In his editorial, Earth to G.O.P, the Gipper is Dead (Times Select needed), Frank Rich mentions Ron Suskind's article Why Are These Men Laughing in which John DiIluio says "...What you’ve got is everything—and I mean everything—being run by the political arm. It’s the reign of the Mayberry Machiavellis." Below is the author's note that sits in front of the article.
Author Note: "Why Are These Men Laughing" contained a series of critiques of the Bush administration from an ex-White House official, John DiIlulio. DiIluio, whose thoughts were sent to the author in a polished, elegantly constructed seven-page memo, was the first ranking administration official to publicly criticize his boss. According to DiIulio, the political team at the White House was making every policy decision, ignoring the advice of experts. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, commenting on this article, said it was now clear that the Bush White House had "no interest in the substance of policy, caring only about political payoffs." Shortly after the article appeared in Esquire, the White House went on the offensive, forcing DiIulio to apologize for his assessments that drew a comparison to Stalinist Russia in the Washington Post.
(Note: I've had the distinct pleasure of working with Ron on the Esquire site and later in helping him put his valuable work online and I remember the blow-by-blow of the days that followed the initial posting of this article. There were at least three versions of apology issued. Other items of note on the Suskind's site are documents that are referenced in his book The Price of Loyalty. Among those are indications of regime change in Iraq being on the top of the agenda in Feb of 2001.)
