Recently in Failed Leadership Category

Raw Story

A senior Bush official told Allen the Administration had no desire to herald the Democrats who shepherded the bill through their congressional committees, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).

My God, can he be any more childish and immature? He's a spoiled little brat who is throwing a temper tantrum because he couldn't get his way. But he has been childish and immature on numerous occasions.

The Independent

As he prepared to fly out from Japan, he told his fellow leaders: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."
President Bush made the private joke in the summit's closing session, senior sources said yesterday. His remarks were taken as a two-fingered salute from the President from Texas who is wedded to the oil industry. He had given some ground at the summit by saying he would "seriously consider" a 50 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050.

Wikipedia
Austin to demand clemency for Karla Faye Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask. Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them", he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with Tucker, though. He asked her real difficult questions like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'" "What was her answer?" I wonder. "'Please,'" Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "'don't kill me.'" I must look shocked -- ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel -- because he immediately stops smirking.

New York Times

HONOLULU (AP) -- The Air Force says a B-52 bomber with six crew members has crashed off Guam. The Coast Guard says two people have been recovered from the waters. Their condition was not immediately available.

You know, Moveon.org produces some good videos.
 


It is amazing. These idiots actually think it's okay to talk down to the electorate, and tell them it's all in their heads. Just you wait and see. Next the GOP will be trotting out some new ad with the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" as the background music.


*Actually, my website email server seems to be having problems, so I am not receiving any emails for my rooksrant dot com addys.

By way of ASZ:

SF Gate

(07-17) 14:57 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco voters will be asked to decide whether to name a city sewage plant in honor of President Bush, after a satiric measure qualified for the November ballot Thursday.

Backers of the measure, who for several months circulated a petition to place the measure on the ballot, turned in more than 12,000 signatures on July 7, said organizer Brian McConnell. The Department of Elections on Thursday informed those supporters, the self-proclaimed Presidential Memorial Commission, that they had enough valid signatures - a minimum of 7,168 registered San Francisco voters - to qualify for the November ballot.

New York Times

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, would not comment about a company safety study or the reports of electrical fires or shocks, but she said KBR had found no evidence of a link between its work and the electrocutions. She added, "KBR's commitment to the safety of all employees and those the company serves remains unwavering."

Of course KBR is going to deny any wrong doing. They don't want to be sued. Once again, the hallmark of BushCo™ is on display: incompetence in all they do or touch.

I wonder if there will be any war profiteering hearings after the new administration takes power. That has been the most glaring problem with BushCo™. They have made no effort at ensuring competence and integrity with government contractors during their entire tenure at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But than, their focus has not been on running the government, it has been on lining Dick Cheney's pockets, as well as the Carlyle Group's accounts.

Star Tribune

The government still doesn't know just what caused the salmonella outbreak, and Thursday's move doesn't mean tomatoes are cleared. Early on, there was good evidence linking them to the sick, but it's unlikely that any field where tomatoes were harvested in April and May still is in production.

So, they have not yet discovered the source of the outbreak.  Am I suppose to feel secure in this announcement? The Bush administration and the people it has placed into government sector jobs has not been able to find it's head in an asshole, even when it is shoved up their own asshole. So, you'll forgive me if I choose not to believe the outbreak is over.

More than likely, the culprit discovered the problem, did a quick cover up, and is hoping against hope the government continues it's usual incompetence and so not be held accountable. You know, that really is not hoping against hope; it's a sure bet.

Under the Bush administration, you can easily get away with murder.

New York Times

In short, in a nation that holds itself up as a citadel of free enterprise, the government has morphed from lender of last resort into effectively the only lender for millions of Americans engaged in the largest transactions of their lives.

Star Tribune

U.S. officials say militant attacks in Afghanistan are becoming more complex, intense and better coordinated than a year ago. Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June. And last Monday, a suicide bomber attacked the Indian Embassy in Kabul, killing 58 people in the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since 2001.

This should not be a news story. Afghanistan should not be a problem right now. But, because our piss poor excuse of a president decided to prove he was better than his father, we blundered into an invasion of Iraq. This depleted the military strength required to take out the people truly responsible for the attacks on September 11th, 2001. So, instead of a secure, safe Afghanistan, we have Afghanistan slowly degrading into chaos -- if ever it really had seen stability.

The fight has only just begun. I understand many people believed that the passing of this new FISA law was going to signal the end of our Constitutionally created country. But the passing of a law -- hell, the passing of an amendment -- is not set in concrete. The only thing set in concrete is the existence of the will of the people.

Hope people. Hope. The Fourth Amendment has not been repealed. It is just a law that was passed. They get struck down quite a bit.

New York Times

The aides said Dr. Gerberding told him he would not be reappointed. Dr. Howard had signaled his desire to continue in the job, which pays $174,612 a year, in April in a letter to Michael O. Leavitt, secretary of health and human services.

Calls to Dr. Howard's office in Washington and to the C.D.C. were not immediately returned. But The Associated Press quoted a spokesman for the agency, Glen Nowak, as saying that Dr. Gerberding had decided to "go in a different direction."

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Hat Tip: The Moderate Left

Los Angeles Times

DENVER -- Squeezed by soaring energy prices, governments around the nation are reacting just like consumers -- changing basic routines, and scrimping and saving in order to get by.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Department in southeastern Colorado has ended car patrols of its 2,000-square-mile jurisdiction. One Ohio sheriff is putting his deputies into golf carts. Stillwater, Okla., has stopped mowing the grass on nearly half of its parkland. Cleveland is remapping its trash pickup routes to cut costs.

"I know it's a step backwards," said El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, whose deputies will now respond only to calls for help. "But when the dollars aren't there, they aren't there."

High energy costs have taken a toll on government budgets already strained by the housing collapse. "They have a much more direct role in affecting consumer confidence, which can affect sales tax revenue, which accounts for one-third of state revenues," said Arturo Perez, an analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

New York Times

In the first civilian judicial review of the government's evidence for holding any of the Guantánamo Bay detainees, a federal appeals court has ordered that one of them be released or given a new military hearing.

The ruling, made known Monday in a notice from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, overturned a Pentagon tribunal's decision in the case of one of 17 Guantánamo detainees who are ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim minority from western China.

The imprisonment of the 17 Uighurs (pronounced WEE-goors) has drawn wide attention because of their claim that although they were in Afghanistan when the United States invaded in 2001, they were never enemies of this country and were mistakenly swept into Guantánamo.

No, it can't be possible. Our government make a mistake?! Not the government commanded by George "No regrets" W. Bush. Oh please oh please tell me it ain't so! I mean, these prisoners sound dangerous, what with peddling their fruits of mass destruction.

The one-paragraph notice from the appeals court said a three-judge panel had found in favor of Huzaifa Parhat, a former fruit peddler who made his way from western China to a Uighur camp in Afghanistan.

I am so disheartened. Poor president Bush. He will never be able to achieve world peace at this rate.

And OH. MY. GOD! it burns.

What is even more embarrassing, this incredibly stupid woman comes from Minnesota.

Politically Connected

"Some suggestions are that perhaps we would see an enhancement of wildlife expansion because of the warmth of the pipeline," she said during her Wednesday appearance on WCCO-Radio's "Jack Rice Show."

Bachmann noted a caribou population increase, from 2,700 to 30,000, since the Trans Alaska Pipeline System from Prudhoe Bay was built in 1977.

The pipeline has now become a meeting ground and "coffee klatch" for the caribou, she said.

Coffee klatch? Meeting ground? Christ on horseback, she is a fucking dumb-ass. She makes Dana Carvey's Church Lady look absolutely progressive.

Dump Michele Bachmann





Unbelievable, Michele is discredited by a member of her own party! How pathetic is that?

Yeah, like I am expecting an answer.

Hat Tip: MNPublius

You have to give Scott McClellan credit.  It takes a lot of courage to stand up and publicly announce that you were wrong.  Now, obviously, Scott has not directly said he was wrong.  But Scott is a well-trained press secretary.  He knows that his message will be seen implicitly as stating he was wrong.  Most of the electorate in our country will see that and internalize his admission.

The benefit of Scott's book is that he is setting an example.  One of the cornerstones of recovery, or sobriety, as well as an integral part of Catholicism, is the concept of confession.  Now, the manner of that confession might be argued, with some claiming confession should be personal and private, while others are okay with public confessions.

In Scotty's case, a public confession appears appropriate.  Mostly because the topic of his confession were the lies and manipulation he conveyed for the administration to the public.  But even more to the point, his current actions give courage to others to acknowledge their experience of being pressured by the administration and corporate executives prior to our invasion of Iraq.

Already a highly visible journalist, Jessica Yellin, and a legacy media anchor, Katie Couric, have come forth, as Glenn Greenwald so amply noted at Salon.  And then there's Michael Turk's message posted at Twitter.

Now, a lot of people are questioning Scott's motive for his disclosure at this time. However, his motive is not the issue. What is important is the unintended consequences of his book.  Or maybe not so unintended consequences.  Regardless of Scott's monetary gain with the release of this book it appears to be a public display of personal introspection; a process that hopefully Scott's example indicates has begun in our nation and will spur others to mirror.

Perhaps the collective visceral shock our nation experienced after September 11, 2001 has finally cleared and we are now recognizing the consequences of the Bush administration's knee-jerk reaction.  Often, after a great shock, people have a tendency to lash out in an effort to protect themselves from further hurt.  Unfortunately, that means those people who normally are our support and comfort are driven away.  And when we finally see that consequence, are aware of its damaging effects, it's still difficult to acknowledge -- both to ourselves and to those important in our lives -- our behavior.

Whereas Paul O'Neill and Richard Clarke did come out with books criticizing the Bush administration they never acknowledged or admitted any personal mistakes.  Yes, Richard Clarke did apologize to the families of the victims of September 11, 2001, but only as a surrogate for the Bush administration, not as the man solely responsible for that tragedy.  Also, both of them simply criticized the policies of the administration, they made no moral or ethical charges.

Indeed, Scott's scathing disclosure comes across as an implicit acknowledgment of shared immoral and unethical behavior.  This conveys a spiritual aspect in Scott's action that was missing from all the prior tell-all books released by former administration members.

I think this book will strike a deeper cord in the American electorate than all the past books of former Bush administration officials. It portrays a sense of awakening, of returning to a core set of beliefs. Whereas candidate Bush simply talked the talk about "restoring honor and dignity to the White House" Scott has walked the walk.

Now, to beg the question; is our country awakening and preparing to return to it's core set of beliefs about individual freedom and basic rights? If Scott's book is any indication, we just might be, we just might be.

I know I said I was not into politics at the moment. But Scott McClellan is coming out with a book on Monday that a CNN White House correspondent called, and I am trying to recall this from memory, candid and straightforward.

Already the Mighty Wurlitzer's screeching harpies are lining up for blood.

Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security adviser to Bush, said advisers to the president should speak up when they have policy concerns.

"Scott never did that on any of these issues as best I can remember or as best as I know from any of my White House colleagues," said Townsend, now a CNN contributor. "For him to do this now strikes me as self-serving, disingenuous and unprofessional."

Only problem with that:

A former spokesman for Bush when he was governor of Texas, McClellan was named White House press secretary in 2003, replacing Ari Fleischer. McClellan had previously been a deputy press secretary and was the traveling spokesman for the Bush campaign during the 2000 election.

He announced he was resigning in April 2006 at a news conference with Bush.

"One of these days, he and I are going to be rocking in chairs in Texas talking about the good old days of his time as the press secretary," Bush said at that conference. "And I can assure you, I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done."

Obviously, Scott didn't coordinate this announcement with the White House; it's not Friday. But more to the point, how can they denounce Scott's job performance when the president himself proclaimed a job done well? Yeah, I know, they will anyway.

Damn, just when I thought I'd gotten away, they pull me back in.

Update: Here are two more links; C&L and Politico.com

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.

Blue Gal, Red State: Gardens of Stone

The Hastings Star Gazette

About 50 Hastings-based soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard will soon be returning to Iraq for their second deployment in four years.

The soldiers are part of Charlie Company of the 834th Aviation Support Battalion of the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade. They’ll be leaving near the end of May for an approximately year-long tour, Shane Hudella, a spokesman for the National Guard said.

After 5 years this should not be happening. Putting aside the lies, the deception, and the manipulation that led us into this occupation, if the current administration had any competent leadership abilities, this type of extreme rotation would not be needed. Instead, there would already be an international coalition in Iraq, with the Iraqis themselves supply the bulk of security in their own country.

Instead, we are left as the major, if not sole, security force in the country that does not want us there, while a certain vice-president's company reaps a whirlwind profit. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Army was soundly rebuffed by local militias and shows no signs of being able to improve its standing.

CBS News

In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.

"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.

But in this e-mail to his top media adviser, written two months ago, Katz appears to be saying something very different, stating: "Our suicide prevention coordinators are identifying about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans we see in our medical facilities."

Katz's e-mail was written shortly after the VA provided CBS News data showing there were only 790 attempted suicides in all 2007 - a fraction of Katz's estimate.

What the hell do you say to this type of cover up?

Suicide is an extremely serious problem. Denial on the part of those responsible for helping the veteran's struggling with depression clearly means our military personnel are not getting the help they need. Katz is suppose to be focusing on the welfare of his patients, not the greater good of the military.

The man acted dishonorably, tarnishing the reputation of our military personnel, many who are now struggling to overcome the psychological damage caused by what was clearly an untenable situation.

The New Republic

Rife with big egos and competing centers of influence--veterans of Hillary's First Lady days, relative newbies from her Senate office, Bill's '92 people, Bill's '96 people--Team Hillary has never been a comfortably cohesive group. In happier times, discipline was easier to maintain. But, as this race has grown longer and rougher, the staff's nerves and relations have been badly strained by persistent financial troubles and constant turf wars, not to mention one increasingly unmanageable ex-president. Some days, it's hard to remember that, just six months ago, the campaign was regarded as a highly disciplined machine. More and more, it resembles an unruly rock band plagued by dysfunction and public infighting. From Williams's arrival to Solis Doyle's demise to Penn's ascent, fall, and return, the ebb and flow of power in Hillaryland over the past few months has left multiple people acting like they are in charge--and no one really in control.

You want my vote for president? Not if you can't create an efficient, smooth running team. This is more reminiscent of BushCo™ than of any successful presidency.

New York Times

To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.

You mean they are not unbiased analysts with integrity and honor? <snark>Well, knock me over with a feather.</snark>

It is a long, and damaging article detailing propaganda at its worst.

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.

I've been loathed to post about torture. To actually have to make an argument that torture is wrong seems so ridiculous. It is like writing an essay explaining the importance of breathing. Who the hell needs to have the importance of breathing explained to them?

That we are having any type of discourse over the legitimacy of torture is beyond the pale. Our current leadership is at an intellectual capacity as to render the discourse in this country to an elementary school level. But than, we here in Left Blogstonia have been aware of the childishness of our leader since 2002.