ABC's The Note

The Note highlights a fascinating piece by Mike Allen, new to TIME magazine. The Note asks:

These blind quotes contain information from conversations with the President that reflects badly on him — something that rarely happens in this White House and something this President can't stand.

Which leads to two questions for the President and Andy Card: do you know who leaked these things, and do you know why they leaked them?

Read the entire story, perhaps twice, but here's a tease...

"He was looking for the next really important thing to do," the friend said. "You could hear him almost sorting it out to himself. He just sort of figured it would come."

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"His inner circle takes pride in being able to tell him 'everything is under control,' when in this case it was not," said a former aide. "The whole idea that you have to only burden him with things 'that rise to his level' bit them this time."

A related factor, aides and outside allies concede, is what many of them see as the President's increasing isolation. Bush's bubble has grown more hermetic in the second term, they say, with fewer people willing or able to bring him bad news--or tell him when he's wrong.

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"Katrina has shown the incredible weakness of the notion that you can have weak players in key spots because the only people who matter are in the White House," said a lobbyist who is tight with the Administration. "You can't have a Mike Brown at FEMA unless you can guarantee that there isn't going to be a catastrophe."

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The White House has sent delegates to meetings in Washington of outside Republican groups who have plans to blame the Democrats and state and local officials.

At least there won't be any blame games.