According to Laura Rozen Rumsfeld is bailing after the elections.
This is the mark of a true coward. When faced with the likelihood that he is going to grilled by Congress - something he has 1) had to do rarely and 2) under the most shall we say congenial circumstances - he decides that it is time to spend more time with the family.
Of course a REAL Congress doing REAL oversight and pursuing REAL investigations will have a subpoena. Just the ticket to drag his sorry retired ass under the klieg lights to get his patented bromides.
I... can't...wait. Next summer will be fun.
Of course in the real world it means that he leaves it someone in the waning days of The Bush Disasteration - someone no doubt approved in the most bitter of circumstances - to try to clean up the dogshit he has made of our defense policy.
Good old Rummy... just like a coward.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Our very own Nero
Is it too early to start figuring out how we can undo the damage caused by this one?
Monday, October 02, 2006
From Daddy Party to Creepy Uncle Party
I really don't have anymore to add to that headline. I am flabbergasted by the implosion of the Republican Party. In the same week they gut the Constitution they become the next big child sex abuse law suit.
And as if that is not bad enough we get this image from This Modern World (http://thismodernworld.com/3215) :
which seems to capture both men as they feel the massive shitflow pouring in over the top of their waders.
I really really hope that in twenty years (assuming we survive with a nation in tact) that we can look back at this period and really understand what really happened. It is just too weird to be the offices of a normal mortal agency.
Of course as we see in this weeks revelations from Woodward's book Henry Kissinger is a top unofficial advisor on the Iraq mess. Which not only explains the mess in Iraq but also the weirdness beyond human agency.
Unfortunately it virtually guarantees in twenty years time we will be doing it all over again - maybe in the dessert plains of antartica (imagine the untapped resources there). Kissinger not being human, leaves me unconvinced of his mortality.
Someone ask Hitchens. That is, if you can get the rug from between his teeth.
And as if that is not bad enough we get this image from This Modern World (http://thismodernworld.com/3215) :
which seems to capture both men as they feel the massive shitflow pouring in over the top of their waders.
I really really hope that in twenty years (assuming we survive with a nation in tact) that we can look back at this period and really understand what really happened. It is just too weird to be the offices of a normal mortal agency.
Of course as we see in this weeks revelations from Woodward's book Henry Kissinger is a top unofficial advisor on the Iraq mess. Which not only explains the mess in Iraq but also the weirdness beyond human agency.
Unfortunately it virtually guarantees in twenty years time we will be doing it all over again - maybe in the dessert plains of antartica (imagine the untapped resources there). Kissinger not being human, leaves me unconvinced of his mortality.
Someone ask Hitchens. That is, if you can get the rug from between his teeth.
Friday, September 29, 2006
rethinking the approach
warandpiece has this post about Woodwrds latest show and tell
http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/004954.html
The big news is a July 10,2001 meeting where Tenet and aide in near panic mode tell Condi that OBL is gonna get big soon. She fluffs them off according to the account.
The White House acknowledges the meeting but says it is mischaracterized. Now the problem is that Bush et al have only one mode.
Like a skunk when they sense fear, they skunk everything in sight. As a strategy, that is pretty effective in the short term but the problem is that afterwards only a skunk can stand to be nearby.
http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/004954.html
The big news is a July 10,2001 meeting where Tenet and aide in near panic mode tell Condi that OBL is gonna get big soon. She fluffs them off according to the account.
The White House acknowledges the meeting but says it is mischaracterized. Now the problem is that Bush et al have only one mode.
Like a skunk when they sense fear, they skunk everything in sight. As a strategy, that is pretty effective in the short term but the problem is that afterwards only a skunk can stand to be nearby.
join 'em
On the campaign trail, Goerge Bush criticized his critics saying, "You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism." Of course George being George he neglected to include any mention of the quality of that fight. That is too much nuance I guess.
Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe George Bush has been right all along and it really is that simple. So ok let's do it. George has asked nothing of us as Americans to fight terrorism except to shop more. But I am as American as anyone and I want to do more. And I know you do too. So let's fight terrorism. Here's my plan.
See we make a bunch of mud pies. No, now don't get too excited we're going to throw them at Democrats. We're looking for real terrorists here. Like Osama Bin Laden. Well Maybe not the real Osama Bin Laden. We can't seem to find him and that's kind of sad but wait!
We have plenty of photgraphs and even videos. We can project pictures as big as, well, as big as it seems Osama really must be. What's that 100 feet tall? And maybe some of those jihadist fighters. You know the ones. Those guys that the Republican led Congress including my Senator Collins (Senator Snowe voted a courageous "not present" on the bill) decided that they should gut the Constitution and give George Bush the ability to torture any American he wanted. Yeah, Those guys.
So that's the plan. We get pictures of terroists and throw mud pies at them.
I know it doesn't sound like much but consider this: it is cheaper than what we are doing in Iraq and we won't be worsening the problem like the NIE that Bush refuses to release says he is doing in Iraq. And remember, the President Of The United States said it himself - and he is a WAR PRESIDENT and stuff - "You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism." so it would be at least as effective as George Bush's war policy.
And a whole lot smarter.
Or maybe I am wrong. Maybe George Bush has been right all along and it really is that simple. So ok let's do it. George has asked nothing of us as Americans to fight terrorism except to shop more. But I am as American as anyone and I want to do more. And I know you do too. So let's fight terrorism. Here's my plan.
See we make a bunch of mud pies. No, now don't get too excited we're going to throw them at Democrats. We're looking for real terrorists here. Like Osama Bin Laden. Well Maybe not the real Osama Bin Laden. We can't seem to find him and that's kind of sad but wait!
We have plenty of photgraphs and even videos. We can project pictures as big as, well, as big as it seems Osama really must be. What's that 100 feet tall? And maybe some of those jihadist fighters. You know the ones. Those guys that the Republican led Congress including my Senator Collins (Senator Snowe voted a courageous "not present" on the bill) decided that they should gut the Constitution and give George Bush the ability to torture any American he wanted. Yeah, Those guys.
So that's the plan. We get pictures of terroists and throw mud pies at them.
I know it doesn't sound like much but consider this: it is cheaper than what we are doing in Iraq and we won't be worsening the problem like the NIE that Bush refuses to release says he is doing in Iraq. And remember, the President Of The United States said it himself - and he is a WAR PRESIDENT and stuff - "You do not create terrorism by fighting terrorism." so it would be at least as effective as George Bush's war policy.
And a whole lot smarter.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
latest letter
Emailed indiviudally to my senators and sent to my local daily -
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
latest letter
Emailed indiviudally to my senators and sent to my local daily -
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
latest letter
Emailed indiviudally to my senators and sent to my local daily -
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
An Open Letter to Senators Snowe and Collins
It may be too late by the time this letter appears in these pages, the pro-torture bill may already have been voted on in the rush of the Republican leadership to rubberstamp an historic bill abrogating Constitutionally protected Habeus Corpus.
To my Senator,
I am very disturbed by the actions of this administration and of your leadership in advancing the pro-torture, anti-habeus corpus bill.
On its merits I find the bill un-American and not just unconstitutional but anti-Constitutional. That you or any of your senatorial colleagues would deign to even consider this disgrace - more than an affront, if I may, it is pissing on the Constitution and all that we hold dear. And the worst part is that we all know it. You know and I know and Bill Frist knows that this is all just to keep President Bush and his willing executioners safe from criminal actions for breaking laws that he should have been held accountable for in your very body.
Are you willing to become at last one more of his willing executioners?
To say I am disgusted is an understatement. To say that I am ashamed of those to whom I have entrusted my representation - who have sworn to uphold and defend our Constitution - is a kindness to those who have betrayed my trust, that of my fellows citizens and this nation that we all hold sacred.
How can I convince you that a vote in favor of this bill is a disaster for our nation?
Consider this:
The day after this bill is signed into law our country will be a different place.
It will be a nation of torture as a national policy.
It will be a nation of secret detention.
It will be a nation where ANYONE accused (and can you say who could NOT be accused under this bill?) DOES NOT HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. In fact he may never be seen or heard from again.
We will be a nation of The Disappeared.
Are you not disgusted by those who would do that to the country you love?
I am.
Your leadership is needed now like never before in your career as a Senator. You must stop this bill. I am not being too glib in saying that YOU must save this nation from the disaster it is about to inflict upon itself.
Paul Orsillo
Kittery Point Maine
Monday, September 25, 2006
Arlen. Ain't he the funny one.
You gotta hand it to this bunch they really have their parts down. You have the sainted John McCain standing firmly against torture as a moral imperative - until he caves in and makes up stories about how - no really this will work.
And Senator JAG who is so concerned about his colleagues in the JAG he is willing to open the road to a future of serious trouble for military interogators charged with international crimes against humanity.
What I want to know is: Why are they so sure that whatever deal they might think they made with the Bush junta will mean anything?
Won't he just attach a signing statement to it saying that everything they thought they meant is the bullshit that it is?
What will St John of McCain do then? Weep bitter tears?
As for Arlen. He is making noises about Habeus Corpus again. That means we can expect him to come out strongly in favor of preserving Habeus Corpus until he caves in and decides it is sacrosanct unless George Bush decides it isn't. Arlen is a man who is slowly dying on the national stage and he still can't put his conscience in front of political expediency.
Please Arlen. Get this charade over with quickly. You are soiling yourself again. And the act has stopped being funny.
And Senator JAG who is so concerned about his colleagues in the JAG he is willing to open the road to a future of serious trouble for military interogators charged with international crimes against humanity.
What I want to know is: Why are they so sure that whatever deal they might think they made with the Bush junta will mean anything?
Won't he just attach a signing statement to it saying that everything they thought they meant is the bullshit that it is?
What will St John of McCain do then? Weep bitter tears?
As for Arlen. He is making noises about Habeus Corpus again. That means we can expect him to come out strongly in favor of preserving Habeus Corpus until he caves in and decides it is sacrosanct unless George Bush decides it isn't. Arlen is a man who is slowly dying on the national stage and he still can't put his conscience in front of political expediency.
Please Arlen. Get this charade over with quickly. You are soiling yourself again. And the act has stopped being funny.
this is enhanced interrogation
And there will be NOTHING stopping El Presidente from deciding you need enhancement.
Waddaya gonna do? Complain to your Congressman? Oh yeah I forgot - maybe your Congressman is Saint John of McCain.
Waddaya gonna do? Complain to your Congressman? Oh yeah I forgot - maybe your Congressman is Saint John of McCain.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
hit my limit
George Bush has finally got to me. He has made completely disgusted by what he has done to my country. I always disliked the man - personally though from the distance of one who only has the impression that he allows to world to see via the press.
I always disliked his policies. His "Compassionate Conservatism" line struck me as bullshit the first time I heard it and he has done nothing but reinforce that impression.
He is an imbecile, a spoiled kid who has grown beyond legal immaturity but never attained maturity.
He is a jerk of the first order and in his position he has been a danger to the world. In his position with his willing executioners in the Republican Congress he has become a danger to the republic.
One day - should the fools in the Republican party stay in office past November - they will find out what life under George Bush is really like but then they will not be able to influence the outcome because they have pissed ther power away.
Having lived through the 60's of Johnson and Nixon, And this time I fell it is far more dangerous and it is dangerously wrong.
We are now or soon to become, given the Republican propensity for rubberstamping, a torturing nation. Not just de facto as we have been off and on but de jure. AND FOREVER.
What kind of scar will that leave on us? we are the willing executioners now. We let our own nation torture. We condone it and through condoning it, we will encourage torture.
Will one day in the future a Truth and Reconiliation commission deal with us with the same leniency that the post-apartheid South African version has dealt with its internal enemies?
At the moment I am feeling that we all should burn in hell because we let ASSHOLES like George Bush and Dick Cheney steal our country out from under us and we let their corrupt and venal cronies in the Republican party give away our Constitution and that we do not have the will, the sense, THE CITIZENSHIP to take it back.
We are detroying the great human experiment in self-government and we do not even care.
May God have mercy on our souls but truth be told we do not deserve it.
I always disliked his policies. His "Compassionate Conservatism" line struck me as bullshit the first time I heard it and he has done nothing but reinforce that impression.
He is an imbecile, a spoiled kid who has grown beyond legal immaturity but never attained maturity.
He is a jerk of the first order and in his position he has been a danger to the world. In his position with his willing executioners in the Republican Congress he has become a danger to the republic.
One day - should the fools in the Republican party stay in office past November - they will find out what life under George Bush is really like but then they will not be able to influence the outcome because they have pissed ther power away.
Having lived through the 60's of Johnson and Nixon, And this time I fell it is far more dangerous and it is dangerously wrong.
We are now or soon to become, given the Republican propensity for rubberstamping, a torturing nation. Not just de facto as we have been off and on but de jure. AND FOREVER.
What kind of scar will that leave on us? we are the willing executioners now. We let our own nation torture. We condone it and through condoning it, we will encourage torture.
Will one day in the future a Truth and Reconiliation commission deal with us with the same leniency that the post-apartheid South African version has dealt with its internal enemies?
At the moment I am feeling that we all should burn in hell because we let ASSHOLES like George Bush and Dick Cheney steal our country out from under us and we let their corrupt and venal cronies in the Republican party give away our Constitution and that we do not have the will, the sense, THE CITIZENSHIP to take it back.
We are detroying the great human experiment in self-government and we do not even care.
May God have mercy on our souls but truth be told we do not deserve it.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
All Hail Billmon
Billmon over at the Whiskey Bar has made a cottage industry of juxtaposing quotes. Often times he omits editorial comment and lets the quotes speak for themselves.
Here he hits it out of the park:
Some of the changes in the Middle East are happening gradually, but they are real . . . Citizens have voted in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, in parliamentary elections in Jordan and Bahrain, and in multiparty presidential elections in Yemen and Egypt . . . Every nation that travels the road to freedom moves at a different pace, and the democracies they build will reflect their own culture and traditions.
George W. Bush
Speech to the UN General Assembly
September 19, 2006
It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way.
George Orwell
Politics and the English Language
1946
read the whole thing.
http://billmon.org/archives/002746.html
But what floors me is this Cheney quote:
"While civilized societies uphold justice, mercy, and the value of life, the terrorists hold to an ideology that feeds on the pain of others and glorifies murder and suicide. Though they plot and plan and operate by stealth, the terrorists make no secret of the beliefs they hold. They seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child would live in total obedience to a narrow and hateful ideology."
Here is the Lord of Darkness at his most cynical. When the end of the American Experiment is written, Lord Cheney will feature large. He must have balls to match his plumbing.
Here he hits it out of the park:
Some of the changes in the Middle East are happening gradually, but they are real . . . Citizens have voted in municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, in parliamentary elections in Jordan and Bahrain, and in multiparty presidential elections in Yemen and Egypt . . . Every nation that travels the road to freedom moves at a different pace, and the democracies they build will reflect their own culture and traditions.
George W. Bush
Speech to the UN General Assembly
September 19, 2006
It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using that word if it were tied down to any one meaning. Words of this kind are often used in a consciously dishonest way.
George Orwell
Politics and the English Language
1946
read the whole thing.
http://billmon.org/archives/002746.html
But what floors me is this Cheney quote:
"While civilized societies uphold justice, mercy, and the value of life, the terrorists hold to an ideology that feeds on the pain of others and glorifies murder and suicide. Though they plot and plan and operate by stealth, the terrorists make no secret of the beliefs they hold. They seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child would live in total obedience to a narrow and hateful ideology."
Here is the Lord of Darkness at his most cynical. When the end of the American Experiment is written, Lord Cheney will feature large. He must have balls to match his plumbing.
Monday, September 18, 2006
running scared
I became (what passes for me) politically active after the Abu Graib revelations. I was angry and disgusted that 1) that it even occured and 2) there was no swift and sure investigation/punishment for the bad apples the higher-ups all insisted were responsible. But that wasn't enough by itself. It was finally the reports of blackballing of the whistleblower in his home town that pushed me over the edge.
Here we had gone from an America I thought I knew to a rabid, war-mongering nation that at least winked at torture if not embraced it. And then bashed those who would object.
My activism remains limited to donations and letters to the editor in my local daily. When I started to publish letters critical of the Bush junta were few. Little by little a veritable firestorm occured in the letters section. The local daily decided they needed to institute a regular column "The Conservative Corner". Sure there were Bush defenders in the letter section but you know, you must balance legitimate reader opinion by paying someone to come up with the so-called conservative position. That's media balance for you, I guess.
Anyway that is all preamble. Like then torture is on my mind again. Thanks to George Bush, the Torturer-in-chief. He wants to make his actions retroactively legal. No doubt his whip-smart political team decided that by forcing the issue into the campaigning weeks of the by-elections he could get everyone Democrat and (of course) Republicans to acquiesce because migod who wants to oppose the great leader as he leads us from this savage wilderness into the islamofascist-free (or whatever the toothspitter phrase for the non-christian menace the wingnut chorus has rustled up this week) world'o'tomorrow.
Little did they expect - being the whip-smart politicos that they are - that actual real life Republicans whose future depends on them being NOT Bush would actually stand up and demand - DEMAND DAMMIT - that only a little ripping up of the Constitutiion would be acceptable.
Of course Mr. MyBike-MyBike Bush cannot accept that. After all as Keith Olbermann said when he went after Pinochet Jr, that George thinks thinking is unacceptable. Of course it is evident that it is unacceptable to him. But I guess as Dizzy Dean said (and George being a baseball man probably subscribes) "He who doesn't think too good shouldn't think too much." Unfortunately George - being George - twisted it from a bromide and turned it into a Presidential Rose Garden decree.
Pinochet Jr even said that it is urgent to pass his torturers-go-free bill now or he wouldn't interrogate any more terrorists anymore (God he really said that - sigh) and who knows he might eat worms.
So what is the point of doing it now? He clearly especially wanted no debate - or even what passes for debate in the rubber-stamp congress that gives Goerge whatever he wants and calls it compromise. (Are you listening Arlen?)
Did the Supreme Court's Hamdi ruling really finally get to him? Could it be that deep down Pinochet Jr and his boys know that there is a government bigger than Pinochet Jr. in all his exquisiteness. And that government may at some time in the near or medium future (you know. before the "I don't know. We'll all be dead" period kicks in) be a little upset over his actions as Torturer-in-chief?
Maybe Pinochet Jr. has found a new avenue to embrace the fear of god with the possibility that he could be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and you know all those things that bad people like, like, who am I thinking of.... let me see.... Oh yeah - Saddam Hussein - are ultimately put on public trial for. Presumably before they are legally executed under federal capital punishment laws. And that would be unseemly for an ex-president. You have one who builds houses for poor people and another that convenes BIG IDEAS conferences that your wife is invited to speak at and then there you are up on capital charges for crimes against humanity. What would Barb say? Not to mention Poppee.
I mean Nixon had his Ford to pardon him. Who would be Pinochet Jr's Ford? Not Cheney. He will be lucky to be allowed into a Post Office building to buy stamps after this disaster of an administration is finished.
Would a President McCain maybe get a chance at some payback for his South Carolina reaming and the grovelling he had to do to get Pinochet Jr to look at him back in the good times?
And Lieberman has a bright future doing something but whatever it is being President isn't it. I can't think of a person on the national scene that could do it - except maybe for President Hillary... hmmmm maybe that's why Pinochet Jr and the misses have been warming up to Bill after those reports that Poppee and Barb have taken a kinda parental fondness on the Big Pecker.
Here we had gone from an America I thought I knew to a rabid, war-mongering nation that at least winked at torture if not embraced it. And then bashed those who would object.
My activism remains limited to donations and letters to the editor in my local daily. When I started to publish letters critical of the Bush junta were few. Little by little a veritable firestorm occured in the letters section. The local daily decided they needed to institute a regular column "The Conservative Corner". Sure there were Bush defenders in the letter section but you know, you must balance legitimate reader opinion by paying someone to come up with the so-called conservative position. That's media balance for you, I guess.
Anyway that is all preamble. Like then torture is on my mind again. Thanks to George Bush, the Torturer-in-chief. He wants to make his actions retroactively legal. No doubt his whip-smart political team decided that by forcing the issue into the campaigning weeks of the by-elections he could get everyone Democrat and (of course) Republicans to acquiesce because migod who wants to oppose the great leader as he leads us from this savage wilderness into the islamofascist-free (or whatever the toothspitter phrase for the non-christian menace the wingnut chorus has rustled up this week) world'o'tomorrow.
Little did they expect - being the whip-smart politicos that they are - that actual real life Republicans whose future depends on them being NOT Bush would actually stand up and demand - DEMAND DAMMIT - that only a little ripping up of the Constitutiion would be acceptable.
Of course Mr. MyBike-MyBike Bush cannot accept that. After all as Keith Olbermann said when he went after Pinochet Jr, that George thinks thinking is unacceptable. Of course it is evident that it is unacceptable to him. But I guess as Dizzy Dean said (and George being a baseball man probably subscribes) "He who doesn't think too good shouldn't think too much." Unfortunately George - being George - twisted it from a bromide and turned it into a Presidential Rose Garden decree.
Pinochet Jr even said that it is urgent to pass his torturers-go-free bill now or he wouldn't interrogate any more terrorists anymore (God he really said that - sigh) and who knows he might eat worms.
So what is the point of doing it now? He clearly especially wanted no debate - or even what passes for debate in the rubber-stamp congress that gives Goerge whatever he wants and calls it compromise. (Are you listening Arlen?)
Did the Supreme Court's Hamdi ruling really finally get to him? Could it be that deep down Pinochet Jr and his boys know that there is a government bigger than Pinochet Jr. in all his exquisiteness. And that government may at some time in the near or medium future (you know. before the "I don't know. We'll all be dead" period kicks in) be a little upset over his actions as Torturer-in-chief?
Maybe Pinochet Jr. has found a new avenue to embrace the fear of god with the possibility that he could be held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and you know all those things that bad people like, like, who am I thinking of.... let me see.... Oh yeah - Saddam Hussein - are ultimately put on public trial for. Presumably before they are legally executed under federal capital punishment laws. And that would be unseemly for an ex-president. You have one who builds houses for poor people and another that convenes BIG IDEAS conferences that your wife is invited to speak at and then there you are up on capital charges for crimes against humanity. What would Barb say? Not to mention Poppee.
I mean Nixon had his Ford to pardon him. Who would be Pinochet Jr's Ford? Not Cheney. He will be lucky to be allowed into a Post Office building to buy stamps after this disaster of an administration is finished.
Would a President McCain maybe get a chance at some payback for his South Carolina reaming and the grovelling he had to do to get Pinochet Jr to look at him back in the good times?
And Lieberman has a bright future doing something but whatever it is being President isn't it. I can't think of a person on the national scene that could do it - except maybe for President Hillary... hmmmm maybe that's why Pinochet Jr and the misses have been warming up to Bill after those reports that Poppee and Barb have taken a kinda parental fondness on the Big Pecker.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
It's kinda heartening really...
What with the national Republican majority that controls all 3 branches (yes George there are really 3 ) of our government, and their wanton power grab accelerated by the allies on the supreme court and their actively pissing on the Constitution, I was thinking that there wa no moral compass in this the modern RICO-Republicans.
But y'know, today's news has given me hope. What with Duke Cunningham in prison, and Bush pioneer in Ohio Mr. Penny-for-your-thoughts Noe getting sentenced and now Boobie Ney copping a plea, I see it clear as day.
Yes the Republican mob in congress really do have convictions. Just think the Republicans used to be the Party of Lincoln now it is the party of 10 to 20.
But y'know, today's news has given me hope. What with Duke Cunningham in prison, and Bush pioneer in Ohio Mr. Penny-for-your-thoughts Noe getting sentenced and now Boobie Ney copping a plea, I see it clear as day.
Yes the Republican mob in congress really do have convictions. Just think the Republicans used to be the Party of Lincoln now it is the party of 10 to 20.
bye bye bobbie
My god, twice in one day. First the Spectre cave-in and the Bush grab get stuffed in committee in the senate and then we have Bob Ney coppng a plea.
Maybe there is life in this republic after all.
I really don't want to get over excited. God knows these professional crooks that call themselves the national Republican party are completely capable of turning this shit into gold.
Of course they can't do it alone. It requires inept democrats and gullible (read STOOOPID) voters.
The time is coming where we can in fact turn this nation back from the path of Cheneyesque pathology onto to path of the last great hope that I believe in fact our United States to be. I can only hope (and do what I can to convince them) that my fellow voters - because it is ONLY voters that will make a difference - will do the right thing and reject the RICO-grade Republicans in Congress.
And I do believe this nation is that great hope. Its very greatness is shown up in our failure to measure up to its ideals but more so in our insistence on trying. The actual is never perfection but the pursuit of perfection is threaded into the definition of our nation.
That George Bush seeks to use our ideals and beliefs to ruin our national dream says all we need to know about the character, about the morally hollow man that is George Bush.
Whether he is a monomaniac, I don't know but every day thanks to his enablers and co-conspirators whether we are talking about Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Dick Cheney or the other fellow war criminals that hold positions in this the Bush regime we are seeing this shell of a man piss on our ideals all the while grabbing for power.
Bush has cultivated his aw shucks act to total refinement. It is to the point that he could say, "If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier - just so long I'm the dictator." without a even cocked head of suspicion in our national media.
Remember, this is the same man that said of bin Laden:
"Underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake."
I know this entire post mght seem to be completely off-topic but really these thieves in the house of democracy are all the same. Bush, Ney, they trade in a different currency but they make their livings the same way.
Maybe there is life in this republic after all.
I really don't want to get over excited. God knows these professional crooks that call themselves the national Republican party are completely capable of turning this shit into gold.
Of course they can't do it alone. It requires inept democrats and gullible (read STOOOPID) voters.
The time is coming where we can in fact turn this nation back from the path of Cheneyesque pathology onto to path of the last great hope that I believe in fact our United States to be. I can only hope (and do what I can to convince them) that my fellow voters - because it is ONLY voters that will make a difference - will do the right thing and reject the RICO-grade Republicans in Congress.
And I do believe this nation is that great hope. Its very greatness is shown up in our failure to measure up to its ideals but more so in our insistence on trying. The actual is never perfection but the pursuit of perfection is threaded into the definition of our nation.
That George Bush seeks to use our ideals and beliefs to ruin our national dream says all we need to know about the character, about the morally hollow man that is George Bush.
Whether he is a monomaniac, I don't know but every day thanks to his enablers and co-conspirators whether we are talking about Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Dick Cheney or the other fellow war criminals that hold positions in this the Bush regime we are seeing this shell of a man piss on our ideals all the while grabbing for power.
Bush has cultivated his aw shucks act to total refinement. It is to the point that he could say, "If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier - just so long I'm the dictator." without a even cocked head of suspicion in our national media.
Remember, this is the same man that said of bin Laden:
"Underestimating the words of evil and ambitious men is a terrible mistake."
I know this entire post mght seem to be completely off-topic but really these thieves in the house of democracy are all the same. Bush, Ney, they trade in a different currency but they make their livings the same way.
Senator Collins rises to greatness
Today in the Senate my senator, Senator Collins stood up. She voted along with McCain, Graham and Warner to turn back the onslaught brought on by the thugs in the Bush Administration. Let me restate that. See by saying "the thugs in the BUsh Administration" I am implying that there are maybe some who are not thugs. But that would be wrong.
Anyway, Senator Collins is one of the moderate Republican. Like her colleague, my other senator Senator Snowe she has earned my ire on many occasions. I am firmly of the blelief that all Republicans at this point are merely enablers of a bunch of creeps - namely the Bush regime. They have done little to nothing - more approaching nothing than little - in moderately the deeply un-American bent of the rackteteers that call themselves the Bush administration.
Today my senator, took a courageous stand. I thank her - I called her office to tell her. THis is big because she not only stood up to what must have been serious busllshit to make her stand but in doing so she moved the alternate bill closer to respectability. No longer is it just 3 Republican presidential hopefuls and primadonnas who have gone wobbly themselves principles-wise more than once under the Bush regime.
No longer is it just Collin Powell trying to salve his conscience so that maybe he can find peace.
No longer is it just some JAGS who are willing to piss away their careers for a principled stand.
See in this America at this time all of that is noise.
Today with Senator Collins standing with Graham Warner and Mcain we see a bit of the ink on the Congressional rubber stamp fade. It is a battle no won yet but decidely closer.
I have always been a political junkie but I was never much of an activist. Still I am not but Abu Graib put me over the edge. I wrote my first letter to the editor and write still. This blog is because of Abu Graib.
George Bush this week is proving that Abu Graib was not an aberation. It was not a few bad apples. Like Guantanamo, like the un-Constitutional and illegal spying, George Bush is showing his true colors as a traitor to this nation and the Constitution he swore to uphold.
Today a senate committee greatly aided by Senator Collins decided to lead the way back from George Bush's criminality.
Anyway, Senator Collins is one of the moderate Republican. Like her colleague, my other senator Senator Snowe she has earned my ire on many occasions. I am firmly of the blelief that all Republicans at this point are merely enablers of a bunch of creeps - namely the Bush regime. They have done little to nothing - more approaching nothing than little - in moderately the deeply un-American bent of the rackteteers that call themselves the Bush administration.
Today my senator, took a courageous stand. I thank her - I called her office to tell her. THis is big because she not only stood up to what must have been serious busllshit to make her stand but in doing so she moved the alternate bill closer to respectability. No longer is it just 3 Republican presidential hopefuls and primadonnas who have gone wobbly themselves principles-wise more than once under the Bush regime.
No longer is it just Collin Powell trying to salve his conscience so that maybe he can find peace.
No longer is it just some JAGS who are willing to piss away their careers for a principled stand.
See in this America at this time all of that is noise.
Today with Senator Collins standing with Graham Warner and Mcain we see a bit of the ink on the Congressional rubber stamp fade. It is a battle no won yet but decidely closer.
I have always been a political junkie but I was never much of an activist. Still I am not but Abu Graib put me over the edge. I wrote my first letter to the editor and write still. This blog is because of Abu Graib.
George Bush this week is proving that Abu Graib was not an aberation. It was not a few bad apples. Like Guantanamo, like the un-Constitutional and illegal spying, George Bush is showing his true colors as a traitor to this nation and the Constitution he swore to uphold.
Today a senate committee greatly aided by Senator Collins decided to lead the way back from George Bush's criminality.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Karr flooey
The US gov't made the Americans evacuated from Lebanon sign waivers individually agreeing to assume the bill for air fare should the US gov't decide to charge them. (Golfing at St Andrews not included)
John Mark Karr gets a plane ticket out of an arrest as a child molester and a date with an Indonesian prison by claiming an involvement in the Benet murder in the US. Is this a get out of jail free card? Will we ship him back to Indonesia to face charges? Will we at least charge him air fare?
US media role in this stupidity? hook line and sinker. Did anyone in the US press ever even raise a question that maybe just maybe his let's say opportune claim was maybe suspect? Just because he was a known child porn fan, with an ex who had an alibi for him and a known obsession with the Benet murder case.
What suspicions about his veracity (and worthiness for even a newsnote) could there possibly be?
And I wonder why these Bozos in the news media give Bush and his RICO pals a pass wile they walk away with the Constitution and most of the wealth in this country. But then again why should I be mean to Bozos.
This - yet another instance of media vacuity - is too ridiculous to be sad and too important to be ridiculous and so ridiculous that it is funny so how can it be sad?
It's a wonder in this madness that more heads don't explode like so many summertime New York manholes.
Excuse me I must tighten my brain truss.
John Mark Karr gets a plane ticket out of an arrest as a child molester and a date with an Indonesian prison by claiming an involvement in the Benet murder in the US. Is this a get out of jail free card? Will we ship him back to Indonesia to face charges? Will we at least charge him air fare?
US media role in this stupidity? hook line and sinker. Did anyone in the US press ever even raise a question that maybe just maybe his let's say opportune claim was maybe suspect? Just because he was a known child porn fan, with an ex who had an alibi for him and a known obsession with the Benet murder case.
What suspicions about his veracity (and worthiness for even a newsnote) could there possibly be?
And I wonder why these Bozos in the news media give Bush and his RICO pals a pass wile they walk away with the Constitution and most of the wealth in this country. But then again why should I be mean to Bozos.
This - yet another instance of media vacuity - is too ridiculous to be sad and too important to be ridiculous and so ridiculous that it is funny so how can it be sad?
It's a wonder in this madness that more heads don't explode like so many summertime New York manholes.
Excuse me I must tighten my brain truss.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Rules of engagement?
Is it just me or has George Bush's people gone out of their way to describe the President as being "engaged"? It seems to me if you are engaged you don't need to remind folks that you are but I could be wrong. But anyway:
White House officials said Wednesday night that the transcripts and video obtained by AP show only a few moments in time and don't reflect that Bush was engaged before, during and after the hurricane hit.
"He issued emergency disaster declarations ahead of the storm. He told people in the region to listen to the warnings of state and local officials," said Blair Jones, a White House spokesman. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials. ... He was engaged."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13994512.htm
Brown described the president throughout the crisis this way: "I think he was engaged, but I think there was an overconfidence that FEMA had handled Sept. 11, we had handled the California wildfires, we had handled the 2004 hurricanes right in the middle of the presidential elections. Hey, we could do this, too."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186546,00.html
Here are two...
In August 29th Videoconference, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Said The President Was "Asking A Lot Of Really Good Questions I Would Expect Him To Ask." BROWN: "The President remains very, very interested in this situation. ... He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask." (Bill Walsh, "The Day Storm Hit, Bush Was Worried About Levees," The New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3/1/06)
The President Was Engaged In The Katrina Response And Mobilized Federal Resources.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060302-17.html
(AP) WASHINGTON President Bush remained engaged during Hurricane Katrina but was overconfident that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could handle the destructive aftermath based on its record in previous disasters, former federal disaster chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.
http://cbs4boston.com/hurricanes/hurricanekatrina_story_060210802.html
White House officials said the footage reinforces what they have said to critics: that the president, at his Texas vacation home, was fully engaged from the opening hours of the emergency, while leaving operational decisions to the agencies in charge.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=1934
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/print.php?ArticleID=117
As Cardinal Pio Laghi, perhaps the last opponent of war President Bush will meet face-to-face prior to a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, made the case for peace, the president was engaged and attentive.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives/031403/031403d.htm
"If you saw the President's press conference today there was no doubt that Mr. Bush fervently believes he is doing the right thing in Iraq and effectively fighting terrorism. The President was engaged and challenging, especially to critics who have questioned his motives, like White House reporter Helen Thomas.
http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=725
That is a quick perusal of the result of the first 5 pages of this Google search: "President Bush" "was engaged"
I picked the obvious stuff and Katrina seems to be the source of a lot of the need to show that Bush "is engaged" but after a bit the weight builds. It is as though everyone knows that there is a lack of gravitas that his own handlers know must be addressed.
But really... Have there been other Leaders of the Free World for whom the need to be described as "ENGAGED" has been so great?
White House officials said Wednesday night that the transcripts and video obtained by AP show only a few moments in time and don't reflect that Bush was engaged before, during and after the hurricane hit.
"He issued emergency disaster declarations ahead of the storm. He told people in the region to listen to the warnings of state and local officials," said Blair Jones, a White House spokesman. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials. ... He was engaged."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13994512.htm
Brown described the president throughout the crisis this way: "I think he was engaged, but I think there was an overconfidence that FEMA had handled Sept. 11, we had handled the California wildfires, we had handled the 2004 hurricanes right in the middle of the presidential elections. Hey, we could do this, too."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186546,00.html
Here are two...
In August 29th Videoconference, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Said The President Was "Asking A Lot Of Really Good Questions I Would Expect Him To Ask." BROWN: "The President remains very, very interested in this situation. ... He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask." (Bill Walsh, "The Day Storm Hit, Bush Was Worried About Levees," The New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3/1/06)
The President Was Engaged In The Katrina Response And Mobilized Federal Resources.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060302-17.html
(AP) WASHINGTON President Bush remained engaged during Hurricane Katrina but was overconfident that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could handle the destructive aftermath based on its record in previous disasters, former federal disaster chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.
http://cbs4boston.com/hurricanes/hurricanekatrina_story_060210802.html
White House officials said the footage reinforces what they have said to critics: that the president, at his Texas vacation home, was fully engaged from the opening hours of the emergency, while leaving operational decisions to the agencies in charge.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=1934
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/print.php?ArticleID=117
As Cardinal Pio Laghi, perhaps the last opponent of war President Bush will meet face-to-face prior to a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, made the case for peace, the president was engaged and attentive.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives/031403/031403d.htm
"If you saw the President's press conference today there was no doubt that Mr. Bush fervently believes he is doing the right thing in Iraq and effectively fighting terrorism. The President was engaged and challenging, especially to critics who have questioned his motives, like White House reporter Helen Thomas.
http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=725
That is a quick perusal of the result of the first 5 pages of this Google search: "President Bush" "was engaged"
I picked the obvious stuff and Katrina seems to be the source of a lot of the need to show that Bush "is engaged" but after a bit the weight builds. It is as though everyone knows that there is a lack of gravitas that his own handlers know must be addressed.
But really... Have there been other Leaders of the Free World for whom the need to be described as "ENGAGED" has been so great?
Rules of engagement?
Is it just me or has George Bush's people gone out of their way to describe the President as being "engaged"? It seems to me if you are engaged you don't need to remind folks that you are but I could be wrong. But anyway:
White House officials said Wednesday night that the transcripts and video obtained by AP show only a few moments in time and don't reflect that Bush was engaged before, during and after the hurricane hit.
"He issued emergency disaster declarations ahead of the storm. He told people in the region to listen to the warnings of state and local officials," said Blair Jones, a White House spokesman. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials. ... He was engaged."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13994512.htm
Brown described the president throughout the crisis this way: "I think he was engaged, but I think there was an overconfidence that FEMA had handled Sept. 11, we had handled the California wildfires, we had handled the 2004 hurricanes right in the middle of the presidential elections. Hey, we could do this, too."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186546,00.html
Here are two...
In August 29th Videoconference, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Said The President Was "Asking A Lot Of Really Good Questions I Would Expect Him To Ask." BROWN: "The President remains very, very interested in this situation. ... He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask." (Bill Walsh, "The Day Storm Hit, Bush Was Worried About Levees," The New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3/1/06)
The President Was Engaged In The Katrina Response And Mobilized Federal Resources.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060302-17.html
(AP) WASHINGTON President Bush remained engaged during Hurricane Katrina but was overconfident that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could handle the destructive aftermath based on its record in previous disasters, former federal disaster chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.
http://cbs4boston.com/hurricanes/hurricanekatrina_story_060210802.html
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=117
White House officials said the footage reinforces what they have said to critics: that the president, at his Texas vacation home, was fully engaged from the opening hours of the emergency, while leaving operational decisions to the agencies in charge.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=1934
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/print.php?ArticleID=117
As Cardinal Pio Laghi, perhaps the last opponent of war President Bush will meet face-to-face prior to a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, made the case for peace, the president was engaged and attentive.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives/031403/031403d.htm
"If you saw the President's press conference today there was no doubt that Mr. Bush fervently believes he is doing the right thing in Iraq and effectively fighting terrorism. The President was engaged and challenging, especially to critics who have questioned his motives, like White House reporter Helen Thomas.
http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=725
All that is a quick perusal of the result of the first 5 pages of this Google search: "President Bush" "was engaged"
I picked the obvious stuff and Katrina seems to be the source of a lot of the need to show that Bust "is engaged" but after a bit the weight builds. It is as though everyone knows that there is a lack of gravitas that his own handlers know must be addressed.
But really... Have there been other Leaders of the Free World for whom the need to be described as "ENGAGED" has been sp great?
White House officials said Wednesday night that the transcripts and video obtained by AP show only a few moments in time and don't reflect that Bush was engaged before, during and after the hurricane hit.
"He issued emergency disaster declarations ahead of the storm. He told people in the region to listen to the warnings of state and local officials," said Blair Jones, a White House spokesman. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials. ... He was engaged."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13994512.htm
Brown described the president throughout the crisis this way: "I think he was engaged, but I think there was an overconfidence that FEMA had handled Sept. 11, we had handled the California wildfires, we had handled the 2004 hurricanes right in the middle of the presidential elections. Hey, we could do this, too."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186546,00.html
Here are two...
In August 29th Videoconference, Former FEMA Director Michael Brown Said The President Was "Asking A Lot Of Really Good Questions I Would Expect Him To Ask." BROWN: "The President remains very, very interested in this situation. ... He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches. He's asking about hospitals. He's very engaged, and he's asking a lot of really good questions I would expect him to ask." (Bill Walsh, "The Day Storm Hit, Bush Was Worried About Levees," The New Orleans Times-Picayune, 3/1/06)
The President Was Engaged In The Katrina Response And Mobilized Federal Resources.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060302-17.html
(AP) WASHINGTON President Bush remained engaged during Hurricane Katrina but was overconfident that the Federal Emergency Management Agency could handle the destructive aftermath based on its record in previous disasters, former federal disaster chief Michael Brown said Wednesday.
http://cbs4boston.com/hurricanes/hurricanekatrina_story_060210802.html
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/?ArticleID=117
White House officials said the footage reinforces what they have said to critics: that the president, at his Texas vacation home, was fully engaged from the opening hours of the emergency, while leaving operational decisions to the agencies in charge.
http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=1934
Oh yeah, and there's the fact that those unnamed White House sources tell Bumiller that Bush was "engaged in the fighting in Falluja," which is sort of like saying Bush was engaged in the fighting in Vietnam (on the other hand, it does help explain why things went to hell there.)
http://gadflyer.com/articles/print.php?ArticleID=117
As Cardinal Pio Laghi, perhaps the last opponent of war President Bush will meet face-to-face prior to a U.S.-led attack against Iraq, made the case for peace, the president was engaged and attentive.
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives/031403/031403d.htm
"If you saw the President's press conference today there was no doubt that Mr. Bush fervently believes he is doing the right thing in Iraq and effectively fighting terrorism. The President was engaged and challenging, especially to critics who have questioned his motives, like White House reporter Helen Thomas.
http://www.billoreilly.com/show?action=viewTVShow&showID=725
All that is a quick perusal of the result of the first 5 pages of this Google search: "President Bush" "was engaged"
I picked the obvious stuff and Katrina seems to be the source of a lot of the need to show that Bust "is engaged" but after a bit the weight builds. It is as though everyone knows that there is a lack of gravitas that his own handlers know must be addressed.
But really... Have there been other Leaders of the Free World for whom the need to be described as "ENGAGED" has been sp great?
Saturday, August 05, 2006
a future maybe?
I dunno. The Cook report says that the RICO in action squad that runs this national government is through come November.
"Time is running out for Republicans. Unless something dramatic happens before Election Day, Democrats will take control of the House. And the chances that they’ll seize the Senate are rising toward 50-50."
We can dream. But I have a rule: never underestimate the ability of the Democratic Party to fuck it up.
We saw it in Gore's statesman-like cave-in in 2000. It was to save the Republic a crisis or some such bullshit. Like this country has never survived a crisis. And we have seen the bullshit that decision and the elevation of the boy-king has given us.
Then we saw the Kerry campaign. Always a lackluster overambitious politician, Kerry lost an election he should have won. Ohio? Yeah probably stolen. But still. The fact that it was that close shows how bad his campaign was run.
We see it even now in CT. Thank the ever loving God that maybe just maybe Joe will get creamed. I truly hope he finds solace and comfort in his future lobbying career. But my point is that even now the Democratic establishment is trying to wrest defeat from the jaws of victory by supporting the guy who can be counted on to stick his thumb in his colleagues eyes when they need it least. The guys he caucuses with no less.
Now I am at this point I suppose a fair weather Democrat. More exactly I have become a Democrat out of desperation.
I left my hereditary democratness in 72. McGovern lost Nixon won and the Democratic establishment stopped thinking.
They decided the very next day that their very ideals we wrong.
Rather than draw the conclusion that the power of incumbency beat them. And even later that the vicious shit that was Richard Nixon got his ass handed to him because there were still people that realized that ideals were worth fighting over, they internalized the meme that they were on the wrong side of the majority of the American people.
In a single thrust, they gave everything that the RICO wing of the Republican party needed to craft a generation of power. Kevin Phillips the reformed architect of the Southern Strategy has decided that his progeny are a bunch of assholes. I agree - may God burn him in hell. But the establishment Democrats have as much blame to shoulder.
So here I am. I really want a multi-party system in the this country. But now I would settle for merely two parties.
The first thing that must happen is that the Democratic party must be forced to become something other than Republican-lite.
And possibly - just even maybe - we will have CT next week to thank for making that happen.
"Time is running out for Republicans. Unless something dramatic happens before Election Day, Democrats will take control of the House. And the chances that they’ll seize the Senate are rising toward 50-50."
We can dream. But I have a rule: never underestimate the ability of the Democratic Party to fuck it up.
We saw it in Gore's statesman-like cave-in in 2000. It was to save the Republic a crisis or some such bullshit. Like this country has never survived a crisis. And we have seen the bullshit that decision and the elevation of the boy-king has given us.
Then we saw the Kerry campaign. Always a lackluster overambitious politician, Kerry lost an election he should have won. Ohio? Yeah probably stolen. But still. The fact that it was that close shows how bad his campaign was run.
We see it even now in CT. Thank the ever loving God that maybe just maybe Joe will get creamed. I truly hope he finds solace and comfort in his future lobbying career. But my point is that even now the Democratic establishment is trying to wrest defeat from the jaws of victory by supporting the guy who can be counted on to stick his thumb in his colleagues eyes when they need it least. The guys he caucuses with no less.
Now I am at this point I suppose a fair weather Democrat. More exactly I have become a Democrat out of desperation.
I left my hereditary democratness in 72. McGovern lost Nixon won and the Democratic establishment stopped thinking.
They decided the very next day that their very ideals we wrong.
Rather than draw the conclusion that the power of incumbency beat them. And even later that the vicious shit that was Richard Nixon got his ass handed to him because there were still people that realized that ideals were worth fighting over, they internalized the meme that they were on the wrong side of the majority of the American people.
In a single thrust, they gave everything that the RICO wing of the Republican party needed to craft a generation of power. Kevin Phillips the reformed architect of the Southern Strategy has decided that his progeny are a bunch of assholes. I agree - may God burn him in hell. But the establishment Democrats have as much blame to shoulder.
So here I am. I really want a multi-party system in the this country. But now I would settle for merely two parties.
The first thing that must happen is that the Democratic party must be forced to become something other than Republican-lite.
And possibly - just even maybe - we will have CT next week to thank for making that happen.
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