Bush in the Bubble

Echoing the complaint many of us have had since day one of the Bush Administration's reign, Newsweek writes in its current issue about "the most isolated president in modern history." It's been painfully obvious from the start that this White House has shown little interest in soliciting diverse, expert opinion before suggesting or establishing policy. At times, it seems that Mr. Bush only knows five or ten people, and his opinions, decisions, and appointments rely far too heavily on the advice of that secretive, insulated few.

Newsweek notes:

Clearly, George W. Bush's role model is not his father, who every week would ride down from the White House to the House of Representatives gymnasium, just to hear what fellows like Murtha were saying. Nor is the model John F. Kennedy, who during the Cuban missile crisis reached out to form an "ExCom" of present and past national-security officials, from both parties, to find some way back from the abyss short of war. Nor is it Franklin Roosevelt, who liked to create competition between advisers to find the best solution. Or Abraham Lincoln who, as historian Doris Kearns Goodwin writes in her new book, "Team of Rivals," appointed his political foes to his cabinet.

To me, an American President bears the responsibility of representing all the people, or, at the very least, to consider well-reasoned opinions from all sides of the political fence. Yet Mr. Bush's conduct in office has consistently exemplified "a level of indifference, if not denial, that is dangerous for a president who seeks to transform the world."

And that dangerous indifference stands to be his most enduring legacy.