EMBRACING REALITY

Kudos to NBC News and MSNBC (the same organ) for embracing reality by calling a duck a duck today. They are to date the only news organization to stand up and tell their viewers that the nightmare in Iraq is exactly what the general public has thought it is for some time now; namely a civil war.

The news from Iraq is becoming grimmer every day. Over the long holiday weekend bombings killed more than 200 people in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. And six Sunni men were doused with kerosene and burned alive. Shiite muslims are the majority, but Sunnis like Saddam Hussein ruled that country until the war. Now, the battle between Shiites and Sunnis has created a civil war in Iraq. Beginning this morning, MSNBC will refer to the fighting in Iraq as a civil war — a phrase the White House continues to resist. But after careful thought, MSNBC and NBC News decided over the weekend, the terminology is appropriate, as armed militarized factions fight for their own political agendas.

The other news organizations however insist on doing verbal calisthenics when speaking of the Iraq civil war. It's almost funny the iterations the news organizations come up with, including the regular "sectarian violence," "snowballing sectarian violence," "sectarian slaughter," "widening sectarian war," and "sectarian strife". Then there are some other outlets who continue to claim that while there's not a civil war going on in Iraq, one could certainly be on the way like the Washington Post's "... closer to full-blown civil war...," and the Chicago Tribune's "... the prospect of civil war in Iraq festers...".

So instead of nutting up and calling a spade a spade, the majority of television and print media continue to toe the White House line and come up with new and clever ways to describe the CIVIL WAR that rages in Iraq. We as a nation cannot address the problem if the problem itself cannot be properly identified. Just because Bush cannot come to grips with the hell on earth he has unleashed (in the name of WMDs or spreading democracy or freeing the Iraqis from Saddam or whatever reason of the week Bush is using to justify this folly) doesn't mean the American people are incapable of embracing this awful reality.

UPDATE: A writer with the Washington Post explains why they do not label the ongoing and worsening sectarian violence in Iraq a civil war - because the leaders in Iraq do not call it a civil war. As Think Progress notes, "Government officials in Iraq have a direct interest in avoiding the characterization of violence there as a civil war. The Washington Post’s job is not to act as stenographers for officials in positions of power, but rather to report facts as they exist on the ground."

And the fall of a once great newspaper continues...

YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Sometimes you read things online and they just sound so preposterous on their face as to seem impossible. Then you remember that the subject in question has to do with George W. Bush and you realize that in matters where he's involved, the impossible is quite likely. Take for instance the plans for his presidential library/public relations firm.

He may be a certified lame duck now, but President Bush and his truest believers are about to launch their final campaign - an eye-popping, half-billion-dollar drive for the Bush presidential library.

Eager to begin refurbishing his tattered legacy, the President hopes to raise $500 million to build his library and a think tank at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Bush lived in Dallas until he was elected governor of Texas in 1995.

Bush sources with direct knowledge of library plans told the Daily News that SMU and Bush fund-raisers hope to get half of the half billion from what they call "megadonations" of $10 million to $20 million a pop.

Bush loyalists have already identified wealthy heiresses, Arab nations and captains of industry as potential "mega" donors and are pressing for a formal site announcement - now expected early in the new year.

...

"It's a stretch," said another source briefed on the plans. "It's so much bigger than anything that's been tried before. But the more you have, the more influence [on history] you can exert."

The half-billion target is double what Bush raised for his 2004 reelection and dwarfs the funding of other presidential libraries. But Bush partisans are determined to have a massive pile of endowment cash to spread the gospel of a presidency that for now gets poor marks from many scholars and a majority of Americans.

The legacy-polishing centerpiece is an institute, which several Bush insiders called the Institute for Democracy. Patterned after Stanford University's Hoover Institution, Bush's institute will hire conservative scholars and "give them money to write papers and books favorable to the President's policies," one Bush insider said.

When all is said and done, I suppose that it is only fitting that this presidential library be a monument to influencing public opinion, given that this administration has always prided itself on looking busy rather than actually doing the hard work of governance. That fact that it will be financed by wealthy interests (including Arab money) also seems oddly appropriate considering all he's done for the huddled rich masses these past eight years.

I recall during the waning months of the Clinton presidency, when President Clinton worked tirelessly to reach some sort of accord with the Palestinians and the Israelis to facilitate a lasting peace in the area, confident that such an accomplishment would reflect well on his overall legacy. Bush on the other hand holds no such lofty ideals; instead he wants to have complimentary things written about him because he's paying people to do so as opposed to actually doing the hard work to earn such accolades.

I suppose my only question is, if you spend half a billion dollars to polish up a turd, don't you still just end up with a shiny turd?

HERE, SIR, ENDETH THE LESSON

Keith Olbermann was at it again last night, and by "at it" I mean metaphorically beating the hell out of George W. Bush on his idiocy/lunacy, specifically as it refers to Bush's recent trip to Vietnam (his first EVER, by the way). Olbermann took exception to Bush's recent comment about any lessons we learned in Vietnam as they relate to Iraq. Bush's comment:

"One lesson is that we tend to want there to be instant success in the world, and the task in Iraq is going to take a while."

"We'll succeed, unless we quit."

At which Olbermann removed himself to behind the woodshed and proceeded with the beatdown:

The primary one — which should be as obvious to you as the latest opinion poll showing that only 31 percent of this country agrees with your tragic Iraq policy– is that if you try to pursue a war for which the nation has lost its stomach, you and it are finished. Ask Lyndon Johnson.

The second most important lesson of Vietnam, Mr. Bush: if you don't have a stable local government to work with, you can keep sending in Americans until hell freezes over and it will not matter. Ask South Vietnam's President Diem, or President Thieu.

The third vital lesson of Vietnam, Mr. Bush: don't pretend it's something it's not. For decades we were warned that if we didn't stop "communist aggression" in Vietnam, communist agitators would infiltrate and devour the small nations of the world, and make their insidious way, stealthily, to our doorstep.

...

This president has his fictitious Iraqi W-M-D, and his lies (disguised as subtle hints) linking Saddam Hussein to 9/11, and his reason-of-the-week for keeping us there when all the evidence has, for at least three years, told us we needed to get as many of our kids out, as quickly as we could.

That president [Lyndon Johnson] had his fictitious attacks on Navy ships in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964, and the next thing any of us knew, the Senate had voted 88-to-2 to approve the blank check with which Lyndon Johnson paid for our trip into hell.

And then, my favorite passage:

The Domino Theory was nonsense, sir. Our departure from Vietnam emboldened no one. Communism did not spread like a contagion around the world.

And most importantly — as President Reagan's Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence Korb said on this newscast Friday — we were only in a position to win the Cold War because we quit in Vietnam.

We went home. And instead it was the Russians who learned nothing from Vietnam, and who repeated every one of our mistakes when they went into Afghanistan. And alienated their own people, and killed their own children, and bankrupted their own economy, and allowed us to win the Cold War.

This is basically an encapsulation of everything level-headed (read: non-neoconservatives) people have been claiming for years - the war in Iraq has distracted us from your beloved war on terror, and has in fact made the latter war almost impossible to win. As has been said, our presense in Iraq has done more to recruit would-be terrorists than anything Osama bin Laden could have said or done. The world is a more dangerous place, and it is because you fail to grasp the historical significance of what you have done to this nation. You may be weakened by your party's loss of Congress but you daily demonstrate just how dangerous you are to the world.

C&L has video and a full transcript.

STILL DANGEROUS - George W. Bush

It is common knowledge that George W. Bush's first tentative steps into the unknown realm of bipartisanship have been bumpy ones at best. Days after pledging to work with the Democrats that now control both houses of Congress, he renominated the controversial and recess-appointed John Bolton to his post as Ambassador to the UN. Days later, he renominated several persons to appellate judge posts; the previous appointments were unacceptable to Democrats back when they were in the minority and their position will certainly not change now that they are in control.

The moves by Bush were widely heralded as examples of his innate inability to even comprehend the word bipartisan, let alone govern in such a manner. Given that these appointments require approval for the Congress, they have little chance of ever getting through, thus negating some amount of pandering to the right wing Bush was hoping to achieve (though the simple fact of renominating these figures will probably be enough of a gesture to placate them for a time).

There are however some positions that Bush can fill that do not require congressional approval, and such is the case in regards to a Dr. Eric Keroack, who was recently appointed as new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. The position puts Keroack in charge of "$283 million in annual family planning grants that are designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons", according to HHS.

From the Washington Post:

The Keroack appointment angered many family-planning advocates, who noted that A Woman's Concern supports sexual abstinence until marriage, opposes contraception and does not distribute information promoting birth control at its six centers in eastern Massachusetts.

"A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness," the group's Web site says.

From Alternet, an exploration into the types of tactics used by 'crisis pregnancy centers' like A Woman's Concern:

According to a recent Planned Parenthood email, a 17-year-old girl mistakenly walked into a crisis pregnancy center thinking it was Planned Parenthood, which was next door. "The group took down the girl's confidential personal information and told her to come back for her appointment, which they said would be in their 'other office' (the real Planned Parenthood office nearby)."

When she showed up for her nonexistent appointment, she was met by the police, who had been erroneously tipped that a minor was being forced to abort. The crisis pregnancy center staff followed up this harassment by staking out the girl's house, phoning her father at work, and even talking to her classmates about her pregnancy, urging them to harass her.

As Michelle Goldberg at Huffington Post notes,

Bush has appointed a number of pro-life activists to important positions in the federal bureaucracy. Keroack is unique, though, because the job he's been given is all about the distribution of contraceptives, something he appears to oppose in principal. Again, from A Woman's Concern: "A Woman's Concern is persuaded that the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness."

So, in Dr. Keroack, we have someone who opposes contraception and won't tell women about birth control, he basically advocates the exact opposite of what family planning is supposed to function. He is just another example of the fact that while Bush's power has been weakened now that Dems control Congress, he is still a dangerous commodity that must be scrutinized at every turn. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino noted, "The president has said we will look to reach common ground where we can find it. However, he's not going to compromise on his principles." I question if there will be any position where Bush can compromise.

"C" STUDENT

GEORGE W. BUSH


George W. Bush's "C" grade efforts during his schooling career are really demonstrating themselves. Though I do not know what is score was on the SATs or whatever entrance exam he had to take to enter the realm of higher education at Yale, he clearly performed poorly on the vocabulary section.
This is evidenced by a recent revelation by incoming Senate judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy's revelation that Bush intends to once again nominate ultra-conservative judges to various federal benches (Think Progress and TPM have more).
So, in the interest of helping Bush learn at this late stage of his time in office, I provide him with this handy list:

struggle n. - a task or goal requiring much effort to accomplish or achieve.

As in, "Bush is struggling to understand the meaning of the term bipartisan."

bi·par·ti·san adj. - Of, consisting of, or supported by members of two parties, especially two major political parties: a bipartisan resolution.

As in, "Bush claimed after his party lost control of both houses of Congress that he would take a bipartisan approach to working with the Democrats. His actions, however, speak to a desire to continue his partisan streak by attempting to nominate these judges, as well as controversial and recess-appointed Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton.

moderate adj. - kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense.

As in, "Bush refuses to stop nominating ultra-conservative judges and will never look to more moderate choices even though his original selections will never win a vote in the Democratically-controlled Senate and the move will only serve to strengthen Bush's anti-Democrat bona fides."

compromise n. - a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.

As in, "Bush is completely incapable of compromise when it comes to working with Democrats. He has spent six years displaying rank disdain for the party of opposition and will continue to do so through the rest of his presidency."

Which leads me to one final entry:

lame duck n. 1) An officeholder who has chosen not to run for reelection or is ineligible for reelection. 2) An ineffective person; a weakling.

As in, "Bush has a choice with two years remaining in office - he can attempt to work with the Democrats in Congress in an effort to salvage what's left of his time in office in order to work for the American people or he can continue his partisan ways and fully assume his position as a lame duck president."

THE BANE OF SIGNING STATEMENTS

GEORGE W. BUSH

I've been pondering this over the last day or so, perhaps someone can shed some light. With Democrats now controlling the Congress, it is expected that they will follow through on their various proposals, including enacting the 9/11 Commission recommendations, cutting interest rates on student loans, making changes to the new Medicare law to allow for lower drug prices and raising the minimum wage to $7.25. Not the most ambitious slate, just common sense legislation that the American people can get behind and the Dems can hang their hat on as they travel the road as "agents of change."

My concern comes when I think about these various pieces heading to Bush's desk. To veto these would be nothing short of political suicide and a total repudiation of his stated desire to pursue a bipartisan approach to governance. What I consider a greater evil is the possibility that his infamous use of signing statements could derail any and all of these measures. For a president who actually took a bill that explicitly said 'no torture' only to have him write a signing statement saying 'yes torture', I see no reason why he would bat an eye using a signing statement to twist the legislation however he wants it.

One of the easiest to come to mind would be a signing statement gutting the minimum wage hike. Conventional wisdom indicates that the wage hike is long overdue and a no-brainer. So, assuming it sails through Congress, what's to keep Bush from whipping out a signing statement saying that the hike need not be enforced in businesses with under 100 employees? Would that not basically eliminate thousands of businesses like the fast food industry? I know that this is sort of a clunky example, but would anyone doubt that Bush and his lawyers could find some way to write in a loophole that effectively disemboweled whatever part of the bill they didn't care for?

For a man who took an anti-torture bill and wrote torture into it, I do not believe it to be that much of a stretch. Bush has no respect for the institution of Congress and the Constitution. Anything that impedes his acquisition of power must be minimized if not outright eliminated.

HO. LEE. SH*T.

JONAH GOLDBERG


The following is from Jonah Goldberg, editor-at-large of the National Review Online and bigtime conservative commentator. I can only assume that he was mentally altered from two nights worth of hard boozing as he attempted to deal with the traumatic loss of both chambers of Congress by the Republicans.

How Bush Should Handle Loss

I think James Baker and Dick Cheney should take Bush out to the woods around Camp David. After 24 hours in a sweat lodge, he should be given only a loin cloth, a hunting knife and a canteen of water. Bush should then set out to track and kill a black bear, after which he should eat its still beating heart so he can absorb its spirit. He should then fly back to Washington in Marine 1. His torso still scratched from the bear's claws, his face bloodied and steaming in the November chill, he should immediately give a press conference at which he throws the bearskin on the front row of the press corps, completely enveloping Helen Thomas, declaring, "I'm not going anywhere."

This will send important messages to Democrats and well as to our enemies overseas, who are no doubt high-fiving as we speak.

Yep, that'd sure send a message alright. A message that the leader of the free world and those he chooses to associate with are totally and completely off their freaking rockers. Seriously, has Jonah completely lost it here? The mental image of Bush running around in a loin cloth is something that will probably stay with me longer than I'd like it to, but the whole scratched torso thing and bearskin enveloping Helen Thomas really push this thing beyond anything even remotely sane.

I suppose we all deal with loss in the political realm differently. As I noted yesterday, I shut out politics for about six months after the '04 elections. Jonah apparently chooses to go batshit crazy. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing; it doesn't read like it's metaphorical so I can only assume that he's serious. And that's damn frightening.

Go back and read it and then ask yourself where Michelle Malkin gets off calling liberals unhinged.

(h/t Crooks and Liars)

THE EMPEROR HAS NO TEETH

GEORGE W. BUSH

I'll get to the Rummy resignation later, but I wanted to hit on the Bush press conference today. In the past, I've had ... issues with Bush. To even hear him speak caused a great anger and disgust to rise up into the back of my throat. I swear it was involuntary as I would have given anything not to feel such intense disdain for someone just by hearing the sound of their voice.

But today? Today was different. Today was much different and it felt good. As I listened to the press conference I no longer felt that same pit in my stomach. The best word I could use to describe what I felt today was ... pity. Not necessarily for Bush himself. Rather it had more to do with how pathetic he sounded now. His voice no longer holds sway over me. He's like the abominable snow monster from that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special they show every Christmas. Sure, Bumby looked all scary with his big sharp teeth and menacing grown. But in the end, Yukon Cornelius and Hermy the Elf who wished to be a dentist detoothed the big white baddy. After that, Bumby was a pussycat. Robbed of his choppers, the monster was impotent. That's George W. Bush now. His sharp teeth, namely a compliant Republican Congress that performed no oversight and rubberstamped his every whim, have been removed from his arsenal. And now? Now he's not so scary anymore.

As to the content of his comments, Bush used words that I don't recall him using in the past; words like bipartisanship. He must have used the word twenty times. Whether his words match up to reality remains to be seen, but feeble attempt at effort was there. Also, "decider" is now apparently out, "assessor" is in; as in this paraphrase of a sentence he spoke: "We need to assess things as assessing is what we need to do in order for there to be an assessment." I'm not kidding; he really did say something to that effect.

Bush flat out admitted that he lied to the press during the parts I heard; namely his assertion last week that Rumsfeld was totally safe and would be on the job for the rest of Bush's term. That turned out to be categorically false, not because Rummy resigned necessarily, but because this has apparently been in the works for some time, as in, well before he gave is vote of confidence to Rummy. He claims he did so in order to move onto the next question, but there are other ways of deflecting a question that are less definitive than what Bush did last week. Given his flat out lie, I'm curious if the peeps in the press will be willing to accept Bushie at face value so much anymore (not that this if the first time he's lied to them; this is just the first time he's been caught since the New World Order started last night).

Bush lamented that he hadn't been as successful as he would have liked in his mission to change the tone in Washington (a bogus promise made six years ago). An astute reporter snidely questioned whether Bush's comments last week about a win for the Dems is a victory for the terrorists was in keeping with his ongoing efforts to change the tone. Classic.

Anyway, that's all that comes to mind right now. I was listening on my satellite radio so I wasn't able to take in all his tics and movements. As I figured, he seemed to get testier as the presser continued; the press seeming to construct something of a backbone over the last 24 hours. Either that, or it was just so damn simple to shoot the toothless Bumby in a barrel that Bush has become.

WHAT A NIGHT

Even though I finished up my live blogging at about 1 am, I still stayed up til about two or so hoping for a definitive answer out of Montana. So needless to say, I exhausted after over six hours of live blogging. That was my first time doing it and I enjoyed it overall, but that probably had more to do with the results than the actual act. Still, for those of you who came by and checked me out, thanks.

So, where are we at today? Back in control of at least one house of Congress, that's where! Now I'm just looking forward to heading out to my car and tuning into some rightie talk just to listen to go all Jonestown on their listeners. As I noted throughout the live blogging, this night was historic. The Democrats did not give up a single seat to the Republicans in the House or the Senate. As it stands right now, according to the DCCC, we have picked up 28 an amazing 28 seats and more could be coming. Truly historic. I know that the GOP looks back fondly on 1994 with their Republican Revolution, and now the Dems can point to 2006 as the year when sanity and accountability returned to Washington.

As for the Senate, I'm sure you're all aware that two races, Montana and Virginia, are too close to call at this point and will probably go the recount way. I'm comfortable with that as both Dems, Webb and Tester, are currently holding leads and it's always better to have a lead going into a recount then be the guy trailing. Just ask Al Gore.

Some quick individual House thoughts - As I noted before, it looks like Mean Jean Schmidt will still be in the House to kick around, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. ... Joe Sestak smacked down Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania 07. You'll recall Weldon, among his numerous other offenses, actually attacked Sestak for bringing his very ill daughter to an out-of-state facility for treatment. Classy dude. ... Double Amputee and Iraq War veteran could not break through her very Republican district in Illinois 06, but she lost by a small margin so we may see her again in two years. ... Another person to kick around is the virulently anti-gay Marilyn Musgrave, who survived her challenge against Angie Paccione in Colorado 04. Musgrave in the one who thinks that gay marriage is THE most important issue facing America today. While this wingnut didn't go down in defeat, at least her power is vastly diminished in a Democratically control House. ... The fight in Wyoming against the cripple and the woman who wanted to smack that cripple hasn't been called yet as Barbara Cubin (the slapper) leads Gary Trauner by a miniscule 822 votes. Granted, this is Wyoming where less than 200,000 votes total were cast, but it still quite close as 1% of precincts have failed to report. ... You want proof that every single vote counts, head up to Connecticut 02 where Democrat Joe Courtney leads incumbent Republican Rob Simmons by a razor thin 173 votes out of 242,000 total votes cast. 100% of precincts have reported, and this is obviously in recountville, but much like the results in Virginia and Montana, it's better to enter a recount in the lead, even a small one.

Up next, Bush is giving a press conference around lunchtime today. The smart move would be to be very concilliatory and such and I'm certain that's how he'll start off, but once the questions start flying you just know the impetuous man/child is going to rear his ugly head. He'll be impatient and jerky and overly demonstrative like a child who just had a toy taken away. It should be a sight to see.

Anyway, I'm off to work (my job I actually get paid for). A good car ride will give me some time to digest the enormity of what went down last night. It feels good to be a Dem today. See you all in a few hours.

Oh, one more thing, thanks to Kat and her odd sleeping patterns as she was able to continue posting long after I went to bed. Based on some numbers I've seen, we had numerous visitors throughout the night (which is unusual given the size of my readership) so I'm glad they had some new stuff to read, including the nice Santorum smackdown below. Thanks, Kat.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

KARL ROVE

Following up on my previous post about GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist who chose to stand up Mr. Bush during his visit to Pensacola today. Never mind that Bush made the trip specifically to campaign with Crist. Pay no mind that Bush made the trip at Crist's own request. See, Crist would rather spend his time courting moderate and independent voters, and at this point in his presidency, Bush is only even partially useful for rilingt up the base. Moderates and independents are no fans of Bush and Crist knows this. And since it is these same moderate and independent voters who will decide if Crist moves to Tallahassee.
One person who is more than a little miffed at being stiffed is none other than the mad genius himself Karl Rove. From CNN:

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove expressed frustration Monday over Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist's decision not to appear with President Bush at a rally in Pensacola.

"Let's see how many people show up in Palm Beach on 24 hrs notice versus 8 or 9,000 people in Pensacola," Rove told CNN referring to a Crist rally quickly organized by the campaign after the GOP gubernatorial candidate canceled his appearance with the President.

Roves comments came even as even as other Senior White House administration officials tried to downplay the cancellation, noting Crist is campaigning in more moderate regions of the state as he tries to pick up independent voters on the final day of his campaign.

Awww, poor widdle Wove got his feewings awl stepped on. Poor widdle baby. Unfortunately for him, Rove is one of the few people still left on the planet who thinks his boss is money. Everyone else sees Bush for the albatross he is, yet Rove still lives in a world where the 30% base will go out and vote and all they need to do is scare enough independents and moderates to get to 51%. Unfortunately for him, this is a new world we live in where people aren't going to reflexively turn to the GOP just because Rove says 'boo'. Come tomorrow, a brave new world will dawn on America; it's a reality that will be completely foreign and wholly unwelcoming to Rove. Poor widdle Wove.

DISSED!

GEORGE W. BUSH


I would just have to wonder if George isn't sniffing his armpits to check if he stinks or something. After all, he planned a special trip to Florida just to help the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Crist. Now, Crist wants nothing to do with him.

In a race that is much closer than many people would have figured it would be, and that includes me as I get some political ad spillover from Pensacola where I live. I believe that I may have seen one ad for Jim Davis, the Dem candidate in the last few weeks, but it's a daily occurence to see a Crist ad. (Of course, this may be a function of prudent ad buying as the northwest area of Florida is known for its conservative leanings and perhaps Davis feels that his money could be better spent in other parts of the state.) Anyway, some polls now have Davis within a few percentage points of Crist and that has to be making the state GOP nervous. So now might be a good time to bring in the Big Dog, right? Um, no. Not if that big dog is a president who is mired in the 30s in his approval ratings and has a an intensely unpopular war (of his own making) hanging around his neck. If that's the big dog, then you blow that big dog off, and that's exactly what Crist did on Sunday.
Pertinent details courtesy of Americablog:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist decided Sunday to skip an appearance with President Bush in favor of crisscrossing the state in the final hours before Election Day.

The White House, however, said this week that the president was heading to Florida specifically to help Mr. Crist, who, according to Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, invited Mr. Bush in the first place.

Awww, where's the love for George? It ain't coming from Crist, that's for sure.

NO FRIEND OF MINE

GEORGE W. BUSH

You may recall that back in the day, George had a friend. This man was such a good friend that he even had a nickname, which is about the bestest thing one can receive from George. His nickname was Kenny Boy. Kenny Boy was a fellow Texan and oilman, so George and Kenny Boy had lots to talk about and were really the very definition of BFF.

Until Kenny Boy got in trouble for losing a lot of people their retirement money, among other offenses. Then George could only vaguely recall Kenny Boy. After all, he was more than an acquaintance than anything else. And George had a lot of friends really, so he shouldn't be expected to remember every single one of them, even one who had helped get George his new house. A couple of years later, after Kenny Boy was convicted of all manner of malfeasance, he died. I tend to think it was from a broken heart at having been abandoned by his former BFF George.

Don't fret for George, though, for he had another friend. And this friend was so cool that lots of people at George's house on Pennsylvania Avenue liked him. His name was Jack. Jack helped raise a lot of money for George and his friends. In fact, Jack was so liked that he made over 200 trips to George's house in the ten months after George had moved there. Jack was a good buddy.

Until Jack got in trouble for some bad things. Then George never really remembered ever having met Jack. In fact, he certainly didn't remember Jack ever coming to his house, let alone over two hundred times. Sure, George knew of Jack, but it's not like they were BFF or anything. Besides, lots of folks come to George's house, so it's not like George should remember every visitor, much less one who funneled an awful lot of money to George's GOP friends. Jack will be going to jail soon, but I don't think he should be expecting any letters from his former friend, George.

Still, George, being a popular guy, has other friends, like his Ted. Ted and George share a deep love of God. They love God so much that they talked every week about Him. Ted liked having a friend like George. After all, George is popular. Ted liked to talk about how he could call George at his house and George would always call him back so they could talk about stuff like God and how much God hates gays.

Then one day, Ted got in some trouble with an "overly friendly" male prostitute who apparently sold Ted drugs and gave him massages ... for three years. Suddenly, Ted and George weren't really friends anymore. George couldn't recall talking to Ted every week. Sure, Ted had probably called once or twice and he had met George (Ted has a picture to prove it!), but then, a lot of people call the White House, so it's not like George could remember every phone call. Even ones from someone like Ted, who was popular in his own right (after all, he had 30 million friends in his circle). And all those friends of Ted could certainly be a big help if George ever needed anything. But George doesn't remember Ted all that much. I would think that that would make Ted sad.

Kenny Boy, Jack and Ted don't think that George is all that good of a friend. I tend to agree.

A REAL STAND-UP GUY

DON SHERWOOD


This guy's story just gets more and more fun. I'm of course referring to the saga of soon-to-be ex-Representative Don Sherwood (R-PA). Let's see, where to start? Sherwood, a husband and father of three, likes to think of himself as one of those "family values" conservatives. And if by "family values" he means, cheating on his wife of many years with a woman almost 40 years his junior, then yes, he would most definitely qualify for the label of family values conservative.

Anyway, this woman, named Cynthia Ore, remains his mistress for about five years, but as with all good things, they inevitably come to an end and they decide to part company. And by decide I mean that Sherwood allegedly choked (I've heard throttled in some instances) the woman. From the AP:

According to a police report, Ore called 911 on her cell phone from the bathroom of Sherwood's Capitol Hill apartment in 2004 and reported that Sherwood had choked her while giving her a back rub.

Needless to say, and as these things usually do, Ore sued the family values conservative to the tune of 5.5 million dollars, which is definitely not bad work if one can get it. The case was eventually settled under a confidentiality agreement for about one tenth of that figure, which is still pretty good scratch though probably not as much as the woman deserved for sleeping with a slug like Sherwood for five years.

But wait, there's more. In an effort not to hurt his reelection chances as a family values conservative who cheats on his wife and family for many years and then throttles the mistress in question, the settlement is to be paid in installments. And half of the half a million was not to be paid until after the elections in four days, lest Ms. Ore lose a substantial portion if she were to speak of their tryst before the final payout (and presumably afterwards).

So, here we have yet another example of the hypocrisy of the conservative Republican universe. And the best part is, your buddy and mine, George Bush, campaigned for the adulterer/choker just a couple of weeks ago. Funny, but I haven't heard of any journalist asking Bush is he still supports Sherwood's candidacy for the House. What's not funny is I'm certain that Bush still does.

HYPOCRISY, THY NAME BE BUSH

GEORGE W. BUSH


This is one of those head-shaking ones that come up from time to time from Mr. Bush. See, Bush is sad. Why, you may ask? He's sad because the tone in Washington has gotten ugly. In fact, it's the worst thing about being president.

Um, excuse me for a second while my irony meter explodes.

Bush saying crap like this is like having the school bully beat the hell out of someone, then have the bully remark that the person in question was much more attractive before all the bruises and black eyes. The fact that he can actually say this sort of stuff with a straight face (or as straight a face as the eternally smirking one can manage) means he is either pathologically deluded or he might have a career as a poker player after his presidency ends.

He goes on to say that it's important for a president to stay above all the partisan bickering, noting, “I really don’t think it’s fitting for the president to drag the presidency into that kind of a mudslinging.” Of course he said this just a day or so removed from calling out anyone who supports a Democratic victory terrorist supporters. If this is his idea of being above the fray, I shudder to think what it would be like in the world of politics if he really decided to get down and dirty. Of course, anyone with half a brain knows that he's been down and dirty long before he became president (or governor of Texas for that matter). Luckily, it seems the American people have finally woken up and are no longer buying this schtick. His "uniter, not a divider" bit doesn't hold water anymore, not that it ever really did.

HAIL TO THE KEITH

KEITH OLBERMANN

In a tirade with far too many lines to quote, Keith Olbermann again laid claim to the mantle of Time's Person of the Year award as he is one of far too few voices on the airwaves to stand up to the bully occupying the White House. As always, Crooks and Liars is on the case and has not only the video, but a full transcript as well.
I give you a few brief passages that I found especially poignant:

There is tonight no political division in this country that he and his party will not exploit, nor have not exploited; no anxiety that he and his party will not inflame.

There is no line this President has not crossed — nor will not cross — to keep one political party, in power.

He has spread any and every fear among us, in a desperate effort to avoid that which he most fears — some check, some balance against what has become not an imperial, but a unilateral presidency.

...

A brief reminder, Mr. Bush - you are not the United States of America. You are merely a politician whose entire legacy will have been a willingness to make anything political.

Thanks again, Keith.

EMBOLDENING THE ENEMY

GEORGE W. BUSH


I alluded earlier to the sort of "flippity-floppity" nature of Bush's recent unveiling of their non-staying the course strategy, but I like how Josh Marshall said it better, as he notes the New York Times and the New York Post reactions:

"The White House said Monday that President Bush was no longer using the phrase “stay the course” when speaking about the Iraq war, in a new effort to emphasize flexibility in the face of some of the bloodiest violence there since the 2003 invasion."

Flexibility? I thought it was 'stay the course' versus 'cut and run'. One or the other. Who heard of 'flexibility'? That sounds so friggin' John Kerry.

Peter Baker with the Post expounds:

But the White House is cutting and running from "stay the course." A phrase meant to connote steely resolve instead has become a symbol for being out of touch and rigid in the face of a war that seems to grow worse by the week, Republican strategists say. Democrats have now turned "stay the course" into an attack line in campaign commercials, and the Bush team is busy explaining that "stay the course" does not actually mean stay the course.

[...]

Political rhetoric, of course, is often in constant motion as well. But with midterm elections two weeks away, the Bush team is searching for a formula to address public opposition to the war, struggling to appear consistent and flexible at the same time. That was underscored by the reaction to a New York Times report that the administration is drafting a timetable for the Iraqi government to disarm militias and assume a larger security role.

To which Josh properly replied:

Struggling indeed. 'Cut and Run' lacks nuance. And after, what, 18 months of hearing how timetables will embolden the terrorists, it turns out we're giving the Iraqis timetables.

Why does Bush want to embolden the enemy? Why does Bush hate America?

NEW SPIN ON DECK

DAN BARLETT

Yesterday, Bush actually went on national television and claimed that his administration has never been about "stay the course" in Iraq, when obviously those three words have been the centerpiece of every speech for he past three years. Now White House counselor Dan Barlett demonstrated today that he did get the memo from his boss as he was on The Early Show this morning and claimed, it's "never been a stay-the-course strategy" in regards to Iraq.

As I noted yesterday, Bush said almost those exact words on This Week, "We've never been stay the course."

Do they think the American public is just plain dumb? Do they think that we've got the attention span of a fruit fly? Or is it something deeper? A (lone) commenter, Joe C, might be onto something regards to this pack of liars:

Pathological narcissists lie to you about facts they know you know. They lie to you about what you have said and done. Even if you said or did it only one second ago. They lie to you about what they have said and done in your presence. Even if they said or did it only one second ago. They lie about what you have done together. Even if it was only one second ago. In short, they lie like somebody out of his mind or hallucinating. Anybody we all know fit that description???

Joe C, you are wise beyond your years. (Oh, and congrats on the baby girl.)

FLIPPITY FLOP

GEORGE W. BUSH

Since I would be remiss if I didn't include this in order for Mr. Bush to qualify for my weekly FIVE WORST list, I bring you our flipflopper-in-chief (or is he the Liar-Liar Executive Branch on Fire?). Today on the George Snuffaluppugus Show, aka This Week, Bush actually claimed that his administration has never advocated staying the course, or, as he put it, "We’ve never been stay the course, George!"
At this point, I can only assume that Bush was in a specially insulated building that shielded him from the lightning of God raining down on the Pathological Liar-in-Chief.
Think Progress has a handy collection of stay-the-course-isms for you edification. I humbly reprint them here:

BUSH: We will stay the course. [8/30/06]
BUSH: We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. [8/4/05]
BUSH: We will stay the course until the job is done, Steve. And the temptation is to try to get the President or somebody to put a timetable on the definition of getting the job done. We’re just going to stay the course. [12/15/03]
BUSH: And my message today to those in Iraq is: We’ll stay the course. [4/13/04]
BUSH: And that’s why we’re going to stay the course in Iraq. And that’s why when we say something in Iraq, we’re going to do it. [4/16/04]
BUSH: And so we’ve got tough action in Iraq. But we will stay the course. [4/5/04]

Remember, boys and girls - President Clinton was impeached because he lied about a blowjob. Bush lies to the American people daily and Congress cannot be bothered to investigate him. Yep, that sounds about right.

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN
IN THE WORLD

We blame George W. Bush for many things. We blame him for entering us into a disasterous war for no good reason and complete ineptitude in the prosecution of the war. We blame him for fearmongering, lying to the country, subverting the Constitution. And these are just the tip of an enormous iceberg, dangerous enough to sink our country just as assuredly as the Titanic. Oh, we blame him for so many things, and all deservedly so.

We just don't blame him enough.

His actions have not only endangered American lives, he is responsible for endangering the entire world. I think the current relative silence from the leaders of all the other countries speaks volumes. I dare say that they are sitting and gaping, knees weak and jaws dropping. They know not what to say or do for fear of the reaction of a reckless commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world who has a publicly stated policy of preemptive military option and is so obviously out of touch with reality. After all, when Bush declared Iran, Iraq and North Korea the "axis of evil" in January 2002, they expressed their dismay and deep concern (total batshit freakout), and what good did it get them? In May 2002, it got Cuba, Libya, and Syria added to the list. Maybe the administration saw this but chickened out on China.

We need to do something which has our President and Cabinet have apparently never considered. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of the rest of the world.

Putting personalities and past actions aside for the moment, imagine you are the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, and Syria. Now, you know that you are third, or fourth tier nations in the pecking order of things. You may have been up to some mischief, may have been supporting some really bad guys who ended up doing a very, very bad thing, but they had their own agenda and weren't representing you or your country. Now, suddenly, the sole occupant of the First Tier of nations who can turn your country and all of your people into dust, has just virtually declared war on you.

What would you do? If you're Libya, you might totally cave. If Iraq, you let the UN in and show you have no IMD's. Syria, you send diplomats double-time quick. Cuba? Well, you sit down and have a nice cigar because you know that squat's likely to happen because you've been playing this game for decades.

If you're North Korea, you cry out to the world that you've just had war declared upon you by the Biggest Big Daddy (batshit freak out ) and you start begging Big Daddy to just come, sit down and talk awhile. You need so many things and Daddy has so much, you're sure something could be worked out. Only, Big Daddy sticks his nose up in the air and turns his back on you.

As Iran, you know you're sitting on the most important thing in the world to #1 and #1 hasn't deigned to talk to you in decades.

You watch as the most powerful nation in the world invades the weakest of the sextus of evil, despite having shown to all eyes and ears that were paying attention, that they had no IMD's and were not a threat.

So, what do you do if you are North Korea and Iran? Sure, you could turn your country over to Big Daddy and let him rape your natural resources and rule your country by proxy, but that doesn't look appealing.

What do you do? What do you do? What is the one thing you could do to get Big Daddy to pay attention and focus the rest of the world on your situation enough to involve themselves?

I think we all know the answer to that question. Unless this administration is even more criminally ignorant and careless than we think they are, they knew, too. And, now have no real clue as to what to do about it.

For a telling analysis of this situation, check out "The Axis of Evil Goes Nuclear" by William Montgomery, October 18, 2006, out of Serbia and Montenegro, no less. "One of the first rules of parenting is to never make a promise, threat, or commitment to your children, which you are not prepared to fulfill. If you lose their trust in what you say, you will never get it back and your ability to influence their behavior, for better or worse, will be significantly diminished."

The only conclusion we can draw is that the world is in the present situation of dealing with a nuclear threat from the two most radically dangerous nations who have been purposefully backed into a corner, solely due to the actions of our President.

The nations of the world are in dire and grievious danger because of the United States of America.

Now, if you were China, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc., what would you do? I dare say, once you pick up your asses from off the floor where you've slid to in utter dismay and shock, you might consider talking amongst yourselves.

The United States of America is in dire and grievious danger because of George W. Bush. That is what he should be blamed for and nothing less.

ALL HAIL KING GEORGE

GEORGE W. BUSH


Pardon me while I swipe from SilentPatriot over at Crooks and Liars. I think he hit the nail on the head:

Today, 135 years to the day after the last American President (Ulysses S. Grant) suspended habeas corpus, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. At its worst, the legislation allows President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld to declare anyone — US citizen or not — an enemy combatant, lock them up and throw away the key without a chance to prove their innocence in a court of law. In other words, every thing the Founding Fathers fought the British empire to free themselves of was reversed and nullified with the stroke of a pen, all under the guise of the War on Terror.

After sitting on this for close to three weeks, I wonder if Bush knew the significance of the date mentioned by SilentPatriot. The Republicans are ecstatic about this, but I cannot wait until the day when a Dem is in the White House again. Can you imagine the uproar from the right if Hillary one day sits in the Oval Office with this kind of power? If Sean Hannity thinks it's worth dying for to keep Nancy Pelosi from becoming House Speaker, imagine his brain exploding the day President/Queen Hillary takes the oath of office.