Recently in BushCo™ Category

I have to give Digby credit for coining Codpiece Day. However, Kyle E. Moore over at Comments From Left Field makes the point for the day.

Well, boys and girls, we’re still in Iraq, and since declaring the end of major combat operations, a full 97% of the men and women who have died in Iraq have done so following that potentially great day. And, of course, if we choose to elect John McCain as our next Commander in Chief, we will have many more Mission Accomplished Days to celebrate.

Do I really need to add to that?

Oh hell, of course I don't. Besides, rhetorical question. Duh.

What the hell?!?!?!

I just finished reading an article in the SAMHSA newsletter that stated Bush was planning to have the budget balanced by 2012. Now, it seems to me that for him to be able to balance the budget, he would have to be in office. Either that, or he is arrogant enough to believe his policies are going to be followed lock-step by the next president.

What ever. The idiot had 8 years to balance the budget and he couldn't get it done on his watch. Instead, after spending money like a drunk, he is simply passing the consequences on to someone else.

Bark Bark Woof Woof

In other words, the Republicans, who can't run on their record or rely on the sharp memory of their candidate (Shia? Sunni? Iran? Al-qaeda?) or his plans for revitalizing the economy (ready for more cake?), will do precisely what they're best at: attack their opponent and try to scare the crap out of the electorate without offering anything more than platitudes, nostrums, and the firm assertion that John McCain is most assuredly not George W. Bush; he just plans to do the exact same things he did but without the fake Texas drawl.

There is no doubt whatsoever that the Republicans will do exactly what Mr. Kristol predicts; that's a given, since it's worked so well the last couple of times. But Mr. Kristol's record for predicting the future is also well-known. He's one of the bunch that said that we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq, that the war would last a couple of weeks or months, that it would pay for itself with the oil revenues that we'd get, and that our influence and model of democracy would turn Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia into the Iowas of the Middle East with freedom and McDonald's springing up on every street corner from Riyad to Damascus. With that kind of record, it really makes you wonder why anyone gives serious attention to anything he says other than to hold it up for mockery and derision.

Star Tribune

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - White House officials waged an extraordinary campaign during an 11-hour Air Force One flight to put a positive spin on the outcome of Sunday's summit talks between President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Four times on the long flight back to Washington from Sochi, Russia, Bush aides trooped back to the press cabin to make the case that the summit had turned out well, particularly on missile defenses.

It was the heaviest lobbying campaign veteran reporters could recall ever occurring on the president's plane. Press accounts of the summit had been sent to Bush's plane and administration officials thought they were too negative. Clearly, Bush's aides were disappointed.

Oh, for crying out loud. Just how desperate are these bozos willing to act? At this point, it is becoming obvious that Bush has developed webbed feet and is quacking loudly. All the spin in the world is not going to keep that fact from reaching an already apathetic Republican electorate.

Do you think Fox will make mention of this little fact? Okay, okay. It really is rhetorical.

Web TV: The Many Lies Of BushCo™.

Christian Science Monitor

Baghdad - The Mahdi Army's seven-month-long cease-fire appears to have come undone.

Rockets fired from the capital's Shiite district of Sadr City slammed into the Green Zone Tuesday, the second time in three days, and firefights erupted around Baghdad pitting government and US forces against the militia allied to the influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

At the same time, the oil-export city of Basra became a battleground Tuesday as Iraqi forces, backed by US air power, launched a major crackdown on the Mahdi Army elements. British and US forces were guarding the border with Iran to intercept incoming weapons or fighters, according to a senior security official in Basra.

So much for the success of The Surge™. Be prepared for BushCo™'s call to increase the troop levels. You know, to restore the success of the Surge™.

Worse. Fucking. President. EVER. Worse. Fucking. Administration. EVER. And all of this done just to prove he had a bigger dick then daddy.

New York Times

WASHINGTON — Troop levels in Iraq would remain nearly the same through 2008 as they have been through most of the five years of war there, under plans presented to President Bush on Monday by the senior American commander and the top American diplomat in Iraq, senior administration and military officials said.

<sarcasm>Imagine that. The promised troop reduction pre surge has been abandoned. A raise of hands of all those who are shocked, Shocked! I tell you, at this unforeseen turn of events.</sarcasm>

New York Times

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The overall U.S. death toll in Iraq rose to 4,000 after four soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, a grim milestone that is likely to fuel calls for the withdrawal of American forces as the war enters its sixth year.

The American deaths occurred Sunday, the same day rockets and mortars pounded the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad and a wave of attacks left at least 61 Iraqis dead nationwide.

At this point, rage just won't get anything done. 4000 lives all in the name of Big Oil and Bush's ego. So, do you think he will go to his grave smug in the belief he showed up his father? Yeah, I agree.

The Daily Brew
February 21, 2008

Suppose, hypothetically, that sometime in the middle of next summer there is a major terrorist attack in the United States. Not on the scale of September 11, but somewhat larger in scale than the attacks in London and Barcelona. Suppose, for example, that on Friday, the Fourth of July, 2008, explosives simultaneously destroy ten subway trains packed with people on their way to the firework shows in New York City and Washington DC, killing 800 people, and injuring 1200 more. What would be the political fallout?

We all know what would happen. It would take perhaps three seconds before the Republican megaphone on AM radio and Fox News blamed the Democrats. The Republicans would immediately point to the Democrat's failure to renew FISA this past week as the reason the attacks were not stopped. The Democrats would then pee in their pants and form a circular firing squad, simultaneously blaming each other for not giving Bush the unfettered power to declare who should live and who should die, and debating whether the fall elections should just be delayed, or canceled entirely. Assuming that the ballot somehow went forward, John McCain would be elected president and the Republicans would re-take both houses of Congress.

The simple, undeniable truth is that the Republicans now have a tremendous amount to gain if America is attacked, and even more to lose if we are not. So put on your tinfoil hats with me and ask yourself if Cheney would let it happen.

I realize that among respectable progressives one is not allowed to even hint that the Republicans are capable of such evil. There is no more certain way to poop in the punchbowl of the comments section any of my favorite blogs than to suggest that you don't buy the official explanation of September 11. Virtually all of the self appointed consignetti of the left-wing commentariat will either ban you outright or mock you for even bringing the topic up. Despite how much we have in common on virtually every other political issue, I have to admit that I regard these people as idiots.

How much evidence do we need to see that the main difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans aren't shy about using violence, including violence against Americans, as a means to an end?  What do the Republicans have to do to prove they are capable of doing damn near anything to further their power?

The head of the Klu Klux Klan has been quoted as publicly predicting that Barrack Obama will be assassinated. No one believes for a minute that if he is elected President, some racist Republican won't try. The anthrax spores that were mailed to then majority leader Tom Daschle were created in a US government facility, yet no one has ever been charged with the crime. Osama bin Laden is blamed for killing three thousand American citizens. At six foot four, he is the most recognized man in the Arab world. He is also disabled, as he is in need of periodic kidney dialysis. Despite that, he has never been caught. The Bush administration deliberately lied to the American public to start an illegal war of choice that has killed thousands of American servicemen, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. They tortured people, some to death, in detention centers in Iraq and Cuba. They paid your tax dollars to hire private corporate mercenary armies to operate outside of the jurisdiction of any sovereign power, while knowing that male employees of these mercenary armies were raping female American citizens who worked for them, with no consequences whatsoever.

Call me a conspiracy nut, but given this track record I don't think it is unreasonable to suggest that the Republicans are capable of doing whatever is necessary to stay in power. Quite the contrary, I would suggest that anyone who thinks they would not is hopelessly naive.
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Musharraf's Party Accepts Defeat - New York Times

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Pakistan appeared to be heading for a transition to an elected civilian government Tuesday after President Pervez Musharraf told visiting United States senators that he accepted the resounding defeat of his party in elections, and would work with a new Parliament.

You mean his efforts at rigging the election in Pakistan didn't pan out? I am shocked, Shocked! I tell you. How could such a despicable situation befall a gallant ally in the GLOBAL WAR AGAINST TERROR?

Poor, poor President Bush. First the Protect America Act lapses, now Musharraf loses the election. He stands alone, does our quacker of a president.

Technorati Tags: Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, Election, GWOT

MinnPost.com

Well, in the interest of trying to stay well informed, I have committed myself to watching most of the presidential debates. A curiosity in the Republican debates is the constant invocation of a person all the candidates laud profusely: Ronald Reagan (57 times, by actual count in one debate).

Unfortunately, for the party, he is not running! He is ubiquitous in the debate, but I've never seen him on the stage.

That does not stop what appears to be a glorious memory of the grand old man -- though slightly faded, and often significantly distorted. As an interesting side note, the name of George W. Bush is rarely, if ever, mentioned in these debates by a single candidate. That should give us some pause.

New York Times

Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who heads the Armed Services Committee, said it was "unfortunate that the administration failed to identify the concerns upon which this veto is based until after the bill had passed both houses on Congress and was sent to the president for signature." The senator said he was "deeply disappointed" at Friday's developments.

The bill is important to members of the military and their families, since it provides for a 3.5 percent pay raise for the troops and contains measures intended to improve the much-criticized health-care system for veterans. (Money for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is provided for in separate legislation.)

Honestly, it is not about the possibility of lawsuits. It is about BushCo™ using it as an excuse instead of vetoing it over the 3.5% pay raise for the troops. These bastards are nothing, if not craven, in their efforts to undermine our troops. And since there is no simple fix to be had here-it will all have to go through the legislation process again, more pork barrel sections will be added, and the pay raise will be battled against. And if it is not successfully combated and makes it into the bill again, than another section will be used as an excuse to veto that version of the bill.

Now, if you will all excuse me, I have to put my conspiracy theorist back in his underground bunker complex.

This is the afore mentioned post:

I feel empty. I've no energy. I've not the motivation to write my anger out. And I am full of anger. But it does no good. All the writing of angry screeds. All the ranting at the unlawful, unethical, amoral actions of BushCo™. All the bitching about the American Aristocrats and their raping of the American middle class. Not any of it accomplishes a damn bit of good. In the end, I am drained. Lifeless. I have not the desire to do but the bare minimum to survive.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I do my job. But there is no love in it for me anymore. I've been away from my family for too long. Alone, empty, without the life affirming embrace of my loved ones, there is no reason to be happy.

There is no reason for me to put up with the standard mediocrity of many of the employees where I labor. There is no reason for me to accept the inadequacies, and sheer incompetence, that populate the back water institution of my employ.

And it is a backwater institution, let me tell you, full of backwater thinking. Many of them are bush country hicks with visions of grandeur. They all carry the same mentality of "we do things different up here in the Borderland."

Yeah, they sure do. Many live mediocre lives while performing mediocre levels of employment. At least they are at their best 100% of the time.

I despise them. They represent everything that is wrong with America, and with the human race. They reflect everything that I found wrong with me.

That's the biggest part of the problem. I see me as I was years ago. Ignorant, self-centered, intellectually lazy, and emotionally stunted. It's all around me. Echoes of my past failing persona.

Without my family to remind me of what I've accomplished, to support me and uplift me, I fall into my old funk. And I can't take it anymore. I want the fuck away from this place.

Yes, I know, it is petty, judgmental, and cruel. I was in a bad place.

However, things are now different. I have a new job. It starts on Monday of next week. I am not willing to give two weeks notice. Back, about a month or so ago, I explained my financial situation to my boss, who is the director of the facility I am now leaving (God, that feels good to type!). His response? "You better do something about that."

Well, having been one month behind on the mortgage, three months behind on the electric bill, three months behind on the cable bill, two months behind on the gas bill, paying out the ass for gas to get back and forth to be with my family, and the extra cost of paying for a motel room, I did just that, I found a new job.

You know, in the end, it's not that corporations are soulless, it's that the people who are in charge of them are merciless, uncaring bastards. A corporation, whether for profit, or a non-profit, is merely a reflection of the personalities and soul of those in charge.

So, anyway, I am resuming my life in Hastings, MN. Farewell, ol' Borderland of the North. May your frigid winters not be seen as a metaphor of your heart.

Actually, many of the people up here were quite delightful and pleasant. Indeed, as a whole, I found International Falls, and Littlefork, to be pleasant, restful, and beautiful.

My problem was with the uncaring, and insensitive manner with which my boss reacted to my financial difficulties. I wasn't expecting him to do anything much more than offer some words of encouragement, or at least a bit of empathy. But to be told coldly (and it was cold and blunt, let me tell you) "Do something about that" was the last straw. So, I figure I own the company as much regard as I received. Which was none at all.

Not that I am unique. There are millions, upon millions, of Bush victims in the world. I wouldn't even begin to claim special victim hood over, say, anyone from Iraq. But yet, I am a Bush victim. I have been devastated by his poor stewardship of the economy. I chose to attempt a move to another area of the state, ignoring the true nature of the housing market that had not yet hit Hastings, while not realizing that the oil prices were about to go through the roof.

So, here it is 9 months later, my house payment behind, bills up the ass behind, and no light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, I know I am whining. You'll have to go buy your own cheese and crackers, I can't afford to supply them at the moment.

New York Times

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 — The White House began a campaign Thursday to save the candidacy of Michael B. Mukasey for attorney general, with President Bush defending him in a speech and in an Oval Office interview, where he complained that Mr. Mukasey was “not being treated fairly” on Capitol Hill.

Gee, I wonder if the people of New Orleans feel they were "not being treated fairly" during the aftermath of Katrina? I suppose that's water over the dike. How about the Iraq veteran's who've come home to discover their promised benefits cut? I wonder if they have feelings of "not being treated fairly?"

Anyway, it's really pathetic to have to listen to our president whine about unfair treatment as if life is some kind of fall festival with fun rides and rip-off carnival games. But then, I am expecting too much from the vocabularily challenged village idiot.

When is this wimp going to develop a back bone? Oh, wait, never mind. His mother is carrying it for him.

Washington Post

The White House plans to try implementing as much new policy as it can by administrative order while stepping up its confrontational rhetoric with Congress after concluding that President Bush cannot do much business with the Democratic leadership, administration officials said.

According to those officials, Bush and his advisers blame Democrats for the holdup of Judge Michael B. Mukasey's nomination to be attorney general, the failure to pass any of the 12 annual spending bills, and what they see as their refusal to involve the White House in any meaningful negotiations over the stalemated children's health-care legislation.

Any meaningful negotiations? When the stance of the White House is to simply refuse to fund health insurance for children on ideological grounds, there is no possibility for meaningful negotiations to occur.

Oh, and isn't it rich that the White House is complaining about being left out of the process now, when for the 5 years of republican control of the House and Senate, the democratic party wasn't even allowed to propose legislation.

Kettle, met pot.

New York Times

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Oct. 30 — Several hundred Taliban fighters have moved into a strategic area just outside the southern city of Kandahar in recent days and clashed with Afghan and NATO forces, according to Canadian and Afghan officials.

The fighting, which began Tuesday, is the first time large numbers of Taliban have been able to enter the area just north of the city since 2001. Control of the area, known as the Arghandab district, would allow the Taliban to directly threaten Kandahar, southern Afghanistan’s largest city.

Whether the Taliban were looking to establish permanent control over the area or were simply carrying out raids was unclear on Tuesday night. But Canadian military officials said Afghan and NATO forces had begun a “large operation” to drive out the Taliban.

Why am I reading about this? Didn't we do a good enough job on winning the war in Afghanistan? Seriously, had BushCo™ done their jobs, this would not be happening. I would not need to be reading this article because there would be no need to for it to be written. Yet, here it is, in the New York Times.

Had Jr. not been so hot and lathered to prove Daddy Dearest just how wrong he was about not taking Saddam out during Iraq I, he might have actually completed what was started in Afghanistan. But then, Jr. is not known for finishing what he starts.

Studs Terkel points out that our government has had a habit of unconstitutional surveillance on the general populace far longer than just during this administration.