Login Here"Surge and accelerate?"
No. Just...NO.
Keith Olbermann's Special Comment transcript here. (H/T to Suzanne.) If you missed it last night, Crooks and Liars has video here.
An escalation with no defined mission is still an escalation.
How many more Americans should be asked to die for a mistake and to prop up a President's ego? How many more innocents should be caught in the crossfire for the same reason? How many more?
And while we are at it, is this who we are? Because, if so, I am ashamed -- holding someone prisoner and interrogating them says a lot about who we are as a nation. It used to be that the United States was an example of what to do with prisoners in terms of their treatment off the battlefield. No longer.
Are we a nation that stands up for human rights -- or are we all about revenge by any means possible these days? Are we a civilized nation -- or are we reverting to juvenile barbarism and disrespect of anything sacred?
One thing that troubles me substantially in this article is the decided lack of follow-up investigation by the FBI, which in the past took these sorts of allegations very seriously because they go to the heart of how we are known as a nation in terms of respect for human rights and the treatment of others. At the moment, we are looking an awful lot like a bunch of immature bullies who have no self control and no real commitment to anything other than petty revenge. Not exactly a way to win hearts and minds of the moderates in the Islamic world, now is it?
In New York yesterday, a Navy vet and construction worker was taking his daughters home at the end of the day -- saw a man fall off the subway platform onto the tracks, with an oncoming train approaching. The man leapt to the tracks to rescue the fallen fellow, and miraculously they both survived. Wesley Autrey is a hero, and a man of integrity and courage -- he saved a man who was a stranger because in a split second he realized that it was the decent thing to do, the human thing to do.
This is the best that we can be.
The soldiers and intel folks who have been pushed and prodded into getting intel to feed Dick Cheney and George Bush's version of reality at any cost? Where does that leave them? Does the responsibility for the behavior rest with the foot soldier or the commander who gave the orders? I would argue both, but it is strange how every facility that Gen. Miller got his hands on had similar problems and allegations of abuse across the board. In my former line of work, we call that a pattern of behavior. Would that we could actually depend on the FBI or internal monitors within the DoD to investigate that pattern. (Sounds to me like another item on a long list of issues that need oversight -- and Sen. Pat Leahy sounds like just the man to get this one done.)
In the past, we could depend on the FBI doing their job. Before George Bush got his hands on the reins of power, that is. Just who are we now?
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What part of NO doesn’t the Chimperor understand?
oh and
FITZ!
&
ROOTZ!
and Thank you KEITH!
Bush is completely out of control.
And just what the hell is my Democratic party going to do about it?
Can you say “escalation?” I guess Nancy isn’t going to get her agenda done after all. Seems to me it’s time to pull the plug, as in put the idea of cutting off funds back on the table.
So much for “I listen to my generals on the ground!” Did you hear the part about how this is all General Casey’s fault? Democrats had better find an effective way of putting this mad man in check, or we’ll be needing a whole new Congress; one that knows how to play hardball with a murderous psychopath.
Read. Gilliard.
the president pens an op ed in the wall street journal and it’s as if he thinks everyone is in the same bubble he’s in.
he actually claims the deficit will be balanced if we continue his borrow and spend policies, he actually brings up 9/11 as if it’s associated with Iraq
and he makes this bizarre statement;
EXCUSE ME?
the democrats BETTER make political statements, THEY BETTER make it CLEAR his presidency is A MISERABLE FAILURE, and if HE wants a fruitful presidency then HE had better act with congress, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, if he doesn’t want a stalemate HE better act WITH THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS and STOP trying to get us to follow his BIZARRE interpretation of the world, politics and life
perris at 7 — It’s just political posturing for his base. And really, does anyone even believe he wrote it himself? (And doesn’t that pretty much say it all in terms of how much respect the man gets these days, even from his “base”?)
O/t -
Max Mayfield retiring……..wonder what it feels like to be one of the most trusted people in America as compared to the most distrusted? God help all of us in hurricane territory b/c the shrubbery will install another of his toadie idiots in Max’s stead.
Oh, and a note to the
writerposter of the op-ed in today’s wsj: F#*!*#@*k you & the chain saw you rode in on! “Common ground”, my bloody foot. R.I.H.! ie. Now, let me tell you what I really think!We are a nation lost, fueled by fear.
When have you seen the President go to Chicago, New York, or Boston and talk to the country. All his speeches are given to a military audience. He communicates with the Dems through an Op Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal…
We are lost. Chief Justice Roberts says we have
a consitutional crisis because Judges don’t earn enough money. No, Mr. President we have
a consitutional crises because you fail to listen to the people.. You journey at your own risk, Mr. President….
Jack
Last night on Scarborough, Craig Crawford from Cong Quarterly floated a nifty trial balloon. He suggested that since Congress had paased abill athourizing the use of Force by the Shrub, they could pass a bill deauthorizing the use of force.
Just like that. Let him figure how to get out. I have heard severl pubits suggest, if somewhat indirectly, in the last few days that what Bush is going to do is stay in Iraq until he leaves office so that HISTORY will say that it was the president after him who lost the war.
You know all those crazy statemenets about how history will see this differently? He thinks the way to handle this is to blame somebody else.
Now this is a toally wild ass guess here, but if Shrub wants to shove the blame onto someone else is it better for his legacy that the next guy have been anti-war from the get go? or someone who voted for the war said she supoorted it, but then failed to win it when she became president?
If you are shrub/Rove and you figure there must be a Dem prez in 2008, but you want to make sure it is a one term presidency and that it does great harm to the Dem party,
How do you poison pill the winner in 2008?
Let the speculations begin!
Who are we now?
We have become the dark nightmare inside the American Dream.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 8
I was watching a Frontline rerun last night on PBS called “the dark side” about Cheney being the force behind the war. They mentioned something I had forgotten.
Scooter Libby wrote the
pack of liesspeech that Clin Powell was instructed to deliver at the UN.Bay State at 10 — well, to be honest, Roberts has a point about the judicial salaries…but it is far from the biggest problem we face in this country.
Thanks Christy. Bullseye, as per usual.
Bush will split the GOP over this.
Can I fix anyone a hot chocolate? No extra charge for marshmallows *g*
Note to CHS: it’s Ghirardelli!
LHP at 13 — That Dark Side frontline is quite well done, isn’t it? All of their shows on the foundations of the war and exploration of those at the heart of the policies have been superbly researched and methodically laid out. They are available on Frontline’s website, too, in case folks have missed them.
Just who are we now?
We are captives to a small group of megalomaniacs.
Most of the generals and a majority of Congress don’t want to escalate the war. Bush-Cheney knows this. This may all be a huge bluff so they can later say “I wanted to send more troops to win this war, and they (fill in the names) wouldn’t let me.
OTOH, they are crazy enough to go ahead with escalating this wretched war.
Yep, we’re captives.
Re the subway hero: Joseph Conrad said “Cowards and heroes are simply ordinary men who, for a split second, do something out of the ordinary.”
Christy Hardin Smith @ 14
I agree they are grossly underpaid. But the uge number of vacancies on the federal bench HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO with judicial saleries. It has everything to do with Bush either refusing to nominate candidates to “punish” some districts, and more often with Bush nominating hacks that have the home bar associations up in arms and pressuring the Senate not to confirm.
Roberts is full of shit.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz on C-Span right now but it may be close to end of her session. OMG, they had two Dems on this morning!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 17
I wondered if their decision to rerun just now was their own little contribution to generating pre-Fitzmas buzz. Ya’ know, get the folks in the Fitzmas spirit?
Remember, back when they would have been setting the schedule, the trial start date was still next Monday (of course it has been pushed back a couple times since then)
When is Chimpy’s ’sacrifice’ speech?
Re: Ghiradelli
Now that’s a San Franciso value I can get happy with!
OT - CNN - Guard suspected of making Saddam execution video has been detained
the menacing legacy of bush-cheney is just how they have salted for six long years every agency with toadies and political tool-bots, intelligence and law enforcement agencies among them. going forward, every intelligence report is suspect, every fbi initiative is tainted.
man, the cleanup is going to be hard.
Have good day all. I have to leave for a deposition in half and hour, so I think maybe it’s time to hit the shower.
Enjoyed blogging witcha all in my jammies!
I’m wondering how far the GOP will let Bush go before they turn on him and start making noises about joining the Dems in an impeachment drive. With ‘08 looming and Bush clearly out of his mind, they have to start seriously distancing themselves if they are to have any hope of at least maintaining the status quo in Congress. And they have to do it NOW.
McCain has to be shitting his pants right now - he’s so far up Bush’s posterior that it’s going to be virtually impossible to create some seperation.
It is cold here this morning, with a thick blanket of frost. Which means that the bird feeders are crowded with fluffed-out, hungry birdies. At the moment, it’s gorgeous and sunny, and I’ve got a full cup of hot coffee. Life is good. (For me, anyway, but I’m not so much of a selfish asshole that I think that applies to every other person on the planet. It’s called empathy, Junior — try hiring some sycophants that have that capacity for a change.)
on a backhanded good note, as we knew would happen, the president has refused documets leahy requested
we all knew he would refuse information he’s required to providew but it’s happened so soon, perhaps we can get this impeachment ball rolling sooner rather then later.
we couldn’t just walk in and impeach, we have to wait for an impeachable offence, which the president has conveniently provided even before we take our seats in control of the senate
from my blog if you will;
PESIDENT REFUSES BIPARTISAN PARTISIPATION
Well, to be honest, nobody really expected the president to act bipartisant, what he meant was “now that the democrats are in controll I want them to go along with everything I say just as the republicans did”
In performing the requirmments of his position, senator lehey requested information that is vital for oversite, obviously the administration doesn’t want oversite, they want to do whatever they want to do and they refused the documents required by the seenate;
I requested two documents concerning CIA interrogation methods, which the Administration recently acknowledged in a lawsuit, and other relevant information. The Administration’s refusal to provide any of this information other than forwarding a couple of public documents suggests that the President’s offer to work with us may have been only political lip service.
let’s hope the senator shows some balls and presses every tool at his disposal to force the president into following his oath of office, protect our constituion and provide the information he’sn required to proivide for oversite to take place
good luck senator leahy, bring back the constitution to our government and revoke the notions of a unutary executive
Has Murtha said anything about the upcoming escalation? Doesn’t he have (some)control over appropriations? Will the Dems “deauthorize” the war and cut off funding? Is there any Democrat who will lead the pack in saying “Hell no!” to Bush’s latest murder plot? Will there be a better time for the Democrats to put democracy back in their platform with prolonged action to right the many wrongs perpetuated by the thugs?
twolf1 @ 22
twolf1 -
Think CNN made some guesstimate earlier this morning but I was channel hopping; since they repeat themselves a dozen times, maybe will catch it later.
And was that a smasher SC Keith put on last nite, or what!
“Has Murtha said anything about the upcoming escalation?”
My guess, most Dems and the least bad in the GOP will line up behind the Baker Hamilton (ISG) Report, that’s the biggest fault line.
Tom @ 27
Now that is the nicest thing I have heard in ages! I’ll savor that along with a cuppa Waccamaw’s hot chocolate. Any left? Five small marchies please!
Waccamaw @ 31
man, if only he would field some questions after his speech, I’m pretty sure corporate media sees the excellant return on challenging this guy’s ability and integrity…it’s starting to happen more and more
someone, sooner or later, is going to ask him why nobody in his family supports his policy enough to enlist, someone somewhere is going to ask if he’s asked the twins to sacrifice
man, I can’t wait for that day
Woman on C-SPAN says she heard Faux News claiming that immigrants — legal and illegal — will be able to claim Social Security benefits.
They are already launching new scare tactics, aren’t they?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 28
christy, you can’t have empathy AND be a sociopath.
first things first.
Richmond,
Plenty left; I laid in a fresh qt of milk this morning. Here ya’ go. Glad you wanted the small marchies ’cause that’s all that’s in the cupboard ;-)
Waccamaw @
31
OK thanks. Yes, as usual, KO hits the nail on the head and drives it completely through the board.
Waccamaw @ 16
Hi - I did get your e-mail. Did you not receive my response?
And, oh yeah, Keith ripped Bush a gaping new one! Wow. Alls I can say. Wow.
Waccamaw @ 37
Mmmmm. Perfect! Made with whole milk too. This really coats the inside of my mouth and belly -lingering tastes and textures. Thanks a bundle. I’m doing a lobster chowder toward the end of the week and can send some your way.
Good Morning Firedogs,
So what are we willing to sacrifice to pre empt this tragically needless waste of true American Treasure ?!?
are you ready to risk a moment or two of social awkwardness or discomfort ?
are you willing to sacrifice your image of a regular neighborhood joe/jane and look like a hippie ?!?
It is now time for all of us to do something - on a local level
- ask your neighbors to hold a prayer vigil on the block
- ask your minister/priest/rabbi/iman to sponsor a prayer vigil in the parking lot on Saturday night
- take same to a local city council meeting and ask them to hold a vigil for these folks and their families
- Should you be successful, let local media know as a means to give neighboring ‘burbs and towns ‘permission’ to do same
no, a clever sign on the front lawn will not cut it this time
we can no longer snark about the yellow ribbon magnets and do nothing ourselves
so many here have rightfully decried the erosion of civil liberties - it is time to employ what’s left of them and do our duty to stop this
just getting through the initial stumbles is half the battle, most of your neighbors - regardless of political stripe want these kids home now
I am doing all the above - it has at times been awkward or uncomfortable (small TX exurb in a once staunchly red county) - but I’ve been reading Gilliard long enough to have a clear picture of what these Americans are dealing with 24/7 and what awaits them in Sadr City - if a moment or two of sweaty palms in front of my neighbors is called for, I’ll just deal with it - there aren’t any IED’s btw here and the school bus stop
Steve is right to call out the Free Range Chickenhawks - but what are we doing ?!?
Quit waiting for the Progressive Rapture - No more lipservice - Get Out There !
good morning, all… coffee’s ready…
deauthorizing the AUMF AND making it illegal to take any profit for contractor companies might do the trick…
Chimpys speech will be next week.
I wonder what Leahy will do now that he has been denied the documents he has asked for.
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2....._0103.html
Waccamaw @ 20
Interesting. I saw our SC Congressman Spratt who will be heading the Budget Committee on this morning followed by a rather pasty-faced little red-headed Repub who claimed the election was a referendum on scandals only (mmm, right, talking-points boy) - didn’t catch who he was as I was blow-drying my hair. Must have missed the other Dem after leaving for work.
Its interesting that the horror we know as Nazi Germany is probably 95% characterized in the popular mind by our images of prisoner treatment.
CBL - I admire your work. But will prayer vigils cut this time, any more than they did the last. I think we need to get Congress to move - and fast. How, and in what way, I don’t have a clue. But individual pressure needs to be brought on them through email, letters, and phone. I think a huge web driven petition might be a good idea. Remember the was a huge amount of response to web neutrality and it made a difference. Interestingly, this is an issue we share with perhaps 40% of the fundies. Would it help to have someone set up a Stop the War Escalation joint website and call for a campaign of letters, calls, etc.? We also need to find a way to respond to Repugs like Susan Collins (hold my nose) who is countering Lieberman and saying that the evidence of the generals suggests we need to pull back. Without a ground swell popular support, these political figures are just left swinging and will get picked off individually (as Murtha did) by the neo-con-thugs.
CNN - chimpy will expand on his WJS crap at 10:25 eastern today in the rose garden
twolf1 @ 48
I think we need to e mail some or the press with some questions we’d like answered
yay
Mandrake -
Got your response to first one but not to the one dated 1-1-07 3:01 p.m. Message I sent shows up on in-box but no reply. Plez try again or use the phone number. Blankety-blank e-mail :-(
Richmond -
How about passing along that chowder recipe at the next “Pull up a chair”? And if you do anything wonderful w/crab meat, keep me in mind.
twolf1 @ 48
christy, you’re read here at the lake by just about everyone.
I think it might serve well if you did a breakdown of the wsj piece the president “penned” so some of the pundants can be better prepared
looseheadprop @
11
A couple of weeks ago I toyed with a variant of this idea. In particular, pass a clarification of the Sept. 18 AUMF that explicitly says Iran is not authorized. This would force a veto - the Senate probably would pass narrowly with some attendant collateral Rethug 2008 damage. On the failed override go to the Supreme Court.
Mandrake @ 6:29 -
That red-headed thug (apologies to other Redd-heads in the house *g*) is supposedly one of the new kidz the twits are grooming for a leadership role……ugh.
twolf1 @ 22
Not sure, but I predict the word “sacrifice” is not going to go over well with either the pampered classes or the poor. The former has no concept of sacrifice, and the latter is up to their necks in the sacrifice of their loved ones already.
Waccamaw at 53 — I believe he’s already acquired the nickname of “Howdy Doody” if it is who I am thinking it is.
tryggth @ 52
snowbird42 @ 44
Totally predictable. I’m glad Leahy acknowledged the hypocrisy of all this “cooperation with Congress” bull. I really hope they’re making a list.
mandrake @ 57
it was totally predictable, and it’s actually a good thing if he uses it to press the issue and bring up hearings of misconduct
Catching up on the comments . . .
RevDeb’s right: go read Gilliard.
Waccamaw @ 16: one does not fix a Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate - there’s absolutely nothing broken to fix. You prepare it, you savor it, you lick the cup clean, and then you gaze longingly at the cupboard wondering how long you can hold out before you need another dose. Before she passed away, I used to send my grandmother in Nebraska a case of it each fall to get her through the winter. She lived to be 97. (Your milage may vary.)
Well I was goina say before hitting the comment button first :-( - —that I agree with the above. But also I see a problem, seems as if one of the plans afoot is to have Israel bomb Iran first, then we would have to go in to help out our ally. So, that scenario wouldn’t change the situation in any way because we will need to hold to current treaties.
By the way, at some point I could use a tutorial on getting the “edit this comment” button to work for me!
Waccamaw @ 53
Yep. He looks like one. And, yes, no offense to the honorable Redd-heads intended!
Christy @ 55 -
Spot on! Quantity of people that age & coloration in Congress have to be in very short supply. But, but, but………Howdy Doody was a good guy! On the other hand, he was on strings.
Fly-by in busy life:
Thanks for your always solid posting, Christy.
History will record these years as America’s Dark Age. How long it will last is in our hands. Democrats are not a monolith. There are leaders among them. I think Edwards is one. I think there could be leaders among the Republicans as well. But the courage Wesley Autrey exhibited is what the times call for. Not poll analyses, not waiting for primary season, not testing fingers in the wind.
Acting. Decisively. With courage now.
Because it’s the right thing to do. And we all need to be about action, not talk now. Join fledgling campaigns. Write LTEs. Talk to your friends and family and neighbors.
The sooner we become the change we want, the sooner the BushCo barbarian horde can be pushed back in the dustbin of history where it belongs.
If you want some fine religious symbolism, to counter the mess described in the WaPo piece Christy linked to, try this from the Post’s Reliable Sources:
Just “no comment” or was he stunned into silence? One can only hope to see more of that!
Christy,
It could be that judges’ salaries need to be increased to approximate the private sector, but I can’t support it until working people get a raise, too. The divergence of economic fortunes in this country is my second biggest concern, right behind the shredded constitution.
Back OT, Bush will, by fair means and foul, try to keep this war going into the next Administration. He will try to hang it around Democratic necks in the interim, and we’d be fools to let him. Pelosi & Reid need to oppose him from the get. And if Hillary and Joe (and every other DINO) want to stick by their guns, all the better.
Peterr -
Sorry……”fix” may be a Southernism. Your granmere was a lucky woman. But dija have to add that bit about looking for another dose?…..I’m off to the kitchen.
Richmond,
All of your suggestions are necessary - I’m employing prayer b/c my neighbors can relate - doesn’t much matter what vehicle we use, but it is long past time to use it
I was not ranting or chastising anyone in my comment above - just can’t watch another Peace Takes Courage youtube of American Military funerals and do nothing
she takes out another crudely fashioned analogy . . .
There is a bloodbath coming, thousands of Americans could die violently, needlessly -
Keith’s Special Comment is my August 6th PDB - now, will I ignore it or mobilize everything at hand to prevent it ?
diogenes at 65 — The problem with that is that in order to maintain any level of diversity within the judiciary, the judicial salaries have to be competitive. Otherwise, you end up only with folks who are already independently wealthy — trust fund folks, heavily corporate attorneys, etc. — donning robes, because folks who come from a poorer background, who don’t have family money to depend on, who have toiled in public interest sectors or who have been prosecutors or criminal defense counsel, as a few examples, don’t have the financial resources to take the jobs. A judge should not have to choose between caring for his or her family and the federal bench. And the nation should not have judges who only come from high-level economic circumstances as their only means of lifetime appointments.
It’s the same problem that you run into in any profession where there are public implications: Congressional staffers, journalism interns, etc. — you lose the perspective from all walks of life if you depend on family money as a subsidy for entrance.
Peterr @ 6:51 -
Thank you for the piece re. Keith Ellison; someone with this many “smarts” is gonna be fun to watch!
Peterr at 64 — Oh man — that is brilliant. hehehehehe
Brilliant Mr Ellison!
Looks like President Bush will be having some sort of discussion on Iraq and Congress at 10:25 am ET today, according to MSNBC. Anyone know if its a presser of some sort? (And, if so, isn’t that odd on the morning of Gerald Ford’s interrment?)
Richmond @
60
Which browser are you using? It is my understanding that the “edit this comment” does not work when using Internet Explorer, but does work when using Firefox.
And now let me make an off topic request: does anyone have a link to a video and/or transcript of Tom Brokaw’s eulogy that he delivered yesterday, please?
it’s the surge news flash
Waccamaw @ 66
Fix (southern translation): (1) to prepare something; (2) to prepare to do something
Ex. “I’m fixin’ to go to the kitchen.”
Translation: I’m off to the kitchen.
Ex. “I’m fixin’ some hot chocolate.”
Translation: I’m making some hot chocolate.”
:)
cbl- I didn’t take your thoughtful comment (and efforts) as a rant. To the contrary, I really praise what you are doing. I just wonder about how on other levels things can be undertaken as well.
I also don’t want Christy to get upset, suggesting that I want HER to do this and that above and beyond X 10 of what she is already doing.
However, my fear is that with the Dems victory, we may be cooling things with respect to them, when in truth, what they may need is a real popular outpouring on this - in whatever form.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 72
And C-Span1 is running the thug leaders “laying out *their* agenda for this session of Congress” sometime shortly after that.
Christy Hardin Smith @
68
Of course, if higher education were affordable to poor students, $212,000 would look pretty good to them.
In the near term, your point is taken. In the long run…
Excellent post - you’ve been really cooking of late.
New Year Resolution, or Bush just pissing you off that much? ;)
Here is something that just came to my attention, posted very recently on ThinkProgress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/.....-decision/
Christy Hardin Smith @
72
CNN said he would be expanding on his WSJ scribblings
In one article, Iraq is ‘reporting’ that there were ‘more’ than 12k civilian deaths in 2006. A second article states 16273. I think both numbers are extremely low considering there were at least three months where there were 3k deaths each month. However, ‘we’ will never know the true number.
http://abcnews.go.com/Internat.....id=2765883
http://abcnews.go.com/Internat.....id=2764204
I have the uneasy feeling that ’sacrifice’ and ‘gays are acceptable in the military’ are trial balloons, or a way to soften the blow of re-instating the draft.
Ah the old full circle. In the beginning General Shinseki counseled for several hundred thousand troops but the Bush politicians and strategists vetoed him.
3 years, 3,000 US dead and half a trillion dollars later General Casey is counseling for fewer troops and Bush is overriding that advice.
At least Generals Fred Kagen and Bill Kristol support the escalation.
-GSD
Christy — incoming.
Feedback on status of request re: Levin.
;-)
OT — I think most of Grand Rapids and greater Kent County turned out today to pay their respects to their homeboy, Gerald Ford.
Stephen Parrish @ 7:11 -
Guess the quote from admin official admitting “this surge option is more of a political decision than a military one” will be the first AND last time we hear that from the MSM.
Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 79
Keith Olbermann included Miklaszewski’s comment last evening… I hope Mik develops it into a report rather than just that quick (but believable) aside.
Hope he starts with which “administration official” made the observation/statement.
CNN - 2 minute warning until chimpy speech
chimp is live
I can find at least a few good things in presidential administrations I abhor. Nixon and China for instance. Reagan’s sunny and optimistic nature. But this administration for my money has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Maybe I’m wrong on this.
Chimpy in rose garden - welcomes the new congress. looking forward to working w/ them. have important things to do. time to set aside politics and focus on the future…
Christy asks “Who are we now?”
We are who we always have been, despite the leadership at the top. The US is more than its president, thank goodness. It’s more than its CEOs, more than its general and admirals, more than its blue-bloods. We are the People. We HAVE representatives, senators, presidents and governors, but we ARE the people.
“We the People of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect Union . . .“
We may not be perfect - and GWB and his enablers in the House and Senate are certainly showing that to the world - but we can and must push to be more perfect than we have been.
Jefferson & Co measured their “perfection” against George III, which was not a terribly high standard. Sadly, we’ve got George LXIII as our benchmark - and there’s nowhere to go from there but up.
Given what we’ve been through for the last six years, a daily reminder of the job they’ve been elected to do seems to be in order. I’d love to see Nancy Pelosi open each session of the House by reading the Preamble of the Constitution.
Chimpy in rose garden - hope reps and dems can find common ground. gotta make sure we spend the peeps money more wisley
(should have done this shit 6 years ago asshole)
5 year budget proposal to balance budget by 2012
He said “spending restraint” — HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA — oh man. Coming out of his mouth with his cabinet standing behind him and on the backs of the GOP Congress that were earmark kings and queens, that is some seriously funny stuff this morning.
Oh…wait…
Chimpy in rose garden - budget all about guns and war
-entitlement programs - need to be reformed
-reform soc. sec, medicare, medicaid
-reform earmark process
-people want to end the secretive process of earmarks
Chimpy in rose garden - house reps passed strong earmark legislation
-earmarks, earmarks, earmarks
This piece of feces is now concerned about all of these procedural matters……Six years into the game.
No shame, this man has no shame.
Also, Georgie the Selfish wants to step on the Democrats by preempting their day of recognition.
-GSD
“Congress needs to . . .
“Congress needs to . . .
“Congress needs to . . .”
Whatever happened to the Deciderer?
Chimpy in rose garden - i call on congress to give the president the line item veto.
thank you for your time.
(now i will leave as fast as possible amid questions about the saddam execution)
Entitlement programs? Fredo, you are giving your wife shit for buying brand name toilet paper when you just went out and bought a fucking Hummer you asshole.
Who are we? A very few very wealthy people, and a huge lot of folks in terrible debt who struggle just to make it from month to month.
CNN “from the president - nothing new”
From Bush’s op-ed: “I believe government closest to the people is more responsive and accountable.”
I’ll bet he wrote that line. It certainly fits with his style of governing. He’s as distant as you can get from the people, and the least responsive and accountable.