Because I couldn’t let Froomkin have the scariest headline of the day.
And speaking of The All-Seeing One, he offers his usual excellent roundup and skepticism on the President’s new “I totally want to get us out of Iraq” messaging strategy. In case you missed it:
President Bush, facing a growing Republican revolt against his Iraq policy, has rejected calls to change course but will launch a campaign emphasizing his intent to draw down U.S. forces next year and move toward a more limited mission if security conditions improve, senior officials said yesterday.
Well, that’s just fantastic. Dubya wants to pull us out of the misbegotten unwinnable war… just as soon as we start winning. Brilliant!
Can you imagine if everyone was like Dubya? Fire engines wouldn’t show up until the fire started burning itself out, SWAT teams wouldn’t show up until the bank robbers started releasing hostages… and Al Gore would recommend that we wait for the climate to start cooling before taking action on emissions.
But Karl Rove is backing up Bush’s illogic, saying that he doesn’t expect Iraq to be an issue in 2008, because, y’know, we’ll have started withdrawing by then. Riiiight. First of all, as Eugene Robinson says,
I don’t see how anyone can realistically expect Bush to change course at this late date. It wouldn’t be ‘resolute,’ in his understanding of the word, to acknowledge that he made a terrible mistake. What he can do instead is play for time and hope for some sort of deus ex machina that miraculously saves the day.
Second of all, even if we really are withdrawing by election time, I don’t see how that makes anyone magically forget almost six years of brutality and pointless hell. Perhaps the real plan is to ensure that the withdrawal is a complete disaster (Bushiness as usual should be sufficient to ensure that) and then blame the carnage on those wimpy Surrendercrats.
I did have one other thought, though. Maybe this really isn’t a transparent political ploy on Dubya’s part. Maybe he’s just one of those very bad gamblers who promises himself he’ll quit just as soon as he wins a hand:
In November 1992, Bush and Betts were in Santa Fe to host a dinner party, but they had just enough time for one set of doubles…. “There was only one problem—my side won the first set,” recalls Betts. “O.K., then we’re going two out of three,” Bush decreed. Bush’s side takes the next set. But Betts’s side is winning the third set when it starts to snow…. But Bush won’t let anybody quit. “He’s pissed. George runs his mouth constantly…. He’s making fun of your last shot, mocking you, needling you, goading you—he never shuts up!” They continued to play tennis through a driving snowstorm.
Remind you of anything? Well, except for the part about Dubya winning a set…
(Picture courtesy of LOL President – if you like I Can Has Cheezburger, you’ll love LOL President.)
Related posts:
- Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Brags That Bush DOJ Wasn’t Corrupt Enough For Him
- SCOTUS: Compare GOP Stall On Alito and CAP With Full Disclosure On Sotomayor and PRLDEF
- NYT Misses Full Story on Mitchell-Jessen
- Early Morning Swim: Steve Doocy, Glenn Beck, William Kristol Worst Persons in the World
- Late Night: Your Favorite World’s Greatest Deliberative Body Sucks, Because It’s Full of Senators
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
zunoed?
nearly a Dos?
congrats dakine!
Whee!
yellowdog jim @ 2
Kind of an apt picture, really…
dakine01 @ 1
and Thanks Eli!
(now i go to read your post.)
W’s Hmm
yellowdog jim @ 3
timing is everything…
Sociopaths HATE to lose–no matter what it costs.
He spoke today in Cleveland, and he was close to just truly delusional. He said that we have universal healthcare. I kid you not. I riffed off some of it, but I couldn’t stomach the whole thing. It’s full of free associations, a little bit of word salad, confabulations – scary, scary stuff. The President should just be put in a room, told that he won already, and the troops need to come home so he can have his victory parade. He’ll never know the difference if a pack of cub scouts marches down Pennsylvania Avenue.
I thought that the WH’s message has been “of course we want to leave and we’ll leave just as soon as we win” for a long time now…
dakine01 @ 1
zunoed?
okay, so you’re no longer answering the shoe phone, huh?
Scary scenario but the truth of his character—or lack thereof—rings out.
So a dem gets elected in 08 and immediately starts a marshall plan to rebuild Iraq and make amends. The world rejoices. The long nightmare is over.
Unless there is no 08 election and he keeps doubling down.
This man is such a flaming hemmorhoidal a hole as evidenced by this, which, beieve it or not is posted on Malkin’s Hot Air …
“The Washington Times sends along its account of how a 13-year-old girl was driven to tears today when her question to President Bush about immigration was met with initial derision by the shamnesty champion-in-chief:
A question for President Bush on immigration rose up like a ghost from the grave this afternoon in Ohio.
Only the questioner was a 13-year old blonde-headed girl, Jessica Hackerd, from Brecksville, Ohio, who immediately broke into tears after making her inquiry.
“Mr. President, I know immigration has been a big problem in the U.S. And what is your next step with the immigration bill?” Jessica asked Mr. Bush, during a question and answer period after a speech Mr. Bush gave to a Cleveland business group.
Mr. Bush’s sarcastic reply — a wry “yeah, thanks” — drew laughter from the crowd of 400. But the attention caused young Jessica, who characterized herself in an interview afterward as very shy, to immediately tear up.
“No, it’s a great question. No, I appreciate that,” Mr. Bush said, as he saw Jessica’s reaction.
…Mr. Bush went on to speak more than 1,100 words about the death of his proposed comprehensive immigration reform, which was a heavy blow when it fell apart last month. But Jessica, there with her parents and younger sister, continued to wipe tears from her eyes for several minutes, and midway through his answer, Mr. Bush again tried to encourage the distraught youngster without drawing too much attention to her.”
that’s great, Eli! LMAO …
O sure he will there the ones with the wooden guns.
Nequals1 @ 10
That is best idea I’ve heard yet. I think it would work. bush is too stupid to breathe.
I don’t expect Karl Rove to be an issue in 2008.
It isn’t about Bush being stupid or incompetent, although he is both. It is about his wanting the oil.
He doesn’t have the oil yet. The Iraqis are balking at giving it to the US and the Brits, even after we have bombed the hell out of them. Go figure!
And even If and When the Iraq puppet government hands over the oil, there has to be a permanent military presence to keep it. Therefore, the Green Zone “embassy” fortress, etc.
A bully never stops being a bully.
Blub @ 11
Well, he’s now modified that to “We’ll start leaving as soon as we start winning,” which is pretty much the exact same thing as “As the Iraqis stand up, we’ll stand down”…
Oh Monk – you just broke my heart.
Bush’s deus doesn’t live in a machina– he lives in Bush’s pocket and whispers in his ear—”YOU ARE SO GOOD- SO VERY BERRY GOOD”
So sad, I heard on Rachel Maddow’s show that nearly 600 troops have died since the “escalation”.
What does it take to get Congress, the people, anyone to say ENOUGH.
rwcole @ 23
Deus Earae?
driving by, and about 20-odd comments too late, but I just gotta say:
Eli!!
inmymind’seye @ 24
The threshold for Congress appears to be much, much higher than the threshold for the people.
Logic is not Mr. Bush and Rove’s strength. Lying is. For these two, being intentionally illogical and telling lies, are practically speaking, one and the same.
Hiya, LL!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 28
Well who do you think is on the other end of his earphone barney? No wait thats not good either
Anecdotally, he’s a moron.
In reality, he’s a fucking moron.
Not exactyl gonna make News at 11 with that shocker though.
I’m late weighing in today, so OT –
Jane, don’t go to Home Depot anymore, please! They’ve been on my personal boycott list ever since I read they contribute overwhelmingly to the Republican Party.
Lowe’s it is for me.
Right On, Eli! Another great post! Here’s a handy primer on the Dem bills for handling Iraq!
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe…..ar_to_halt
Eli @ 27
Then how do we make them get it? How do we remind the fuckers that they work for us?
Congress R Us – yes?
Jo Fish @ 31
You forgot “asshole”.
George Galloway said it best a war based on a “pack of lies”. I have not seen one person tell the truth about this war as well as Galloway has
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7883488
George Galloway’s website
http://www.georgegalloway.com/
Dean on Cheney gone wild: Let me tell you the fastest way to get him to comply. Cut off his salary. Cut off his salary for all of his staff. And the Congress has the power to do that.
“But Bush won’t let anybody quit. “He’s pissed. George runs his mouth constantly…. He’s making fun of your last shot, mocking you, needling you, goading you—he never shuts up!” They continued to play tennis through a driving snowstorm.”
Hmmm…the tennis story makes it clear he wasn’t drinking, but he sure seems to like snow.
The tennis analogy is quite telling
Nothin worse than a shitty player who refuses to quit- this was immortalized in “The Meaning of Life” by the knight who won’t quit fighting after havin both legs and arms sliced off…..”Come on ya coward- fight like a man- it’s only a flesh wound”.
Eli @ 21
hehe.. thanks. Sounds like the same to me, but, then again, I got a decent grade in 10th grade English :)
inmymind’seye @ 34
Hell, I thought we did that 8 months ago. For a bunch of high-powered smart government people, they sure are thick.
Mayfly @ 19
He wants to secure an oil deal while he has 120,000 “negotiators”
surrounding the Iraqi govt.
He also needs a commitment to keep Air bases and that Hideous embassy there..
What he does not realize is that IF some Iraqi leaders were dumb enough to make those deals. They would last about five seconds after our troops leave..
Their heads would be paraded around Baghdad
We may as well just leave NOW.. a bloodbath will ensue no matter when we leave
LS @ 37
I thought the trash talk sounded an awful lot like “Bring ‘em on”. Or “dead or alive”, for that matter.
Kathleen @ 36
He can buy and sell his staff’s salary, on his Haliburton earnings easily. His partial earnings. They’ve increased by the thousand fold since the war. He’s laughing all the way to the bank. The Dick.
I was going to say something pithy about Bush talking to himself being the Pres having the ongoing argument with that part of himself that is still Smeagol, and then I realized there probably never was a part of him that was ever Smeagol.
I heard on the news tonight that friends said of Doug Marlette that he was always laughing at the political goings-on, no matter how awful or illegal or just plain dumb they got. I catch myself being flippant when I should probably be serious, but I suppose it’s better to find the comedy behind the all-too tragic theatre we’re surrounded by.
Or as Elvis Costello once said: “Well, I used to be disgusted, but now I try to be amused…”
Sorry for the rant. But MAN it’s good to be here. FDL keeps me sane.
Bush talks a great fight- never seen him with his dukes up- no tellin whether or not he’s got a chin.
Powell tried to talk Bush out of war
Why do you think President Bush did not listen to Colin Powell?
TOL-The former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.
“I tried to avoid this war,” Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. “I took him through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers.”
Powell has become increasingly outspoken about the level of violence in Iraq, which he believes is in a state of civil war. “The civil war will ultimately be resolved by a test of arms,” he said. “It’s not going to be pretty to watch, but I don’t know any way to avoid it. It is happening now.”
The general and former joint chiefs of staff added: “Shiites will ultimately prevail because they are 60% of the population and their militias can be pretty violent. They will prevail also because they are determined not to be ruled again by the Sunnis”.
“The Sunnis are struggling for power and survival and it’s going to be resolved by a test of arms. It’s going to be very ugly.”
READ MORE
http://controlcongress.com/unc…..out-of-war
rwcole @ 45
I doubt that anyone who ever put their dukes up against Dubya ever got a good look at his chin – just his backside.
I’ve seen some photos of Clusterfuck delivering sucker punches on the rugby field…surprised he lived to be 21.
rwcole @ 38
He does kind of bear a resemblance.
Rick DeVille @ 44
Smeagol *found* the ring that corrupted him. Dubya was born with it.
Here’s one link on Home Depot political money. Googling picks up more.
Helen @ 22
I concur with that! Shrub is such a slimeball!!! His compassion is as shallow as his morals!!!
thanks Eli for helping to keep the focus on how dishonest and illegitimate the cheneyBu$hco regime has been and continues to be about their war against the people of Iraq.
BDS = bush derangement syndrome.
his constellation of symptoms has generated an industry of analyses.
this is another symptom to be examined to get more perspective on this dysfunction.
Paul Levy suggests he has “malignant egophrenia“. Levy is quite Jungian about it, but i found it useful.
Home depot has everythin ya need to build a tar paper shack.
Eli @ 49
At lest Smegale could lose the ring and never had a nation to lead for the dark lords to recover it.
(anyone else watching scooter libby on c-span 3? hearing from 2001 re. marc rich pardon. very odd to hear him speak after months of that silent half-smile…)
I think I have a new term for the 1600 Crew and the misery that they have inflicted on America.
“Malignant Euphoria”, being distressingly happy when the world is turning to shit around them.
If the foo shits…
Nequal1 – Have you picked up on (blogwhore alert) this story? I have a different angle than you, but the underlying story should interest you.
This president has had a life pocked with failure. By pulling out of Iraq Bush would be admitting that his presidentcy has failed. Staying in Iraq is also “his” failure. Either way Mr. Bush, its the end of the line. Your legacy will be one of ‘failure’. You will rank with Hoover and Chamberlain. Not Truman and Churchill.
The pardon me tapes, the early years.
I like what Trump said about the Bush Administration. He said they don’t know how to make a deal. He said the world is dying to make deals…The smarter thing for them to have done, and to do now, is back-off, and eventually the US can make a deal for oil. Their problem is that they want to “own” the Middle East. D***s
yellowdog jim @ 52
As you say, it is difficult to avoid ad hominem attacks, if for nothing else than trying to reason backwards from their actions, which can only be explained through some toxic combination of deceptiveness and absolute self-absorption.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 58
The problem is, failure looks like success to him.
LS @ 60
That’s nothin’. Have you seen what Iacocca has to say?
Nequals1 @ 10
Well, he should have used the nifty talk to himself earpiece (which someone else fed him and he spit out) that LS spoke of last thread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiwwetoX1U
This needs much wider attention.
Eli @ 64
I did!! That is such an awesome article!
dakine01 @ 8
ain’t that the truth.
it’s like, cosmic.
rosalind @ 56
I just turned it on. The irony of Dan Burton waxing Bitchy with Lewis Libby about pardons is priceless.
Loo Hoo. @ 64
Are you really sure the a real voice and not a loud echo of an inner dialog?
Eli @ 35
add obstructor of justice
Check out Sundance Channel. It has a really good program about 5 disasters waiting to happen…excellent.
GordonM @ 58
Thanks for the link! DemFromCT has written about it on the Flu Wiki. That free market is not so free. I think they will use the samples as bartering tools. I can’t imagine a scenario where they won’t deal – possibly for vaccine or other supplies.
Arghhhh…I want to watch the Libby thingy too!!! Waaaaaaaa…
lol preznit is fuckn lol
Helen @ 22
Hugs, Helen.
Eli @ 63
He is on the world stage in front of everyone. To withdraw now, or while he is office, is admitting failure. He won’t do it. If he is forced through congressional action then he has someone to blame. If the military decides this won’t succeed then he will blame them. He will never admit to his error. I think some this goes back with competition with his dad.
Loo Hoo. @ 65
He should be carefully isolated in a private room, and therapy (for him and for us) should commence immediately.
That video is something else – surreal.
Eli @ 63
wow
but I gotta agree, WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE?
Nequals1 @ 10
The clips I saw showed some pretty unhappy Mairkyns in the audience. Not sure who screened that crowd, but I betcha they are lookin fer work.
oh hell here we go again – bushco talking out of both sides of his simple mouth again… rove and cheeny
“The problem is, failure looks like success to him.” (Bush)
If this is true, and it certainly appears to be the case, then we have a very sick man operating out of the Oval Office.
AZ Matt @ 75
Failure isn’t failure *until* you admit it. That’s why he wants the next president to be the one to withdraw – that makes *them* the stoopit dummy loser instead of him.
TeddySanFran @ 79
I didn’t see it – I read the remarks on the WH site. Apparently he had one kiddo in tears – that’s not nice, Mr. President.
Eli @ 61
exactly.
like Mama used to say,
“Ad hominen is as ad hominen does.”
OT Tonight’s picture of typhoon Man-Yi.
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/FULLDISK/MTIR.JPG
Withdrawal: something GHWB should have done 61 years ago.
Apologies to the dirty fucking hippies (like me) who used that 40 years ago during Vietnam.
helen: it’s like bizarre-o world. henry waxman asked libby if the rich pardon was appropriate. he replied the constitution gives the president unfettered pardon powers, and far be it for him to second guess the founding fathers…
i hope they keep repeating this hearing. it is beyond irony.
(oh god. he just agreed rich was a “traitor” for dealing with iran. i think i’m gonna hurl…)
Jo Fish @ 86
Did you mean GHWB?
AZ Matt @ 76
What did the prez mean today when he said we are just beginning? How will they spin that? Beginning what – the end of us all, end of the “war”, just what did he mean? Can anyone tell me? I’m being serious. After all this time……
I’ve been watching Larry King (a first for me). Oh, Michael Moore was great when they let him talk. You should have heard him talking about how great our government used to be before bushco screwed it and us. And Gupta was forced to agree with the sense of what he was saying. In fact he was the one who brought it up. He said Moore couldn’t possibly, as much as Moore criticized the government, really want to turn our health care over to the GOVERNMENT! Moore said, “why not? my parents and grandparents receive their social security checks like clockwork.”
King asked Gupta if the sponsors of his segment ever influenced his editorial decisions. Gupta said No. MM chimed in that one of the editorial consultants was a Republican member of a think tank related to the insurance industry.
rosalind @ 87
Start quoting it and paralleling it with today’s Halliburton dealings with Iran!!
LS – yup. Fixed. Thanks. Me no type so good.
LS @ 73
LS can you go here? It’s being streamed right now
CSPAN3
The poll of polls, pollster.com has CommanderGuy breaking below 28% job approval. A new record! The downward slide coincides with his “immigration reform”, similar to a year ago. Mostly the loss comes from the “base”, who did return to Republicans before the election last November.
jayt @ 12
okay, so you’re no longer answering the shoe phone, huh?
I waited to answer until after…
there is something very…very…I don’t know what but I’m picturing a tennis racket whacking its way through thick, falling snow…
almost archetypically ….futile
Twain @ 89
He’s saying that the final troops needed for the surge operation just arrived two weeks ago, and that the actual surge operation is only now just beginning to go into effect.
I keep envisioning the clear, hold, and whatever,that has a bunch of our troops; 40% of which are “our” National Guard, camped out in tents in neighborhoods in Baghdad. So, tell me George, at what point can they leave? They are now stuck camped out, guarding neighborhoods to protect the people, I understand that, but when can they leave? Where are the Iraqis? Bangs head against keyboard……….Grrrrrrrrrrrr.
Elliott @ 78
I think everybody’s just sitting on their outrage, and waiting for some leadership. We need protests 5 times what the immigrants had on May 1, 2005. Here’s hoping something will be organized at YearlyKos if not before. THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
archetypically ….futile
There’s a nice turn of phrase!!!
Loo Hoo. @ 98
I’m way past outraged, I’m inraged.
RE: Bush in Cleveland -
TeddySanFran @ 78
I thought a high proportion of the audience resembled Fred Kagan (ie, so full of sh*t they could blow at any moment). Perhaps that was the criteria?
TeddySanFran @ 79
We didn’t want him here — they must have kidnapped everyone having lunch at the local rich guys skating club in Cleveland. Sheesh!
If Dubya had been generalling the confederacy- they would have lost most of their troops within a month- but they’d STILL BE FIGHTING.
Immigration rally 2006 I meant.
well goodness. scooty-poots has quite the command of the facts in this hearing. clear, consise. precise.
this is not a man who “forgets” easily…
rwcole @ 98
sysiphus lives!
excellent turn indeed.
LS @ 99
You should probably see a doctor for that…
Eli! Thanks for linking up to my piece at The Agonist …it was a treat to get to write for them!
Sadly, the “complete disaster” I described is what’s true today … George has already placed the troops in a position where they cannot get out without a large number of casualties.
Sisyphus with a tennis racket in the snow.
and ty rwcole.
ty Mabel
ty Mabel- tower you?
Siun @ 107
I think that it might be possible, especially with some kind of diplomatic smooth-talking along the lines of “You want us out, we want to get out – the easier you make it for us, the quicker we’ll be gone.”
But I sure as hell don’t see the Bushies doing that. I think it’s more likely that they would try to assassinate Sadr on their way out. And of course, the withdrawal plan will *assume* that the Iraqis will be cheerfully waving and throwing flowers and candy at us as we leave…
Eli @ 107
You know what? I love Dean. I wish he would jump back in and kick so butt.
Gore/Dean
Dean/Clark
I dunno.
I’d vote for that. I hope he yells louder than anybody. I’d play his “scream” at the top of my speaker’s capacity just to piss them all off!
Well the commander guy has beat Nixon in disapproval and lower than than anyone else (Grant and Jackson excluded they may tie for most corrupt), so is he going for most corrupt, and lest competent, most isolated government in American history?
The failure of Iraq already happened. When Bush decided to invade. That was the failure…everything since has been frosting. Bloody frosting.
And we’ll be the ones stuck with the cleanup as Bush whistles his way out of office.
He didn’t listen to Powell. He didn’t listen to the weapons inspectors. He didn’t listen to the generals. He didn’t listen to the CIA briefer in the Summer of 2001. Hell, he didn’t listen to Poppy.
So why should we believe he’ll listen to Petraeus or anybody sane now?
Eli @ 107
lol!
argosfalcon @ 114
It’s a hat trick plan !
Eli @ 107
You know what? I love Dean. I wish he would jump back in and kick so butt.
Gore/Dean
Dean/Clark
I dunno.
I’d vote for that. I hope he yells louder than anybody. I’d play his “scream” at the top of my speaker’s capacity just to piss them all off! LS @ 113
“kick some” butt…
Eli @ 111
Somehow I don’t think it will be flowers and candy that they will be throwing at us as we leave.
LS @ 112
I would be very happy with Gore/Dean. That would be one pugnacious ticket, which is exactly what we need.
Libby made more than $2,000,000 from Marc Rich
Why do we need a pugnacious ticket?
Prairie Sunshine says
So why should we believe he’ll listen to Petraeus or anybody sane now?
Petro was selected b/c he was an agreeable water carrier. Is he really saying anything offensive to the maladministration? I was in Canada and out of the loop.
rwcole pardon my confusion but what does ‘tower you?’ mean?
and siun i read eli’s link to the agonist.
my god. my god. my god.
what a mess.
i’m sure feelings for revenge are at a boiling point and will be so for decades
LS @ 118
I dont know if multiple retroactive butt kicks are covered in his health plan>
This comment is to let you know that you have been tagged with a Thinking Blogger Award.
Please check it out at this link:
http://suzieqq.wordpress.com/2…..-bloggers/
gore would blow my mind if he announced ‘I’m running and I want russ feingold as my running mate.”
rwcole @ 121
Because they’ll actually fight back against Swift Boaters and call lies lies?
Nequals1 @ 10
I was wondering if anyone else heard ths. I heard it on the radio in the car, and I swear I thought it was some AirAmerica host’s mix tape of him being deranged, but then I looked and the XM was on CSpan. I really doubt his ability to stay in office at all for the next 15 months. I don’t hold out any hope for impeachment, but I think something is going to break wide open before he leaves office. I don’t see how he can go on in his emotional state. Maybe that is the Dark Lord Cheney’s ultimate plan – drive Smirky McChimp bonkers and then step in. Bedtime for Bonzo.
Prairie Sunshine @ 115
He can tell it to the good people at the Hague. Powell will need to testify.
Prairie Sunshine @ 115
Why do you think that Petraeus will say anything that Bush doesn’t want to hear? He is Bush’s handpicked “surge” general. I sincerely doubt that Petraeus is going to say, “Sorry, my bad, but this surge is a complete failure. Time to get out.” He will more likely say that the situation is complicated and difficult, benchmarks aren’t useful, that progress is being made, more time is needed, and really bad stuff will happen if we let al Qaeda win, etc.
Not me I stopped at the edge of geopolitical conflict in the early 19 century.Suzie-Q @ 126
“You see we have universal health coverage because, and I want to mince my words carefully, and I want to thank my hosts on this beautiful american day, a day we can all be proud, our schools are working and many of us has jobs and homes and we love our children.”
“what they were doing – while legal – was not in the best interest of the country”
libby explaining why he considers marc rich actions as treason. 2001 hearing being replayed on c-span 3.
Hugh @ 130
Groundhog Day
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 133
You got it! No one else did….
Helen @ 121
Yes, but he could only pay his fine for lying like a rug 8 times with that amount. Poor, poor Scooter.
Prairie Sunshine @ 115
he’s only been listening to his other father all along…oh ***!
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 133
Now that explains it all, now I know this is all in my head,(does medicare cover that).
Gupta is a right wing hack who personally benefits from extremely high income and low taxes. He loves the status quo and can afford his insurance premiums. Gupta is a regular guest on good morning america which is a vapid right wing propaganda vehicle.
It depends on one’s financial condition whether or not the status quo is beneficial. Teh very rich have no problem with it.
OT but too good not to write about.
If some one has already noted this sorry for the interruption.
Apparently the WH is asserting Executive privileged over the communications between the WH and the RNC. Now just the chuptza of that is worthy of mention by itself but, consider further. See the link here.
Any documents over which the WH has the right to claim executive privilege would be covered by the Presidential Records act. However, such records have not been treated as Presidential Records since there was an explicit policy to destroy many of them and WH personnel were aware of that policy. Thus there is either no privilege or there is a crime since these are Presidential records. And where there is a crime there is no privilege. Thus the claim can not be valid as it is self contradictory.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 132
For the love of God, please tell me you just made that up, and the most powerful man on earth did not just say that.
argosfalcon @ 113
Don’t be dissing Grant and Jackson that way. See Mahablog for a defense of Grant. At the moment, I can’t think of where I’ve seen a good defense of Jackson (though I have).
But Bush is truly unique in being as corrupt as, oh, Harding, and having hubris well beyond, say, LBJ. Most corrupt politicians are simply corrupt. Most politicians who seek a legacy try to avoid the baser forms of corruption. Not Bush! He wants it ALL!
Wow, I just read the Gail Sheehey article from 2000 linked by Eli
[http://gailsheehy.com/Politics/polimain_bush3.html]
It’s incredible — spooky, but incredible.
I only read the first half (about Bush’s personal history); didn’t make it through the second half about environmental issues re the oil industry in TX.
So weird to go back such a short time in “history” and think how different things might have been.
Libby at 2001 hearings:
Libby says that because pardon is an absolute power it should be used jusdiciously.
Shays says that “your people are looking at what happened and are saying we’re not gonna do the same thing.”
Libby: Bush has stated that the power is an invented?? power and he would exercise it with high standards.
realworld @ 141
If they keep shredding papers what will go into the prez library – except, of course, My Pet Goat?
He also said he was ready for the “rigged questions.”
Edit to my earlier: Petraeus and/or any sane person. That work better?
Gore/Dean – Hell Yeah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e44zTRl22A
realworld @ 141
Has this ever stopped them before? I seem to remember a recent claim by Cheney that he wasn’t part of the Executive (except when he wanted to be) but was a fourth branch of government.
Loo Hoo. @ 130
we’ll call it lost in den hague
GordonM @ 143
I must admit your right but Jackson he was just mean (my opinion) the commander guy I think becomes a class in himself, one hoplefully sealed and ejected far into space (wait that a form of pollution or something).
Eli:
For the love of God, please tell me you just made that up, and the most powerful man on earth did not just say that.
made up!!!
Prairie Sunshine @ 147
Re: Rigged questions, go see me at I think 116 on the previous thread. It is Bush giving a statement with Chirac, where Bush’s comments are being dictated to himself..I’m not sure if it it actually “his” voice… (go see, you will never regret it) you will see at the end of the video, that the questions are, indeed, rigged.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 151
Sad that I would even have to ask. And that I don’t entirely believe you…
LS @ 152
The Other Voice *does* say “nukular”…
LS @ 61
Trump herein provides cover. If only they knew how to make deals everything would be peachy. Cheneyco made the desired deal. Chaos reigns. Oil runs. Where does it go? Cheeney knows.
America has been making similar deals for two hundred years.
“There have been a few rigged questions in my day. (Laughter.) I’m not telling you which way they were rigged, though. (Laughter.)”
from the transcript today
Eli @ 155
707
The dictator being dictated to this I must see, or was that barney’s voice in his earphone, no please let it be rove.
realworld @ 141
Thanks, I guess! I haven’t seen this. If the dems don’t impeach now, I give up.
ironranger @ 158
Yeah, did you hear the smug “tone” of his remarks today…Dick Bush.
Encore, ta da:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiwwetoX1U
LS @ 161
The last part you justed missed your / key right?
Blub @ 11
Nequals1 @ 10
Aren’t we a lot like Germans with still functioning brains in, say, November, 1944, listening to Goebbels (Hitler avoided the airwaves that year) propaganda? It must have been crushing to know what was happening and be unable to do anything but wait for the final reckoning.
Bush is like that man. A person who came out of nowhere to take charge of a powerful state and proceed to ruin it. A dice-thrower of other people’s lives. It’s eerie.
LS: When isn’t he smug or alternately pouty?
I just can’t watch him for very long or my stomach starts erupting.
I can only read a few paragraphs of his speeches at a time or my head starts throbbing.
Encore, ta da:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiwwetoX1Uargosfalcon @ 163
lol
ironranger @ 164
You can’t read them without hearing his voice either, can you.
too late for me to read all the comments to see if this is asked and answered
so please
who won the last set?
Loo Hoo at 160 – I am right with ya, hon.
This morning after we found out about the new Abu lies I asked “what’s the tipping point?” We keep think it’s coming and then it floats away.
Instead of morphing Bush into Nixon, maybe they should morph him into Manson.
Eli:
No, dear God no, I can’t read them w/o hearing him…someone make the voice go away…
perris @ 167
Well, not Bush, obviously. Because any set he lost would not be the last one.
Re: Rigged questions, go see me at I think 116 on the previous thread. It is Bush giving a statement with Chirac, where Bush’s comments are being dictated to himself..I’m not sure if it it actually “his” voice… (go see, you will never regret it) you will see at the end of the video, that the questions are, indeed, rigged.
The Other Voice *does* say “nukular”…
To me, the other voice sounds not like Dubya, but the voice of someone with a similar accent and stiff, jerky cadence. It seems that Dubya attempts to mimic the speaker in every way.
Dubya is so dumb that only a speaker who mispronounces the same words and speaks in a similar manner and tone can work as his voice puppeteer. I felt that the speaker knows how to pronounce the work nuclear, but intentionally pronounced the word noookyular b/c that’s the way Dubya says it and he needs it fed to him that way.
so let’s remind everyone of Eli’s excellant post;
we really can’t allow bush to be in charge of the draw down or the pull out
whether or not he’s competant to be in charge of the draw down, (he’s not), he will surely undermine the entire proceedure regardless and then he’ll be able to say;
“see, I told ya so”
as a matter of fact, if Rove ever read this idea he would tell bush to initiate the draw down immediately for just that purpose
Iacocca’s money quote:
Or rather, not the *other* guy. My brain is fading too fast to keep up with convoluted grammar and logic.
Prairie I was going to try to be funny, but the waste of lives and the horror of bush goes beyond words. So I won’t and wilt at the truth of what is and will go on. But in my own way to resist.
Court Jester/Brat
hackworth @ 172
I have tried to restrain myself, but I just can’t resist…
/must make a great point, I hope congress takes note;
from think progress;
ok, here’s the point;
WHY ISN’T THAT THE TITLE OF THE BILL?
*takes a bow*
LS @ 153
Your link is here LS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiwwetoX1U
A MUST SEE.
Eli @ 179
Ha I remember watching that video long ago. Just as good now as it was back then.
Maybe even better.
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 181
One of the greatest videos ever.
the bush pilot video has to be my favorite.
What will bushies fill the mega prez library with if the wh is destroying so many papers? Dumb question…just rewrite history as they have been practicing all along.
On And Off Topic, but, a blog issue . .
http://showthepresswedocare.bl…..t-may.html
This should be railed about, from north to south, east to west.
EVERY blog needs to be a part of the outrag of this, which in turn, IS part of BoyKing and his kind.
They are all one.
We need to fight back.
And this one, too . . .
http://showthepresswedocare.bl…..erved.html
We need to fight back.
The Open Left Demand It. WE are the Open Left.
We demand it.
Fight back!
Harumph.
argosfalcon @ 139
No.
Knut Wicksell @ 164
And in regard to the millions of Iraqi people who have been killed as a direct result of our sanctions and our illegal invasion of Iraq many Americans are like the people who sat by as Hitler and his psychopaths murdered 6 million Jews, 3 million Polish, 1 million gypsies, handicapped, gays, etc.
sorry, i haven’t read all of the comments……..was stuck back in comments fighting anti-semitism against kathleen…………which i will continue to do……….
bush………how’s it goin’ not getting your oil legislation while congress wants you to pull out???????????
hunh………
how’s it goin’ not havin’ your strategic arms in iraq for forever??????
hunh…………
oil, strategic spots for military, all gone………
gotta feel sorry for the guy, really……….
Eli @ 179
O.
M.
G.
7.
0.
7.
Prairie Sunshine @ 170
Having lived through Nixon and most of Bush, I can say that putting Nixon in the same breath doesn’t begin to describe the evil of George Bush. Nixon and the Republican party pushed to the extremes of “American politics”. The current criminal enterprise that calls itself the Republican party is beyond description.
Knut Wicksell @ 164
both erupt on the scene, stand firm a while, but, castrated in the end…we’ll see where Bush takes the rest of us while his obstruction of justice continues, oh, and the Fitz of July has come and gone ;(
Prairie Sunshine @ 170
Whoa Nelly!!!
Lindy @ 185
That explains so much now where do I go to find help with my heart med.s, ahh I know to to hell with the rest of the poor. Such is life, but it’s life on the American plan.
Loo Hoo!!
Thanks. A must see for sure to know what we are dealing with.
Now that explains it all, now I know this is all in my head,(does medicare cover that).
Gupta made certain to toss that right wing stink bomb while sparring with Michael Moore on Larry Kingspin Still Alive. Medicare is nearly bankrupt. I think he said medicaid, but no matter, rethugs want both FDR programs destroyed.
Progressives know that a little tweaking can fund Medicare and medicaid to infinity. Meanwhile on Blitzer, Bush’s Iraq Misadventure is costing 12 billion a month.
The problem is: the blood of innocents is pouring past them like a river while they negotiate Bush’s legacy day after day after day. Bush has no positive legacy. His legacy is lost to him. He will only be remembered as the harbinger of one of the darkest periods in our country’s history.
bushco was in cleveland today trying to justify his sordid actions in iraq and all of his “accomplishments” i.e. – lowering taxes no child left behind healthcare – and that no one didn’t ask anything of him and clapped for him – WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??
LS @ 194
LS, shoot this over to KO, Jane, TRex. Scarecrow was on the last thread and Eli is here, so it must get some traction. Brilliant catch, girl.
Mr. Gonzales’s Inattention
Smell the BusChen Aromatic Quintessence as it accelerates through the fan blades.
Michael Harold @ 195
Doesn’t get any lower than that. How “low” can you go?
hackworth @ 195
Not to be too picky but I believe medicare/medicaid came out of the Great Society programs.
hackworth @ 194
Now dont get all worked up I’m sure worth it, besides what’s that old lady down the road or the old guy in the wheelchair done for you lately? The broken vet. and his damaged family are small players in this big game of geopolitical chess,I saw it on the tee vee it must be true.
Steve-AR @ 190
It is a criminal enterprise motivated solely by bankrupt conservative philosophies. The Republican Party has always put party before country. They have been plotting and strategizing since FDR on how to undo all of the New Deal and progressive accomplishments. They are right on target but what will they leave behind. Scraps for the masses.
“You see we have universal health coverage because, and I want to mince my words carefully, and I want to thank my hosts on this beautiful american day, a day we can all be proud, our schools are working and many of us has jobs and homes and we love our children.”
and the crowd went WILD!!
Michael Harold @ 195
Consider this: No one will remember Papa Bush. Whenever the name Bush is mentioned, Merkans and furriners alike will think only of the horrible disaster that is Dubya.
It seems that Dubya really has gone mano a mano with his old man. Dubya will have beaten him into total insignificance in the historical record.
Steve-AR @ 190
Reagan was the bridge between the imperial ambitions of Nixon and the operational cleverness of Bush’s staff in doing end runs around the Constitution. Reagan is truly the EVIL ONE. And, until Democrats take him on and tear him down, they will have to deal with his spawn.
Bluetoe @ 203
And a prescription for a revolution that rivals anything the French or Russian revolutions did for violence. The people who fought FDR on everything still do not understand that the New Deal programs basically kept them from losing their heads in the thirties during the depression.
rwcole @ 204
The crowds went wild for Adolph as well until their cities turned to rubble and the social fabric was torn assunder.
rwcole @ 203
Its juneteenth in july, now all yo po folk go home and pay tax, and seen yo childern off to may wor
blue– Well yeah- but Adolph sorta made sense- I mean it wasn’t all nonsense–words thrown together that don’t make sentences or coherent thoughts.
i suppose if you’re in bushco groupthink everything’s wonderful in your world – adequate healthcare – education set – secure jobs – where is this place? nowhere that i know off
juslin @ 209
I think it’s more of an income bracket than a place, per se…
I wonder if it has occurred to middle class republicans in favor of getting rid of medicare that it could mean their aged parents would have to move in with them.
rwcole @ 210
That the crowds went wild for Adolph’s hatefilled message is revolting. That they go wild for the ravings of an idiot is frightening. Are we not human, no we are devo!
Life is a tale told by a president
Steve-AR @ 189
No it isn’t. It’s just retro. The American Nazi Party. Not the fool skinheads who prance around with swastikas and do anti-semitic stupidities. Killing the Jews was incidental to the overall goals of the Reich, and the swastika was chosen due to its symbolism with older german pre-christian beliefs. (It is important to remember that considerable evidence has accumulated that Hitler intended the destruction of all forms of christianity, including both lutheranism and catholicism, to be replaced with a nazi-controlled religion based vaguely on Wotan but hyped with modern pseudo science (like eugenics)) The core of the nazi belief system is identical with the core of the current rethuglican belief system.
And remember whose water Prescott Bush carried.
rwcole @ 204
That’s why he needs the earpiece LS demonstrated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEiwwetoX1U
rwcole @ 204
Okay, give me a break. I googled on you quote and turned up nothing. I give up.
eli says@211
of course you’re right – i was being snippy in my own way lol
rwcole @ 210
“Your green-feathered sauerkraut is the silver lining around the reichmarshalls russian front!”Adolf Hitler
Reichstag
August 21, 1942
um, maybe that’s a ‘misquote’…….sorry
More “compassionate conservatism”
White House threatens to veto house student loan bill veto.
http://rawstory.com/showarticl…..mp;sp=true
ironranger @ 212
Sir thats why they import their “help” so they will not have to deal with the unsightly aged.
Bluetoe @ 214
Such fragmented speeches are the rhetorical precursor of modern MTV-style videos. That shit drives me nuts.
wigwam @ 218:
it’s an ‘analogous’ quote…just an invented ’similar style’ bit of prattle….
argosfalcon @ 221
That’s what the shipping container in the back yard is for. And they even bought it at Home Depot! And illegal immigrants delivered it!
George has outdone his father on one count. George is much, much worse than daddy was.
Did anyone notice that Clusterfuck is blamin the surge on Petraus?
“He said I need 20 some thousand troops and so I said – OK commander if that’s what you need”
Bush came up with that number before Patreus ever came upon the scene as I recall. He was picked to implement the surge- he didn’t invent it…Now Clusterfuck’s all set to blame the general when this thing goes down the tubes.
juslin @ 210
Psuedo-patriotism, Misguided patriotism, Religious zeal and extreme wealth make Bush supporters and strange bedfellows.
Remember that the extremely wealthy are either self insured or they have no issue with insurance premiums. They are happy to trade health care costs for greatly reduced taxes. One must earn over two million a year to benefit from the current tax system.
For the Bush administration, the marketing of the “surge” in Iraq more and more looks like an ad for a Hollywood flop. In this case, the box office numbers are in and the film is a dismal failure. And yet a small but reliable group of friendly critics continues to offer rave reviews for “Iraq: The Surge.”
For the details, see:
“Iraq Surge Wins Rave Reviews.”
althespook @ 216
The neocon’s aspirations as announced in PNAC can legitimately be called “establishment of the fourth reich.”
dakine01 @ 199
Medicare part A and B were the Democratic and Republican first steps towards universal health care (I don’t recall which was belonged to whom). They decided that instead of fighting, they’d just pass them both. That was under Nixon, but certainly out of the Great Society.
I don’t recall the progenation of Medicaid. It’s from around the same time, though.
But the good Doc Sanjay is a Reagan baby, so he wouldn’t know that.
Bachmann: Surge needs time
BusChen Loyal Zealots… not showing any signs of acquiring a clue…
althespook @ 216
You are right. I didn’t limit myself to American politics, post ratification of the Constitution.
I also wouldn’t have thought that the same group psychology the Danny Goldhagen described in “Hitler’s Willing Executioners” could happen here.
A fragment here a fragment there, pretty so soon it turns it to a message, not coherent but what totalitarian move movement needs one?
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 224
And what is amazing is that it’s possible to actually imagine him saying that!
“I’ve been to Walter Reed hospital. That’s what I mean by universal. See, get it? Uni-verse. Like a line in the bible. Or in space. the vast frontier.
when that space shuttle blowed itself over Texas I knew we needed more surgeons. That’s why we have coverage. It’s called cover-age because people get old. Even space ships.”
ironranger @ 213
Healthy young Chicano will surely be greatful for having been let into this country, and in their gratitude will jump at opportunity to support aging gringos.
GordonM @ 232
From wiki on the Great society
Steve-AR @ 231
And that is why we must approach the coming crisis (and it’s coming, whatever it is, the signs are accumulating all over the place) with one very important point of view: none of us are totally immune to this crap. i have never read a satisfactory explanation of how herr hitler was able to unlesh the demons described in HWE so easily, neither mussolini nor tojo even came close. so whatever happens, let’s not make the mistake of saying even to ourselves, “they are bad, we are good.” it’s just not that simple.
Of course, you still have to clean up the mess…
Eli @ 179
had to go get my sides stitched up!
argofalcon@222
I’m thinking of the loyal middle class republicans who still support bushco but don’t realize that they will suffer the same consequences as everyone else at their income level. Instead they might be the “help” for the wealthier repubs.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 236
No. Nobody could have said that.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 233
Yowzers! Cold shower time. You do not want to be channelling that shit!
lets just make this simple – alright – NO ONE GET SICK!! and dammit i mean it – you get sick you shall die – no excuses allowed … it could happen here
gordon @ 242.
you know what? I think you’re right.
left portal sealed. right portal sealed.
:-)
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 234
Okay, dear firepups, clue me in please. i’ve been head down in the medical bureaucracy all day and I won, but i’m severely pissed and generally mean right now (will try to control it). But did bush lose it on the air today or what? do we need to sneak kirk murphy in the side door of the WH with some thorazine? and what’s with the feedback earpiece? those are normally translator thingies; the walla-walla of bing-bang makes a long flowery speech in his language, and the earpice repeats it back in english to the pres. what’s the big deal here? i watched the clip and i don’t understand where the second audio feed was coming from, surely cnn didn’t broadcast both feeds did they?
Loo Hoo. @ 243
Surgeons need to spread their love to the women folk.
He did say that or something very close.
Mabel–that makes too much sense–the Clusterfuck favorite style is to take three columns of words/phrases that people LIKE- and then pick one from each column to make something approximating a sentence…
“We all LOVE OUR CHILDREN- in the FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM- and will DEFEND OUR DEMOCRACY.”
althespook @ 246.
sorry. just a couple of ‘quotes’ in the spirit of ‘lunWacy’…..
Steve-AR @ 189
Bush and Cheney have done things that Nixon could only dream about. Bush/Cheney are far worse.
Bob in WI (temporarily)
Hitler tapped into the German feelings of betrayal at the loss of WWI and the resentment they felt with the treaty of Versailles. They needed scapegoats and Jews and Bolsheviks served that purpose. Of course there had been a long history of anti-Semitism in Austria and Germany. The people felt betrayed and cheated resulting in a slow simmering hatred and resentment. Today’s Republicans share the same psychology if not the same historical circumstances. The psychology is there and the Republican propagandists play it for all it’s worth.
Of course the troops are going to be withdrawn from Iraq…and moved right on in to Iran. Because you just know that good old George and Dick heard them bunch of Arabs had some oil too.
And oh yea, another big terror alert as per ABC News. So big that the Bush Administration is going to have a big meeting about it, on Thursday, as in the day after tomorrow. Yep, it must be big if it can wait 48 hours for the best and brightest to talk about it. It must take 48 hours for Rove and the bunch to cherry pick the intel to convince The Commander Guy that the next 9/11 is right around the corner.
Sigh, the neverending disgrace continues.
althespook @ 245
Oh yes they did. I watched it live. Then is “disappeared” from everywhere, until I found it on Youtube today…
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 234
With space ships or with aircraft the crush them or place them in museums. With the old and the disabled you dispose of them at your peril, the anthropologist in me see more advantage to keeping us around. But I’m not new fast or like your dog/cat likely to roll over on his/her back (for the right person I’m a sucker or your dog/cat), but you get the idea. In the space program you walked backward in time, and the technology you enjoy comes from innovation and integration of the past and the future.
TRex is upstairs
TRex up at bat!
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..-pleasure/
rwcole @ 248
yes and explain it with emphasis/repitition:
a Rhetorical technique mixing ‘exasperation’ with those who can’t grasp ‘common sense’ and absolute ‘average IQ televangelist’ clarity.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 249
oh, a synthesis generator. whew. i just DON’T want the guy with his finger on the nukular weapons to lose it on tv. it makes me have funny run for the fallout shelter feelings (like I have one…)
President McFlightsuit got one thing right today…
A (huge) corned beef sandwich from Slyman’s!
Lines out the door everyday for lunch, closed by 3pm and they’re off somewhere counting their cash.
LS @253
OMFG
One other reason for the barbarity of the Germans in WWII was their unwavering belief in social Darwinism, the survival of the fittest. To feel compassion for the less fortunate was considered a sign of weakness. Republicans to have an unabiding faith in the survival of the fittest and a callous cavalier attitude toward the less fortunate.
Who exactly forced Betts & Co., to keep playing tennis in a snowstorm? Please.
In 1992, Bush owned abotu two percent of the Texas Rangers, and investment made only because he’d been bailed out of another failed business in a sweetheart deal – and failed to timely file his SEC disclosures along the way. He’d made a mess of every job he’d had and lost all the money his dad’s friends had given him. His only success to date was to have substituted an obsession with fundamentalist religion for his obsession with alcohol.
But, oh, his daddy was el Presidente. I guess that answers that question and a lot of others.
althespook @ althespook @ 238
And that was the “flaw” in Goldhagen thesis. Eliminationism isn’t a German “thing”, it evolved with all humans and is part of our “lizard brains.”
I watched KO tonight. Isn’t it about time someone ordered the straight jackets for Bush and Cheney. Deranged is the only word that describes him. Meanwhile, as America sits by, we’re loosing soldiers and civilians every day for naught.
Bluetoe @ 260
Indeed, I think the phrase “less fortunate” would never even occur to them.
hackworth @ 247
Worse. It was ob-gyns.
Mabel– Wow- that’s an incredible description of the Bush speaking style—hope a lot of people read it!
GordonM @ 267
why do i have the feeling that there was some sort of preppyish smutty humor there…ewwwwwwww…..just the sort of joke they’d tell at say, skull and bones?
Eli @ 265
Social Darwinism was popular in this country from ~1890’s to the depression. You just have to look at the SCOTUS decisions of that era.
With space ships or with aircraft the crush them or place them in museums. With the old and the disabled you dispose of them at your peril, the anthropologist in me see more advantage to keeping us around. But I’m not new fast or like your dog/cat likely to roll over on his/her back (for the right person I’m a sucker or your dog/cat), but you get the idea. In the space program you walked backward in time, and the technology you enjoy comes from innovation and integration of the past and the future.
Argosfalcon-
okay now that’s something to give thought to.
Eli
Uh- I don’t think so- most of Hitler’s audiences were HUNGRY- I mean seriously and literaly hungry…It was the depression- and communists were a major force in the political landscape. Hitler himself tried to pose as a socialist.
earlofhuntingdon @ 261
Uh, he promised the local voters that he’d do a public / private cooperation deal, then bailed out on the private side. The voters built the stadium, he raised ticket prices and never invested one cent himself. Then he sold and pocketed all the profits. Nice guy.
I’m just going to play Devil’s Advocate for a moment, because I think it’s good practice. It’s one that the left, by dint of fundamental mental tendencies, does better than the right (at least openly – no doubt KR and krew are good at counter-gaming).
Let’s just note that both HRC and GWB seem to think we’ll be in Iraq forever.
Let’s also note that one of the first “scandals” of this admin was the secret meeting Cheney held with energy execs, but refused to disclose any info.
Let’s also note that the Bush family has a lot of Saudi connections in particular, and Big Oil connections in general.
Let us further note that Bush appears confident that he will be vindicated in the long eye of history (let’s ignore for the moment that he has never proven to have solid instincts in anything except scorched-earth partisan warfare).
What if the oil execs know something about “peak oil” that they aren’t talking about publicly? Some former oil execs have openly stated that production could peak in the twenty-teens (2010-2020). Suppose they expect the crash to be somewhat harder than anyone now admits (and one former oil exec has said that you always lie about reserves, because that’s the game). Suppose the oil-aware crowd is planning for that now.
Now, there are a couple ways to take this – if indeed it is what is happening (and it seems somewhat likely). One is to take an aggressive stance on our geopolitical and military stance in the ME. But one would have to acknowledge that we will soon be in direct conflict with China over this. And in terms of miltary gamesmanship, the nuclear option is a sort of trump card. In other words, Chinese “soft power” could easily beat our “hard power”, because, in the end, you cannot really excercise the nuclear trump card. It’s a card that only has value in not being played – because the end of civilization isn’t really a victory for anyone. So, according to this first response – aggressive military domninance in the region – we are likely currently losing due to our failure to acknowledge the supremacy of “soft power”. That’s all our war in Iraq has gained us. We have a slightly better end-game, in the case of total devastation scenarios. Should that happen, Bush will look slightly less stupid and the Iraq war will look very cheap indeed. Unfortunately, there is no sign of any national preparation for any other scenario, which leaves us woefully unprepared.
There is, as stated, another option. This is aggressive, pro-active energy security policies by focusing on non-oil technologies. These can keep us not only not-poor, 40 years from now, but can in fact make us rich. Bush’s weak, “Mars, bitches!” policy is a real disaster for us.
A Manhattan Project for energy security is the most important thing we can do.
I’m very curious if anyone else is thinking along these lines. I think Bush is still a disaster if you think this way, though his actions become merely lame and stupid rather than insane. That appeals to the Occam’s Razor approach.
Come on, it even explains Bush’s indulgent attitude towards Putin – he is avoiding needless antagonism (yeah, I know this is stretching it) towards a nation we may depend on more closely 15 years from now (they have huge natural gas reserves).
Gordon- You are giving boy wonder too much credit- he actually did nothin (except get drunk in the box seat)- he only had a 5% interest…As usual- investors with brains just wanted his name- not his ideas or (cough) leadership ability.
I lived in Dallas at the time incidently.
rwcole @ 270
He *was* a socialist, dammit! Just ask any troll, they’ll tell you.
Gore/Clark….Gore/Webb
Dean/Richardson
Two guys who know how to run something!!
Bluetoe @ 261, just to remind the folks, “Social Darwinism” was neither social nor Darwinian. It was a Gilded Age confection, a pop culture corruption of Darwin’s biology, which claimed to justify ruthless, unrelenting selfishness by the wealthy elite.
If they were wealthy and successful, it must be because they deserved it; like the Bionic Man, they must be “stronger, smarter, faster”. It couldn’t be because they crushed their workers or competitors by using brutal, illegal tactics. It couldn’t be because they bought the legislatures and courts with some money so that they could make a lot more.
German National Socialists understood that dynamic, and hoped to coopt “Social Darwinism” to justify an equally deceptive argument, that their criminal behavior, too, was ordained by nature.
JT @ 273 – whatever the reality of the situation, they make the most money by creating the impression that peak oil is imminent. Money is everything. These guys don’t care about nations (let alone people).
rwcole @ 274 – oh I’m not saying he was the brains behind the ripoff. Mark Crispin Miller spells out the details pretty well, though (don’t remember the name of the book, but around 2004). And no offense, but Dallas in the 4 months I spent there was my absolute least favorite place in the world. It made Ft Worth look like heaven.
earlofhuntingdon @ 278
Yup, Randianism before Ayn Rand, though she had to “reinvent” it all herself.
Gordon- Won’t offend me- I only lived there for a while- Dallas IS an acquired taste though- like heavy red wine.
GordonM @ 279
I can’t disagree with that. They may have manufactured some behind-the-scenes panic to justify the biggest profit-taking – not making – in recorded financial history. I’m sure they would if they could, and would regard it as a good thing to do.
But there are substantial reasons to think that peak oil is not just a short-term excuse for back-room gouging.
Were that to be true, then they could both grab the short-term profits and explain their geopolitical bumblings far better than they currently do… More to the point, it explains how they would consider both consumer-gouging AND their imperial ambitions to be patriotic. Even for the openly evil (*cough* *cheney* *cough*), that counts for a lot.
HvinGordonM @ 279
Having post issues, so hopefully this isn’t a double, but…
I’m sure they can and do exploit future market fears.
But the geopolitical game becomes at least comprehensible in this light… Bumbling, greedy, weak, and short-sighted, rather than stark-raving mad. That’s satisfying to the Occam’s Razor view…
Bush’s investment in the Texas Rangers was about two percent, for which he paid about $606,000, much of it borrowed from a bank at which he used to be a director. His dad was vice president. His other investors were so “taken with him”, that they gifted him another ten percent. His dad was president.
While still governor of Texas, in 1998, he sold his stake for $14.9 million. Styled as a “general partner”, he answer phones and threw out baseballs and hobnobbed with the fans. Pretty much the model he’s used for his stint as president.
facebook test
edit: crap!
Starting Point???
No matter how you repackage it…
It’s still the same message….
… FEMA would wait until hell froze over to help victims of a class 5 hurricain…
Eli @ 50
It’s the silver spoon that was in his mouth when he slithered out..
“Remind you of anything? Well, except for the part about Dubya winning a set…”
…and except for the snow…