Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has received a withering re-joinder from the Bushies regarding the book, The Price of Loyalty in which O'Neill portrays George W. Bush as being disengaged in White House meetings. According to the Toranto Star, "The book is replete with stories of a president who appeared zoned out at meetings and said he operated on "instinct" and "gut," not briefing books." Unfortunately, O'Neill has seemingly retreated from his positions. The Toronto Star reported on January 14, 2004:

Under concerted attack from the White House, former treasury secretary Paul O'Neill retreated yesterday.

O'Neill said his contention that President George W. Bush came to office fixated on ousting Saddam Hussein was really just a government policy of regime change in Iraq that he inherited from the preceding Bill Clinton administration.

O'Neill said he would probably even vote for Bush in November's presidential election.

The author of the book detailing O'Neill's 23 months in the Bush cabinet, Ron Suskind, also came under fire from his former employer, the Wall Street Journal, where he won a Pulitzer.


In an editorial yesterday, the paper called its former reporter a "well-known Bush antagonist."

That's amazing! The Wall Street Journal apparently doesn't mind sharing the glory when Suskind wins a Pulitzer, but distances itself when it comes to criticizing Bush.

We need to keep in mind how focused the White House machinery has been in responding to an unflattering portrayal of Bush in meetings, but apparently unfocused on such things as finding the leaker who outed Valerie Plame. Wesley Clark "compared the length of time it took Bush to investigate a White House leak that identified a CIA agent last summer and the alacrity with which the treasury department decided it had to investigate whether O'Neill had secret documents.

'They're not concerned about national security, but they're real concerned about political security,'Clark said." Absolutely right.

As I've written elsewhere, in this day in age, you "don't mess with Texas" --even if you were a member of the Bush Cabinet. None of this is lost on Colin Powell, I'm sure. Bush gave him a second chance after Powell was soft on the invasion of Iraq initially. But he got religion. For those who seek power as these guys do, that is NOT amazing.