior Homeland Security

aide. " They're wrong. It's Ashcroft and that is reason enough for

all of us to be very, very afraid. "

 

While Vice President Cheney remains part of Bush's tight, inner

circle, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has fallen out of favor

and tells his staff that " no matter what happens in November, I'm

outta here. "

 

White House aides say the West Wing has been overtaken by a " siege

mentality, " where phone calls and emails are monitored and everyone

is under suspicion for " disloyalty to the crown. "

 

" I was questioned about an email I sent out on my personal email

account from home, " says one staffer. " When I asked how they got

access to my personal email account, I was told that when I came to

work at the White House I gave up any rights to privacy. "

 

Another staffer was questioned on why she once dated a registered

Democrat.

 

" He voted for Bush in 2000, " she said, " but that didn't seem to

matter. Mary Matalin is married to James Carville and that's all

right but suddenly my loyalty is questioned because a former

boyfriend was a Democrat? " Matalin, a Republican political operative

and advisor to the Bush campaign, is the wife of former Bill Clinton

political strategist James Carville.

 

Psychiatrists say the increasing paranoia at the White House is

symptomatic of Bush's " paranoid, delusional personality. "

 

Dr. Justin Frank, a prominent Washington psychiatrist and author of

the book, Bush on the Couch, Inside the Mind of the President, says

the President suffers from " character pathology, "

including " grandiosity " and " megalomania " – viewing himself, America

and God as interchangeable.

 

Dr. Frank also concludes that Bush's years of heavy drinking " may

have affected his brain function – and his decision to quit drinking

without the help of a 12-step programs puts him at a far higher risk

of relapse. "

 

Whatever the cause for the President's increasing paranoia and

delusions, veteran White House watchers see a strong parallel with

another Republican president from 30 years ago.

 

" From what people who work there now tell me, this White House looks

more and more like the White House of Richard M. Nixon, " says

retired political science professor George Harleigh, who worked in

the Nixon White House. " It may be 2004 but it is starting to seem

more like 1974 (the year Nixon resigned in disgrace). "

© Copyright 2004 by Capitol Hill Blue

 

 

 

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