New York Times: "In Secretly Taped Conversations, Glimpses of the Future President…"

…yet nothing remotely interesting, provocative, or revelatory.

So the Times got hold of some hot tapes made "secretly" between 1998 and 2000 by old Bush hand/evangelist Doug Wead, in which one would expect presidential aspirant George W. to insouciantly shoot from his hip, tell it like it is, reveal startling insights about himself, and/or embarrassingly stick his foot in his mouth.

Yet, at least in the parts the Times got to hear, he doesn’t do that at all.

Instead, the Times scoop consists a boring litany of oddly-Karl-Rove-vetted-sounding things like:

"I am going to say that I've accepted Christ into my life. And that's a true statement." [While preparing to meet Christian leaders in September 1998.]

"I like Ashcroft a lot… He is a competent man. He would be a good Supreme Court pick. He would be a good attorney general. He would be a good vice president." [In November 1998, contemplating a Bush cabinet.]

"Look, James, I got to tell you two things right off the bat. One, I'm not going to kick gays, because I'm a sinner. How can I differentiate sin?" [Recounting a conversation with James Robison, a prominent evangelical minister in Texas.]

"James, that's the difference between me and the president. I've learned. I am prepared to accept the responsibility of this office." [Again with Robison, comparing his own "immature" mistakes with Bill Clinton's.]

So is this Bush guy too good to be true, or what?!

Which leads one to wonder:

Were these tapes really recorded secretly? Or were they recorded deliberately, with the Bushies' knowledge, and released to head off at the pass any real, actually damaging W revelations, of which undoubtedly there are scores so far suppressed (and scores more yet to come)?

And why does Wead say he made the tapes?

"I believe that, like him or not, he is going to be a huge historical figure. If I was on the telephone with Churchill or Gandhi, I would tape record them too."

Perfect. Churchill, Gandhi. Might as well throw Christ, Buddha, and Moses in there too.

Forget the past. Forget the present. Forget reality and let’s talk about how great this legacy is gonna be!