Mark Schmitt reflects on Ron Suskind's view of the Bush White House: Why are so many bad decisions being made inside the Topkapi Palace by our weak and incompetent Sultan?
The Decembrist: The Bad CEO Gets Religion: Suskind has parlayed his access to just two marginalized figures from the Bush White House -- John d'Iulio and Paul O'Neill -- into the closest thing to a real inside view of the administration. Most attention will surely be paid to the sentences in which White House officials dismiss critics as representatives of "the reality-based community," and of course his promise to a mega-donor luncheon that he would privatize Social Security in a second term has already triggered the pre-written press releases from the Kerry campaign.
What interested me most about the article was that it resolved a puzzle about the administration that seems to have come up in a half-dozen conversations recently. I've tried to expand on the managerial argument for the profound domestic and international failures. Based on no knowledge at all except what I've read in Suskind, Woodward, etc, I have always imagined that the president is one of those bad managers who is so focused on making the decision ("I'm the one who decides") and on short, conclusive meetings that he doesn't allow a full airing of information to come out, or to hear disagreements. The meeting that in the Clinton White House would have stretched into two hours, blowing the entire day's schedule but ultimately leading to a smarter result, is in the Bush White House "resolved" when the CEO speaks, and everyone leaves the room, most of them a little doubtful about the choice but loyal to the commander-in-chief. A lot of people I've talked to think that managerial analysis is short-sighted: "It's religion. It's got something to do with religion and fundamentalism," they respond.
I always had my doubts about the it's-all-about-religion argument. It didn't seem to fit with Bush's conduct as governor, or what I knew of his life. And, as Amy Sullivan pointed out, if you're so darn religious, why do you never, ever seem to attend church? I know that there is an aspect of evangelical protestantism in which the church as the community of believers is far less important than one's individual faith, but still -- to never go to church, and yet to be considered the most profoundly religious of American presidents?
Suskind's article largely confirms my speculation about Bush's managerial style: Doesn't ask many direct or penetrating questions. Limits sharply the number of people who have access to him. Reaches decisions abruptly, and then treats doubts or alternative views as disloyalty, etc. And as a result, he has wound up way, way over his head. Here's the priceless paragraph: "Considering the trials that were soon to arrive, it is easy to overlook what a difficult time this must have been for George W. Bush. For nearly three decades, he had sat in classrooms, and then at mahogany tables in corporate suites, with little to contribute. Then, as governor of Texas, he was graced with a pliable enough bipartisan Legislature, and the Legislature is where the real work in that state's governance gets done. The Texas Legislature's tension of opposites offered the structure of point and counterpoint, which Bush could navigate effectively with his strong, improvisational skills. But the mahogany tables were now in the Situation Room and in the large conference room adjacent to the Oval Office. He guided a ruling party. Every issue that entered that rarefied sanctum required a complex decision, demanding focus, thoroughness and analytical potency. For the president, as Biden said, to be acutely aware of his weaknesses -- and to have to worry about revealing uncertainty or need or confusion, even to senior officials -- must have presented an untenable bind."
And the solution, in addition to tightening the circle even more, was the turn to religion. Suskind quotes the Jim Wallis of the liberal religious organization Sojourners (an odd source, but he seems to have had more interaction with Bush than one might expect): ''When I was first with Bush in Austin, what I saw was a self-help Methodist, very open, seeking,'' Wallis says now. ''What I started to see at this point [2002] was the man that would emerge over the next year -- a messianic American Calvinist. He doesn't want to hear from anyone who doubts him.''
So that's the answer: It's the bad CEO, first, but his solution for the crisis he's created is a turn to an ever more absolutist religious certainty. Religious faith is not a constant anchor in his life, as it was for Jimmy Carter and to a lesser degree Clinton and I think also, based on his fascinating answer the other night, Kerry. Rather, it is a quick fix for an untenable situation, with one piece of religion -- Calvinist certainty -- pulled out of the whole and used to deal with a secular problem. I don't sleep better knowing that, but I'm a little less confused.
Social democrat, new Democrat, establishment Republican, foreign-policy hawk, foreign-policy dove, libertarian, isolationist, multilateralist--it's no longer a matter of calculating, "How far are this guy's policies from my preferred policies?" Getting George W. Bush out of the White House is something that every patriotic American has to see as good.
Posted by DeLong at October 17, 2004 03:57 PM | TrackBackA-yup.
Admitting mistakes (much less fixing them!) is hard work.
Bush has spent his whole life taking short cuts. This is just more of the same.
Posted by: Erik at October 17, 2004 04:10 PMThere you go with that 'patriot' thingy again, Brad, with no qualifier.
There are plenty of people out there who have been inculcated into thinking that being patriotic is supporting the prezdent in this time of war. Sad, but true.
Sadder still is I don't have any good ideas for bridging the two.
Best,
D
Posted by: Dano at October 17, 2004 05:09 PMWell... say I'm not a patriot. Say I love my home, my family, and my friends, but to me, "United States of America" is an abstract, gigantic thing too huge to love. Can I vote for Bush then.
Posted by: Julian Elson at October 17, 2004 05:14 PMJulian: Yes.
Posted by: Walt Pohl at October 17, 2004 05:38 PMI've been reading your site a lot, but I think I'm still going to vote for Nader. People gave me a lot of flack in '00 when I was an FSU student and voted Nader, but I really thought that Gore and Bush were effectively the same candidate that year and both sold out to the corporate and special interests. And I don't see any difference in '04. Kerry still wants our taxes to be at international lows for industrialized nations; Kerry doesn't favor nuclear disarmament; Kerry actually wants a larger military/industrial complex; Kerry has a 20 year voting record of supporting free trade to the detriment of the American worker; I still have no idea where Kerry stood on the Iraq War but all I know is that he voted give Bush authority to fight it; Kerry does not support universal health care; Kerry refuses to stand up to the greedy trial lawyers who are siphoning away millions of dollars from genuinely hurt victims while overburdining our judicial system with too much litigation; Kerry opposes gay marriage; Kerry does not believe in a universal social safety net; Kerry refuses to adopt a litmus abortion test for prospective Supreme Court nominees; Kerry refuses to take a firm stand against Sharon and Israel's apartheid; Kerry refuses to say that he'll lift the embargo against Cuba that is murdering thousands of Cubans; and Kerry refuses to renounce pre-emptive, imperialistic military adventurism. I agree with Nader on all these important topics and have huge questions about Kerry.
Posted by: Elbow at October 17, 2004 05:48 PMI'm not sure that Jim Wallis understand Calvinism, and I doubt that it applies to George Bush. There is very little about his religious ideas as expressed in his speeches that suggests to me a Calvinist understanding. What has always struck me as remarkable about Bush's publicly expressed conception of Christianity is that he seems to blur together the United States, himself, and God in a way that is hardly orthodox. This has raised some eyebrows even among Christians who are inclined to be sympathetic to many of his policies.
Posted by: tarheelian at October 17, 2004 06:15 PMElbow,
I respect your desire to make your point. But there comes a time when you have to do the right thing.
A vote for Nader is mathematically equivalent to a vote for Bush.
A vote for Bush is...
* a vote for torture
* a vote for guantanamo
* a vote for theocracy
* a vote for secret police
* a vote for empire
* a vote for 1,200 wasted american soldiers' lives
* a vote for 15,000 wasted iraqi lives
* a vote for 50 years of global holy war
Best of luck, I hope in the end you'll help us end this madness.
libertas
Posted by: libertas at October 17, 2004 06:16 PMMichael Moore once spoke at my college, years ago, and said, more or less: you don't like choosing between the lesser of two evils? Tough. That's what being an adult is about. The world will never be perfect, and you have to make the better choice of what's actually offered you, not what your ideal candidate would be. Get your head out of your ass and deal with it.
Jeez.
Posted by: antid_oto at October 17, 2004 06:17 PMI'm not sure that Jim Wallis understands Calvinism, and I doubt that it applies to George Bush. There is very little about his religious ideas as expressed in his speeches that suggests to me a Calvinist understanding. What has always struck me as remarkable about Bush's publicly expressed conception of Christianity is that he seems to blur together the United States, himself, and God in a way that is hardly orthodox. This has raised some eyebrows even among Christians who are inclined to be sympathetic to many of his policies.
Posted by: tarhelian at October 17, 2004 06:21 PMMichael Moore came to speak at my college about nine years ago, and said, more or less (I'm paraphrasing): you don't like the lesser of two evils being offered you this election season? Tough. That's what being an adult is about. You deal with the imperfect, messy real world, not the fantasy world where a vote for Ralph Nader means something. The lesser of the two evils, if you choose to think about it that way is clearly Kerry this time around. (I don't think of it that way, incidentally, because Kerry is ages better on things like environmental and labor policy.) A vote for Nader isn't a vote for Bush. It's a vote for your own irrelevance. Grow up.
Posted by: antid_oto at October 17, 2004 06:27 PMI shall not apologize for reality--although the odds are better than even that, at some future time, I shall be given the choice between that or my life.
Re: W's attendance at worship
Maybe he doesn't feel it's necessary- that somehow he's above it. After all if God speaks to and through him, why submit to the filter of a minister? He gets it direct- what could anyone add to his pipeline (stovepipe?) to grace?
JaB
Posted by: JB at October 17, 2004 06:58 PM"Stovepipe to grace" made me laugh out loud!
Found this little gem over in the comments at Kevin Drum's site: http://reconomist.typepad.com/reconomist/2004/10/bush_and_revela.html. Check it out.
Posted by: Tom Marney at October 17, 2004 08:22 PMA vote for Nader is equivalent to not voting at all, not voting for Bush. If ten people vote for Kerry, nine people vote for Bush, and two people don't vote at all, Kerry still wins, not Bush. Of course, if nine people vote for Kerry, ten people vote for Bush, and two people vote for Nader, Bush wins. So, all in all, it's basically a non-vote.
Posted by: Julian Elson at October 17, 2004 08:34 PMYou know those people hide behind religion b/c it's hard to attack? Because people will say.."they're 'religious' therefore must be honest, righteous" -this seems to be part of the strategy. Reminds me of someone I knew that first explained to his clients the names of his eight kids- all named after saints, you see- then extracted outrageous fees without service, guilt, or challenge. Oh, except Bush is the leader of the whole free world too, out of his league (and mind), and subsumed with his own power, shoot. Kerry is targeting the center and center right now, it seems that's the political strategy he plays, disturbing as it is to watch. I used to really respect Nader, I mean who can argue with seatbelts? I met a couple of people last year who talked incessantly about "Ralph's" (sic) where they worked in DC, oozing PC cool as they dragged on their cigarettes. And I can't get that image out of my mind now, as I wonder how far out of bounds his ego can be for him to blithely accept how hard the Republican party is campaigning for him, as the environment and all else he says he endorses stands to go down the tubes. Oh the gritty grime of politics, theres not enough soap in the world to rinse it off. Shoot, a bit rantish hunh...
Posted by: news saturated cynic at October 17, 2004 08:52 PM"It didn't seem to fit with Bush's conduct as governor"
Sorry, but I've become convinced that this is just a crock.
Being governor was never anything more to bush than creating the minimal resume he'd need to get to the White House. Neither bush nor Rove cared about *being* an effective governor, only being packageable as someone with a reasonable record as a governor.
I say this as someone who, at one time, actually did think that past behavior might offer insights into where he might go. It may have, but it wouldn't be *that* behavior but what he did in some other arena.
"You can fool 51% of the people, all of the time" -- Karl Rove.
Before blaming the voters, remember that people dependent on free commercial media have all been systematically misinformed. People dependent on daily newspapers have been systematically misinformed to a greater or lesser degree, depending on where they live.
Elbow may be a troll. An almost identical post appeared elsewhere.
Posted by: Zizka at October 17, 2004 09:06 PMBush doesn't have to go to church; the church comes to him.
Sitting in a pew for an hour and kibbitzing over coffee is NOT how a man of Bush's power needs to get religioned up.
Posted by: Troy at October 18, 2004 03:52 AMMy wife is still on the fence. Part of the problem is that she's a doctor and Edwards gives her the creeps. I told her: if you want to know why you need to vote for Kerry, read this article.
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/9938101.htm
I don't know if it completely convinced her, but it sure did make her think.
Brad,
You wrote: "I know that there is an aspect of evangelical protestantism in which the church as the community of believers is far less important than one's individual faith..."
Secularists and religionists alike conflate the terms "faith" and "belief". What you call "one's individual faith" is really a personal hyper-belief superseding all doubt that pretends to faith.
Beliefs are shared, faith must be individual. But the individual conviction you refer to is nothing more than a total surrender of the self to "The Written Word" in the Bible.
One cannot have "faith" in the bible; only belief beyond all rationality. True faith does not discount rationality.
Posted by: Jerry in Omaha at October 18, 2004 06:52 AMTo the extent that Bush is religious, and regardless of its coherence, its alignment with traditional secular Christianity, its sincerity, or its truth, he has moved his decision-making and the policy apparatus (such as it is) of our government to an unassailable, undemocratic, anti-Republic level.
There is no appeal. Democracy is dead. Destroy what he has put in its place.
He has three voices in his head. The ones who agree with him always win 3 to 0. The rest of us are less than cannon fodder.
Posted by: John Thullen at October 18, 2004 08:33 AMJulian Elson wrote, "A vote for Nader is equivalent to not voting at all, not voting for Bush."
Clearly, if the alternatives are voting for Kerry or voting for Nader, *switching* from Kerry to Nader subtracts one vote from Kerry's column.
If the alternatives are not voting or voting for Nader, then you're right.
Posted by: liberal at October 18, 2004 12:26 PM"The Wisdom of Crowds" had the misfortune to come into print just about the time that everybody really wants to talk about politics. Funny thing is the timing of the book's release wasn't good from the point of view of book sales, but from as political commetary, its timing was great. The book's argument is that the judgement of large numbers of people is very likely to be superior the judgement of the cloistered few, or the judgement of the self-confident one.
Bush and his thugs pick on Kerry for (among other things) having a very wide circle of advisors, for listening to lots of views. That makes him "indecisive", a "flip-flopper." Bush seems to think that making a decision, no matter how bad, in a John Wayne, ask nobody's permission and don't take any backtalk kind of way, is more important that getting right answers. That has meant wasting a good bit of time, credibility and honor putting back-talkers out of business.
So I know this is a rather belated recommendation, but read "The Wisdom of Crowds." It is just the tonic you need in an age of ridiculous CEO pay, a president who turned a loss in the popular vote into a mandate to rule without listening to anybody who doesn't already agree with him, politicians who spend vastly too much time listening to other politicians, too political professionals, and to "experts" chosen to back positions their party has already adopted, rather than to their constituents and honest debate of the issues.
Vote for James Surowieki!
Posted by: kharris at October 18, 2004 12:45 PMHas anybody--or would anybody like to venture a guess as to the source of Suskind's money quote: the one about the reality-based community. Is it Rove? Perle? Who? Is this the Deep Throat conondrum of our time?
Posted by: sylny at October 18, 2004 05:44 PMI am a better person for reading your site reductil
Posted by: reductil at October 18, 2004 09:36 PMOur general manager is just like Bush.
All of us in the department come from the field, with long experience and lotta know-how. Higher decided they could cut some costs, so they threw us all into this abandoned warehouse in cubicles the size of prison cells, and started playing 3-card monte with our marketing and sales budgets, delaying any executive decisions and generally creating a huge crisis in our bottom line.
Then they hired this dimwad GM, as preppie as anyone you ever met, right down to the sweater draped over his shoulders. During his tenure, he has given up the general staff meetings as too costly, and started issuing edicts direct from his office by e-mail, even in areas he has no job jurisdiction to do so. Sucking up to higher, he also deferred COLA, raises and performance bonuses for several years in a row now, while demanding (of the few remaining staff) that we double and triple our output.
!!He doesn't even have a business background!!
Higher just keeps dangling him out there, like Bush keeps getting dangled by Cheney, obviously the real Commander in Chief. Bush is just the perplexed, increasingly "religious", bigoted, racist, paranoid, chuckle-box he has become.
And everyone I know reports the same thing is happening in their fields. Cracker heads, I call them. "Managers" who have no more clue how to manage than how to unfold their new org chart.
God, how'd you like to work for the airlines!
Posted by: Lash Marks at October 18, 2004 10:19 PMWhat is the average access time of the HDD worked out from seek timebandwidth. RPM?
Whatever back solution you have, test it every so often by asking for obscure files just to see everything works. Also include recovery/boot disks on floppy, and think about how you would restore a system if the entire hard disk crashed.
If you are installing these life is actually easier, as they tend not to patch the base OS or core libraries.
A good trick here is to make a directory such as c\build the official base location for all such intermediate output deleting this tree then cleans up the PC of all .PCH and .OBJ junk.
This is where office PCs have an edge over home systems they are designed to pop open in an instant and let you juggle stuff around with ease.
No OS upgrades for MMX would be needed, although OS components and drivers could actually take advantage of the MMX functionality if they chose.
but I think intel can boost P4 clock rates nicely these are both related facts P4 has a long pipeline. RAM prices are nice and low,
format comes out youll want 1394 and maybe even TCP/IP in all your consumer toys by then.
This reduces the TCO of an accessory notebook somewhat from desktop times two to desktopnotebookone*apps2*maintenance.
Boot off the floppy disk, repartition the HDD, format them,
Get a PCI soundcard and hard modem, this costs more but delivers performance, and a nonsoft modem gives you more platform flexibility
When you get into big projects you find that style of code walkthrough no longer works, and wastes trees, but the printers are still good for documentation.
For development, even at home, Office PCs have a slight edge. But if you have MSDN Professional then buying a machine with NT preloaded is wasting money and even Office is surplus if you have a universal subscription.
This variable must be of the same type that we wrote with or else the types will be incompatible.
One reason MMX is really bad for 3D is that the because it shares the floating point registers, it is impossible to overlap the MMX code with the floating point
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