Why, Paul, Why?

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill by Ron Suskind reveals a former Bush Administration cabinet member's observations on the President in general, and on the obsession with Iraq in particular. Not just the snivelling of an insider turned out, the book has 19,000 insider documents to back it. You might say that the book is highly embarrassing to the Bush Administration.

After an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes Sunday night, Mr. O'Neill found out the price of disloyalty. The Bushies turned their hurricane-force (Category 5) wrath on O'Neill, attempting to discredit him. Never mind that they employed the logical fallacy known as ad hominem. What's important is that O'Neill cowered and back-pedalled - not a lot, but enough for his detractors to catch doubt on him.

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Tuesday that he used some "vivid language" to describe President George W. Bush and would take it back if he could.

During the 60 Minutes interview, O'Neill said "I'm an old man and I've made plenty of money. They can't hurt me." In other words, knowing the Bushies, he knew that they would attack him. However, he understimated their viciousness.

My take on it: behind the scenes, they have informed him that they will hurt someone else. O'Neill is now trying to protect someone else from the White House's thuggery. This is hardly the first time the Bushies retaliated against a patriot who exposed the Administration's underhanded ways. A recent, obvious, example happened when Joe Wilson proved that the Iraq purchase of Uranium was a lie. The Bushies "outed" his wife as a CIA undercover operative.