I suspect this has something to do with all the Halliburton scandals (kickbacks, overcharging, etc.), as well as how we’ve been outsourcing our military/intelligence operations to a bunch of non-accountable mercenary companies: Established by an act of Congress in 1979, the Federal Procurement Data System was a rare island of public information, the only complete record of federal contracts. Using … Read More
Outrage Fatigue
It’s almost hard for me to get angry at the Bush White House anymore. The parade of lies and obfuscations over the past few months has left me so jaded-exhausted that each new piece of offensive news relating to the Bush Administration is greeted by me with ho-hum-so-what-else-is-new ennui, rather than the indignation it properly reserves. Here’s the latest in … Read More
Bush “ForAgainst” Many Many Things
Today, the New York Times reports that the Bush administration has been trumpeting a number of programs that they actually tried to cut or even eliminate: For example, Justice Department officials recently announced that they were awarding $47 million to scores of local law enforcement agencies for the hiring of police officers. Mr. Bush had just proposed cutting the budget … Read More
Now THIS is interesting . . .
First the background . . . This document is part of Bush’s military records — specifically, it is the document which records that Bush was suspended from flight status for failure to show up for an annual physical examination. Interestingly, below the entry for Bush is another entry for another pilot, also removed from flight status (on the same day), … Read More
Lesson of the Day
Eric Alterman nails it: If you fire a photographer, the photograph you fired her for will get printed again and again, even in the New York Times, which otherwise might have left the whole thing alone. This of course refers to the Pentagon/Bush ban on photos of dead troops in their coffins — an order which was violated by Pentagon … Read More
Foreign Leaders Favor Bush
The Saudis, that is. In blogosphere time, this is an old story, but for those who have been in a cave for 24 hours, you can read more about it here. Basically it’s this: The Bush White House and the Saudis have a "sweetheart deal" in which the Saudi government will lower gas prices just prior to our elections, a … Read More
Bush Is Perfect, White House Reveals
Courtesy of The Borowitz Report: First Flawless Person in History, Experts Believe President George W. Bush received some much needed good news today as the White House revealed conclusive evidence that the President is perfect. “After reviewing his actions since entering the White House in 2001, we have come to the conclusion that the President is perfect,” White House spokesman … Read More
“And the credibility of the United States is incredibly important for keeping world peace and freedom.”
(From last night’s meet-and-greet-the-Commander-in-Chief.) I agree. So let’s see how well we’re doing on the credibility-with-the-world front: Source Mmmmm . . . doesn’t look so good . . .
Bush vs. Bush
"Let me just be very clear about this . . . Had we had the information that was necessary to stop an attack, I’d have stopped the attack. … If we’d have known that the enemy was going to fly airplanes into our buildings, we would have done everything in our power to stop it." – Bush, quoted recently here … Read More
Eric Embarrassment Watch I
Who’s "Eric"? I don’t know — perhaps a Special Assistant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Whoever he is, chances are he’ll be out of a job by the end of the day. Why? It looks like he left his notes regarding strategy sessions on how to deal with Clarke, etc. at a D.C. Starbucks. (Included in his … Read More
New Rule (with Apologies to Bill Maher)
Politicians cannot engage in political humor, if they don’t know what’s funny. At last night’s Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association 60th annual dinner, Bush presented a series of slides: A recurring joke involved photos of the president in awkward positions — bent over as if he’s looking under a table, leaning to look out a window — accompanied by remarks … Read More
Uh . . . Question?
Fox News in August 2002 had an interview with Richard Clarke (then working for Bush White House). Clarke was on background, which is why Fox had to seek permission from the White House to release the transcript yesterday, identifying Clarke as the source. (The White House, of course, granted permission) Apparently, this is how it is done. I have no … Read More
Bush Embarrassment Watch CLXIII
With all the "One Year Later" retrospectives going around, a reader at Atrios’ site posted Bush’s speech of March 13, 2003 — the start of the war. Many of us thought it was a crock then — and now — with benefit of 20/20 hindsight, it clearly was one. This passage particularly struck me: The terrorist threat to America and … Read More
The “Iraq On The Record” Database
The Bush Administration’s deceptions regarding the War on Iraq are so numerous that Rep. Henry Waxman has put them on a searchable database. This Iraq on the Record database contains statements made by the five officials that were misleading at the time they were made. The database does not include statements that appear in hindsight to be erroneous but were … Read More
Don’t These Guys Know How To VET?
You know, if I were to do Bush Embarrassment Watches, I’d do nothing else in my life but post here. But this one is too good to let go: Last Labor Day, Bush announced that he was creating a new office — the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services. In doing so, he noted that that the U.S. … Read More