This is still premature and third-hand, but according to Josh Marshall, the President today blamed the economic downturn during the run-up to the war on . . . you guessed it . . . the media. In other words, if that damned media hadn’t reported on Enron, Worldcom, and the uncertainties about going to war, then everything would be fine!
Bush on Letterman
The Bush line — which we have heard often — is that we learned on 9/11 how dangerous the world is. And that was why there was a marked shift in Bush’s foreign policy after 9/11. It holds water, except for one problem: David Letterman. In October 2000, presidential candidate George Bush appeared on Lettermen, where they had (in parts) … Read More
Speaking of 30 Year Old Quotes . . .
A former professor of Bush writes: At Harvard Business School, thirty years ago, George Bush was a student of mine. I still vividly remember him. In my class, he declared that "people are poor because they are lazy." He was opposed to labor unions, social security, environmental protection, Medicare, and public schools. To him, the antitrust watch dog, the Federal … Read More
Groupthink 101
Okay. You’re President. You have some big decisions to make, and you want the best information possible. So you gather up all the information, hear all sides of the arguments, get all the viewpoints and perspectives, and then . . . you make your decision. Right? Not if you’re GWB . . . President Bush yesterday dismissed two members of … Read More
Would You Care to Elaborate, Mr. President?
Last month, President Bush spoke with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner at a summit meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. Kirchner told Bush that all but one of the Argentine delegates to the summit meeting were imprisoned during the military dictatorship. Bush responded, "I was a prisoner too, but for bad reasons." Aside from being a dumb thing to say (was Bush implying … Read More
The Eggheads Speak . . .
In my view, this is pretty bad. The Union of Concerned Scientists has released a report entitled: "Scientific Integrity in Policymaking: An Investigation Into The Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science". The report concludes: 1. There is a well-established pattern of suppression and distortion of scientific findings by high-ranking Bush administration political appointees across numerous federal agencies. These actions have consequences … Read More
Fun With Anagrams
Bush’s campaign Slogan: "Steady Leadership in a Time of Change" Rearranging the letters of gives us (among many others): Megadeath and hyperfine socialites.Sleepyhead or significant meathead.Speedily, nation’s magic featherhead.I’m a hypertense, death-dealing fiasco.I am a disheartened pig-face. Honestly!I am a healthy, depressing defecation.I am a tone-deaf, highly-paid erectness.I am a deathless deafening hypocrite.He is the friendly scapegoat idea man.Death penalty … Read More
Helen in the Pool
I thought she retired, but I guess not. You gotta love it when Helen (Thomas) is in the (White House) press pool. Feisty ol’ broad. Catch this exchange between her and White House press secretary Scott McClellan, from this morning. Q: Did the President ever have to take time off from Guard duty to do community service? Scott McClellan: To … Read More
Release of Bush’s Records
Do they not GET it? The White House just released some Bush/National Guard records. As far as I can tell from the news reports, the documents are: (1) Point summaries — which show that was given credit for certain training periods. These are not new documents. Heck, I’VE even seen them. They only show that he was given credit . … Read More
Bush Busted In (Yet) Another Lie
During his interview with "Meet the Press"’s Tim Russert, Bush said: If you look at the appropriations bills that were passed under my watch, in the last year of President Clinton, discretionary spending was up 15 percent, and ours have steadily declined. There are a couple of lies here. First of all, in the last year of President Clinton, discretionary … Read More
Bush “War Record”
I’m a little pressed for time today, so I won’t indulge in much analysis and background. I’m sure many are familiar with the story anyway. So instead, I’ll just link to an article, and pose a couple of questions: (1) Has Bush’s military record been adequately and fully explained? and the biggie . . . (2) Is it relevant, and … Read More
Bush Priorities
Analyses of the Bush budget are starting to appear all over cyberspace, and it is sobering. If you want to get a bead on some of the President’s priorities, consider the following: Job training: Federal vocational and adult education cut 35% (from 2.1 billion to 1.4 billion); Assistance to workers displaced by NAFTA cut to zero — the unions are … Read More
Neglecting Intelligence, Ignoring Warnings…
The Center for American Progress has compiled a "cheat sheet" of sorts — a chronology of the Bush Administration’s failure (refusal?) to listen to intelligence agencies who said the case for war was weak. Nothing new in it for some of us, but it’s all compiled in one place (PDF version; hyperlinks to sources). Flawed in some respect, because it … Read More
SOTU Drinking Game
Wish I had learned about this a couple of days ago . . .