O'Neill on Bush: a blind man in a room full of deaf people

[ringmastery]

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Bush savaged by former Treasury chief
By Alan Beattie in Washington
Published: January 9 2004 21:47 | Last Updated: January 9 2004 21:47

President George W. Bush's performance at cabinet meetings resembled that of "a blind man in a room full of deaf people", according to Paul O'Neill (pictured), who was fired as Treasury secretary in 2002.
The remarkable personal attack is made by Mr O'Neill in a forthcoming book, according to excerpts from a television interview to be broadcast on Sunday.

In the CBS Sixty Minutes interview Mr O'Neill, the former chief executive of the aluminium company Alcoa, says there was little constructive dialogue between officials and the president.

Speaking about his first meeting with Mr Bush, which lasted about an hour, Mr O'Neill says: "I went in with a long list of things to talk about and, I thought, to engage on.

"I was surprised it turned out me talking and the president just listening . . . It was mostly a monologue."

[dobak]

1. Book comes out on Tuesday

It looks very good