Tabloid update: Laura's secret divorce diary

If you don't do your own grocery shopping, don't worry -- we have all the details from this week's Globe tabloid cover story, "Bush rages over Laura's Secret Divorce Diary."

The Globe says President Bush just found out that Laura has been keeping a secret diary "documenting their White House years," and he has "hit the roof" over it.

"Insiders reveal" the president is terrified that the first lady will publish a tell-all memoir that will "destroy his legacy" (no comment) and "expose the painful truth about their turbulent marriage -- including his boozing, their ugly showdowns, and the inside story about his relationship with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."

By the way, did you notice that President Bush told reporters in Australia that Condoleezza Rice "can be my date" at a dinner in his honor last Wednesday night? The Associated Press picked up the quote and put it in headlines all across the United States. Do you think they're trying to tell us something?

But back to the Globe.

The tabloid says Mrs. Bush canceled out of the trip to Australia at the last moment not because of a pinched nerve in her neck, as the White House press office announced, but because she was "fed up" with the president's "rages." However, on Saturday the first lady had surgery on her neck, so we're not convinced the Globe is credible on this particular point.

More credible is the claim that "the president went absolutely ballistic when [the first lady] raised the possibility of a memoir," according to "a White House insider." The insider tells the Globe the first lady's secret journal, begun as a way to document her travels, White House galas, and cute stories about meeting heads of state, turned into "a form of therapy" as the Bush marriage "began to crumble."

Now, check this out:

Says the family source, "Laura's very tempted to see her diaries in print. George has caused her such torment over the past several years that she feels it's time to let people know what he's really like and what she's been through."

The family source? That's new. Previous Globe stories on the Bush marriage have attributed quotes to "friends" of the first lady, but now the quotes from "a White House insider" and a "family source" would seem to confirm our earlier theory that Mrs. Bush is leaking this stuff to the tabloid herself as a bargaining tactic in her unacknowledged divorce negotiations.

Just guessing, of course.

One thing we're not guessing about is how comfortable and happy President Bush and Secretary Rice both look when they're together.



What a story that would be. Condoleezza Rice, Duchess of Cornwall.


Copyright 2007

Editor's note: Catch up on your tabloid reading with the earlier posts, "Bush marital turmoil," "Laura Bush's cover story," and "All right, let's dish."

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