Former White House Counsel Dan Bartlett shared a delightful story about life under W to the NY Times. The comment was part of an article about how President Obama is changing the atmosphere at our nation's house.
The article is pretty lightweight stuff about clothes and rugs and office hours. But Bartlett's offhand remark shines a big light on the kind of person Bush is. It also says something about the people who surrounded W. From my reading- W was a petty tyrant. Those around him- sycophants who enjoy bowing to authoritarian figures. (Excepting, of course, the Cheney contingency, who just used them all to further thier evil plans.)
The Times article is a fun read. Its not long, so I recommend you give it a look. The story talks of how Obama has a business casual dress code for those doing weekend work at the White House. Barlett then offers his recollection from the bygone era of the neocons-
"I’ll never forget going to work on a Saturday morning, getting called down to the Oval Office because there was something he was mad about," said Dan Bartlett, who was counselor to Mr. Bush. "I had on khakis and a buttoned-down shirt, and I had to stand by the door and get chewed out for about 15 minutes. He wouldn’t even let me cross the threshold."
Really? You find it amusing that as a very high-level attorney you got yelled at by Shrub for not having on a tie? And W would not even allow Bartlett into the room to be yelled at? Pathetic. It sounds to me as though the Bushies confused "President" with "King". What is accomplished by that sort of immature nonsense. Is Bartlett a professional or a 12-year old?
On a different note, at the close is a bit about Obama that made me laugh a bit. The discussion was about W's obsession with that stupid sunburst rug in the Oval Office.
The rug is still there, as are the presidential portraits Mr. Bush selected — one of Washington, one of Lincoln — and a collection of decorative green and white plates. During a meeting last week with retired military officials, before he signed an executive order shutting down the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Mr. Obama surveyed his new environs with a critical eye.
"He looked around," said one of his guests, retired Rear Adm. John D. Hutson, "and said, ‘I’ve got to do something about these plates. I’m not really a plates kind of guy.'
Not really a plate guy. Not an important item, but it strikes me as funny.