Man, I HATE agreeing with David Broder
I don't mind when he agrees with me, though.
Quote of note:
What is missing from the story, as it has emerged so far, is any sense that Bush himself was reaching down below the top levels of the White House staff or the intelligence agencies, trying to inform himself of what was happening down in the trenches. It is an open secret in Washington that he is indifferent to much of the daily work of the domestic departments. But it is striking that he seems equally passive on matters of national security, letting information filter up to him through the White House bureaucracy.
Incurious Bush
By David S. Broder
Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page B07
In her testimony before the Sept. 11 commission on Thursday, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice gave glimpses of the inner workings of the Bush White House that were extraordinarily revealing for this highly secretive administration.
Anyone who listened closely during her three hours on the stand could glean much about the strengths and weaknesses of this White House, a place where few outsiders have gained a clue about how it operates.
What emerged was a picture of an organization with great discipline and a strong belief in orderly structures and articulated concepts and policies. But it is also a top-down bureaucracy, with little capacity for hearing variant viewpoints or testing its theories against the practical wisdom of front-line operatives.
