Far too Little, Far too Late...

I'm assuming that, like myself, you rolled your eyes at the announcement that Bush was "reaching out" to foreign policy bigwigs, even those that have opposed the war and criticized his policies, to get their advice on Iraq. "Surely," you thought, "this can't be anything more than a Rovian strategy to make the president look as if he might actually take the advice of anyone that disagrees with him."

Well you know what? You were right. Give yourself a cookie.

Bush and Former Cabinet Members Discuss Topic No.1: Iraq

Take the word "discuss" with a grain of salt. One, say, the size of a hippo. (Bolds mine)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 - Colin Powell said nothing - a silence that spoke volumes to many in the White House today.

His predecessor, Madeleine Albright, was a bit riled after hearing an exceedingly upbeat 40-minute briefing to 13 living former secretaries of state and defense about how well things are going in Iraq. Saying the war in Iraq was "taking up all the energy" of President Bush's foreign policy team, she asked Mr. t Bush (sic) whether he had let nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea spin out of control, and Latin America and China policy suffer by benign neglect.

So, they visited the president, expecting a serious discussion on Iraq. What they got was 40 minutes of Fox news. I'd be a little testy, myself.

"I can't let this comment stand," Mr. Bush shot back, telling Ms. Albright and the rare assembly of her colleagues, who reached back to the Kennedy White House, that his administration "can do more than one thing at a time."

The Bush administration, the president insisted, had "the best relations of any country with Japan, China and Korea," and active programs to win alliances around the world.

That was, according to some of the participants, one of the few moments of heat during an unusual White House effort to bring some of its critics into the fold and give a patina of bipartisan common ground to the strategy that Mr. Bush has laid out in recent weeks for Iraq.

Okay, seriously. When the hell are these government officials going to stop bowing and scraping to Bush's Boy King act? When is someone going to call Bush on his spoiled brat behavior? I know the office of the President demands a certain amount of respect, but jeez, everyone's always told me that to get respect, you have to earn it. I, for one, would be highly insulted if I were one of these officials, and had to keep my mouth shut and indulge a temper tantrum from the Worst President in American History. I'm sorry, lifelong failures don't get to tell people how to behave.

Okay, grab your garters, gals... here's the lulu:

But if it was a bipartisan consultation, as advertised by the White House, it was a brief one. Mr. Bush allowed 5 to 10 minutes this morning for interchange with the group - which included three veterans of another difficult war, the one in Vietnam: Robert S. McNamara, Melvin R. Laird and James R. Schlesinger. Then the entire group was herded the Oval Office for what he called a "family picture."

Those who wanted to impart more wisdom to the current occupants of the White House were sent back across the hall to meet again with Stephen J. Hadley, the national security adviser, and Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. But, as several of the participants noted, by that time Mr. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had gone on to other meetings.

So.

We're getting into year three of this war, and Bush allows five to ten minutes - I'll say that again- five to ten minutes to "listen" to advice from former secretaries of state and defense, a group that predates Poppy's Presidency, which he is supposedly going to "take to heart."

Then, he and his fellow eels sneak out of the room.

When cameras were in the room, though, Mr. Bush was appreciative. "I'm most grateful for the suggestions that have been given," he said. "We take the advice, we appreciate your experience and we appreciate you taking the time out of your day."

How fucking condescending. As Tbogg says, let's just call it what it was- a photo op.

After the meeting, Mr. Laird, a defense secretary under President Richard M. Nixon, told reporters that Mr. Bush "heard some things he did not like, he heard some things he did like."

"That's the kind of meeting you want," he said, according to The Associated Press.

Oh, you're calling that a meeting. I see. Ten minutes to listen to 13 officials. Giving each person less than a minute to get their point across to the Boy King. And that's not even taking into account the amount of time they had to spend grimacing and laughing weakly to one of Bush's "Heh-heh-heh" jokes.'

He heard some things he liked, and some things he didn't like? I'm amazed he had time.

(Oh, cross-post, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind)