Bush Gone Mad?

I know the answer to that question seems like a foregone conclusion, but if the latest from Time is any indication, he may just be really cracking. The salient points are here:

[Regarding the second term of a Presidency] Your team gets tired, the ideas stale, and the fumes of power more toxic. It was through those badlands that President George W. Bush trudged last week, and for once he was walking alone. "The problem is that the President doesn't want to make changes," says a White House adviser who is not looking for a West Wing job, "but he's lost some of his confidence in the three people he listens to the most." Those three are his Vice President, Dick Cheney, whose top aide, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, has been charged with brazenly obstructing the investigation into who leaked the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame; Bush senior adviser Karl Rove, who while not indicted has still emerged as a player in the scandal; and chief of staff Andrew Card, who gets some of the blame for bungling the response to Hurricane Katrina and even more for the botched Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers. "All relationships with the President, except for his relationship with Laura, have been damaged recently," the White House adviser says. The closest aide who is undamaged is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—who is off minding the rest of the world—and, of course, Bush himself. "The funny thing is everybody's failing now, in which case perhaps it's time to look at George Bush's relationship with George Bush."

Much more good stuff at link. Hat tip to Buzzflash for putting me onto the trail of the article. Buzzflash has a link to an article about Scooter, and I found my way to this.

The simple thing to bring away from this - if the unnamed WH advisor is to be believed - is that to expect a different outcome without changing the starting conditions is a sign of serious issues with one's mental wiring.

Of course Bush is under stress. But to stick with the same players and expect to turn his second term around is, well, crazy. Loyalty is a serious liability here, not a strength.

Full Disclosure: I wanted to title this entry, "The Madness of King George." But as this a purely speculative post, eh, I did not.