guest post by Taylor Marsh
You’ve got George Allen going all Strom Thurmond, with Rick Santorum cozying up to LGF, while John Bolton is so desperate to get out of committee he’s doing interviews with a drunk wingnut blogger. But that’s not even the worst of it. The Republican Party base no longer believes the president or their own party can handle their jobs.
If you haven’t seen the video posted on Crooks & Liars yet you simply must watch it, because it says it all. It comes from MSNBC’s "Scarborough Country" and proceeds to lay Bush out flat. The title across the screen is: Is Bush an "Idiot"? Mind you, Joe Scarborough was once a Republican member of Congress. He questions whether Bush is curious enough to be able to lead this country over the next two years. Lawrence O’Donnell said Bush looks overwhelmed with the job of being president. John Fund tried desperately to stick up for Bush, but even he seemed to only mount a half-hearted defense. O’Donnell thinks Bush’s troubles started with Katrina. I just think it was the tipping point. The real reason everyone is walking away from Bush and the Republican Party is Iraq.
It’s the number one topic on everyone’s mind. It’s impossible to shake; the never ending bad news inalterably fixed in our minds. But there’s something else, sort of a Joe Lieberman lesson waiting for George W. Bush in November. After all these months, even years, no one, absolutely no one has been held accountable for the incompetence, the abject failures and the stubborn "stay the course" mind set that has led to an unmitigated catastrophe: an Iraqi civil war. The other cost is that Iraq has put our military at grave risk.
But it’s not just Democrats who want Republicans to be held accountable; after all, they’re in charge of the House, the Senate and the executive branch. Republicans actually want Democrats to hold Republicans accountable. You know why? Because Republicans don’t believe their own leaders are up to the job.
Chris Bowers and Rick Jacobs over at MyDD did an extraordinary post recently marching out poll data on the Republican Party that is simply stunning in its implications. Now, my strong suit is not analyzing polling that’s for sure, but even Bush would recognize the red alert warning in this baby.
In an important development paralleling the Vietnam-era split in the Democratic Party base, a split is developing among Republican Party base voters around the war in Iraq and the credibility of Republican Party leaders who initiated the war. In post-election polling done by Courage Campaigns and MyDD.com in the Republican-leaning California 50th district, we found that only 19% of Republican voters believe that the Republican Party will hold Bush accountable for mistakes made in Iraq, versus 48% of Republican voters who believe that the Democratic Party will hold Bush accountable.
Other findings include:
63% of Republican voters believe that Bush has made some or a lot of mistakes in Iraq. 24% of Republican voters believe that Bush has made ‘a lot of mistakes in Iraq’, and another 39% believe that Bush has made ‘some mistakes in Iraq’.
34% of Republican voters believe that Bush has definitely or probably not told the truth about the situation in Iraq. 14% believe that Bush has ‘definitely’ not told the truth about the situation in Iraq, and another 20% believe that Bush has ‘probably’ not told the truth about the situation in Iraq.
34% of Republican voters believe that Bush should probably or definitely be held accountable for the situation in Iraq. 19% of Republican voters believe that Bush should ‘definitely’ be held accountable, and 15% believe he should ‘probably’ be held accountable.
48% of Republican voters believe that the Democratic Party is likely to hold Bush accountable for mistakes in Iraq, versus only 19% who believe that the Republican Party is likely to hold Bush accountable.
When you go back and look at the video on Scarborough Country yesterday, Is Bush an idiot?, then think about all that’s happened, you have to wonder what might have been, especially since John Kerry turned out to be right, which even George Will had to admit it recently. Kerry slammed Joe Lieberman’s "scare tactics" over Iraq just yesterday on The Young Turks.
However, thinking about the thousands of civilians killed in Iraq, the thousands of U.S. soldiers who have been injured or maimed, not to mention all the families destroyed over the long deployments, the real reason for Bush and the Republican collapse becomes clear. It’s about Iraq. Just ask Joe.
It’s about Bush and the Republican controlled Congress not holding anyone accountable on Iraq. Joe Lieberman is now included in that bunch. The people, Democrats and Republicans, want this to change, but since Republicans don’t even believe their own party will do it, it’s time for Democratic progressives to take the lead.
Related posts:
- New Gallup Poll Finds Republican Party Less Popular Than Russia, China, Venezuela
- DPC to Continue Drive for Oversight, Accountability for Iraq and Afghanistan Contractors
- A Union Man Ponders the Democrats’ Collapse in the Virginia Elections
- Joe Scarborough & Peggy Noonan: Americans Secretly Yearning for Republican-Controlled Congress
- Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Brags That Bush DOJ Wasn’t Corrupt Enough For Him
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I can’t believe Scarborough asked the question. I thought most of us already knew the answer.
Oh, and FITZ!
ROOTZ!
NED!
LAKE!
Leisure Guy!
Is it November yet?
Taylor, great to see you! I just now finished watching that Is Bush an Idiot clip and my jaw is on the floor. Then I came here and bingo, you’re writing about it, too. Great piece.
This is a huge day in America, people. The emperor has no fucking clothes. Not a stitch.
I YouTubed “Is Bush an Idiot?”
Mornin’ all, good to be back at FDL. Hey, meta, and thanks bat guano! Everyone should see that clip. Amazing.
The tape is amazing in how matter-of-factly they discuss Bush’s stupidity. I think this is more “not a real conservative” posturing, but still it is something.
The one guy was making the argument that Bush is smart but not articulate. The other two didn’t buy it, and neither do I because:
1) A non-articulate politician is pretty useless, much like a singer who hears beautiful music in their head, but can’t sing.
2) If he was smart how come virtually every decision he makes is wrong, from who to listen to, to what issues are important, to his own bone-head decisions.
Adapt To Win!
We can be comforted that, although they have the power of incumbency and the will to cheat, the right sucks at defense.
The question “Is Bush an idiot?” gets viewers’ attention, but it sounds like 6-year-olds’ name calling. The question is irrelevant even if the answer is obvious. More to the point for Nov. voters are such questions as “Should Bush and the Republican Congress be permitted to run our country into the ground?” When I see those words on my television screen, I’ll start to feel better.
OT from last thread…. on memory expert Bjork. A few years ago I was a PhD student in cognitive psychology. I just looked through his CV publications, and most of his recent work hasn’t been on “memory” as much as forgetting with such recent titles as:
“Remembering can cause forgetting”
“Continuing influences of to-be-forgotten information.”
“Intentional forgetting in perspective”
“Varieties of goal-directed forgetting”
“Is retrieval success
necessary for retrieval-induced forgetting?”
“The influence of intentional and unintentional
forgetting on false memories”
He structures his research under the new “New Theory of Disuse”. (so new we named it twice) I will do a little research on this.
But interesting, isn’t it?
BBC
An action plan to tackle the massive oil spill off Lebanon’s coastline caused by the conflict is due to be discussed in Greece on Thursday.
Officials from the UN, the EU and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are meeting to agree a way to halt the spread in the Mediterranean.
Oil spilled into the sea following Israel’s bombing of a power station.
The slick now covers 170km (105 miles) of Lebanon’s coastline and is spreading out to sea.
Environmentalists and health officials have warned that the spill poses a direct threat to marine life and could increase the risk of cancer among people living in the affected areas.
It could take up to 10 years for the affected coastline to recover, they say.
George Allen, Xybernaut Gigolo?
(looks like some more caca to me!)
By Garance Franke-Ruta
Issue Date: 09.12.06
Snip
Xybernaut clearly engaged in questionable activities — and did plenty of business with questionable characters — while Allen was a director with a responsibility to protect shareholders’ interests. Xybernaut’s rise, indeed, was driven by some of the financial industry’s seediest bottom-feeders — questionable stock touters, offshore front groups involved in money laundering, and foreign financiers linked to short-selling, securities fraud, and, in 2005, the collapse of a major Wall Street brokerage firm………..snip………… And Allen’s affiliation with the company should now raise questions about whether he deserves to retain his other seat — the one on the best board of directors in the world.
Snip
Much of this mischief took place while Allen was on Xybernaut’s board. Allen refused repeated requests to discuss his relationship to Xybernaut, but some experts believe that, at best, the board was asleep at the wheel.
Snip
And during Allen’s board tenure, it (the company) received the vast bulk of its money from outfits based in the most notorious havens for tax cheats and money launderers: the Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Liechtenstein, and Israel.
http://www.prospect.org/web/pa…..leId=11861
morning taylor
with tweety talking about holy joe’s latest ad and saying “i see dead people” and scarborough calling bush an idiot may hopefully mark a shift in the media coverage.
OT:
When are they going to find the a**hole who told the press that the woman on the United flight had Vaseline, a screwdriver, matches and a note about Al Queda?
They need to find this person and prosecute them with everything they’ve got.
I am way past tired of these false terror attack reports.
Yeah, afterthought, they are actually discussing the question, dissecting it like academics or physicians or both. In other words, it’s a real proposition and they are considering the evidence, empirically. Weak arguments against, strong arguments for.
Since I don’t have cable, is this a mainstream show? Is it on during primetime? Does this guy have an audience? Oh well, it’s viral now in any case. Let the circus begin. Wait til Stewart and Colbert and Letterman get their hands on this.
infoshaman @ 11
The difference between winning and losing in politics often turns on 6-year old style name calling. I don’t say I like this, but I find it undeniable.
Yay, Taylor! AFter reading the last thread, and the Ned piece in WSJ, I thought we might see a Thelma and Louise over the cliff photoshopped with Dubya and Joey, but this graphic’s still great!
EPU-ed from last thread re Ned:
Good to read you this morning, Taylor.
Something’s up with the C&L video links this morning, so I can’t get the first-hand pleasure of seeing the Scarborough clip (yet.) If anyone knows any alternate links, it would be appreciated…
kristinejoy @ 12
Kristinejoy, I did the same thing, ran to check out his pubs. I did a BA in cog psy and focussed my thesis on memory and language. I had the same take on Bjork. Please share anything else you find!
Whew, I thought I had dreamed the “Is Bush an Idiot?” program. My answer was in the affirmative but I didn’t think Scarborough’s would be the same. Fund looked more out of it than usual. Only Mike Allen or Fox weenies would have tried to give the question a “Not at all. He’s a bona fide genuis” answer after all the evidence that’s in.
I’m reminded of Randi Rhodes’ appearance a few months ago with a panel of wingers, where one of them responded to her criticism that no rational person would do what Bush was doing with “you’re assuming he’s rational! Ha, ha!” and none of them defended him.
‘Adapt to win.’
We need to be sending the message that the Republicans should adapt to losing. Starting with Leiberman.
Petro @ 20
Petro: See ^
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ent-246456
OT, but if I do this now, I’m sure to forget to later . . .
Admin Told PBS: Stay Mum on Pundit’s Post
Hey petro, try b.g.’s YouTube link, which seems to work great. Mornin’ Prairie Sunshine, the picture seemed perfect, especially coming from a Republican talking head.
I tried watching the video on my office computer, but somehow couldn’t gain access. Guess I’ll wait til I get home tonight.
BUT, something did catch my eye. Somebody evidentally played clips of Bush when he was govenor and pointed out the difference between then and now. I thought I was the only one who had noticed, over the years, how articulate Bush was when he was govenor (or, well, articulate for HIM) and how he’s losing it in the years since.
He’s been whining a lot when he tries to be “convincing”. And, he’s even less articulate now than he was even two years ago.
if Bush is an idiot, how come he’s Preznit and you’re not?
FOX News uses the question mark at the end of their declarations as a legalistic maneuver to avoid responsibility. They frequently run text such as, “Is John Kerry a Traitor?” I can’t believe Scarborough isn’t doing the same thing.
This is more dog whistle stuff. The idea is to convey the message to the base while at the same time pretending it’s speculation and not any sort of message to the less clued-in.
For Scarborough to call Bush an idiot like this is another sign that the conservative movement is laying the groundwork for scapegoating Bush for their mistake of using him as their figurehead and creating a cult of personality. In an attempt to salvage conservatism they’ll have to declare Bush a traitor to their movement. Just like they did to Bush the Elder after his 1992 defeat.
“AP now reporting that she may or may not have had Vaseline, screwdriver or matches. (Coming from Heathrow, how could she?)”
Paging Mrs. McGyver. Paging Mrs. McGyver.
Pick up the white courtesy phone.
-GSD
Dr. Bong – Thanks, missed that! (Must be that 420 thang…)
And thanks, Taylor, too.
After all these months, even years, no one, absolutely no one has been held accountable for the incompetence
And this is my biggest problem. Everyone says what’s done is done, move on and work together to fix the problem.
Everyone knows that the first step to recovery is always first admit that you have a problem.
The one positive note is that the GOP Meme of “Accountibility” is dead
OT from last thread, Mary says
Froomkin is doing Q&A today, maybe you could throw that question his way?
A little more evidence that George Allen knew what he was saying when he called someone a “macaca/macaque.” Given that his mother was a French Tunesian immigrant and that the word basically means “nigger” in her language, and she is known for her foul mouth, he doesn’t have much of a defense.
Puppethead,
There is indeed a stepping away from Bush. William F. Buckley recently editorialized that Bush will hve “no legacy”. That is being kind, Bush will have a ruinous legacy.
Look around, you will hear more and more people on the right claiming that “Bush isn’t conservative”.
The conservative movement must have a slow and obtuse learning curve if it has taken them 6 years of Bushism to come to that conclusion.
-GSD
As Iraq devolves into civil war, the stepping will turn into a stampede.
from what I gather of the liquid explosives kerfuffle, it’s glycerine based gels that they are worried about, not petroleum-jelly…
sorry hit submit too soon….
Pointing fingers, in this case is required as it is the only way to get the people that put us there to out of the decision making process.
Taylor,
Your posts are terrific.. every one of them and they get better and better. You are a treasure!
Imagine what the sentiment would be in the country if the media was not controlled and reporting the facts on the ground.
Imagine what would happen if the people came out to vote and had their votes count and had real courages candidates to vote for.
Imagine what would happen if these crooks were held accountable for their misdeeds and sent to jail for a long time. This would send a message to those theifs waiting their turn to get at the people’s treasure.
Imagine if these people who rush to war actually had been in war.
Imagine if we had a media which did it job and reported the truth and spoke truth to power instead of being propaganda shills for those in power.
Imagine if power did not behave as power does and someone thought about the people and not about themselves?
Keep up the good fight… it will be a long hard one.
A brutal summary of our ”progress” in Iraq, from Tom Lasseter of the former Knight Ridder (via, um, myself):
Fire Update:
Thanks to all for your continuing good thoughts/prayers/wishes for our firefighters, especially meta and zennurse.
The feds have now taken control of the fire management, and they may increase the number of firefighters to between 800 and 1000. Three slurry bombers and three Black Hawks for water drops will be working the fire today.
The fire still has not taken any homes and went around the communications towers last night (the fire could have taken out the area’s 911 emergency system). Our usually strong (20-30 mph) winds have stayed in the 10-20 mph range, which has helped, although even those winds whip up the fires. A smoky haze lines the streets.
Over 100 flames could easily be seen on the mountain last night, resembling a lighted city in the distance.
Thanks again for your support!
Speaking of Iraq, I heard John Kerry has sent out a fundraising e-mail to his list of three million to raise money on behalf of Ned Lamont.
Nice.
The greater significance of this question is the questioner.
Once again, all of what we’re seeing now is coming at the end of Josh Bolten’s widely-heralded Spring Offensive. He got The Decider’s JAR up a few points for a few weeks, but now it’s right back to the baseline that Andy Card established.
All the maneuvering, all the screeching from the VRWM echoed by the M$M, all those campaign contributions and the cocktail weenies that spawned them, all wasted.
And the clock continues to run.
The far right concluded Bush was an idiot during the Harriet Miers fiasco and push back. Unfortunately, he’s their useful idiot
Hey defjef, good to see you, as always.
Thanks for the Lasseter reminder, Swopa. Please also take the time to read Chuck Pena’s analysis of what has happened to our military because of Iraq in Iraq or Bust. It’s a very important piece.
Just listened to the Scarborough clip. Wow.
And in case you missed it, go back and listen to the last 20 seconds or so. Joe asks if Chimpy “has the intellectual curiousness(sic) to continue leading this country over the next couple years.”
TATP is the scary liquid. Although very few, if any, of the arrested suspects even had passports, let alone plane tickets. But it’s a good thing these alleged terrorists were unable to disrupt air travel…
Hilda @
42
Oh my goodness, Hilda. That is so frightening, so many factors to control. But it sounds like all the gods are on your side. We will keep you in our thoughts for continued good news.
fwiw, Sen. Allen (R-acist) is such a believer in family values that he’s on his second marriage!
You know, stepping back and looking at what’s coming together on the political scene, Joe Lieberman’s defeat is an earthquake, a structural realignment with the radicalised moderates: democrat, republican and independent all heading into the Democratic Party and the radical warmongers all heading into the Republican Party.
I am going to make a bold prediction. Begining in 2008, the Democratic Party will be the dominant majority party in America for the next 20 years. The Republican party will go dormant and possibly break into two with frustrated religious fanatics going into Roy Moore’s party.
The GOP brand is tainted for a generation of American voters. If the Democrats can deliver one of their markers during this 20 year period, like universal health care, we could be looking at a long Democratic Party domination, similar to what started in 1932.
This in my opinion would truly mark the end of the Cold War, as America’s last anti-communist party will have been defeated by America’s post-communist party. Both parties were anti communist during the cold war but the Democrats progressed after the fall of the Berlin wall and the Republicans have not. The rise of the Democratic Party will show that America has finally moved beyond cold war politics and into the 21st century.
My theory is that many republican pathologies stem from them being an anti communist party in an era where communism is dead. The world has changed but republican conservatives have not, and their continuing use of cold war era anti communist ideas and policies are holding America back. It’s just not applicable anymore and it leads to profound policy mistakes.
OT – Lamont TV appearances this afternoon:
Media Advisory
Ned Lamont Responds to the False Republican Attacks of Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman
For Immediate Release
For more information contact: Liz Dupont-Diehl, (860) 989-7893, Edward Vale, (631) 334-8191
(Ned Haven, CT) – At 4:00 pm, at 205 Church St, New Haven, CT Ned Lamont will respond to the false Republican talking points that are being parroted by Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman.
Who: Ned Lamont, Democratic Nominee for US Senate
What: Press Conference
When: 4:00 p.m.
Where: 205 Church St, New Haven CT
(corner of Church & Elm Streets)
Additional Events Today:
•Ned will be live on Kudlow & Cramer during the 5:30-5:40 segment.
•Ned will be live on Hardball with Chris Matthews during the 5:50-6:00 segment
Taylor,
Great piece.
Here is my Exhibit A:
I sent an e-mail to my ultra-conservative, libertarian, border line John Bircher friend who has a talk-show. The content of the mail was how at long last conservatives/neo-cons were being critical of Bush in the post Israel/Hezbollah conflict assessment. Of course their criticism is that Bush isn’t enough of a war-monger. Anyhow.
Here is the opening line of his reply:
So friggin right. I wondered why it was that while I was being critical of Bush’s policies, the tradional conservatives who got suckered into the neo-con agenda were not with me. It seemed like a mix of politics and stubbornness.
Now, they are going in the other direction. Cute!
-GSD
The video is up at youtube and can also be found here:
http://undeniableliberalism.bl…..video.html
Peace
*ilson46201 @ 50
And the divorce records are sealed. Anyone else wonder what’s in there, especially since she is said to have initiated the break up?
Taylor, your post is heart-thumpingly powerful. I hesitate to watch the Scarborough link because seeing anything Bush makes me physically ill but I’ll take a deep breath and make the leap…
BBC: “Paraguay’s former military ruler Alfredo Stroessner dies aged 93 in a hospital in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia.”
Only the good die young …
T A Y L O R !!!
so very good to have you back at the Lake
belaboring the obvious here -but I will go to my job tonight and will bet you everything non blogging folks are just as tired -
even amidst last week’s big splash Terrapalooza in London can’t tell you all how often the folks simply rolled their eyes or at a minimum said ‘we’ll just wait and see’ – and I am talking about middle aged, white, Repub Texas males
they have reached critical mass on playing this card – everytime they do it further damages their credibility and that of their MSRNC puppets
‘bush’s troubles began with katrina’
did anyone catch little mikey allen’s jaw-dropping comment last night on olbermann. the katrina video briefing for bush and his apparent disinterested response, was in actuality him ‘internalizing the katrina briefings’ that’s why there were no questions/reactions.
Taylor – great to see you here at the lake! I make a point to check your site frequently – it’s part of my self-education program, and you do a wonderful job. Wish this quality of research and writing would be the standard and not the exception.
The poll numbers you cite are illuminating, and I suspect they will result in either low voter turnout – as GOP voters cannot bring themselves to vote for either the status quo or Democrats – or GOP voters so fed up with the status quo that they will break ranks and vote Democratic. I think the Dems are putting up some excellent candidates who are the embodiment of change, and like Ned Lamont, show a real and sincere interest in listening to the voters and hearing their concerns. I think voters are hungry for this, and I don’t see the GOP offering anything that remotely satisfies that hunger.
As the bright, shiny object of the London terror plot takes all the attention, the bloodshed in Iraq continues at a terrible pace, the Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon boondoggle has done no one any good, and apparently has not dissuaded the folks who play Army with little green plastic figures from the notion that perhaps we need to bring Iran to heel.
Not sure we are going to be able to get enough people with sense into office in time to prevent the Bush administration from sending us all into the abyss, but I hope and pray that we can.
Critical question the polling DIDN’T ask: Are you concerned enough about these issues to vote against the Republican candidate in November, given a credible opponent?
Because for a lot of Republicans, particularly older ones, that’s still going to be a HUGE hill to climb. Decades of “But the Democrats … ” takes its toll.
The Harriet Miers nomination was the proof needed to convince the far-right that Bush was deficient.
The Israel/Hezbollah fiasco has re-affirmed this matter to the far right. Bush declaring the withdrawl a victory was too much for them. We were supposed to be marching into Damascus by now and placing U.S. flags over statues of the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran by now, or shipping over meters for the worlds newest and biggest radiated parking lot.
They think Bush let Israel down and that he is a softy.
-GSD
OT- Google just made Mountain View Googletown. Free wifi access for everyone. I think this is also planned for SF, right Teddy? Didn’t Google win the contract that Newsom proposed for free wifi for everyone? Anyway, you can imagine how the big telcos (yeah, you, ATT) are feeling about that.
Meta @ 49
The fire has taken 8000 acres so far and was headed for a beetle infested dead tree area this AM. Companies have stepped with up with donations of heavy equipment to cut fire lines, and the community is bringing bottled water for the firefighters.
There are fires all over the country right now, and firefighters are the under-appreciated heroes of our country.
puppethead @
30
I just watched the clip, and I think you’re right. They’re setting us up for something…
BKNY,
That Mike Allen comment was stunning. He even feels the need to cover Bush for that disaster. Allen is truly a rump-swabber deluxe and is a shoddy, crappy journalist.
Internalizing? He was day-dreaming about cutting brush and carving up pigs.
-GSD
You’ll be glad you took the jump Jenny. Mornin’, gsd.
C B L!
bkny -
Mike Allen = Joe Klone
yeah I caught his act last night and I was laughing my ass off when he was reading his Rovean fax about Bush being soooo engaged on a daily basis with hourly updates/Israeli troop movements, etc.
Really Mike ? back up the bus here for a sec Junior, if he’s so f’ing engaged, how come not a word btw he and Olmert you asshound!
Mikie first exposed himself in all his Wankerness to us all a week ago – while watching the Ned Victory Party vid (you know, the one showing all us old farts Wang Chunging) Mike spewed about ‘youthful blogging hordes’ (paraphrasing here)right in front of the gd screen – oh yeah, wankertude is safe for now
Text of John Kerry’s appeal for contributions (emphasis is mine):
This will bring in lots of much-needed cash.
Adios Alfredo.
Tell Slobodan Milosevic we asked about whether it is a dry heat, or a humid heat down there.
-GSD
Overlooked in all of this “Bush is an idiot” business, as well as the fervent frothing in the progressive blogosphere over electing a few more Democrats, is the sad fact that the Bush/Cheney administration represents the best of America, not the worst. :-( This is what our system produced, folks. They started an illegal, immoral war and nobody stopped them. That’s the invisible 800-pound gorilla in the middle of the room.
Jeannie Z @ 36
Actually, one of the things I find most interesting about George Allen is that his mother is a French Tunisian Jew. What a strange marriage his parents must have; what a strange mixture of genes.
The graphic’s perfect on this topic, Taylor. Not complainin’.
Don’t Erbe and the PBS wienies realize they’re bein’ played by the Bushies? Oh, wait… nevahmind.
I’ve had an epiphany. Y’know how Bush went after Saddam against all reason because he tried to “kill mah dada”? What if this whole smash, trash, and create total global and domestic chaos is part of a grander scheme to totally destroy the Republicants who orchestrated dada’s political “death” back in ‘92.
Nah….
Meanwhile the local press is reporting the housing bubble has burst. I’m seein’ it in the stubbornly non-budging For Sale signs in neighborhood front yards.
Steve Gilliard has a bunch of great posts up today — a long Wollcott excerpt demolishes the crypto racist facade of the GOP.
But this one — My subejcts do not love me? — cuts to the chase.
Bush can’t understand why he gets no love in Iraq. The poor baby can’t understand why some people don’t agree with the reality he has created.
This is straight out of the Fuhrer Bunker, folks — the question is not whether Bush is too stupid to be preznit (himself alone, yes — he, Rove, armed with 2 billion GOoPer bucks, he’s been able to fake it — up until now) but whether he is too stark raving mad to effectively execute the duties of his office.
This is just the rethugs distancing themselves from abject failure. No real repudiation of the shrubs policies or goals. They’re just pissed off that the methods didn’t work. In 08 they’ll have a bright shiny candidate the bullshit maverick mccain who will pushing the same radical unamerican agenda.
Someone dropped this link in the comment section of crooks and liars: It is wrt George Bush and the differences in his speech in 10 years. good stuff folks!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pw4Bhmm22xo
In response to infoshaman @ 11 — the media has been so doggedly persistent in its defense of Bush for so long (Scarborough among them), that it will necessarily require a sea change in media positioning before the broadcast-watching public changes its perception.
That sea change may require being as blunt as giving permission to the broadcast-watching public to call a seated president an idiot.
Note that I’m pointing to the that portion of the public that relies almost exclusively on television for its news; these are folks who vote most frequently, and yet are least wired among the population. They have not heard people making any derogatory noises among the Big 4 broadcasters (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) until now, and Scarborough’s program might be missed by many of these folks because it’s on cable and later in the day.
Yet Scarborough’s question opens the door for folks who’ve been suffering from kind of culture-wide cognitive dissonance. The war drags on, the economy is tepid, healthcare sucks, but the media has been painting everything as rosy…they haven’t been able to do anything more than swallow their discontent because they had no validation.
The flood gates may now open; we may see a LOT of folks who identify as conservative now beginning to talk about stupidity in office.
What we need to watch is whether this is already being co-opted and maniupulated by the right as it seeks to maintain its grasp on power. Somebody should be asking them if they’d rather be wealthier and grumbling about a Democratic majority, or scared witless as an angry torch-bearing mob comes after them.
phoebes @
72
the real tragedy is that this woman was subjected to a life of American football.
Eye on the ball, folks… eye on the ball. Kick back for a few minutes and enjoy the video, but then remember the Big Picture, and get back onto the message that the electorate needs to hear this Fall:
George Bush isn’t the problem, George Bush has never been anything more than the figurehead. What George Bush stands for is the problem, and what he stands for is the whole conservative project: neocons, theocons, and paleocons, all wrapped up in one nation-ruining ball of greed and hubris. The Rubberstamp Republican congress was part of the frenzy and has done zero — zip, squat, nada — to hold anyone responsible for the long, ugly train wreck. The time and place to begin to get our country back on track is in the 2006 elections, by electing people who have had enough and who pledge to begin the clean-up and the salvaging of our country’s reputation.
Is Bush an idiot? appears to me to be the kind of question the MSM asks because it still can’t ask the real one: Should Bush be impeached and removed from office? All Presidents make mistakes. Some are brighter than others. But if Bush is incompetent, if he is overwhelmed by his job, then he should be impeached. The Constitution speaks of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and that can mean pretty much whatever the Congress chooses it to mean. And in Bush’s case it wouldn’t even be that difficult to find real, substantial grounds for a bill of impeachment. Just look to his gross negligence with regard to Katrina, allowing a major American city to be destroyed because he couldn’t be bothered. Look at his lying in the run up to Iraq. Look once again at his negligence in managing the aftermath resulting in the deaths and maiming of thousands of American soldiers and the waste of hundreds of billions of dollars, including billions in fraudulent contracts to politically friendly companies like Halliburton. Look to the pattern of illegalities cloaked under the mantle of national security. Look at signing statements which flout the President’s Constitutional duty to execute the laws which Congress enacts. From a grounds point of view, this is the most impeachable President in our history. And yet most of us and certainly the MSM continue to go about as if impeachment is a radical, fringe idea and ignore the fact that we have a radical, fringe President.
And how did we get into the Iraq mess into the first place? Check out the elephant in the room. It has a name. It’s Anthrax. People should talk about it.
-ck- @ 74
Well, if you weren’t sure Bush is an idiot, that article would seal the deal. Is he just now realizing that Iraqis hate what we’ve done to their beloved country? That the war and all it consequences has them a bit bent out of shape? Holy mother, save us from this hell.
They’re setting us up for something.
At a minimum, their 2008 presidential candidate will need to
runsprint away from Chimpy as fast as s/he can.Taylor, great post. The Scarborough clip is breathtaking. We’ve seen it all before, but viewing it as one segment really makes the point.
One theory if not that Bush is an idiot, but that he has something the matter with him. James Fallows wrote a piece for the Atlantic, ”When George Meets John,” in which he said this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200407/fallows
This thesis prompted letters to the editor, including this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200410/letters
The letter from Dr. Price prompted strong disagreement from a few doctors who thought it was grossly irresponsible, etc., but also this:
All their responses can be found here: (subscription required)
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200412/letters
overheard latenight at 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue -
“Lump, Wake Up, Wake Up Lump ! Ah can’t find my bullhorn, my magic bullhorn – it’s gone! Ah asked Dick and he says he don’t have it, Ah think he’s lyin’, but Lump! Lump!, Ah needs my Magic Bullhorn !” they’re callin’ me bad names Lump! Ah gots to have that bullhorn!
OT – but not totally. Ze Frank equates the current political situation to a baseball game.
http://www.zefrank.com/theshow…..1406.html#
Re: The Army being at grave risk, here are some gems from Rumsfeld:
If the above is not enough for you, go here:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quo…..sfeld.html
meta –
The problem is that he doesn’t realize it — he is so delusional, he still believes reality conforms to his POV, rather than chaning his point of view to conform with reality.
That’s why this nuking Iran thing is so scary — they cannot imagine any bad outcomes, because they truly believe the world is as they see it.
Scares the shit out of me, I tell ya’ . . .
al-Scooter @ 83
Are Republican candidates smarter than Joe Lieberman? Because, he seems to be going TOWARD Bush.
Iraq is still the number one issue on the minds of the electorate, Hugh. It’s about accountability on Iraq. Remember that in midterms people don’t like to come out to vote. Lamont – Lieberman taught us that Democrats are jazzed. Chris Bowers’ polling tells us that the Republicans want Democrats to hold Republicans accountable.
My two cents is that we don’t need to remind people of everything, just keep hitting Iraq and the fact that the Republican controlled Congress needs to be held accountable. Simple messages get through; complex ones do not: throw the bums out.
CK,
Tony Snow is already in high reverse spin over the “Bush is frustrated” references in two news paper pieces. See Thinkprogress for the clip.
Again, The Bush/Rove machine is now reduced to being led by the news, not leading the news. That is not how this war-game was planned by them. They are The Deciders,
His machine is broken. Rover is reduced to calling authors and whining and distancing himself from books that haven’t been released yet.
The establishment is catching on slowly. They have played Bush’s cards for a long time, but if their very survival means tossing Bush overboard–as Mary says—Sayanora Chimpy.
-GSD
there’ll be a Float waitin’ for ‘em at the other end, promise ya that – remember, elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, adjust your Tiara Senator
Taylor,
That is why Democrats should not be afraid to revive the “hold them accountable” meme that the Republicans were so effective in getting ahead of earlier.
Republicans: “Do you want the next congress to spend time investigating the president?”
America: “Fuck yeah!”
-GSD
All I can tell you is that Anne was a beautiful woman and had a fantastic personality.
http://www.americanprowler.org…..t_id=10100
There’s ‘name calling’. Then, there’s “name-calling”. It’s a matter of technique. JFK knew how to do this. Richard Nixon did not. For example.
phoebes #88:
Having lost the Dem base in a very Dem state, Joey’s only hope is to rally the uninformed voters who are frightened of change. Sadly, there are a lot more of those than I’m comfortable with, so godspeed to Ned & Co.!
I prefer conflagrations
Hugh –
Asking the question is the first step — undermine his credibility, and the whole rotten edifice will fall from the weight of it’s corruption and incompetence. If Cheney and the BushBot don’t blow up the world first.
Condi’s last smoke signal transmission: “No one could have imagined that nuking Iran would unleash a global nukular Armageddon.”
Bat Guano at 6
THANKYOU for that link. C&L’s clip is not working for me.
OMG!
Taylor Thank you. Great post!
Haven’t been able to get thru comments, so don’t know if someone else has dealt with this yet, but
…cornered animals are the most dangerous…
In all seriousness, be careful out there folks.
Northern Observer @ 51
John Dean makes the point that the Republican pathologies stem from their Social Dominance- Authoritarian personalities.
I’d like to see a realignment along the lines of rational, reality-based people on one side and the asshole-authoritarians on the other.
Reichublicans trolling the Late Night thread again…sigh. If only they spent so much time and energy working to make the country safer from terrorism as they do trolling on the blogs.
I gotta agree with Rayne and others up above. As much as we should welcome goopers jumping on the Bush is an Idiot bandwagon, we must continue to tie him around the neck of the Repub party. We have an opportunity to bring down conservatism, as well as the diseased pariah administration that the conservatives put into power.
We should avail ourselves of this opportunity.
I don’t do quagmires.
Donald Rumsfeld
if it walks like a duck
and quagmires like a duck…
I seem to have a comment that disappeared into the ether a while ago. Not to pester the moderators, but do block quotes trigger moderation? My comments never contain profanity or death threats, and I believe the quotations would pass a fair use test.
Hilda, I haven’t seen much of last night’s threads, so can only assume you’re in Wyoming. Wherever you are, SOLIDARITY coming to you from oft-aflame central Florida!
May you and yours stay safe.
OT – But have we (the people who understand polls that is) found out why the margin decreased so much in the last week between Lamont and Joe? Which voters really went back to Joe after something they heard?
Just curious.
Ammo for the fight ahead on GWOT, Iran and the continuing debacle that is Iraq:
Group says Iran is ‘Not a Crisis’
Foreign Policy: The Terrorism Index
Yeah. I feel so much safer than I did before November 2000. I can’t trust these morons in office with the work of FEMA; why should I trust them with this country’s nuclear arsenal or the lives of our troops, our flesh and blood?
Susan – your comment is there – just re-load your browser.
It wasn’t the blockquotes – it was the links: the filter pulls comments with multiple links into moderation – spam often will contain multiple links, and the filter doesn’t know the difference.
To speak of Bush being an idiot is to provide him with an excuse. After all, how can you blame someone who had no choice in being mentally deficient? But Bush had a choice to go to war or not to go to war. His decision to make war was not idiotic. It was based on a calculated attempt to force regime change in a direction dictated by neocon policy. This is not the doing of an idiot, but a megalomanic and messianic despot.
Stop providing him cover by calling him an idiot, insist on accountability.
GrandmaJ –
I don’t think there have been any new polls, since the Rasmussen right after the election. At least, I haven’t read anything about how the contest is shaping up.
Bush/Rove are paving the way for the coming collpase and withdrawl from Iraq with the “Scooby Doo Defense”.
(Snip)
From the article about Bush and his opinions on Iraq:
“I sensed a frustration with the lack of progress on the bigger picture of Iraq generally — that we continue to lose a lot of lives, it continues to sap our budget,” said one person who attended the meeting. “The president wants the people in Iraq to get more on board to bring success.”
The Scooby Doo Defense:
“The Iraq war would have worked out fine if it wasn’t for those meddling Iraqis who wouldn’t “get on board”.
-GSD
Now to avoid the helicopters taking off from the Green Zone under fire.
I saw that segment and my jaw dropped. Stories are coming out today that Bush is adament about staying the course. What this shows is how stupid it is to let gut feeling dogma override a pragmatic approach. People actually expect different results from doing the same thing over. Actually, I like Glenn Greenwald’s slant.
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/
GSD @ 92
Game On, Bichez!
Glenn’s piece just highlights how insane the people running the show really are.
Why is Bush such a blithering idiot? All that Republican inbreeding I would guess. Sooner or later, the dilution becomes a bit much.
Hilda with an A –
How frightening that must be – sending you watery vibes and cooling thoughts now.
Speaking of frightening, I don’t know if Bush is an idiot but what I see whenever I happen to catch a glimpse of him speaking on the TV: ABJECT FEAR.
Thanks for the post Taylor. Love your work.
Anne 107 Thank you. Refresh and reload browser are not the same, apparently. I hate it when software makes me feel like a old coot.
I think that O’Donnell’s comment last night was spot-on: Bush is so far in over his head that he loses confidence and, apparently, the ability to speak coherently with the passing of each day.
The man was so clearly ill-prepared to lead the greatest superpower in the world back in 2000. The neocons fucked up by (a) thinking that their plan would work, and (b) not installing a more witting accomplice in the Oval Office.
Bush’s monomania proves how incompetent he is.
Those poll data figures taken from MY DD may be too obscure.
It doesn’t necessarily translate into votes for a Democrat. I think to claim that is stretching the info.
I prefer to beieve more solid evidence with straight forward….. who are you supporting? poll questions.
That Greenwald piece is shocking. Bush will attack Iran. That is what he thinks will be his salavation from the rocks of his ruined presidency.
Bush’s chief advisor and speech writer and co-religionist is paving the way for an attack on Iran
That is what will happen.
Good God.
-GSD
Froomkin today re “Bush’s Bubble”
GSD @ 93
I’d like to see a quick Censure of the Prez and then on to talking to our allies about winding down Iraq; talking to Iran and North Korea; allowing Canadian drugs into the US (Customs has confiscated 40,000 shipments of these this year.); re-doing Medicare-D; increasing Pell grants, changing the standards for price-fixing (Of course Exxon didn’t break the law. The law was written by their friends.); requiring that every federal vehicle possible be a hybrid; and raising the minimu wage.
Impeachment would take too much time away from undoing the damage BushCo has caused, and can always be pursued later.
Censure could be coupled with letting Bush know – - in terms even he can understand – - that if he makes one false move, it’s Impeachment Time.
Not only was Bush ill-prepared to lead, his apparently natural lack of curiosity about things he should have an over-abundance of curiosity about and interest in leave him ill-prepared to ever push back against bad advice, because he doesn’t know enough to make a compelling argument. Does he go along because his inherent insecurities about his own abilities prevent him from putting his foot down for fear of being wrong, or laughed at?
He may think he’s “The Decider,” but what he is is just the mouthpiece for those who are actually calling the shots.
He may believe in what he’s doing, but that just makes him no different from the average Fox/Hannity/Limbaugh cultist who also believes, but can’t really tell you why, can’t back it up and thinks slogans and bumper stickers are actual answers to serious questions. He’s a tool, in the worst possible way.
Would like to see all of them removed from office.
From ThinkProgress: Think Progress
Grrrr!!!
Bush has been declining in his ability to learn new information and verbally present it. The thing with confabulation is that the individual does not know he is impaired in anyway. When he creates his “word salad” or “shaggy dog” stories, he will get very very angry if you accuses him of being untruthful. This irrational anger is also a hallmark of many organic or inorganic brain trauma. This is why confronting individuals who have toxically abused alcohol to the point of brain damage (though whether the damage is done by the alcohol or by chronic malnutrition due to alcohol abuse is uncertain) about their confabulations is dangerous; they can disinhibit violently because they truly believe what they are saying and do not see any impairment.
speaking of idiots:
Al Qaeda Candidate Redux.
During a Fox News discussion on the diversion of a United Airlines flight because of an “unruly” female passenger, former Weekly Standar deputy publisher David Bass said, “She’s probably not al Aaeda affiliated, probably not a terrorist, could just be a Ned Lamont supporter, we don’t know.”
Anne @ 123, That might deserve a “spotlight,” don’tcha think?
phoebes @
28
Fortunately (since the odds of actually viewing a file from Crooks and Liars is roughly the same as winning the lottery) someone put it up on YouTube -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m211YBCe1iM
It occurs to me that if Bush had conducted his illegal war without committing war crimes (torture, murder) destroying the physical Iraq infrastructure, initiating de-Baathification (taking away the jobs and livlihoods of the people), theft (Haliburton’s rape and pillage) and the day to day brutality which led to the complete mayhem we have today (civil war – power drilling your neighbor, kidnapping, etc.) he might have gotten away with it.
So he’s not only a liar, he’s venal and stupid. IMPEACH.
(Still haven’t seen the Scarborough link, but I will before the end of the day…)
GSD,
I do not refute your logic – BUT, I don’t think the Republicans will let him – not b/c it would be geo-politically disastrous, not b/c they have a whit of concern for the homefolks, but b/c it will hurt them politically – as evidenced by Lieberman, these fucks would sell their children to Iran to retain their seats. These layabouts aren’t worried about a Nuclear Winter, they’re worried about a Democratic Winter
I know Cheney is w/ the Chimp as I type, he’s got the smoke goin’ up the Chimp’s skirt on Turbo, further, I know he doesn’t care about Repub Congresscritters, but I suspect he’ll be a hearin’ from them soon
hi Taylor:
“yes” to both questions you posed. Bush is truly mentally challenged and the Iraq war is his greatest mistake. I think that Bush had no concept of war when he decided to invade Iraq. The idea of fighting a war came from the Neocons and Bush was of the mindset that Saddam needed to be punished. The Neocon desires and Bush’s anger at Saddam fit together like a hand and a glove. It seems to me, that Bush still has no idea that he was being used. He does not have the mental acuity to understand that something went terribly wrong in Iraq, that is why he still wants to “stay the course”.
In a way, one has to feel sorry for Bush who is completely overwhelmed by the demands of the Presidency. On the other hand, we can’t afford a President who screws up continuously (to wit look at how he bungled the Lebanon quagmire). It is high time that his corrupt administration is held accountable, starting with the Neocons and ending with the President himself. The good name of America demands that there is a swift end to the Bush debacle.
echoman @ 126
I dont know either but David Bass could just be a militia-activist who blows up government buildings or maybe a KKK cross-burner — its hard to tell!
watertiger @ 117
kristinejoy @ 124
Which leads to the Fuhrer Bunker insanity. If Reality will not obey his imperial commands, he will nuke Iran, just to show Reality who is the boss.
GSD @ 119
GSD – that is what will happen. That, plus the first wartime use of nuclear weapons in sixty-one years.
thanks Taylor for this post!
It occurs to me that the fact that Ricky is tossing balls with LGF and Bolton is blabbing away with the hideous Pam that perhaps the wingnuts think the blogosphere has power. It is too, too fitting to think that they are sucking up to the purveyors of pure hate speak and racism. When the left “attacks” it is toward failed and wrongheaded policies and the warmongering monsters that promote and condone them. It is against those that would strip us of our freedoms and our Constitution while stealing from the poor and weak to give to the rich and powerful. It is against our electorate that refuses to see and care for their country and their fellow man. It is not filled with the hate speak only projected out and never inward. I have rarely seen anyone here at FDL unable to admit to being wrong.
Not so with those in power and the blind and fear-ridden who support them.
*ilson46201 @ 132
John Conyers will be the one to head the impeachment hearings; he’s done the hard job of documenting the crimes. He’s been out there slogging ahead in the wilderness all this time and he should have the honor. Such that it is.
And then there’s the All Terror All the Time ploy, about which Tom Tomorrow has found an interesting UK summary of the latest London plot at http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/a…..ror_p.html
cbl @
129
Well I hear you, but the most important question is indeed, how many divisions does the Republican Party have?
-GSD
I know, I know, Pat Buchanan has a take-down of Joe LIEberman and the Neo-cons. It’s teh war stupid.
It also highlights my point of continuing to paint Joe Lieberman with all of his liberal credentials.
http://www.wnd.com/news/articl…..E_ID=51468
Sounds like we’re getting ready to play dodgeball. The problem is that the second group throws the ball extra hard.
-246621″>Jenny from the Blog @ 137
Yikes, I’m such a battered
wifeDemocrat I read that as John Cornyn.Whew.
I hate to be a contrarian here but the only way you can hold a President accountable is through impeachment. Censure wouldn’t even be a wrist slap. Electing Democrats in November is a good idea but is about limiting the damage, not holding Bush responsible for it. As Bush’s Presidency and the lack of reaction to its excesses and illegalities have shown for nearly 6 years, it’s not about midterm elections. It’s that we have been in an ongoing Constitutional crisis whether we are willing to admit it or not. I do not expect impeachment. If our democracy was still functioning in any meaningful way, we would have acted long before this. There would have been a real opposition to Bush. Hoping that the November elections will give a nudge to a system as broken as ours is rather like hoping that an enema will cure cancer. The COnstitution gives us a remedy to this situation. If we don’t use it, it’s our own fault.
little dog 140:
Yikes! Thanks for my first laugh of the day. :)
Really off topic here, scuse me…
Did anyone see The Colbert Report last night? Older son tells me Hannity said something about Mike Wallace and Hitler, but I can’t find anything when I Google various combos of that.
Colbert Nation has nada. Thanks for any help in advance.
*ilson46201 @ 132
Is Fox News run by christofascists, or Klansmen? You decide! We’re fair and balanced here!
Titanyum @ 130 – That’s exactly what Scarborough and O’Donnell were saying. Bush is completely overwhelmed. They went on to say that he just keeps getting worse and worse.
We need to throw our support behind, and fight for Lamont and Casey
Lamont’s lead is shrinking thanks to the GOP support for Lieberman. We cannot let Lieberman be reelected. Lamont is the best candidate.
Casey’s lead over Santorum has now shrunk in the single-digits, as votes are being siphoned off by the Green Party candidate (who is himself supported and financed by the Santorum crowd).
We cannot let Santorum win another term in Congress. He is easily one of the vilest, obnoxiouas, repulsive, and freakish, member of Congress. Please support Casey!
GSD @ 93 – Amen, baby. Hold them accountable.
Thanks lotus@104 and Hilde with An E @115
We are safe where we are. I’m concerned about friends who had to leave their homes. The smoke is giving an orange glow to the sunlight. I’m taking particulate respirator masks to friends who had to evacuate and those with elderly parents. The masks work well in helping not to breathe in smoke particles. Health officials tell us not to exercise outdoors — going jogging right now is the equivalent to breathing in a pack of cigarettes.
Pachacutec @
55
We will have to ask Sen. Allen if the records are sealed to hide his gay dalliances…. perhaps he and Jim Talent (R-Too Gay for Missouri) are special friends?
“Senator, are your divorce records sealed to hide your sexual relationships with George Bush and Jim Talent?”
Taylor Marsh @ 145
Two words for this.
Permanent Vacation.
What Hugh said.
Hugh:
Yes, I truly believe we will die as a country if we don’t gather the strength to impeach. The process will be devastating and wrench us from our foundations but it’s the only way to redemption. We have to face our crimes and expose the horrors before we can ever move forward.
If tribunals were not important, then where would Germany be today? We need to take our medicine – it will make us stronger. Gosh, I don’t even have the words to express how important it is for the people of this country to understand what we’ve done.
We’re living the old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times” right now.
OT:
Had to drive to Houston for an appointment yesterday, and left there in rush-hour traffic.
I probably saw thousands of cars from the rear. I saw ONE, count ‘em, ONE Bush bumper sticker.
I was all over the Medical Center, in the Galleria area, and through downtown, then out I-10 and over to 290 and through Cy-Fair to come home. Not exactly yer left-wing neighborhoods.
It was a Bush04 oval and it lept out at me, because it was the only one I saw all day.
And, boy, did I feel out of touch with no FDL and no AAR!
By the way, I don’t know if you all saw the piece at The Patriot Project (with whom I am affiliated, by the way). It talks about the latest swiftboating, which will directly target Ned Lamont. It surrounds Vets for Freedom. It’s a GOP front group hiding behind their 527 status to attack Ned Lamont over Iraq. Again, it’s all about Iraq.
Devil’s Advocate @ 10:44 am (#146) – I predicted quite some time ago that if there was a way to let Santorum off the hook, Casey would find it. The Green Party doesn’t mean jack in Pennsylvania. The problem is that Casey is so much like Santorum you need a micrometer to measure the difference. I’m not flushing any time or effort down that sinkhole.
well let’s see -
we have the permanent Deck Chair Rearrangers – your no matter what types – Cornyn, etc
there are 2 or 3 abject nutjob caucuses – Blowback, Tancredo, Coburn, but I think even some of their handlers will get them to back away
ya got the genteel old gentlemen types: Lugar, Warner, quickly joined by Snowe & Collins who will be emboldened to at least question this madness
by the likes of Chuck Hagel, who will be thumbin’ his nose at McCain who just wont know where to turn
then there’s gonna be a huge group of Concern Trolls, your Norm Colemans, Orin Hatches, DeWines, P. Kings, who’d like to support the President…but , etc. but will have to wait and see
of course George Felix Allen will be out there, tryin’ to outCheney Cheney – saying we should hit Syria while we’re at it
how many’s that ?
Taylor Marsh @ 145
Whenever I see Bush I always flash back to that terrible day in the 7th grade when I tried to give an oral presentation and I wasn’t prepared. Stumbling, sweating, stuttering, trying to b.s. my way through. The horror of that awful five minutes is what this president must experience every time he appears in public.
I blame the American people and the media more than I blame him, though. The press propped up his lies and too many voters hated us more than they hated him. I don’t for a minute think the American electorate (his supposed supporters) has ever really trusted him – they’re not all dumbasses – they just really dislike the left enough to ruin this nation.
Oh yeah. Bizarro World on the march.
Israel is in a rage over the Hizbollah fiasco.
Side note, General Halutz dumped some stock before the start of the incursion.
He’s claiming the Israeli media is making him into a ”shylock”.
I always knew the Israelis were anti-Semites.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/…..HOUO0.html
-GSD
. . . and your little dog, too @ 154
I used to stomp around those areas back in the late 80s. Had some friends up in the Barker-Cypress area, and others over in the Galleria toward the west Houston area. Loved visiting, but wouldn’t want to live there hehe. Way too many police getting in everyone’s face.
Jenny from the Blog @ 153
Wearing my practical hat, here.
If we spend the first two years, or even the first year impeaching Bush, we will lose everything in 2008.
We need to get some down-to-earth, populist legislation passed, and some Federal Judges blocked or we will be written off as being the party that Only. Hates. Bush.
Every day I yell at the teevee, “What will it take to impeach this bastard?” But I know we need to be a very populist, practical and productive Congress to ever win another election.
I am all for impeachment. Bush should be advised that Congress will not hesitate to impeach if he does anything more than sign our bills and ride his bike.
I just think we have to get some relief for average people, first.
Otherwise, I don’t think we’ll get another chance. (”Hey, you had your chance and all you did is bellyache about Bush!”)
kristinejoy,
W gives recovering alcoholics a bad name.
Margot, I saw Colbert but don’t have a link. Hannity so confused his guest while ranting about the Iranian pres (interviewed by Wallace) that the guest said, “Mike Wallace!? Hitler?!” or something to that effect. Very very funny.
OT my new name for Lieberman—Joe Toolerman Ha!
Joemama…
little dog:
My hope is that if we approach investigation and impeachment in a methodical way, with determination and organization, we will be able to still conduct the business of running the country effectively.
It will take commitment and near genius to accomplish this, and frankly from what I’ve seen of the dem leadership I doubt they have the right stuff.
I dunno, I’m praying for a miracle!
Whack a mole update:
US pours troops into Baghdad, Mosul in the north and Basra in the south erupt in gunfights.
http://today.reuters.com/tv/vi…..c7c3df2274
-GSD
Not only is the King naked, but he has a small weener too.
I’m partial to describing Joe’s CFL run as his “Joe-had” – like a jihad, but for Joe.
Also, I see on Feministing (http://feministing.com/archives/005548.html) that NARAL is bragging about a survey they did showing how many Americans agree with their policy positions.
Coincidentally, they’re still backing Joe Lieberman. Could NARAL be any dumber? If you believe rape victims shouldn’t be subject to the religious whims of pharmacists – *AND* if you’re going to make this a central feature of your pro-choice agenda *WHICH* *YOU’RE* *BRAGGING* *ABOUT* – what the fuck are you doing supporting Joe Lieberman?
is Landrieu for real? I cannot believe this crap!
I love John Kerry’s ideas, but sadly his campaigning was horrible. I think he is and was able to be elected (he missed the Presidency by 50k votes in Ohio and 3% nationally), but I think there’s some sort of fatigue with him among Democrats.
*ilson46201 @ 29
Cuz he’s also a crook.
“Impeachment would take too much time away from undoing the damage BushCo has caused, and can always be pursued later.”
I agree this would be time-consuming. On the other hand, I can’t think of any better signal to send to the rest of the world, or one that would disassociate America from the policies and actions that have become so hateful to many world wide, than to have the United States use its Constitution to remove Bush and his Administration from office. What else would do this?
And for their own reasons, the right wing Republicans have, IMO, come to a similar conclusion about the need to remove Bush from office. Glenn Greenwald a couple days back posted a long list of recent neocon statements repudiating Bush and declaring him a threat to the nation, and the Joe Scarborough segment last night may have been an echo of that, just more public. The neocons now realize that they have to dump Bush to keep from having their entire movement discredited for a generation.
The rest of us want to dump Bush to keep our entire country from being discredited by both Bush and the neocons for a generation.
It is an interesing potential alliance forming, no?
meta @ 166
meta, what happened? Her support of Lieberman?
I’m not fond of conspiracy theories, but it seems obvious that there’s something afoot with the “Is Bush An Idiot?” piece. I think, though, that rather than being an attempt by conservatives to absolve themselves of blame for Iraq, Katrina, Medicare, and various other failures too numerous to mention, that there may be another explanation – Bush is starting to scare the crap out of them.
Bush has been a useful idiot of theirs for some time. He has championed many of their idiotic causes, and while he’s not with them on immigration he’s at least making points with Latino voters, which is a lot better than mainline conservatives are going to do on that issue. Unfortunately, as today’s Greenwald essay makes clear, he’s becoming dangerous. Not content with making a mess of Iraq and Lebanon, and standing by while Gaza is flushed down the tubes, he’s now set to invade or, perhaps worse, royally honk off Iran by bombing the living snot out of it.
This would be dangerous in a way that conservative thinkers understand. Most paleo-cons are not Christian cultists – some probably take their religion seriously, but they’re not waiting for the end times. They’re busy having as much fun as they can exploiting the lower classes while they’re here. That life could come to an end if Bush manages to set the world’s largest oil reserves on fire. My guess is that they’re starting to realize this, and they’re starting to pull the plug on ole’ W.
I don’t pretend to understand the right, but Bush is starting to scare me, and I’ve seen us in a few wars already.
Of course, to coin a phrase, that’s just my opinion, and I could be wrong.
Clay, I think what people feel about Kerry is that he won the primary by claiming to be “electable” – and now that he didn’t get elected, that destroys his alleged advantage as a candidate.
I don’t know if they all understand it, but I think that’s the subconscious reason for the lack of enthusiasm for him since the election: “You were supposed to win, dammit! You didn’t!” Granted, *every* political candidate (especially major-party presidential nominees) tells people they’re going to win, and half of them don’t, but this was Kerry’s primary virtue, and it evaporated.
Mary Landrieu is a tool and part of the gang of 14, IIRC. Another DINO and bottom feeder, imho.
Taylor , great post! Even republican cheerleader Tom Friedman is going rogue on them: This is from Freeman’s NYT editorial (which is by subscription, so I’ve posted a couple of excerpts from ConyersBlog
Friedman on Cheney and Iraq
“…Not only is there no honest self-criticism among Republicans, but — and this is truly contemptible — you have Dick Cheney & Friends focusing their public remarks on why Mr. Lamont’s defeat of Mr. Lieberman only proves that Democrats do not understand that we are in a titanic struggle with “Islamic fascists” and are therefore unfit to lead.
Oh, really? Well, I just have one question for Mr. Cheney: If we’re in such a titanic struggle with radical Islam, and if getting Iraq right is at the center of that struggle, why did you “tough guys” fight the Iraq war with the Rumsfeld Doctrine — just enough troops to lose — and not the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force to create the necessary foundation of any democracy-building project, which is security?…
Mr. Cheney, if we’re in a titanic struggle with Islamic fascists, why do you constantly use the “war on terrorism” as a wedge issue in domestic politics to frighten voters away from Democrats. How are we going to sustain such a large, long-term struggle if we are a divided country?…”
I just watched the clip, and I think you’re right. They’re setting us up for something…
Could Cheney be behind this? Is Bush still listening to Condi and not so much to him? After all, Cheney just got word that he may have to pay for outing a CIA operative. If he squealed on Bush (the prez made me do it!) and had him thrown out of office, then he, Lord Cheney, could nuke anyone he damned well pleased. Martial law? Internment camps?
Or is that just too tinfoil? I can’t tell any more…
Jenny from the Blog @
157
I don’t think he cares how much BS is frothing out of his orifices, it’s all the same to him as long as he receives his meds!
Cujo 171:
Also, they have children and grandchildren. I’ve often wondered why their smash & grab philosophy seemed to exclude the impact on future generations, but maybe now they’re starting to understand. About time.
via ThinkProgress:
http://www.boston.com/news/nat…..rs/?page=1
Chris @ 11:14 am (#172) – You have a point there. I’m sure some folks felt like they compromised in voting for Kerry in a very explicit way. Then he didn’t win. He lost, at least partly, by being a less than stellar speaker and campaigner.
He may, however, be the best choice next time around. I’m hoping for better, but so far I haven’t seen it. I’m not enthusiastic about Gore, although I’d probably vote for him this time if he won the nomination. Other than that, most of the field are either too far to the right, too inexperiecenced, or worse at campaigning than Kerry is.
I continue to be horrified at how much damage Bushco continues to do on the world stage, and in such a short time. And it’s getting worse by the week. Whether stupid, deranged, or intentional, their policies are leading us to the precipice of destruction. I cannot stop saying I don’t know how our country and the world can survive the remainder of his term.
The conservative movement (which I’ve never thought was worth much) is certainly hijacked by the neo-cons. It must be tied to Bush and go down with him. It’s the ideology as much as the figurehead–which we all know–it needs to be buried deep in the sands where it has led us.
cujo359 — It occurred to me recently that we might find ourselves in a situation where the American public would have to hope for an insurrection or mutiny within the ranks of the military, should somebody in XO or OVP decide to push the big red button.
Check your gut; does it feel like maybe this is a psyop by the “good guys” who want to lay ground work to support a rejection of any order to use nuclear weapons?
After the couple of articles I posted up thread, I really have to wonder…
Jenny @ 164
You and me both.
I like Cujo’s conspiracy theory better than mine.
*back to lurking*
Jenny from the Blog @ 170
Landrieu With Lieberman All The Way
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..27390.html
Hilda,
Thoughts and prayers for you. I remember this happening where I grew up. Sky was smoke-hazed, sun was red, air smelled like campfire. Not good.
It turns out RayGun Ronnie wasn’t as stupid as we thought: http://politicalhumor.about.co…..artman.mp3
707
Grandma2,
The last paragraph from Tom “6 months” Friedman.
“Friends, we are on a losing trajectory in Iraq, and, as the latest London plot underscores, the wider war with radical Islam is only getting wider. We need to reassess everything we are doing in this “war on terrorism” and figure out what is worth continuing, what needs changing and what sacrifice we need to demand from every American to match our means with our ends. Yes, the Democrats could help by presenting a serious alternative. But unless the party in power for the next two and half years shakes free of its denial, we are in really, really big trouble.”
The canary in the coalmine has begun wheezing heavily folks.
-GSD
grandmatoo — did you notice the missing bit in Friedman’s aboutface?
…Not only is there no honest self-criticism among Republicans, but — and this is truly contemptible — I, Tom Friedman, supported this mess and I can’t seem to find a way to acknowledge this or apologize for it…
Heh.
Cozumel -
Thanks for the link. I’m speechless. :(
Impeachment is part of democracy. It will NOT tear the country apart. We made it through three impeachment hearings just fine. Andrew Johnson. Richard Nixon. William Clinton. Impeachment, thus accountability, is one of the two primary reasons for the Democrat imperative to prevail this fall. The other is perhaps the survival of democracy itself. Impeach Bush!
All this polling is fine, but the problem is Busby was such a weak candidate and her betltway tied consultants ran such a lousy campaign she couldn’t turn out the base. She put both feet in her mouth over immigration and then failed to correct the problem. She simply didn’t turnout enough Democrats in the district to win. If she had, she’d be in office. The poll, however, has national implications for Democratic campaigns that don’t fumble as badly as Busby.
Just finished reading Lamont’s WSJ op-ed. Fascinating, solid, clearly focused. Several good, usable quotes, but this is my favorite:
“Good judgment is an essential part of good governance. But we’re bogged down in Iraq, and hamstrung in the war against terror, by leaders who lacked judgment, historical perspective, openness to other cultures and plain old common sense.”
Wow!
Rayne @ 11:20 am (#181) – Maybe, although I hope that’s not what they’re after, because the military is in bad enough shape at the moment. The more obvious group of non-progressives to be working on would be Congress. They control it, after all. I hope this is the real target of the propoganda.
Impeach him and then off to trials for war crimes for the entire bunch!
merciless –
delurk more often!!!
btw — you’re not related to Ming, are you?
Scarecrow @ 170
For one thing we could tell the world why we are censuring him while extending olive branches to world leaders.
I love the idea of impeaching him. I also don’t want to give them back the Congress and Presidency in 2008.
If you think the talk shows are bad now, I can already hear their blather about how all our promises to be different were false, and we’d rather hate Bush than legislate for the good of the country.
It’s not my view. But knowing as many “Pete and Cyndi’s” as I do, I know damn well it’s Mr. and Mrs. America’s view.
We need their votes to save this country.
Rayne @ 182
How does the “push the nuclear button” thing actually work? Is it like a James Bond movie where Chimpy literally pushs a big red button? Or does he call some General somewhere, or sets it in motion?
If Generals are involved, I think it’s pretty safe to say that an order to deploy nukes could simply be refused. The military has been quietly, increasingly opposed to the poor leadership decisions coming out of ChimpCo. The real question is would the person with the power and the access to the “nuclear button” actually push it in today’s climate, knowing that the missiles were aimed at a country that posed us little credible threat, and would make the country less safe.
I don’t think our Generals are that stupid, even if BushCo is.
When the Party of Lincoln becomes the Party of Bush, it is time for that party to give up power, purge the leadership, and spend at least a decade reinventing itself.
Actually, by all rights the investigation process and trials should be handled by a world court. His (BushCo’s) crimes against humanity spread far and wide. The rest of the world has a right to justice as well.
The bastards should be tried by every country they’ve harmed. Serial war crimes tribunals. I like the sound of it.
Jenny from the Blog @ 189
Fortunately there are only a few D’s. The rest are all R’s and noise makers
Cujo359 (#179), I tend to stay out of the “Why’d Kerry lose” arguments, for a number of reasons ;-)
All I’m saying is that Kerry claimed to be electable, and then he didn’t get elected, so it undermines his specific claim (and if you hitch your wagon to that star, you’d better win, because there are *thousands* of people who’ll tell you they were electable but just didn’t get elected; “I coulda been a contenduh!” isn’t just a dockworker’s lament) and it undermines his general appeal. It’s like a meta-undermining.
Doesn’t mean he can’t run in ‘08, or that he shouldn’t, or that we don’t need people like him running to keep the party honest, but he starts out with a stark disadvantage, and he needs to remember it if he wants to have his campaign get any traction…
twolf — that Boston Globe story is fascinating, and discouraging. The Pentagon has apparently concluded that they fought the wrong war with the wrong strategies, so they’re asking what war strategy should they have fought? But as they did in Vietnam, they’ve asked the wrong questions. Instead, they might ask:
Was war the right strategy for dealing with al Qaeda? What did this have to do with Iraq?
Was being silent when intelligence was being manipulated by the neocons under Rummy in the strategic interests of the military, never mind the country?
If someone asks you to invade and hold a foreign country, for the wrong reasons, and with no plan, and with insufficient troops to maintain repressive order in the face of totally predicatable opposition to an invastion/occupation, what should a patriot do? When is resignation and speaking out your duty, rather than saying, “yes sir, we’ll do whatever irrational, destructive mission you send us on?”
Instead of asking what’s the best way for the military to break down doors in the middle of the night to find “insurgents” in civilian neighborhoods, they should have asked, “what makes you idiots think you can achieve your objectives with “military” tactics like that? And why would you force the world’s most technologically advanced military to engage in such hate-creating practices?”
Oklahoma kiddo @ 191
I am convinced it would be gratifying to us, and good for the country to get rid of Bush.
But we can also render him powerless by legislation and by threat.
We will have two years to make this country work again.
We have to be serious and get down to business or we’ll never win another election.
Wow, of all the gutless moderates in the party, I would’ve thought that Mary Landrieu – aren’t some of her constituents still rotting corpses in New Orleans attics? – might associate Joe Lieberman and his quickie hearing for Michael Brown to head FEMA with a certain horrifying natural-and-man-made disaster.
What is this, some kind of test designed to bring all of the Vichy Democrats out of the woodwork? If so, it’s working spectacularly – but what do we do with them *now*?
The Huffington Post article about Landrieu supporting Loserman post-primary contains the following statement:
“Our current tally has 25 Democratic Senators on the record as supporting Lamont…”
Interesting. 25 Democratic Senators also supported the filibuster of the Alito nomination.
I wonder to what degree the two groups of senators correspond.
Re: impeachment…
I think if you have some solid investigative hearings on a number of matters, finish the part of the Iraq war hearings that Pat Roberts can’t seem to pull together, at some point the articles of impeachment will write themselves, and the hearings that follow will be liitle more than formalizing what has already been determined.
But keep in mind that you’d have to get Cheney, too, and you’d have to have a Democratic Speaker of the House, who would be next in line after Cheney to succeed to the presidency.
After that it’s the president pro tem of the Senate (currently Ted “tubes” Stevens) and then Secretary of State.
Kurt @ # 197:
“How does the “push the nuclear button” thing actually work? Is it like a James Bond movie where Chimpy literally pushs a big red button? Or does he call some General somewhere, or sets it in motion?
If Generals are involved, I think it’s pretty safe to say that an order to deploy nukes could simply be refused. The military has been quietly, increasingly opposed to the poor leadership decisions coming out of ChimpCo. The real question is would the person with the power and the access to the “nuclear button” actually push it in today’s climate, knowing that the missiles were aimed at a country that posed us little credible threat, and would make the country less safe.
I don’t think our Generals are that stupid, even if BushCo is.”
There is no lack of generals who are nuttier than a squirrel nest!
The Great Re-Awakening.
http://kriskristofferson.com/news/
-GSD
Considering its source, the Is Bush an “Idiot”? exchange should be received with skepticism. (Please note they had quotes around the word idiot, implying it was not their word.) It was as much an opportunity for Fund to defend Bush’s ineptness as it was a chance for O’Donnell to score some points. Call it a draw.
Scarborough, to my mind, was trying go foment relatively harmless controversy, since Bush’s ineptness is well known, even to his most ardent supporters. In fact, they love him for it, you know, regular guy, not a stuck-up East Coast champagne drinking elite.
But the whole thing focussed on Bush’s style, made no attempt whatsoever to relate any of it to his actual performance as the nation’s chief executive.
For liberals to find cheer and comfort in MSNBC asking whether Bush is an “idiot” is to continue to accept the MSM’s failure to call Bush to account for his disastrous leadership.
And of course, no one can publicly question whether Bush’s increasing incoherence could be related to his dipping into the sauce again, which is something that is prominent in my mind. So a more interesting question would have been, “Is Bush drinking again?”
guys – looks like there’s a new thread
“Down With Joe”, but I get an error message
anyone else able to get in ?
Kurt @ 11:29 am (#197) – How does the “push the nuclear button” thing actually work?
Unless this has changed recently, the procedure is that the President calls the military, transmits the signature codes that the soldier with “the football” always carries with him, and then the military sets things in motion. So, as much as there is in the military, there is some discretion available. Ballistic missile submarine captains can launch missiles on their own authority, which practically speaking means that if they don’t want to spend the rest of their lives in jail there’d better have been no contact with higher HQ for far too long a period, or some other indication that things have gone south in a big way.
Soldiers are also expected to refuse to carry out illegal orders. Launching nuclear weapons against a country that hasn’t attacked us when there’s no declaration of war might be considered illegal in some quarters (like the ones YT resides in), but whether our generals would consider it illegal is an interesting question. We’ve gone sixty years without declaring war on anyone, and have been in four major wars (by my count) since then.
Rayne @ 188
You got it, Rayne — he can’t deal with his own denial, but he claims the WH is in denial and it’s their denial, not his, that’s the problem. You can actually read his taunts of Cheney as advocating sending more troops to Iraq to impose order. Apparently, Tom does not recall that we had over 500,000 US troops in Viet Nam, plus a million ARVNs on our “our side,” trying to protect Saigon, and it wasn’t enough.
. . . and your little dog, too @ 203
Legislation must be passed by Congress and enforced by courts.
Threats must be made and enforced.
Are you confident that Democrats and non-insane Republicans can – and *WILL* – do these things? (see Glenn Greenwald’s description of the constant cave-ins of Arlen “I might bark, but I’ll never bite” Specter) I like to think we’ve got principled politicians in both parties who’d recognizee what’s going on, but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in that basket.
That’s why I like talking about impeachment – plus, it’s like bringing a gun to a gunfight, unlike previous occasions. And the cherry on top is that Republicans would hate to have Bush impeached, because it’d put him down in history with Clinton. And they’d *hate* that.
well okay, the aforementioned new Post has disappeared for now -
can we engage in some wild speculation as to Landrieu’s crap ?? It has to be money, someone please fill me in
new thread here
-ck- @ 195
My youngest. Isn’t he cute?
Orangejumpsuit,
There is an old joke.
A man goes on vacation and leaves his cat in the care of his brother.
The man arrives in his beautiful vacation spot for the long awaited 2 week vacation.
The next day he calls his brother and inquires about the cat. He is told that the cat ran out of the door was killed by a car.
The vacationing brother explodes. You idiot. My entire vacation has been ruined now. Why would you tell me right away?
You should have said. “Look, I opened the door and the cat ran away. I am searching for kitty now so I’ll keep you posted.”
Then you call up the next day and tell me there have been kitty sightings all over the neighborhood.
Wait a few more days and say that you just got a phone call and a cat looking like kitty is stuck in a tree.
Then the next day you tell me that they got the cat out of the tree but she is in bad shape.
Then you can say in a few days that kitty has taken a turn for the worst.
Then when I was ready to come home you could have said, “sorry kitty didn’t make it.”
“That’s how you break news like that. So anyways, how is mother doing?”
“Well, she’s stuck in a tree.”
Moral of the story.
The grand narrative is changing and the nation is getting softened up.
-GSD
It has been readily apparent to me since 2004 that he is mentally and physically ill and is heavily medicated. Or, he is boozing again. He is showing an obvious decline in motor skills. During his past vacation in Crawford, he managed to fall off his bike and run over an armadillo. A five year old has better mastery of his bike. He either falls off that damn bike or runs into things all the time. He has a need to do things that require repetitive action and very narrow mental focus – such as clearing brush or riding a bike obsessively, because these are the things his mind seems best able to grasp.
I’m no medical expert, but I am excellent judge of character and insussing people out and I think he is both mentally and physically failing. I don’t know whichconditionprecipitated the other, but I would be surprised if he lives much past January 2009.
The Joe Scarborough show last night shocked me. Not for what it said – I thought it was actually pretty mild, but because Scarborough put it on in the first place. Republicans of all stripes have walked in lockstep for the past 20 years. Now the the conservatives who possess a firmer grasp on reality are reaching the breaking point. Bush is a national embarrassment. We are the laughing stock of the world and I think we are going to start seeing a revolt in some Republican circles.
Remember the White Rose Society – the group of Germans dedicated to getting rid of Hitler. My wish is that there exists, or will soon exist, a similar group of truly patriotic Republicans who are close to the White House, know that our country is in serioius trouble and have access to Dubyas medical records. If he is a sick man, these records need to be leaked (along with Cheney’s I might add). There needs to be a serious discussion within Congress and in the public arena about his possible removal from office before Jan. 09.
cbl — yeah, it’s all about the money.
At the risk of p*ssing off folks, I’m going to come right out and say it.
Mary Landrieu is a stupid whore.
Stupid, in that she’s repeatedly believed promises of action from the Bush Administration for the people of Louisiana.
Whore, because she sells out democracy for promises of lucre for her state.
This is NOT the first time she’s sold out. For the sake of the citizens of Louisiana, especially NOLA, I hope it’s her last.
She’s overdue some press for her repeated sell-out.
O’Donnell thinks Bush’s troubles started with Katrina.
No, they started in the womb.
Another scotch there, Barb?
.
Chris @ 214
The only thing I am confident about is that if we impeach first, we have shot ourselves in the heart in that gunfight.
If you don’t believe my informal polling, do some yourself.
Find some moderates, independents and Republicans who are thinking of voting for Dems this time.
Ask them how they’d view that.
Again. I am FOR impeachment. Just not first.
I don’t know where the question marks came from in my comment above, but what I meant to say is: I wouldn’t be surprised if Dubya does NOT live much past 2009. I think the collapse of his presidency is going to do him in like the other Texas president, LBJ. A beaten man, LBJ lived only a few years after the end of his term.
Ed*ard Teller @
133
and, possibly, the whole country will “disinhibit violently”. The bomb-iran foreshadowing has been making me feel physically ill when I think too hard about it.
Cujo359, Kurt — I think the “stupid” meme is an attempt to innoculate the military.
“We can’t take orders from this guy; he’s incompetent. Hell no, we’re not going to follow through with launch sequence.”
Makes more sense to me than a sudden dawning after 6 years of this moron’s behavior.
But perhaps there’s another attempt at innoculation going on; what if the sequel to Bush’s Brain contains material that conclusively points to gross dereliction of duty or abject failure of values on the part of Bush? How else to innoculate him except for painting him as incapacitated? Really, nobody picked on St. Ronnie after it was disclosed he was suffering from Alzheimer’s, right? Are they painting this so rapidly they have to shortcut to “stupid” first?
Or is the RNC innoculating itself, saying Don’t blame me, I’m with Stupid?
Nah. The last one just doesn’t fly, even as a Hail Mary.
wow, GSD @ 208,
I thought I was beyond tears at this point…there’s something about music that always gets me though. And Kristofferson’s gravelly soft voice, and of course, the pictures. I’d like to see this video all over the web. Thanks.
And then you follow it with your post at 217. Also very insightful. When I read that top Pentagon officials were “reviewing” military errors in Iraq and Afghanistan, my first reaction was, the Pentagon reviewing the military for errors? Will this be like Tenet and the “failure of intelligence”? Where he resigns over the sixteen words and then gets the medal of freedom? Shouldn’t the Pentagon be reviewing the Pentagon’s mistakes in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Going back to play the video again for cathartic puposes…
It’s not just Republicans or Democrats who have misgivings about Bush and what he’s doing. Corporate management is taking a look at what’s happening and beginning to worry about the preservation of their businesses and assets under Bush’s policies. Our government has been acting the way amateurs do, not knowing or understanding the impact of what it has been doing, and more people are recognizing it or acknowledging it, especially with Lamont’s win. From President Bush, who makes a joke of his ignorance, to stooges such as Rumsfeld and truly unfeeling fixed-idea men such as Cheney, we have suffered from inept and uninformed leadership. Iraq is just one example of such amateurness, with a war that had no plan for any follow-up. Iran is another. The way we’ve handled Afghanistan is still another. Our ignoring the essential conflict between Israel and the Palestine peoples, just hoping it will go away. Add them up and we can now see how inept this administration has been. Then look at the current economy, changed from a positive one in which our assets were growing to one in which almost everything except oil has been declining. Asking the military, who weren’t trained to build nations and who did their job heroically in the war, to sort out what needs to be done in Iraq or Afghanistan is truly amateurish; such work was never the military’s job. Not even having a full professional cadre of those who speak the language of our enemies, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Iran to Lebanon how could this administration even pretend to understand what forces it has unleashed? How could they even understand that a real possibility is the current civil war? The author of Fiasco, Tom Ricks, has said we’ll probably have troops in Iraq for fifteen years because of how amateurishly things have been handled. He also has said that, as far as they’re concerned, the Bush Administration is leaving this mess for the next administration. I grieve for our sons and daughters and our grandchildren who will be forced to handle the mess that will be left behind by this administration.
Rayne says,
Oh, if only they would wear the t-shirts…
Afterthought at (sigh) 8–
Agree. Molly Ivens said, during 04, that “People think Bush is stupid and mean. But he isn’t stupid, and he isn’t mean.” And I thought: Sez you. Although she would know.
Meanwhile I can’t decide. He has never said an interesting or articulate thing in six years of national public life. But I remember a press conference earlier this year where Bush sounded, if not intelligent, at least not dumb as a post.
In the end, of course, intelligent is as intelligent does. And the rest (alas) is history.
And here’s a letter I wrote to a close friend who made a good deal of money investing in, and developing, real estate, who believes in competition, the rule of the market, opportunity for all peoples, and whose background and rise from a poor family to a respected member of his community is laudable.
I have been thinking lately about George Bush and his crew, mainly people like Cheney and Rumsfeld, and the incredible damage they have done to the long-term worth of a business like yours. The current dip in real estate is nothing to what you’ll be facing; the rise in interest rates will continue to be prohibitive. The ultimate loss in value of your assets due to inflation as well as the inability to sell your properties at a reasonable profit, all can be blamed on Mr. Bush and his policies.
For one thing, Bush is bankrupting our country. He knows nothing but to spend. This has put us into the hands of the Chinese and other foreign countries who now own most of our debt in the form of government bonds. He has done absolutely nothing to replace oil as the primary fuel, making us economically venerable for the long term. It has also made us weak as a world power. This will cause long term interest rates to rise, slowing the real estate market.
I believe that he has traded tax cuts for long term debt, and that those who have been bought off by such policies, those with assets, will ultimately scream for a re-instatement of higher taxes, if only the decline of their assets could be reversed.
By launching two real wars without any understanding of what needs to be done after the military conflicts have been supposedly won, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, he has hopeless mired our military in the Middle East. By not paying attention to and putting effort into destroying Bin Laden and Al Qeda, and concentrating on a phony war with Iraq, he has squandered the opportunity to increase our country’s prestige and influence abroad.
With the exception of the so-called defense industry, and the oil industry, he has brought the remainder of our great industrial might to its knees. Companies like Chrysler, which has been sold off, and especially General Motors, will ultimately have to be sold, and have suffered immeasurably.
In Congress, because of his policies, we face deep corruption in which Representatives and Senators trade their votes for support from companies wishing to take advantage of the existing, and future, tax money being spent so they can feed at the public trough. This is not the competition you envision; it is cronyism at its worst. There is less and less competition in the marketplace, which people like you have turned a blind eye to, not more and more competition. Look at the oil companies; the car companies; the banks; the large farm conglomerates; the defense contractors; the media companies; the entertainment companies; the food supermarkets; the retailers; the health insurers – there are fewer and few of them, competing against fewer and fewer like players in each of these marketplaces.
Although a very small percentage of the population here has increased its wealth, the majority of Americans have not, and there is a greater divide than ever before between rich and poor. Such an imbalance is a threat to social stability for the long term, and we will see the results in increased crime, use of drugs, and the gated-community mentality.
Abroad, we as a country have lost much of the good will generated because of the 9/11 attacks. We are viewed as an interloper in foreign affairs, and a not very successful user of our power to accomplish our ends. This loss of good will is felt in the Middle East, in South America, and in Europe.
Internally, we have become a country deeply divided, not only by income but by religious beliefs. Bush has made no effort to bring our diverse people together, to heal the wounds; instead he has traded, through people like Karl Rove, on fostering deep divisions. Look at the numbers, split somewhat evenly, between Democrats and Republicans; between liberals and conservatives – they tell a story very different from the “mandate” that George Bush claimed.
When, and if, you take a good look at the wreckage of our country, directly attributable to Bush’s views and his ignorance and his policies, it will begin to appall you; not only from a moral standpoint, but from a very practical business standpoint. The terrible thing about it is that it will continue to wreak havoc for your children and my children and for our grandchildren, into the foreseeable future.
Hugh @ 141
This is what makes me so depressed so often. Congress is dysfunctional beyond anything that the founders would have ever dreamed and Americans are too disenfranchised to do much about it. People act as if impeachment is something worse than punching the Big Red Button in the Presidential office – it shouldn’t be, it should be the response to failed Executive Branch appointments and a failed Executive. IF Congress were doing its job.
Part of what is amazing is that there is even as much undercurrent of dissent as exists – the media has been horribly propagandized and most people don’t have the time or inclination to go digging relentlessly through the news sources. This is an America where people do a better job naming (this was on my msnbc home page yesterday) naming the 7 dwarves than the 9 S. Ct Jusitices.
Here is a different example. Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Afghanistan has been a narcostate and that it has EXPLODED under our occupation. Still, this is almost never reported or discussed. A recent story:
Opium Boom
This is a MAJOR item. Why isn’t it being openly, long and loud, discussed with the pros and cons addressed? Here’s a clue:
It’s a “sensitive” topic — why, exactly? Because it makes us look bad. How do you EVER structure the correct response if no one discusses the underlying issues? You know, good solid oldtime conservatives, who were often smart without necessarily being machiavellian totalitarians, can dig in and discuss this issues and juggle with the concepts.
Neocons and their merry crew of feckless pseduoconservatives pseudolegislators, pseduodiplomats, pseudolawyers, etc. go one up on the Ostrich and, with the help of pseduojournalists, just shove the American public’s head in a hole whenever things look bad. This serves the dual purpose of keeping them from looking bad AND also giving whatever evil is lurking around the corner a victim that — has its head stuck in a freaking hole. While the neocons give Pamaviews and Hume-error-us sound bytes.
Finally we hear tiny tidbits from the forces on the ground in Iraq as well – saying that no one in command seems to actually be processing the info they give them about the insurgency and the state of things on the ground. It is just too damn frustrating.
Ed*ard Teller @ 203
This all reminds me of an event involving one of my many brothers.
He like the rest of us was putting in his time working at a truck stop for the summer to earn money for college.
At the end of the summer he announced he was going to go to Harvard.
Response: “Oh, I didn’t know you were smart.”
Cujo @ 155–
Good pernt re Casey/Santorum, and re Penn., where I used to live. It reminds me of something a truck driver once said, with regard to how famously terrible the roads are in the state: “If there’s a dip in the road, instead of fixing it, they just put up a sign that says DIP.”
[still ranting]
And you know what else? If you tell everyone that the nebulous freakin evil thing has a State Sponsor, pretty soon the freakin evil thing decides: Hey, Good Idea! Let’s Get Involved in Iraq Govt.
Let’s not forget that al-Qaeda just got a primo view of what happens when their rivals, Hezbollah, get to work with state sponsors and an actually little nationstate they can call their own. Granted, Al-Q didn’t originally see too many nationstates in the ME it wanted to align with, but since we now just have chaos up for grabs in Iraq, and since they don’t want to see Iran be the only one to benefit from it — you can see where they might be tempted.
Of course, the administration and military have lied so frequently and thoroughly with respect to Iraq, with nada Congressional oversight, that you have to step back and wonder – is al-Q taking advantage – which would make sense; or is someone desparately trying to spin al-Q back into the headlines, pre-election, to rejustify a presence (which is going to be hard to do if they manage to be ELECTED representation for parts of the country)?
You absolutely have no one in this Administration, from military to DOJ to State Dept to NASA scientists to even AGRICULTURE officials (who are having to work rah rahs about the Iraq war into the hog reports) who has any record of being anything but a liar or an incompetent or both.
Damnit, even GHWB and Reagan and Nixon had some small crew that operated in the reality based world.
Caldwell goes on:
Interesting choice of things to call “propaganda.”
/rant
Hugh @
141
i’d rather not believe you but i have to admit that you may be right. at any rate, let’s do everything we can do and keep advancing with determination and resolve. something about lighting a candle. not cursing the darkness? but then, why not both?
JennyFTB@157 – I don’t know if you saw Mike Allen on KO last night, but that description fit him to a T.
OCPatriot — nice work, that letter. Have you received a reply? I wonder if appealingo only to your friend’s business sense would help?
Mary4N — Part of the disenfranchisement and disconnection between voters and their representatives is multi-generational. My folks never talked about politics; it was something somebody else did. They came from poor families, which may have reinforced the sense of disconnection between themselves and the process. My in-laws know politicians, but they never really made a point of having a dialogue with them about issues; that was stuff that only policy wonks did, and they were family business people. At least three generations of Americans have not seen democracy modeled for them as something immediate and personal — and the right-wing reinforced it, by modeling a top-down approach to politics, and the left-wing didn’t break that worldview, being locked into it’s own failing worldview of labor always being in power.
It became too easy to insert whole agendas between the voters and elected officials.
The massive paradigm shift underway, exemplified by Howard Dean’s, Paul Hackett’s and Ned Lamont’s races is that the people are become their own media, and more rapidly their own representatives. They’ve already grown used to seeing a connection between their actions off and online and outcomes; they expect the same in politics and media.
I don’t think we will have to suffer this old school media much longer, barring any truly stupid moves by this administration between now and January ‘09. Look at how education has changed in a mere decade; it used to be that schooling was only available on campus, but now anyone can receive an education via MIT OpenCourseWare, anywhere. That puts an enormous pressure on all schools to be more competitive since education can now be commoditized; what does School A offer over School B if they both offer the same thing on line, or cannot compete with MIT?
The media is under the same pressure; brick-and-mortar media institutions are in their death throes only they don’t know it yet. What we as consumers/participants here in the blogosphere should be discussing is how to push the media to the next threshhold. Le roi sont mort, vive le roi!
Taylor Marsh @
145
there used to be these stories (urban myths?) about people just suddenly bursting into flames. junior seems like a really likely prospect for this phenomena. the pressure must just be tremendous. and he’s suppose to be on vacation. wonder what his september will be like.
Democrats with a contemporaneous reputation for being dimmer than average:
Harry Truman
Ted Kennedy
Hubert Humphrey
Jerry Brown
(Truman (and Eisenhower) have both been rehabilitated by recent authors.)
twolf@178 – if it’s not pretty, it won’t be released.
Legislation won’t make a nickels worth of difference IMO with the current implementers of the legislation that reside in the Exec.
To heck with Bush – the sweeping should start with his implementers. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, etc. If you don’t impeach them, and Bush is still around — it won’t matter what legislation you pass.
IMO FWIW
Rayne – I hope you are right. YOu are certainly more inspiring and heartening to listen to today than the voices in my head.
Thanks.
Cujo359 @
179
cujo (@179):
i definitely disagree with you here. Gore would be better. Feingold would be better. Edwards would be better. I voted for Kerry but he’s run out of steam. I think he’s probably a pretty good senator but he doesn’t have the spunk to make a national run.
An entire book could be written to definitively answer the question, “Is Bush An Idiot”. The short answer is “Duh”.
Mary,
The first paragraph of the article twolf linked to:
(emphasis mine.)
Boy, did a shot of cold tingling somethin’ run down my spine when I read “before the next conflict.”
fahrender:
Spontaneous combustion! Kinda like what happened to all the Spinal Tap drummers. :)
Mary for now 235:
Thank god I didn’t see that show… I would’ve broken out into a cold sweat!
. . . and your little dog, too @
196
yup. i agree 100%.
“34% of Republican voters believe that Bush should probably or definitely be held accountable for the situation in Iraq. 19% of Republican voters believe that Bush should ‘definitely’ be held accountable, and 15% believe he should ‘probably’ be held accountable.”
Like Ms. Marsh, I hesitate to analyze poll data, but you have to ask yourself: Only a third of Republican voters think Bush should be held accountable for the war that he pushed for with all the political capital he and all his fellow warmongers could beg, borrow, and, of course, steal. Not to mention that he is, as he is so fond of reminding us, both the commander in chief and The Decider–the man in charge of, well, everything.
Just whom do the other two thirds of Republican voters think should be saddled with the responsibility for the hell on earth that Bush & Co. have unleashed in Iraq? The Democrats? Bill Clinton? Tinky Fucking Winky?
just read the manuscript. Did Scarborough really ask if we actually need our president to be intelligent? My first response was – is he kidding? My second was, has he been napping last 5 years? Hello?
I am suprised I still have the ability to be stunned by the stupidity of teevee hosts.
#197 – Been wondering about that myself. We can only hope that AT LEAST it would get leaked in time for the Articles of Impeachement to get drafted at the same time Cheney is indicted and spirited off to Gitmo ‘by accident’ for the duration. Would Bush do it without telling Russia so they would not mistakenly think we were launching at them? I can’t imagine even Israel would be on board with this one – I mean they have to drink the water over there too.
Label Bush an “idiot” at your own peril…
That’s exactly what these criminal sociopaths want people to think; that they are incompetent bunch of idiots. You see, incompetence can be forgiven, even as you throw them out of the office (as if that’ll happen with our current $election system). However, Criminal conspiracy to commit terror upon America is a treasonous act. What can happen to those who commit treason? One word: Rosenberg!
So, the more they look like fools, ninnies, half-wits, bumblers, incompetent, idiots, etc., the better they actually get away with what they have been doing to us all. I understand with that criminal sociopathic puppet, Bush, as their “face” to the world it is easy to see an “idiot” and fall into that meme of “incompetence”. However, I do not think Bush is an idiot, I think he really could not give two shits about anything outside of his own dysfunctional sociopathic personality. After all, wasn’t it Barbara Bush who once said, (paraphrasing) “Yeah, George is dumb, dumb like a fox”.
The members of Bu$hitCo. and the Republicans and the Right Wing uber wealthy who back him behind the scenes (Scaife, Coors, Rev. Moon) along with the impersonal corporations, count on people’s propensity to psychological “projection”, i.e. “I can never imagine myself, or the possibility of my leaders doing such treasonous acts to their own country, so any thing suggesting that must be untrue. They must simply be ‘idiots’, ‘incompetent’, etc.” This very powerful projection offers much protection to their criminal acts. Then there is the other fear that if treason is likely it could destabilize the whole country, and even much of the world. The most we can probably expect is the label of “incompetent”, with its implied forgiveness, or whitewash commissions du jour.
Still, it could happen, so what could they do to protect themselves from real justice? What other plans could be afoot? Well, what might, or could, stop them and their fascist, medieval, Hobbesian agenda? Oh, yeah, an America reawakened to its ideas — the Age of Enlightenment LIBERAL ideas involving PEOPLE and some sense of fair-play, for what it’s worth (America is far from a saint, although its founding ideas are very powerful, and very good for people)!!
To thwart justice upon them they must divide and hobble this country– ruin its reputation for generations to come, saddle it with horrid debt to hamstring its influence, stupefy and misinform it’s populace (thanks MSM and “No Child Left Behind”), restrict travel (terror, passports, planes, etc.) and exchange of ideas (“net neutrality”), destroy its middle class (the class that has potential time to question, and really care about, what is going on), and other things. Make the survival of everyday life, “”solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short”. With all this coming into place I would say they have created the steps to insure their ill-gotten gain and future power of their medieval “lord of the lands” philosophy with no one, no civil society, strong enough to stop them.
Destroying this country and its ideas are, IMHO, their top priority and long range goal. They must be sneaky, of course, a populace bred on “democracy” would not tolerate a coup, but it will tolerate division and the methods of that–bigotry, class, religion, and irrational fear-mongering; they are magnifying the baser aspects of people and using it against them to divide and conquer. Ultimately we have only ourselves to blame if we do not stand against them by all means available.
Don’t be fooled. These criminals are NOT idiots or incompetent, regardless of that puppet Bush they present to the world. They are getting just about everything they wanted for the short and long term with most none the wiser. That’s not incompetence, that’s brilliance, evil as it may be!!
Democrats don’t stand a chance in ‘06. They’ve already f**ked up and eaten one of their own and that’ll cost them an unnecessary seat. Plus, the anti-war message is a loser. The anti-war party NEVER wins, ask Churchill.
Face it, Dems have been marginalized by the powers that be and will stay that way for a long time or drift out off into history.
The French get intellectual prime ministers.
We get presidents who don’t know how many beers are in a six pack.
IS THIS A COINCIDENCE?
no, we get the government we deserve.
you are what you eat, and the nation gets what it votes for.
why have the ameriKun people voted again and again for liars, losers, egotistical cowboys and thieves in congress and the presidency?
it does make one wonder about the karma of the nation.
If Bush is an idiot, then so is every other conservative Republican in the country. 30% of the country still supports him. Why? Because they still believe in what he’s doing and the idiotic conservative theory he promotes.
He’s been immensely successful in pushing thru long-fought conservative policies. Fortunately he wasn’t slick enough to dismantle social security yet, but just think how stupid that Republicans would loudly be calling him if he’d accomplished that unpopular move (while they quietly cheer him on).
He’s unpopular because he’s been successful: it’s conservatism that’s being exposed as idiotic.