Former Treasury Secretary Criticizes Bush O'Neill Says President Did Not Encourage Open Debate Reuters Friday, January 9, 2004; 10:38 AM Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill likened President Bush at Cabinet meetings to "a blind man in a room full of deaf people," according to excerpts Friday from a CBS interview. O'Neill, who was fired by Bush in December 2002, also said the president did not ask him a single question during their first one-on-one meeting, which lasted an hour. "As I recall it was just a monologue," he told CBS' "60 Minutes," which will broadcast the entire interview Sunday. In making the blind man analogy, O'Neill told CBS his ex-boss did not encourage a free flow of ideas or open debate. "There is no discernible connection," CBS quoted O'Neill as saying. The president's lack of engagement left his advisers with "little more than hunches about what the president might think," O'Neil said, according to the program. CBS said much of O'Neill's criticisms of Bush are included in "The Price of Loyalty," an upcoming book by former Wall Street Journal reporter Ron Suskind.
i'll add this to the NO DUH list Bush doesn't encourage nor want open debate because HE isn't even allowed to have an open debate with Cheney/Rove about what his policies are going to be. and how exactly would ole Georgie know what to ask during a meeting when he hasn't been handed a script ahead of time telling him what to do? this guy is the least qualified guy to be President in my lifetime and when the job is President, being unqualified sure does show up in rather obvious ways
Damning!!! I do not know how GWB will be able to show his face in public anymore (given that he has got permission from Rove).
People who have quit or been fired from the Bush administration THOMAS SCULLY - MEDICARE AND MEDICAID ADMINISTRATOR Scully Says Medicare [Plan]"Dumb" CHARLOTTE BEARS - WHITE HOUSE PR Bush Misled Public Enron Ties JAYSON BLAIR to replace Fleischer Eventual actual replacement: Scott McClellan JOHN H. BROWN - U.S. DIPLOMAT U.S. diplomat resigns over Iraq war plans - 3/10/03 RICHARD CLARKE - CYBERSPACE SECURITY Attrition Security Rant VICTORIA CLARKE - DEFENSE DEPARTMENT Pentagon Spokeswoman stepping down - 6/16/03 J.D. CROUCH II - ASST SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY Pentagon Hawk Released – Straws in the Wind? - 10/31/03 MITCH DANIELS - WHITE HOUSE BUDGET DIRECTOR Why Did Mitch Daniels Really Resign: Allegations of Insider Trading, Of Course! JOHN DiIULIO - OFFICE OF FAITH BASED INITIATIVES The DiIulio Resignation in Context Why Are These Men Laughing? Shrub Time: DiIulio Resigns Post MIKE DOMBECK, FOREST SERVICE CHIEF Goodbye, Mr. President: the Secret Resignation Letters EPA... BRUCE BOLER - EPA BIOLOGIST Wetlands Pollute Study Okayed, Clears Way for SW Florida Development - EPA Biologist Resigns in Protest - 10/22/03 LINDA FISHER - DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, EPA Second Top EPA Official Resigns 7/11/03 ERIC SCHAEFFER - EPA OFFICE OF REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT Goodbye, Mr. President: the Secret Resignation Letters CHRISTINE WHITMAN - EPA Bush Covers Up Climate Report - 9/21/03 "The email discusses possible tactics for...getting rid of EPA officials, including...Christine Whitman." RICH BONDI BRUCE BUCKHEIT J.P. SUAREZ 3 Top Enforcement Officials Say They Will Leave E.P.A. ... PETER FISHER - TREASURY DEPARTMENT Treasury's Peter Fisher Resigns ARI FLEISCHER - WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY Fleischer to Resign The resignation of Ari Fleischer: Bush’s official liar goes for the gold - 5/23/03 GEN. TOMMY FRANKS - U.S. ARMY CENTCOM Rumsfeld Announces Franks' Resignation - 5/23/03 RICHARD HAAS - STATE DEPARTMENT Loss of key aide another setback for Powell TIMOTHY HANNAPEL - DEPUTY SPECIAL COUNSEL Top two whistleblower protectors resign - 5/12 03 R. GLENN HUBBARD - WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS Last Economic Adviser Resigns--Hubbard - 2/27/03 ELAINE KAPLAN - SPECIAL COUNSEL Top two whistleblower protectors resign - 5/12/03 JOHN BRADY KIESLING - U.S. AMBASSADOR TO GREECE Career Diplomat Resigns Over U.S. Policy on Iraq - 3/1/03 ISAM AL-KHAFAJI - IRAQI RECONSTRUCTION COUNCIL I Did Not Want To Be a Collaborator - 7/28/03 KAREN KWIATKOWSKI - DoD NEAR EAST BUREAU Goodbye, Mr. President: the Secret Resignation Letters LARRY LINDSEY - WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ECONOMIC ADVISOR O'Neill and Lindsey submit resignations Friday - White House Financial Team Reshuffle - 12/02 ROSARIO MARIN - U.S. TREASURER U.S. Treasurer to Resign - 5/22/03 JOHN O'NEILL - FBI* A Chronology of John O'Neill's Life and FBI Career *See John O'Neill also in Part II - Deaths PAUL O'NEILL - U.S. SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY O'Neill and Lindsey submit resignations Friday - White House Financial Team Reshuffle - 12/02 MICHAEL PARKER - ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (fired) Bush Fires Army Corps Chief after he fails to defend budget cuts - 3/6/02 RICHARD PERLE - PENTAGON ADVISORY BOARD CHAIRMAN Perle Resigns as Chairman of the Defense Policy Board HARVEY PITT - SEC CHAIRMAN Harvey Pitt resigns as SEC chief - 11/6/02 JOHN M. POINDEXTER - DEFENSE DEPARTMENT Poindexter to Resign Following Terrorist Futures Debacle - 7/31/03 MICHAEL K. POWELL - FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Powell Sets Stage for Exit in Interview - 9/21/03 JACK PRITCHARD - STATE DEPARTMENT Top U.S. Expert on North Korea Steps Down PAUL REDMOND - DEPARTMENT HOMELAND SECURITY Top Homeland Security Official Resigns Position Riddle As U.S. Spy Chief Quits Massive Security Breach JANET REHNQUIST - INSPECTOR GEN'L HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Janet Rehnquist Resigns - 3/4/03 GEN. ERIC SHINSEKI - U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF Gen. Eric Shinseki Resigns - 6/10/03 LARRY THOMPSON - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE High-level resignation at Justice Department - 8/12/03 Rep. John Conyers Letter Regarding DoJ Handling of Enron (pdf) TOMMY THOMPSON - SECT'Y HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Tommy Thompson to Resign - 6/3/03 JACK WALTERS - BOONE COUNTY MISSOURI GOP CHAIRMAN Our Country Above Politics PATRICIA WARE - EXEC DIRECTOR PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HIV & AIDS AIDS Panel Director Leaves, Deputy Secretary At HHS Resigns - 2/5/03 WILLIAM WEBSTER - PUBLIC ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD William Webster's resignation letter to SEC's Pitt THOMAS E. WHITE - U.S. ARMY SECRETARY Ousted Army Chief Blasts Bush Iraq Policy - 5/03 JOSEPH WILSON - U.S. AMBASSADOR TO GABON Plame-Gate: Background and Ongoing Coverage of Retaliatory Outing of Wilson's CIA Agent Wife, Valerie Plame MARY WRIGHT - U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MONGOLIA Diplomat Mary Ann Wright Resigns - 3/19/03 RICHARD S. LANIER - WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL PROPERTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MARTIN E. SULLIVAN - WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL PROPERTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE GARY VIKAN - WHITE HOUSE CULTURAL PROPERTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Three Bush Advisers Quit Over Iraq Looting - 4/1/7/03 http://www.missouri.edu/~quinnl/news/bodies.html
On a side note - why would O'Neill burn all his bridges like this? It makes it very hard to argue for hiring him in any capacity when he reveals this stuff.
