
(He's in there somewhere…)
Dear Preznint Potemkin,
How's that brilliant Veto plan working out for ya, Sparky?
May 5, 2007 – It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir. The last president to be this unpopular was Jimmy Carter who also scored a 28 percent approval in 1979. This remarkably low rating seems to be casting a dark shadow over the GOP’s chances for victory in ’08.
Actually, if things continue to go like they are, I think that dark shadow might stretch out for three or four generations.
Honestly, I thought the little weasel broke 30% some time last year, but it looks like now even some of the dead-enders are either peeling off or keeling over dead because they can't get their medications anymore (Thanks, new Medicare Drug Plan!).
But how low, exactly, is 28 percent?
Let's crunch some numbers, shall we, kids?
It's three points ahead of Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson, bedmate of little boys and world-class screwball. One in four Americans — 25 percent — told Gallup polltakers last June they were still Jackson fans after the onetime King of Pop was found not guilty of child molesting.
It's a point below wife-murderers. Less popular than former football star O.J. Simpson was after his arrest and trial for murdering his estranged wife and her companion. Three in 10 — 29 percent — of all Americans had a favorable view of Simpson in an October, 1995 Gallup poll.
Much less popular than former Vice President Spiro Agnew in his final days in office. Forty-five percent approved of the job that Agnew was doing as President Richard Nixon's veep in a Gallup Poll conducted in August 1973, little more than a month before Agnew resigned and pleaded no contest to a criminal tax evasion charge arising from a bribery investigation.
Far less popular than former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey days after he announced in August 2004 that he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a man and would resign. His job approval rating bumped from 43 to 45 percent.
But perhaps most tellingly:
Only four little points above Richard Nixon at his resignation. President Richard Nixon's approval rating fell as the Watergate scandal became public in the first half of 1973, and was at about 25 percent during 1974.
Eight points lower than Big Dog's lowest. Bill Clinton’s lowest rating during his presidency was 36 percent.
Five points behind Al Gore. Despite a spate of publicity around his involvement in the Academy Award-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," only a third (33 percent) of registered voters want to see him run again.
Mmmm. Crunchy numbers. Delicious!
And as for old Lame Duck up there, I believe this poll bears out Mr. Atrios when he says, "He's stupid and he's ugly and nobody likes him."
Can we please just impeach him now? It won't take long, I swear. Just a bit of commotion in the wings, a snapping sound, a muffled squawk from offstage, and after that we're golden.
Related posts:
- Laura Ingraham on “This Week”: Dick Cheney “Cuts Through” on Afghanistan Because “His Numbers Are Going Up”
- Teabaggers Attack, Obama’s Poll Numbers Climb
- Exclusive: New Poll Shows Clear Majorities Distrust Big Corporations, Favor Unions
- New Gallup Poll Finds Republican Party Less Popular Than Russia, China, Venezuela
- Late Night: Darwin Bio Too Controversial a Film for US, Say Distributors





Spotlight







Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search

ZeD☼
Hello TRex, Feliz Cinco de Mayo dear theropod!
Right back atcha, hon!
I’m around, just ironing some things to wear to church in the morning. I’ll be in and out.
TRex — howdy!
“He’s stupid and he’s ugly and nobody likes him.”
Smells bad too.
Great photo/caption.
Hola King of Dinos y Late Nite, Feliz Cinco de Mayo.
Evening, TRex. Nice to see you on a fine Saturday night.
Good evening, Suzanne. I just couldn’t let our Dear Leader’s latest slide in the polls go unremarked.
How long until shrub’s numbers are in the teens?
President Pelosi 2007!
I’ve been invited to the gay congregation, so I’m actually going to church on a Sunday morning for the first time since Easter.
Listening to the new Jane Monheit album.
Her voice continues to send chills up my spine.
Hope to watch Bush go even lower!
Leg @ 10
Our campaign slogan:
“Why Wait?”
TRex! This one goes out to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynRGHQ5xeYc
I think I speak for all of us when I say I’d love to know how a big, floppy, Sunday go to meetin’ hat goes with greenish scales and five inch incisors. Not to mention how the tail and tiny forelegs fit into a nice flowery spring frock.
Pictures, please.
And, despite this, the repubs are (by & large) still supporting him and this horrific war. I don’t get it.
They must have pictures. Or video.
TRex @ 11
In my case, it would be the first time since the paleolithc.
wow, I didn’t really think he could go much lower. this prez always surprises me with his stupid
UptownNYChick @ 19
So, when do you think we start bombing Iran?
Realistically, in percentages, what is the chance of having a president Pelosi?
no offense meant, but the charges now are EGREGIOUS…
why no movement when the charges for the Sox (Clintons’ cat) fan club were not egregious and cost people their jobs????
Am I misreading, or are a lot of these links from articles published in 2006?
No, no, no, NO!
Let’s let the little pocket Hitler twist in the wind fer a while. If memory serves, when they hung ya back in Merrie Olde England down at Tynesdale they’d just leave yer corpus swinging until the natural process of decay rendered, hah… good word there, ya into yer component parts.
Legbone…
Ribs…
Skull…
and more bones….
That’s what we want. The enduring process of oversight, indictment, conviction of every damn last scumbag piece of human waste inhabiting the Republican Party.
And George is just the perfect President for that.
Instead of compromising, negotiating, or even spinning and lying this little fucktard of a spoiled child is gonna just stamp his foot and say, ‘I won’t….Can’t make me…Nuh…uh!’
Sweet.
With any luck and a little help from us DFH here in Left Blogistan we can make the words Republican Party so dirty and foul that moms all over our great nation will be washing their kids mouths out with soap should they be uttered.
Long live the King!
Death to his ministers!
Long live King George!
And this process doesn’t have to stop in 2008.
Suzanne @ 9
When he gets sent to prison – 15 years !
TRex @ 11
Pray, brother, pray.
An on topic message from Los Lobos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tao8rbrnfbc
Lovely poll, isn’t it, TRex? ;-)
Well, at least the Egyptian Physician digs Chimpy. Al Qaeda # 2, the real # 2, Ayman Zawahiri says he hopes the US sticks around in Iraq for 200 or 300 thousand dead.
What was it Deadeye Dick Cheney used to say about Democrats “confirming” Al Qaeda’s strategy?
-GSD
Mas y mas de Carlos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpX97eg-W-k
We’ll know the tide is turning when republican’ts start leaving the party (like Jim Jeffords had the courage to do in 2001) and declaring themselves independents or democrats.
Could I take a moment to brag about my daughters?
In the meantime, Rudy’s out sayin that our Clusterfuck is among the greatest presidents in history….
Stupidity has no limits.
Loo Hoo @ 32
Please do.
Loo Hoo @ 32
Of course.
Wow, he’s less than ten percent above the Malevolent One himself, Dick Cheney.
And I thought Bill Clinton had a higher low point than that (43%). Or was that his approval rating when he left office?
28%??? What kind of Luckery is this? Someone has their finger on the scale.
Next stop- 25 percent
And a little something on topic for this post:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4kTnP5VJ1k
DrDick @ 39
Let me immodest for a moment and wave my Maple Leaf … Neil’s a Canuck !!!
Wow, you guys are the best. 40 comments and no one quoted a comment with a nested comment nor did anyone quote a comment that had a link embedded in it!
I think I’m going to rename the Decidernator, the Pusher Man, since he keeps trying to shove his idiocy down the throats of America. On that note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2JrnF-7PNw
Rudy swears that the World Trade Center won’t suffer a third attack on his watch!
Johnny McCain said he’ll go to the gates of hell to get Bin Laden. Word is he asked Cheney for directions.
-GSD
Petro (head banging on keyboard like that Watertiger icon)
GSD @ 43
Hell, if he knocks on the door, Cheney might even let him in.
No WAY the chimp is at 28%. Even in my red town/red state, people have finally removed their W bumper stickers. I don’t think he could get elected dog catcher here now.
Suzanne @ 41
They heard about that taser of yours … *g*
Loo Hoo @ 31
Of course please do!
Suzanne @ 41
We are getting better at this, eh?
Suzanne @ 41
We don’t want to feel your wrath!!!
Okay, TB, My 20 year old daughter is celebrating (with family and me) her boyfriend’s graduation from the fire academy. Once he gets a job, he will be trained for Perimedic .
My 18 year old just got her first job at a Vetrinary Hospital. She wants to be a vet so this is perfect! 42 hours a week, and she assures me she won’t have problems in school. Oh well, school ends next week.
Don’t put too much hope on the idea that Bush will destroy the Republican party for some long period of time. The Goldwater debacle of 1964 was supposed to have put the right-wing out of its mysery permanently, and other great defeats have also turned out to be surprisingly temporary. The public has almost no memory, which is a good part of the reason why nations don’t seem to learn much from experience.
DrDick @ 44
So damn funny!
TB – yes, Late Nite is getting better and better. Of course, Petro had to quote a comment with a link in the comment just above my praising ya’ll.
CT wants me to cuff him and Petro is hoping for the taser.
kevoy11 @ w46
What state do you live in?
Loo Hoo @ 51
Sounds wonderful! Congrats.
Woohoo, LooHoo!
TRex @ 8
Still waiting for that Broder bounce are you? ;-)
This also seems appropriate (he’s one of yours Texas Betsy):
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=buddy miller&search=Search
Suzanne @ 54
You Betcha, Ma’am!!! Oops, my wife is peering over my shoulder, Nite!!!
In light of Bubble Boys recent plummet in the polls. It is time to dust off this gem.
Watch for falling Commander Guy.
-GSD
Loo Hoo @55
Missouri . . grumble, mumble . . .
Suzanne @ 44
Yes dear? (covering nose with both hands)
kevoy11 @ 62
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with Missouri. Both of my folks were from Missouri. Where abouts?
GSD @ 61
I could play that for hours.
Petro — you don’t expect Suzanne to punch you in the nose, do you?
ccmask @ 65
I have. Beats grading exams.
Texas Betsy @ 56
Right on!, my eldest Daughter graduates next weekend, with a double Major; Psych & Bus.!!!
kevoy11 @ 62
Oy! Who are your elected people, and is there hope?
Texas Betsy @ 66
I aim a wee bit lower nowadays.
Congrats CT!
Loo Hoo & CTuttle -
Sounds like you done good. Still my proudest accomplishment (and a lot harder than the Ph. D.).
Suzanne @ 70
Gasp, Not There!!!
DrDick @ 64
I actually love Missouri, but it’s just too red. I’m in the NW area.
Cool, CTuttle! What will she be doing? Does she know yet?
Well I am yawning. May try to turn in. Many plans for tomorrow.
And just so you know exactly how low down the Chimpador is, there is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orN6y7hUx6o
Suzanne @ 54
OHHH, so that’s what a link is … (ducks under the desk)
Just so everyone’s clear … I’m Petrocelli, there’s another commenter at FDL who uses the moniker “Petro”.
Chimpy is losing points with some of the winger base because Condi Rice is talking to dictator types…Not to mention North Korea still hasn’t shut down their nuke plant after all kinds of negotiations and inducements.
Chimpy’s supposed to bomb and ask no questions. They think he’s going wobbly on them.
-GSD
Good going loohoo & tuttle.
Suzanne @ 70
Well, I’m standing on my head, so she will hit my nose. *g*
kevoy11 @ 74
Can’t say I know that part of the state. My mom was from around Bolivar and my dad was from St. Louis. I know what you mean about the Red State blues. I grew up in Oklahoma and now live in Montana. Got out of Okie land just ahead of the Republican coup and we finally pretty much threw the Repugs out of office here in Montana in the last election.
You are right, Petrocelli, my bad for shorting your moniker to one that is already in use.
GSD @ 61
Ha! Never saw it before, GSD!
Suzanne @ 83
Speaking of which, MY Cass was surprised to see another Cassandra here earlier.
ccmask @ 64
omfg!
DrDick @ 72
Thanks, DD & TB, I still have two more to go; another daughter(15 going on 25), and my son(12yrs), Hmmm, work in progress!!! *g*
Hi Folks! I just saw Spiderman 3. What a MESS!
I really liked 1 and 2, but this was just a waste of time. Next time please spend more time and money on the script than on the merchandising. Good writing is like, you know, important.
Want to see a better, funny movie? Go see Hot Fuzz, by the makers of Shaun of the Dead.
First half is like a funny English murder mystery last half a spoof on action buddy pics.
And if you want to see a great serious movie?
Das Leben der Anderen
Loo Hoo @69
Congrats to you and your girls!
There may be some hope in our area. Popular former K.C. mayor Kay Barnes will probably take on Sam Graves for House Rep. Sam’s brother Todd is involved in the US attorney scandal.
I’m crossing my fingers that we can dump Graves – he’s a complete toady for the thugs.
rwcole @ 33
It’s funny actually. I hope the republics keep singing that song, they’re too stupid to see the titanic is going down.
talk to the hand
Suzanne @ 83
For a second, I thought he was in trouble … *g*
Yesterday, someone mentioned Rove in Punta Gorda yesterday….Time for GOP to be bold, blah…blah…blah…
More than 900 miles stretch between the White House and Punta Gorda, but the distance between the two points must have felt like light years for Karl Rove.
The Republican strategist referred to by detractors as President Bush’s brain spoke Saturday before several hundred GOP supporters at Benedetto’s Steakhouse and Martini Bar at the Charlotte County Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, his party talking points on cutting taxes and holding the line in Iraq punctuated by bursts of applause.
“We just marked the 100th day of the Democratic Congress. It feels like 100 years, doesn’t it?” Rove said, drawing laughs from the room.
Loo Hoo @ 75
She’s talking about GrabAss, but she’s going to Prague over the summer for an exchange program, in which I am thrilled, Europe is such an experience!!!
Texas Betsy @ 13
Spoken like a true Texan ……
fahrender @ 95
How deep can you go….
Evening Trex,
The Bush veto is the gift that the Dems have been given by his adminstration. The longer he stalls the longer it will remain in the collective memory of the electorate . Way to go there doofus. dank you dank you dank you.
I dedicate this one to Dubya, the sorriest SOB in America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLvDjT6ZJNo
“Now is the time to be bold,” Rove said. “It’s easy when the wind’s at your back. But the real test is now when the wind’s in our face. That’s when we find out if we’re tough enough, inspired enough, committed enough to do our duty.”
Brave Sir Rove…….Boldly throwing hapless underlings under the bus since 2000.
-GSD
DrDick @ 82
Oh, my, Oklahoma. Now that’s red.
Glad you got Montana straigtened out.
My husband says I gotta go to bed. Night, all.
Rove also urged anyone who has the time to read a book titled “Messages to the World,” which he said is easily obtained through online book dealers.
The book is a collection of various writings by terror chieftain Osama bin Laden. Although Osama’s image in America is that of a primitive religious fanatic, Rove noted that “Messages to the World” offers a bloodthirsty but coherent four-point plan for world Islamic domination:
“The troops do not need Democrats to offer pork at home and defeat abroad … the troops do not need General Pelosi (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) to try micromanaging the war from Capitol Hill,” Rove said.
SUN HERALD ROVE PUFF PIECE
I think I can second the sentiment in this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE2uEl_aB9E
kevoy11 @ 100
Night. Sleep well.
g’nite, kevoy11. sleep well.
Note to all Republicans. Please keep listening to Karl Rove, he’s taken your party from a majority in congress and statehouses to merely hanging on to the presidency by a thread.
Please be MORE bold. Please.
-GSD
Suzanne @ 41
Y’know, considering how much pain it causes the mods, it seems like it would be a pretty minor effort to adjust the format so that blockquotes aren’t indented as far. It looks to me like things would still read well and look nice if the outer edges of the quote box were aligned with the margins of the surrounding text, which would make the indent 20-25% of what it is now. That should mean we could have four to five times as many quote levels without busting the margins, unless I’m misunderstanding the problem.
Linda @ 97
Innit. He “supported the troops” by saying no to their money.
ccmask @ 101
Rove uses Bin Laden’s words as motivation?
Shouldn’t we be using more advanced and powerful sources of inspiration like … oh I don’t know … The Constitution, The Geneva Convention, The Golden Rule … oh right … those do not tie in with the neocon plans.
Dear Republicans-
“This fixation you have for little weasels is an illness” (R. Giuliani)
Love,
T. Rex, Esq.
This goes out to Karl Rove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1B4Q0hugV8
TRex @ 109
What do you have against weasels? By comparison to Rudy, they are kind of cute.
Rover pushing the Bin Laden writings would be like Clinton pushing the Unabombers’ manifesto or Nixon urging people to read what Charles Manson wrote.
If there is a sign of how morally degenerate Karl Rove is, this is it.
-GSD
TRex @ 109
This fixation is a classic case of projection about the size of their own little weasels.
OT
Soldier loses custody of her child because of deployment to Iraq.
http://www.rawstory.com/showar…..nts_at_war
TRex @ 109
TRex ((LOL))
GSD @ 105
Yes, yes! And please keep pursuing a “permanent Republican majority” strategy that results in you not gaining any contested seats in Congress or governor’s races in an election for the first time in living memory, will soon put you completely out of power, and is putting many of you in jail!
Really, as your Leader has said about Iraq and many other matters, the only flaw in the plan is failing to push it hard enough!
Suzanne @ 113
Actually, I think those are hamsters.
Why is Al Gore’s rating only in the 30’s? I just saw him today at the AIA convention in San Antonio. He was incredible. He has been working on his timing, his delivery, everything. He is the real thing. (Not that some of the others aren’t) I had tears in my eyes most of the time.
Oh, also, Bush is now much less popular than gay marriage!
CTuttle @ 94
YES! My 20 year old went to Spain on study-abroad last summer. Such a great experience for her! Who was it who wrote in the NYT last summer that study-abroad was what was missing in American kids education?
Redshift @ 119
Hey, TRex, there’s hope for you yet!
Okay. I had to dig for this article but I knew there had to be protesters to face Rove.
snip
PUNTA GORDA — They carried their beliefs above their heads and propped against their shoulders.
“Where’s the money for Charlotte, Karl?” “Rove, you are the environmental problem” “If we kill the innocent we become the enemy” .
busting balls….
“He’s here to try to get Mahoney out of here,” said Karen Bennett, a Punta Gorda resident. “I think he wants to get his district back.”
Gnome de Plume @ 118
He has done a few talks up in Toronto and is greeted like a rock star. Scalpers were getting 10X the original ticket price. He is such a contrast to the ‘commander guy’ … you patriots have to do something about electoral fraud and ditch diebold.
kevoy11 @ 100
Say What????
tbsa@114, I personally witnessed a similar travesty during GWI, under Pappy’s watch! Junior’s watch sucks!!! Out of Iraq, NOW!!!
You know, I totally missed an opportunity here to send you all out scouring the web for things that are verifiably more popular than George W. Bush. A scavenger hunt.
Maybe tomorrow night.
I just love that Mahoney line.
Gnome de Plume @ 118
My guess would be is that most of those polled haven’t seen him and are only working off memories of 2000. I saw his MLK Day speech last year and he was awesome there as well.
(Any truth to the rumors that he’s begun losing weight? That’s supposed to be the sign that he’s going to run.)
good-night. Thanks Trex.
Not his best song, but I like the sentiment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGz_xSSgjY0ccmask @ 129
Night, CCM
Loo Hoo @ 120
Hey Loo Hoo !
I have been telling every teen I meet to save their money and take a couple of summers touring Europe during their college years. Many of them, who I met many years later have told me it was the best advise they had gotten.
The gay marriage one is going to be hard to top, TRex. Just for the irony.
Greetings. I did celebrate the 5th of May. In any event-
Several commenters report on Karl the Coward’s trip to the Benedetto Steakhouse and Martini Bar. The Benedetto Steakhouse & Martini Bar?????? I understand that county R teamers were there….but????
This man flew almost a thousand miles to appear at a martini bar????? And, we’re NOT in election season. Something’s up with that. I don’t know what. I have no clue. But it strikes me as very odd that he would fly such a distance for a rather small forum. Color me confused.
Ghostman
I dedicate this one to the DLC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKiyoQwiYDc
hey Suzanne – I was in your neck of the woods today at Nestldown. Gave you a virtual wave.
TRex @ 126
Well, I lifted the idea from this half-remembered TPM post, so I can’t claim too much credit. It’s easier to find blog posts about things that Bush and especially Cheney are less popular than various things than it is to find the statistics directly.
And that’s a good thing. *g*
Suzanne @ 132
Agreed, still it’ll be fun to try.
Loo Hoo @ 120
So true! Our youth need to see different perspectives, travel enhances their stumuli!!! As a Parrot Head; “Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude…”!!!
Waving to Petrocelli – thanks for the heads up as I was bumbling around lost in the last thread. LOL!
Just doing a quick drive by to say hey firepups – sorry I missed the Leon Panetta discussion but probably just as well for his sake = known him too long and too well lo these many years when he was our congresscritter. Locally loved by most. We could have done much worse I suppose. At this writing I’m thoroughly disgusted with him justifying his invitation to present Ragin’ Cajun Carville and Bill O’Reilly at his upcoming Panetta Institute.
Great post TRex as always.
That’s it for this old brat – sweet dreams to all you great late nite pups!
Diebold is another corporate handout, petrocelli, only much more dangerous.
Suzanne @ 70
So, you’ve finally mastered the Exploding Heart Technique from Kill Bill, vol. 2? Pei Mei would be proud.
Normally I think you’re brilliant TRex but tonight I can’t go with you. The one and only thing worse than President Bush is President Cheney.
Dennis Kucinich may be a bit of a dork but he is by no means stupid. There’s a reason he planned on introducing articles of impeachment against Darth Cheney first.
hey punaise – is that on the Saratoga side?
Suzanne @ 143
L.G. side – Old S.C. Hwy, east of Summit Rd., south of 17. beautiful setting!
Nate @ 142
Oh, yeah, it would definitely have to be a joint impeachment or “impeach Cheney first,” as the bumper sticker says. That’s a given.
This goes out to the GOP.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-EXBihFS4w
npb – first thing I scanned the Panetta thread for was your commentary.
Hi RedShift. Joint impeachment works for me…
Loo Hoo @ 140
With all the hearings and convictions, I hope this is not overlooked or there will be more fraud on election night.
I’ve come to the conclusion that this administration is like having a chronic illness. You feel awful, there’s little hope of getting better soon, it hurts, and it will last another year, at least.
Radical surgery is your only hope.
DrDick – thanks for the Lucinda Williams two-fer
And now for something different (but somehow appropriate):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jNWPUFNA2U
buenas noches, todos
Somehow that darned Rassmussen Poll continues to show Bush at the statistically incredible 40%…where he’s floated around for a year and a half! Almost 500 days of nary a statistical fillip that would be expected for that many repeated daily surveys. One would expect ONE or TWO odd days where the poll would jump 3 or 4 points in either direction, but it never does.
Any statistician would tell you that it’s gosh dern suspicious!
Redshift @ 145
Definately, a Twofer!!! President Pelosi, The adults are finally in charge!!!
G’night, Punaise. And a little more Lucinda to send you off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgVQVbwPgFo
I’m looking forward to the enjoyment I’ll get when Bush equals Olmert. Approval ratings lower than the polls margin of error.
Gnome de Plume @ 118
Al has two things that don’t help him:
1. The campaign he ran in 2000 (and how he didn’t push hard enough afterwards).
2. He has said that he’s not running in ‘08.
There is no doubt that he is on the side of the angels. I would vote for him.
but:
Americans are looking at who IS out there. They have no time for somebody who is (1.) being coy (2.) not interested, or (3.) waiting for a hue and cry (the begging for a savior).
Al Gore may be none of the above, but that is the uncertainty which is lurking in the back of my mind, and maybe in the minds of others.
Things could change. Things will change in fact, but how?
Americans may come around to the idea of Al Gore as President, sure, but if that’s going to happen. and it’s a very long shot even as I type, he’d better look at his timer and make a move.
Otherwise we’d all be a lot better off getting real instead of being hypothetical.
cinnamonape @ 154
Its the Rasputin Poll!!!
The candidate delivered a well-worn but impassioned defense of the policy, guaranteeing that “if we have to withdraw on a date-certain, there will be chaos, genocide and other nations in the region will be drawn in.”
Schmidt did not challenge this view, but one of his subordinates did.
Why discount the possibility that no one will win the war, the worker asked.
“Any rational observer would say that if the war’s lost, then someone won the war,” McCain responded. “Al-Qaida will win that war.”
Anyone ever tell McCain about a Pyrrhic Victory?
And it’s clear that our greatest enemy in Iraq isn’t Al Qaeda. We are enmeshed in a civil war…a wholescale sectarian conflict of reprisals upon reprisals.
And it is getting worse in the last few days as the US has started battling Sadr’s militia…and they are fighting back effectively.
Gnome de Plume @ 118
I’d be interested to find what words people would use if they were free-associating. Gore and what?
Sad to say, you’d probably have to show them a picture of him, explain who he was, etc.
fahrender @ 158
I bet he will announce when he picks up the Nobel Peace Prize. Many seasoned commentators say he can announce in early ‘08 and still trounce the field.
Run Al Run !
A little more Ray Wylie Hubbard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qt6mlRHsJ0
Ghostman @ 133
Two things:
1. Money
2. Rallying fuckwad’s “base”.
CTuttle @ 159
Who needs a War Czar when you have the Rasputin Poll! The Poll that never dies despite being poisoned and shot with the countervailing results of every other poll out there! It’s frozen in the Dneiper at 40%. And it gives Bush solace that he can continue to send ill-prepared and demoralized troops off to the front!
Well, I guess I’m in with Obama. Got a phone solicitation from his camp and thought “Oh, what the hell.” I still like Edwards. The Republicans just really have a big ol’ pile of nothin’.
fahrender @ 158
Actually he has never said any such thing fahrender. Sorry to correct you but he has said the same thing over and over again for a year. He currently has no plans as he’s working on a different type of campaign but he hasn’t ruled it out.
Never has he deviated from that line.
Dr. Dick, I just heard Snake Farm on KPIG about 15 ago.
And a little something else for all the Fire Pups, may you all live forever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeJ4kp1AwY4
fahrender @ 158
Far out! Fahrender!!! I don’t think so, P, and Gnome, I also question the approval #’s!!!
Suzanne @ 168
Well, at least you are listening to the right radio stations. Ray Wylie is awful hard to hear on the airwaves (but I own all of his Cds). Saw him live at Shuba’s in Chicago a few years ago. Really good show.
Rushton @ 166
That was proved by the photos of the Republican debate. There was the GOP in a nutshell, a bunch of old white guys. Fingers in the dike, trying to hold back the inevitable.
A little ditty about Dubya’s legacy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FikZwgj89HI
Anyone notice that John McCain, who recently blocked Indian cas*no expansion, seems to have no problem accepting camapign support from established cas*no operators in Vegas.
http://www.johnmccain.com/Info…..17d0286ee4
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/ar…../104200107
(MOD NOTE: *edited to allow through spam filter)
fahrender @ 158
Actually, he hasn’t. He’s said he has no plans to run, which is the same thing nearly everyone says who hasn’t declared yet. There was one AP report from Japan a while back that had him definitely not running, but they were paraphrasing and when you looked at the actual text, it was the same thing he’s been saying here.
Just because it’s an open election and a lot of candidates have started running a year earlier than ever before doesn’t mean that everyone is required to do that, especially someone who already has national name recognition. If we were into anything resembling a normal campaign season, I might agree with your point. And certainly, if he’s thinking of that, it’s a gamble, since there’s no telling exactly how things will work with this hyperextended campaign.
And as for the real and the hypothetical, as with many things here, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I’ll be putting out real effort for a candidate when they actually need it, as opposed to the current silly season. And I don’t see any reason not to hope for the candidate I’d really like in the meantime.
A friend of mine from El Salvador reminded me today that Bhusho government extends green-carders from there an additional 18 months residency if the Salvadoran president let’s him recruit there for men to fight in Iraq.
I wonder how many non-residence US army soldiers there actually are fighting there?
Petrocelli says
May 5th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
“I bet he will announce when he picks up the Nobel Peace Prize. Many seasoned commentators say he can announce in early ‘08 and still trounce the field.
Run Al Run !”
If this were 1968 and Al was more like Robert Kennedy I would be more inclined to agree. But it isn’t and he isn’t so, color me skeptical. Good luck, though, and I’ll stay tuned. If it happens, I’ll buy you a beer….
Rushton @ 166
Either/Or((snark)) Edwards/Obama Tix!!! A sweet one, two to the repugs!!! Sorry, watching Rocky VI!!!
CTuttle @ 178
If not Al, I like Edwards/Obama as well. Do you think Hillary will fall behind these two?
Nate says
May 5th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Actually he has never said any such thing fahrender. Sorry to correct you but he has said the same thing over and over again for a year. He currently has no plans as he’s working on a different type of campaign but he hasn’t ruled it out.
Never has he deviated from that line.
OK. If that’s your take, it puts him in the “coy” or “waiting for a hue and cry category…”
now those strategies have been known to work, but they are at odds with his present interests and status.
punaise @ 153
que tal, pu?
3 a.m. in Toronto …
G’nite all !!!
No need in y’all treatin’ me this away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy-SsV_eMC8
DrDick @ 98
Wow, that’s a great song, and I don’t particularly like country music (except for Steve Earl, the Dixie Chicks, and James MacMurtry-damn, maybe I like it better than I reckoned!!!).
cinnamonape @ 154
The comatose do not change their minds.
Rushton @ 183
Yeah, Chris Knight is a lot like Steve Earle.
*MOD NOTE: Please do not quote this comment again due to the embedded link*
Rushton @ 166
Yeah, the fact that I haven’t settled on a candidate is actually a positive. I like Edwards, but I like some of the others, too; we have a number of really good candidates.
28 percent is a far poorer record than the 37.7 percent won-lost ratio of the 2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the worst baseball team in the majors last year. In fact, it is even worse than the mere 29.3 percent “achieved” by the Boston Celtics in the NBA season just ended.
Thanks for the marvelous photo up top, TRex, and for calling Bush “Sparky.”
Redshift @ 186
I am rather the odd man out. I am definitely with Edwards as the only candidate who has consistently held to a progressive message on all the issues.
Petrocelli @ 179
If you crunch the numbers, Hill’s $10 Mil Loan, barely saved her frontrunner status!!! I don’t feel the love for her in circles over here!!! I don’t dislike her, well…!!!
CTuttle says (#170)
I’m skeptical of Gore having only 30% approval. i wonder what disapproval rating he might have. I wonder what AWARENESS level he has among Americans these days. We know who he is but what about the “average joe”?
Well folks, it is way past my bed time, so I am calling it a night. See ya later on the flip side.
An alternative to the talking heads this morning:
Ian Masters guests 5.06.07
IAN MASTERS Host
LOUIS VANDENBERG Producer
In Southern California Sunday, May 6, from11am – 1pm PT on KPFK
90.7fm, streaming at http://www.kpfk.org with archives at http://www.ianmasters.org .
FIRST HOUR:
Zbignew Brzezinski, formerly the National Security Advisor to
President Jimmy Carter, is a counselor and trustee at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies and a professor of American
foreign policy at the School of Advanced International Studies, the
Johns Hopkins University,Washington, D.C. His many books include The
Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership (2004) and The Grand
Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives (1997).
His latest is Second Chance: Three Presidents and the Crisis of
American Superpower.
Daniel Levy is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Policy
Initiative of the American Strategy Program at the New America
Foundation. He was the lead Israeli drafter of the Geneva Initiative
and directed policy planning and international efforts at the Geneva
Campaign Headquarters in Tel Aviv. He was a member of the Israeli
delegation to the Taba negotiations with the Palestinians in January
2001, and of the negotiating team for the “Oslo B” Agreement from May
to September 1995, under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. On the
Winograd Report.
Frank Bowman is the Floyd R. Gibson endowed chair of the University of
Missouri, Columbia, School of Law. Following his graduation from
Harvard Law School in 1979, Professor Bowman entered the
U.S. Department of Justice as part of the Honor Graduate Program. He
spent three years as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division in
Washington, D.C. He recently had an Op-Ed published in the New York
Times entitled, “He’s Impeachable, You Know,” referring not to George
W. Bush, but to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
SECOND HOUR:
Ray McGovern is a retired CIA officer turned political activist and
founder of VIPS: veteran intelligence officers for sanity. McGovern
was a CIA analyst under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years and
presented the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for
many years. He has recently become an outspoken critic of former CIA
Director George Tenat.
Robert Dallek is an eminent historian who specialises in American
Presidents. He is a Professor of History at Boston University and has
previously taught at Columbia University, UCLA and Oxford. He is the
author of many books including: Lone Star Rising: Lyndon Johnson and
His Times, 1908-1960, Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times,
1961-1973, Hail to the Chief: The Making and Unmaking of American
Presidents, Ronald Reagan: The Politics of Symbolism and John
F. Kennedy: An Unfinished Life, 1917-1963. His latest book, just
published, is Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power.
Time for me to head out also. G’nite all.
fahrender @ 191
I think the RW/MSM smear machine has indelibly tarnished his prospects! I would back him but, I wouldn’t dump another Running candidate’s campaign in mid-stream!!! Jus’sayin!!!
DrDick gots the med’sin tonite!
CTuttle @ 195
I doubt that 30% statistic. My sense is that it’ll be reasonably easy to get a democrat elected this time, so which one it is makes a big difference.
Redshift says (#174)
Just because it’s an open election and a lot of candidates have started running a year earlier than ever before doesn’t mean that everyone is required to do that, especially someone who already has national name recognition. If we were into anything resembling a Redshift says
May 5th, 2007 at 11:5
normal campaign season, I might agree with your point. And certainly, if he’s thinking of that, it’s a gamble, since there’s no telling exactly how things will work with this hyperextended campaign.
And as for the real and the hypothetical, as with many things here, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I’ll be putting out real effort for a candidate when they actually need it, as opposed to the current silly season. And I don’t see any reason not to hope for the candidate I’d really like in the meantime.
Early money is important, and so is building a campaign staff, and so is developing allies in the various states and with the national organizations. These things take time. Gore, Kerry, Howard Dean, all had problems in one or both areas.
The feeling right now seems to be, oh, the Republicans are so bad and in such disarray that anybody we put up will clean their clocks. This is not good. It may be true but it may also lead to some unpleasant surprises.
We are having a “silly season” but only because the Bush Administration is what it is and its child/monster, the Iraq War continues to metastasize. Al Gore’s avowed interest seems to have him completely absorbed and I respect him for that. The campaign-that-seems-to-have-already-started demands another focus and we have Hillary in one corner and John Edwards in another corner, Obama, in the middle? Perhaps it should be one of these three who prevails. They’ve committed themselves. They’re engaged. Warts and all we will know who they are or what they have allowed us to know and can make a good case, for or against them. Somebody else jumping in next January? Seem a bit cheesy…..
have a good night over there, everybody. i gotta go do some work now ….
Suzanne @ 41
Its still early in the thread. The Ziggurats come later, as people start responding to others.
Bob in HI
Y’all still awake?
Texas Betsy @ 201
OK. I will go back to sleep.
Texas Betsy @ 202
Hey. I’m still here, but getting ready to hit the sack myself. Sweet dreams!
Bob in HI
I believe it was last year that the US population was estimated to have passed 300 million, which means that 28% works out to eighty-four million people!
Eighty-four million Americans are monkeyfuck insane!*
TRex, I appreciate the number-crunching, which puts the figure of 28% into useful perspective. But even though that is abysmally low support on a relative historical scale, it shows that we still have far, far too many people on the side of sheer evil, breathtaking stupidity and plain mental incompetence. It is evidence of profound sickness that still plagues our political culture.
The excesses of the Bush/Cheney regime are simply too far beyond the pale, too much of a betrayal of American values and basic human decency, too irrational and too immoral for any level of support to be something that we can “live with”. It means that we are far away from having repaired the damage that has been inflicted on the body politic. We cannot look on this trapped, frightened and dying animal of brain-dead death-conservatism and leave it lying in the corner, out of mercy, over to its own fate. We have to go for the jugular and put the loathsome beast out of its misery.
We will have a healthy nation again when the support for Bush and the ideas he stands for are reduced to zero — and I’m not talking about something that is “effectively nothing”, the way they used to refer to 5% unemployment as “full employment”. I’m not talking about an approval rate of one tenth, one one-hundredth, or one one-thousandth of 1%. I’m talking about nothing flat. If there’s only one Bush supporter left in the entire United States, it will be one too many. Not even Laura, not even his dog, not even Dubya himself should support himself. We can’t settle for anything else.
*h/t to The Rude One for the expression “monkeyfuck insane”.
Good morning, pups. It’s MoDo and Frank Rich in the NYT today. Modo is writing about one of France’s presidential candidates instead of ours, and tells us it’s not just cocktail wienies they serve the press in France. Frank Rich feels that Condi Rice has an obligation to explain why we’re mired in Iraq.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
Coffee and tea are all ready, and help yourselves to waffles.
Marion — how’s the stitches? Posted reply to yours yesterday but you may have missed it. I’ve got a half mouth of stitches too from perio surgery last Thursday
Oh, retirin’, it’s no fun! I had my periodontist sawing away on Friday morning. I’ve got my doubts about the left side, which still swells up like a poisoned pup this morning. Sorry you’re going through this too!
On a MUCH brighter note, it’s finally raining here. I don’t know how long it will last, but any drop at all is a help.
Marion in Savannah @ 205
It’s the seis de Mayo and this firepup needs some menudo.
I’ll check back later
Sounds like yours was more extensive than mine. We only did one side, and only the uppers. We’re getting the other side in two weeks. The swelling is down, and I feel almost normal except it’s driving me crazy that I can’t fully brush that quadrant yet. Hope you’ll feel better tomorrow. Dr. Retirin’ recommends waffles — small bites chewed slowly, of course — and posting on FDL.
Marion — and, oh yeah! Love that nitrous!
Mornin’ all!
Retirin’, that sounds like a good prescription. That, and looking out at the lawn and trees and azaleas saying “THANK YOU” for the rain. Oh, and listening to 60s radio. Laura Nyro’s on now!
I have tried writing, now I’m posting: all this talk about benchmarks and whether Bush will do this or that: our guys are out there in the streets getting all bent out of shape–while the bloody Iraqi government is off for a 2 month vacation–”time is not important.” Won’t anyone say something? I’d say this is more important than thumbing a sophomoric nose at the Commander Guy.
27 slain in Baghdad car bombing
mornin’ pups
this is the part of the week where I have to play catch up -
did everyone see
Salt Lake Mayor Anderson takes Hannity’s lunch money
and
ThinkProgress’ um, report highlights the pervasiveness of the White House’s politicization efforts since 2001
Suzanne @ 9
To go with his IQ and his developmental age/degree of self-awareness.
Something’s bugging me.
When folks talk about a percentage of people who approve/disapprove,like/dislike someone or something,we’re talking about adults,yes?
America has about 300 million people. How many of those are kids,under 18? A third perhaps?(I honestly don’t know)
So,when we’re talking about the “last throes”of people who have lost their minds and think W is a genius of some sort,or that the GOP is healthy for the country,how many adult people are we REALLY talking about? You can’t count the under 18 crowd in this one,they don’t vote and don’t have much political power to change things.Plus I doubt they are answering all those polls.
Which brings me to something else.
When did kids start declaring political affiliations in elementary and middle school? At that age I was riding my bike after my homework was finished and other such things. Politics was something in the backround of my life,like my dad’s job. I was aware of it but didn’t know precisely what went on there.
In the last few years I’ve heard lots of people talking about being one party affiliation or the other since they were kids. Is this common and I am(once again,lol)a wierdo for not knowing about it?
Sunday Talking Head thread upstairs…
anangryoldbroad -
In the last few years I’ve heard lots of people talking about being one party affiliation or the other since they were kids. Is this common and I am(once again,lol)a wierdo for not knowing about it?
Not sure how it works in Dem households but just saw a rerun of a thug political get-together somewhere here in the south & a talking head (all head, no brains) asked, quite literally, babes in arms about what party they belonged to. One kid turned around to look at the parent who told her to say “republican”………which the kid promptly repeated (tho’ unable to even pronounce it clearly). Yeh, start ‘em young :-(.
Waccamaw,that’s messed up.
I guess I need to look up Census figures to see how many kids vs adults make up US population figures. If a less than a third of America approves of W,it’s not a bit off of 100 million,that’s ridiculous at this point.
BUMBLE-CLOT!
Does anyone have a pot going on when he will reach 25%?
Can we please just impeach him now?
Um, NO.
This has been another edition of “Why the FUCK would you want Cheney as President?”
Um, YES.
A criminal President should be impeached, and this one more than the usual criminal President. If Cheney actually got to officially wear the Crown he could be kept hemmed in and hog tied for the remaining few months (there wouldn’t be that many left by the time the trial was over). And, hey, they don’t call it the Cheney Adminidstration for nothing. He’s been running things ever since, at least, 2000. Impeaching fuckwad would just make it official and he could be held more directly responsibile for his evil mischief. Or maybe his heart would just go ahead and explode …..
and while i’m at it, we need to impeach another Republican President to reinforce just how criminal these people are. America needs this so that we, as a nation, can look at ourselves in the mirror again.
Here’s anoter stat for you. I read recently that Cheney’s approval rating was at 9%. You can assume that there are only 9% of people who approve of BOTH Bush and Cheney.