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guest post by Taylor Marsh
You've got George Allen going all Strom Thurmond, with Rick Santorum cozying up to LGF, while John Bolton is so desperate to get out of committee he's doing interviews with a drunk wingnut blogger. But that's not even the worst of it. The Republican Party base no longer believes the president or their own party can handle their jobs.
If you haven't seen the video posted on Crooks & Liars yet you simply must watch it, because it says it all. It comes from MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" and proceeds to lay Bush out flat. The title across the screen is: Is Bush an "Idiot"? Mind you, Joe Scarborough was once a Republican member of Congress. He questions whether Bush is curious enough to be able to lead this country over the next two years. Lawrence O'Donnell said Bush looks overwhelmed with the job of being president. John Fund tried desperately to stick up for Bush, but even he seemed to only mount a half-hearted defense. O'Donnell thinks Bush's troubles started with Katrina. I just think it was the tipping point. The real reason everyone is walking away from Bush and the Republican Party is Iraq.
It's the number one topic on everyone's mind. It's impossible to shake; the never ending bad news inalterably fixed in our minds. But there's something else, sort of a Joe Lieberman lesson waiting for George W. Bush in November. After all these months, even years, no one, absolutely no one has been held accountable for the incompetence, the abject failures and the stubborn "stay the course" mind set that has led to an unmitigated catastrophe: an Iraqi civil war. The other cost is that Iraq has put our military at grave risk.
But it's not just Democrats who want Republicans to be held accountable; after all, they're in charge of the House, the Senate and the executive branch. Republicans actually want Democrats to hold Republicans accountable. You know why? Because Republicans don't believe their own leaders are up to the job.
Chris Bowers and Rick Jacobs over at MyDD did an extraordinary post recently marching out poll data on the Republican Party that is simply stunning in its implications. Now, my strong suit is not analyzing polling that's for sure, but even Bush would recognize the red alert warning in this baby.
In an important development paralleling the Vietnam-era split in the Democratic Party base, a split is developing among Republican Party base voters around the war in Iraq and the credibility of Republican Party leaders who initiated the war. In post-election polling done by Courage Campaigns and MyDD.com in the Republican-leaning California 50th district, we found that only 19% of Republican voters believe that the Republican Party will hold Bush accountable for mistakes made in Iraq, versus 48% of Republican voters who believe that the Democratic Party will hold Bush accountable.
Other findings include:
63% of Republican voters believe that Bush has made some or a lot of mistakes in Iraq. 24% of Republican voters believe that Bush has made ‘a lot of mistakes in Iraq’, and another 39% believe that Bush has made ‘some mistakes in Iraq’.
34% of Republican voters believe that Bush has definitely or probably not told the truth about the situation in Iraq. 14% believe that Bush has ‘definitely’ not told the truth about the situation in Iraq, and another 20% believe that Bush has ‘probably’ not told the truth about the situation in Iraq.
34% of Republican voters believe that Bush should probably or definitely be held accountable for the situation in Iraq. 19% of Republican voters believe that Bush should ‘definitely’ be held accountable, and 15% believe he should ‘probably’ be held accountable.
48% of Republican voters believe that the Democratic Party is likely to hold Bush accountable for mistakes in Iraq, versus only 19% who believe that the Republican Party is likely to hold Bush accountable.
When you go back and look at the video on Scarborough Country yesterday, Is Bush an idiot?, then think about all that's happened, you have to wonder what might have been, especially since John Kerry turned out to be right, which even George Will had to admit it recently. Kerry slammed Joe Lieberman's "scare tactics" over Iraq just yesterday on The Young Turks.
However, thinking about the thousands of civilians killed in Iraq, the thousands of U.S. soldiers who have been injured or maimed, not to mention all the families destroyed over the long deployments, the real reason for Bush and the Republican collapse becomes clear. It's about Iraq. Just ask Joe.
It's about Bush and the Republican controlled Congress not holding anyone accountable on Iraq. Joe Lieberman is now included in that bunch. The people, Democrats and Republicans, want this to change, but since Republicans don't even believe their own party will do it, it's time for Democratic progressives to take the lead.
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I can’t believe Scarborough asked the question. I thought most of us already knew the answer.
Oh, and FITZ!
ROOTZ!
NED!
LAKE!
Leisure Guy!
Is it November yet?
Taylor, great to see you! I just now finished watching that Is Bush an Idiot clip and my jaw is on the floor. Then I came here and bingo, you’re writing about it, too. Great piece.
This is a huge day in America, people. The emperor has no fucking clothes. Not a stitch.
I YouTubed “Is Bush an Idiot?”
Mornin’ all, good to be back at FDL. Hey, meta, and thanks bat guano! Everyone should see that clip. Amazing.
The tape is amazing in how matter-of-factly they discuss Bush’s stupidity. I think this is more “not a real conservative” posturing, but still it is something.
The one guy was making the argument that Bush is smart but not articulate. The other two didn’t buy it, and neither do I because:
1) A non-articulate politician is pretty useless, much like a singer who hears beautiful music in their head, but can’t sing.
2) If he was smart how come virtually every decision he makes is wrong, from who to listen to, to what issues are important, to his own bone-head decisions.
Adapt To Win!
We can be comforted that, although they have the power of incumbency and the will to cheat, the right sucks at defense.
The question “Is Bush an idiot?” gets viewers’ attention, but it sounds like 6-year-olds’ name calling. The question is irrelevant even if the answer is obvious. More to the point for Nov. voters are such questions as “Should Bush and the Republican Congress be permitted to run our country into the ground?” When I see those words on my television screen, I’ll start to feel better.
OT from last thread…. on memory expert Bjork. A few years ago I was a PhD student in cognitive psychology. I just looked through his CV publications, and most of his recent work hasn’t been on “memory” as much as forgetting with such recent titles as:
“Remembering can cause forgetting”
“Continuing influences of to-be-forgotten information.”
“Intentional forgetting in perspective”
“Varieties of goal-directed forgetting”
“Is retrieval success
necessary for retrieval-induced forgetting?”
“The influence of intentional and unintentional
forgetting on false memories”
He structures his research under the new “New Theory of Disuse”. (so new we named it twice) I will do a little research on this.
But interesting, isn’t it?
BBC
An action plan to tackle the massive oil spill off Lebanon’s coastline caused by the conflict is due to be discussed in Greece on Thursday.
Officials from the UN, the EU and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) are meeting to agree a way to halt the spread in the Mediterranean.
Oil spilled into the sea following Israel’s bombing of a power station.
The slick now covers 170km (105 miles) of Lebanon’s coastline and is spreading out to sea.
Environmentalists and health officials have warned that the spill poses a direct threat to marine life and could increase the risk of cancer among people living in the affected areas.
It could take up to 10 years for the affected coastline to recover, they say.
George Allen, Xybernaut Gigolo?
(looks like some more caca to me!)
By Garance Franke-Ruta
Issue Date: 09.12.06
Snip
Xybernaut clearly engaged in questionable activities — and did plenty of business with questionable characters — while Allen was a director with a responsibility to protect shareholders’ interests. Xybernaut’s rise, indeed, was driven by some of the financial industry’s seediest bottom-feeders — questionable stock touters, offshore front groups involved in money laundering, and foreign financiers linked to short-selling, securities fraud, and, in 2005, the collapse of a major Wall Street brokerage firm………..snip………… And Allen’s affiliation with the company should now raise questions about whether he deserves to retain his other seat — the one on the best board of directors in the world.
Snip
Much of this mischief took place while Allen was on Xybernaut’s board. Allen refused repeated requests to discuss his relationship to Xybernaut, but some experts believe that, at best, the board was asleep at the wheel.
Snip
And during Allen’s board tenure, it (the company) received the vast bulk of its money from outfits based in the most notorious havens for tax cheats and money launderers: the Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Liechtenstein, and Israel.
http://www.prospect.org/web/pa.....leId=11861
morning taylor
with tweety talking about holy joe’s latest ad and saying “i see dead people” and scarborough calling bush an idiot may hopefully mark a shift in the media coverage.
OT:
When are they going to find the a**hole who told the press that the woman on the United flight had Vaseline, a screwdriver, matches and a note about Al Queda?
They need to find this person and prosecute them with everything they’ve got.
I am way past tired of these false terror attack reports.
Yeah, afterthought, they are actually discussing the question, dissecting it like academics or physicians or both. In other words, it’s a real proposition and they are considering the evidence, empirically. Weak arguments against, strong arguments for.
Since I don’t have cable, is this a mainstream show? Is it on during primetime? Does this guy have an audience? Oh well, it’s viral now in any case. Let the circus begin. Wait til Stewart and Colbert and Letterman get their hands on this.
infoshaman @ 11
The difference between winning and losing in politics often turns on 6-year old style name calling. I don’t say I like this, but I find it undeniable.
Yay, Taylor! AFter reading the last thread, and the Ned piece in WSJ, I thought we might see a Thelma and Louise over the cliff photoshopped with Dubya and Joey, but this graphic’s still great!
EPU-ed from last thread re Ned:
Good to read you this morning, Taylor.
Something’s up with the C&L video links this morning, so I can’t get the first-hand pleasure of seeing the Scarborough clip (yet.) If anyone knows any alternate links, it would be appreciated…
kristinejoy @ 12
Kristinejoy, I did the same thing, ran to check out his pubs. I did a BA in cog psy and focussed my thesis on memory and language. I had the same take on Bjork. Please share anything else you find!
Whew, I thought I had dreamed the “Is Bush an Idiot?” program. My answer was in the affirmative but I didn’t think Scarborough’s would be the same. Fund looked more out of it than usual. Only Mike Allen or Fox weenies would have tried to give the question a “Not at all. He’s a bona fide genuis” answer after all the evidence that’s in.
I’m reminded of Randi Rhodes’ appearance a few months ago with a panel of wingers, where one of them responded to her criticism that no rational person would do what Bush was doing with “you’re assuming he’s rational! Ha, ha!” and none of them defended him.
‘Adapt to win.’
We need to be sending the message that the Republicans should adapt to losing. Starting with Leiberman.
Petro @ 20
Petro: See ^
http://www.firedoglake.com/200.....ent-246456
OT, but if I do this now, I’m sure to forget to later . . .
Admin Told PBS: Stay Mum on Pundit’s Post
Hey petro, try b.g.’s YouTube link, which seems to work great. Mornin’ Prairie Sunshine, the picture seemed perfect, especially coming from a Republican talking head.
I tried watching the video on my office computer, but somehow couldn’t gain access. Guess I’ll wait til I get home tonight.
BUT, something did catch my eye. Somebody evidentally played clips of Bush when he was govenor and pointed out the difference between then and now. I thought I was the only one who had noticed, over the years, how articulate Bush was when he was govenor (or, well, articulate for HIM) and how he’s losing it in the years since.
He’s been whining a lot when he tries to be “convincing”. And, he’s even less articulate now than he was even two years ago.
if Bush is an idiot, how come he’s Preznit and you’re not?
FOX News uses the question mark at the end of their declarations as a legalistic maneuver to avoid responsibility. They frequently run text such as, “Is John Kerry a Traitor?” I can’t believe Scarborough isn’t doing the same thing.
This is more dog whistle stuff. The idea is to convey the message to the base while at the same time pretending it’s speculation and not any sort of message to the less clued-in.
For Scarborough to call Bush an idiot like this is another sign that the conservative movement is laying the groundwork for scapegoating Bush for their mistake of using him as their figurehead and creating a cult of personality. In an attempt to salvage conservatism they’ll have to declare Bush a traitor to their movement. Just like they did to Bush the Elder after his 1992 defeat.
“AP now reporting that she may or may not have had Vaseline, screwdriver or matches. (Coming from Heathrow, how could she?)”
Paging Mrs. McGyver. Paging Mrs. McGyver.
Pick up the white courtesy phone.
-GSD
Dr. Bong - Thanks, missed that! (Must be that 420 thang…)
And thanks, Taylor, too.
After all these months, even years, no one, absolutely no one has been held accountable for the incompetence
And this is my biggest problem. Everyone says what’s done is done, move on and work together to fix the problem.
Everyone knows that the first step to recovery is always first admit that you have a problem.
The one positive note is that the GOP Meme of “Accountibility” is dead
OT from last thread, Mary says
Froomkin is doing Q&A today, maybe you could throw that question his way?
A little more evidence that George Allen knew what he was saying when he called someone a “macaca/macaque.” Given that his mother was a French Tunesian immigrant and that the word basically means “nigger” in her language, and she is known for her foul mouth, he doesn’t have much of a defense.
Puppethead,
There is indeed a stepping away from Bush. William F. Buckley recently editorialized that Bush will hve “no legacy”. That is being kind, Bush will have a ruinous legacy.
Look around, you will hear more and more people on the right claiming that “Bush isn’t conservative”.
The conservative movement must have a slow and obtuse learning curve if it has taken them 6 years of Bushism to come to that conclusion.
-GSD
As Iraq devolves into civil war, the stepping will turn into a stampede.
from what I gather of the liquid explosives kerfuffle, it’s glycerine based gels that they are worried about, not petroleum-jelly…
sorry hit submit too soon….
Pointing fingers, in this case is required as it is the only way to get the people that put us there to out of the decision making process.
Taylor,
Your posts are terrific.. every one of them and they get better and better. You are a treasure!
Imagine what the sentiment would be in the country if the media was not controlled and reporting the facts on the ground.
Imagine what would happen if the people came out to vote and had their votes count and had real courages candidates to vote for.
Imagine what would happen if these crooks were held accountable for their misdeeds and sent to jail for a long time. This would send a message to those theifs waiting their turn to get at the people’s treasure.
Imagine if these people who rush to war actually had been in war.
Imagine if we had a media which did it job and reported the truth and spoke truth to power instead of being propaganda shills for those in power.
Imagine if power did not behave as power does and someone thought about the people and not about themselves?
Keep up the good fight… it will be a long hard one.
A brutal summary of our ”progress” in Iraq, from Tom Lasseter of the former Knight Ridder (via, um, myself):
Fire Update:
Thanks to all for your continuing good thoughts/prayers/wishes for our firefighters, especially meta and zennurse.
The feds have now taken control of the fire management, and they may increase the number of firefighters to between 800 and 1000. Three slurry bombers and three Black Hawks for water drops will be working the fire today.
The fire still has not taken any homes and went around the communications towers last night (the fire could have taken out the area’s 911 emergency system). Our usually strong (20-30 mph) winds have stayed in the 10-20 mph range, which has helped, although even those winds whip up the fires. A smoky haze lines the streets.
Over 100 flames could easily be seen on the mountain last night, resembling a lighted city in the distance.
Thanks again for your support!
Speaking of Iraq, I heard John Kerry has sent out a fundraising e-mail to his list of three million to raise money on behalf of Ned Lamont.
Nice.
The greater significance of this question is the questioner.
Once again, all of what we’re seeing now is coming at the end of Josh Bolten’s widely-heralded Spring Offensive. He got The Decider’s JAR up a few points for a few weeks, but now it’s right back to the baseline that Andy Card established.
All the maneuvering, all the screeching from the VRWM echoed by the M$M, all those campaign contributions and the cocktail weenies that spawned them, all wasted.
And the clock continues to run.
The far right concluded Bush was an idiot during the Harriet Miers fiasco and push back. Unfortunately, he’s their useful idiot
Hey defjef, good to see you, as always.
Thanks for the Lasseter reminder, Swopa. Please also take the time to read Chuck Pena’s analysis of what has happened to our military because of Iraq in Iraq or Bust. It’s a very important piece.
Just listened to the Scarborough clip. Wow.
And in case you missed it, go back and listen to the last 20 seconds or so. Joe asks if Chimpy “has the intellectual curiousness(sic) to continue leading this country over the next couple years.”
TATP is the scary liquid. Although very few, if any, of the arrested suspects even had passports, let alone plane tickets. But it’s a good thing these alleged terrorists were unable to disrupt air travel…
Hilda @
42
Oh my goodness, Hilda. That is so frightening, so many factors to control. But it sounds like all the gods are on your side. We will keep you in our thoughts for continued good news.
fwiw, Sen. Allen (R-acist) is such a believer in family values that he’s on his second marriage!
You know, stepping back and looking at what’s coming together on the political scene, Joe Lieberman’s defeat is an earthquake, a structural realignment with the radicalised moderates: democrat, republican and independent all heading into the Democratic Party and the radical warmongers all heading into the Republican Party.
I am going to make a bold prediction. Begining in 2008, the Democratic Party will be the dominant majority party in America for the next 20 years. The Republican party will go dormant and possibly break into two with frustrated religious fanatics going into Roy Moore’s party.
The GOP brand is tainted for a generation of American voters. If the Democrats can deliver one of their markers during this 20 year period, like universal health care, we could be looking at a long Democratic Party domination, similar to what started in 1932.
This in my opinion would truly mark the end of the Cold War, as America’s last anti-communist party will have been defeated by America’s post-communist party. Both parties were anti communist during the cold war but the Democrats progressed after the fall of the Berlin wall and the Republicans have not. The rise of the Democratic Party will show that America has finally moved beyond cold war politics and into the 21st century.
My theory is that many republican pathologies stem from them being an anti communist party in an era where communism is dead. The world has changed but republican conservatives have not, and their continuing use of cold war era anti communist ideas and policies are holding America back. It’s just not applicable anymore and it leads to profound policy mistakes.
OT - Lamont TV appearances this afternoon:
Media Advisory
Ned Lamont Responds to the False Republican Attacks of Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman
For Immediate Release
For more information contact: Liz Dupont-Diehl, (860) 989-7893, Edward Vale, (631) 334-8191
(Ned Haven, CT) - At 4:00 pm, at 205 Church St, New Haven, CT Ned Lamont will respond to the false Republican talking points that are being parroted by Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman.
Who: Ned Lamont, Democratic Nominee for US Senate
What: Press Conference
When: 4:00 p.m.
Where: 205 Church St, New Haven CT
(corner of Church & Elm Streets)
Additional Events Today:
•Ned will be live on Kudlow & Cramer during the 5:30-5:40 segment.
•Ned will be live on Hardball with Chris Matthews during the 5:50-6:00 segment
Taylor,
Great piece.
Here is my Exhibit A:
I sent an e-mail to my ultra-conservative, libertarian, border line John Bircher friend who has a talk-show. The content of the mail was how at long last conservatives/neo-cons were being critical of Bush in the post Israel/Hezbollah conflict assessment. Of course their criticism is that Bush isn’t enough of a war-monger. Anyhow.
Here is the opening line of his reply:
So friggin right. I wondered why it was that while I was being critical of Bush’s policies, the tradional conservatives who got suckered into the neo-con agenda were not with me. It seemed like a mix of politics and stubbornness.
Now, they are going in the other direction. Cute!
-GSD
The video is up at youtube and can also be found here:
http://undeniableliberalism.bl.....video.html
Peace
*ilson46201 @ 50
And the divorce records are sealed. Anyone else wonder what’s in there, especially since she is said to have initiated the break up?
Taylor, your post is heart-thumpingly powerful. I hesitate to watch the Scarborough link because seeing anything Bush makes me physically ill but I’ll take a deep breath and make the leap…
BBC: “Paraguay’s former military ruler Alfredo Stroessner dies aged 93 in a hospital in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia.”
Only the good die young …
T A Y L O R !!!
so very good to have you back at the Lake
belaboring the obvious here -but I will go to my job tonight and will bet you everything non blogging folks are just as tired -
even amidst last week’s big splash Terrapalooza in London can’t tell you all how often the folks simply rolled their eyes or at a minimum said ‘we’ll just wait and see’ - and I am talking about middle aged, white, Repub Texas males
they have reached critical mass on playing this card - everytime they do it further damages their credibility and that of their MSRNC puppets
‘bush’s troubles began with katrina’
did anyone catch little mikey allen’s jaw-dropping comment last night on olbermann. the katrina video briefing for bush and his apparent disinterested response, was in actuality him ‘internalizing the katrina briefings’ that’s why there were no questions/reactions.
Taylor – great to see you here at the lake! I make a point to check your site frequently – it’s part of my self-education program, and you do a wonderful job. Wish this quality of research and writing would be the standard and not the exception.
The poll numbers you cite are illuminating, and I suspect they will result in either low voter turnout – as GOP voters cannot bring themselves to vote for either the status quo or Democrats – or GOP voters so fed up with the status quo that they will break ranks and vote Democratic. I think the Dems are putting up some excellent candidates who are the embodiment of change, and like Ned Lamont, show a real and sincere interest in listening to the voters and hearing their concerns. I think voters are hungry for this, and I don’t see the GOP offering anything that remotely satisfies that hunger.
As the bright, shiny object of the London terror plot takes all the attention, the bloodshed in Iraq continues at a terrible pace, the Israel-Hezbollah-Lebanon boondoggle has done no one any good, and apparently has not dissuaded the folks who play Army with little green plastic figures from the notion that perhaps we need to bring Iran to heel.
Not sure we are going to be able to get enough people with sense into office in time to prevent the Bush administration from sending us all into the abyss, but I hope and pray that we can.
Critical question the polling DIDN’T ask: Are you concerned enough about these issues to vote against the Republican candidate in November, given a credible opponent?
Because for a lot of Republicans, particularly older ones, that’s still going to be a HUGE hill to climb. Decades of “But the Democrats … ” takes its toll.
The Harriet Miers nomination was the proof needed to convince the far-right that Bush was deficient.
The Israel/Hezbollah fiasco has re-affirmed this matter to the far right. Bush declaring the withdrawl a victory was too much for them. We were supposed to be marching into Damascus by now and placing U.S. flags over statues of the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran by now, or shipping over meters for the worlds newest and biggest radiated parking lot.
They think Bush let Israel down and that he is a softy.
-GSD
OT- Google just made Mountain View Googletown. Free wifi access for everyone. I think this is also planned for SF, right Teddy? Didn’t Google win the contract that Newsom proposed for free wifi for everyone? Anyway, you can imagine how the big telcos (yeah, you, ATT) are feeling about that.
Meta @ 49
The fire has taken 8000 acres so far and was headed for a beetle infested dead tree area this AM. Companies have stepped with up with donations of heavy equipment to cut fire lines, and the community is bringing bottled water for the firefighters.
There are fires all over the country right now, and firefighters are the under-appreciated heroes of our country.
puppethead @
30
I just watched the clip, and I think you’re right. They’re setting us up for something…
BKNY,
That Mike Allen comment was stunning. He even feels the need to cover Bush for that disaster. Allen is truly a rump-swabber deluxe and is a shoddy, crappy journalist.
Internalizing? He was day-dreaming about cutting brush and carving up pigs.
-GSD
You’ll be glad you took the jump Jenny. Mornin’, gsd.
C B L!
bkny -
Mike Allen = Joe Klone
yeah I caught his act last night and I was laughing my ass off when he was reading his Rovean fax about Bush being soooo engaged on a daily basis with hourly updates/Israeli troop movements, etc.
Really Mike ? back up the bus here for a sec Junior, if he’s so f’ing engaged, how come not a word btw he and Olmert you asshound!
Mikie first exposed himself in all his Wankerness to us all a week ago - while watching the Ned Victory Party vid (you know, the one showing all us old farts Wang Chunging) Mike spewed about ‘youthful blogging hordes’ (paraphrasing here)right in front of the gd screen - oh yeah, wankertude is safe for now
Text of John Kerry’s appeal for contributions (emphasis is mine):
This will bring in lots of much-needed cash.
Adios Alfredo.
Tell Slobodan Milosevic we asked about whether it is a dry heat, or a humid heat down there.
-GSD
Overlooked in all of this “Bush is an idiot” business, as well as the fervent frothing in the progressive blogosphere over electing a few more Democrats, is the sad fact that the Bush/Cheney administration represents the best of America, not the worst. :-( This is what our system produced, folks. They started an illegal, immoral war and nobody stopped them. That’s the invisible 800-pound gorilla in the middle of the room.
Jeannie Z @ 36
Actually, one of the things I find most interesting about George Allen is that his mother is a French Tunisian Jew. What a strange marriage his parents must have; what a strange mixture of genes.
The graphic’s perfect on this topic, Taylor. Not complainin’.
Don’t Erbe and the PBS wienies realize they’re bein’ played by the Bushies? Oh, wait… nevahmind.
I’ve had an epiphany. Y’know how Bush went after Saddam against all reason because he tried to “kill mah dada”? What if this whole smash, trash, and create total global and domestic chaos is part of a grander scheme to totally destroy the Republicants who orchestrated dada’s political “death” back in ‘92.
Nah….
Meanwhile the local press is reporting the housing bubble has burst. I’m seein’ it in the stubbornly non-budging For Sale signs in neighborhood front yards.
Steve Gilliard has a bunch of great posts up today — a long Wollcott excerpt demolishes the crypto racist facade of the GOP.
But this one — My subejcts do not love me? — cuts to the chase.
Bush can’t understand why he gets no love in Iraq. The poor baby can’t understand why some people don’t agree with the reality he has created.
This is straight out of the Fuhrer Bunker, folks — the question is not whether Bush is too stupid to be preznit (himself alone, yes — he, Rove, armed with 2 billion GOoPer bucks, he’s been able to fake it — up until now) but whether he is too stark raving mad to effectively execute the duties of his office.
This is just the rethugs distancing themselves from abject failure. No real repudiation of the shrubs policies or goals. They’re just pissed off that the methods didn’t work. In 08 they’ll have a bright shiny candidate the bullshit maverick mccain who will pushing the same radical unamerican agenda.
Someone dropped this link in the comment section of crooks and liars: It is wrt George Bush and the differences in his speech in 10 years. good stuff folks!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pw4Bhmm22xo
In response to infoshaman @ 11 — the media has been so doggedly persistent in its defense of Bush for so long (Scarborough among them), that it will necessarily require a sea change in media positioning before the broadcast-watching public changes its perception.
That sea change may require being as blunt as giving permission to the broadcast-watching public to call a seated president an idiot.
Note that I’m pointing to the that portion of the public that relies almost exclusively on television for its news; these are folks who vote most frequently, and yet are least wired among the population. They have not heard people making any derogatory noises among the Big 4 broadcasters (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) until now, and Scarborough’s program might be missed by many of these folks because it’s on cable and later in the day.
Yet Scarborough’s question opens the door for folks who’ve been suffering from kind of culture-wide cognitive dissonance. The war drags on, the economy is tepid, healthcare sucks, but the media has been painting everything as rosy…they haven’t been able to do anything more than swallow their discontent because they had no validation.
The flood gates may now open; we may see a LOT of folks who identify as conservative now beginning to talk about stupidity in office.
What we need to watch is whether this is already being co-opted and maniupulated by the right as it seeks to maintain its grasp on power. Somebody should be asking them if they’d rather be wealthier and grumbling about a Democratic majority, or scared witless as an angry torch-bearing mob comes after them.
phoebes @
72
the real tragedy is that this woman was subjected to a life of American football.
Eye on the ball, folks… eye on the ball. Kick back for a few minutes and enjoy the video, but then remember the Big Picture, and get back onto the message that the electorate needs to hear this Fall:
George Bush isn’t the problem, George Bush has never been anything more than the figurehead. What George Bush stands for is the problem, and what he stands for is the whole conservative project: neocons, theocons, and paleocons, all wrapped up in one nation-ruining ball of greed and hubris. The Rubberstamp Republican congress was part of the frenzy and has done zero — zip, squat, nada — to hold anyone responsible for the long, ugly train wreck. The time and place to begin to get our country back on track is in the 2006 elections, by electing people who have had enough and who pledge to begin the clean-up and the salvaging of our country’s reputation.
Is Bush an idiot? appears to me to be the kind of question the MSM asks because it still can’t ask the real one: Should Bush be impeached and removed from office? All Presidents make mistakes. Some are brighter than others. But if Bush is incompetent, if he is overwhelmed by his job, then he should be impeached. The Constitution speaks of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and that can mean pretty much whatever the Congress chooses it to mean. And in Bush’s case it wouldn’t even be that difficult to find real, substantial grounds for a bill of impeachment. Just look to his gross negligence with regard to Katrina, allowing a major American city to be destroyed because he couldn’t be bothered. Look at his lying in the run up to Iraq. Look once again at his negligence in managing the aftermath resulting in the deaths and maiming of thousands of American soldiers and the waste of hundreds of billions of dollars, including billions in fraudulent contracts to politically friendly companies like Halliburton. Look to the pattern of illegalities cloaked under the mantle of national security. Look at signing statements which flout the President’s Constitutional duty to execute the laws which Congress enacts. From a grounds point of view, this is the most impeachable President in our history. And yet most of us and certainly the MSM continue to go about as if impeachment is a radical, fringe idea and ignore the fact that we have a radical, fringe President.
And how did we get into the Iraq mess into the first place? Check out the elephant in the room. It has a name. It’s Anthrax. People should talk about it.
-ck- @ 74
Well, if you weren’t sure Bush is an idiot, that article would seal the deal. Is he just now realizing that Iraqis hate what we’ve done to their beloved country? That the war and all it consequences has them a bit bent out of shape? Holy mother, save us from this hell.
They’re setting us up for something.
At a minimum, their 2008 presidential candidate will need to
runsprint away from Chimpy as fast as s/he can.Taylor, great post. The Scarborough clip is breathtaking. We’ve seen it all before, but viewing it as one segment really makes the point.
One theory if not that Bush is an idiot, but that he has something the matter with him. James Fallows wrote a piece for the Atlantic, ”When George Meets John,” in which he said this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200407/fallows
This thesis prompted letters to the editor, including this:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200410/letters
The letter from Dr. Price prompted strong disagreement from a few doctors who thought it was grossly irresponsible, etc., but also this:
All their responses can be found here: (subscription required)
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200412/letters
overheard latenight at 1600 Pennsylvannia Avenue -
“Lump, Wake Up, Wake Up Lump ! Ah can’t find my bullhorn, my magic bullhorn - it’s gone! Ah asked Dick and he says he don’t have it, Ah think he’s lyin’, but Lump! Lump!, Ah needs my Magic Bullhorn !” they’re callin’ me bad names Lump! Ah gots to have that bullhorn!
OT - but not totally. Ze Frank equates the current political situation to a baseball game.
http://www.zefrank.com/theshow.....1406.html#
Re: The Army being at grave risk, here are some gems from Rumsfeld:
If the above is not enough for you, go here:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quo.....sfeld.html