Anger at Bush is well justified - he and his Republican Congress put us in this mess...nm

• Well, O had the Economic Summit today and - Backwards typist
  • Obama heading the Fiscal Responsibility Summit is like - Mike Tyson heading the non-violence summit
    • The Republican Congress did a good job with fiscal responsibility, didn't they? - sm
      • Its the democrats in cogress who screwed it up - get the fact straight
        • Right, took 2 years with George's veto pen, uh-huh.......twilight zone......nm - sm
  • But hey....he is going to cut - sm
  • I think they shouldn't bail them out. They're - all gonna tank, anyway.- sm
  • Every time he opens his big yap... - sm
    • IT'S FANTASTIC!!!! - sm
      • That is Great news! - I Heard He Was Working on That!
    • ...the Truth Comes Out - Get Used To It
      • wow, what a brilliant response...boy wonder can only use Bush as an excuse for a few more months... - sm
        • Keep swallowing that Bush juice..... - sm
          • Aww, boy wonder's sheeple get their panties in a wad when he is criticized... - nm
            • Not Nearly as much as his Detractors Get From Posting - Inflammatory, incorrect reports.
              • Funny it's okay to post inflammatory reports about Bush (nm) - Hard to take your own medicine
                • Anger at Bush is well justified - he and his Republican Congress put us in this mess...nm - sm
              • Aww, you bathrobe pundits know so much and are always correct! I bow to the - sm
                • Hey! Brown Trout! - sm
                  • Oh honey, sorry I can't follow your trailer trashy talk.. - sm
                    • Tsk, tsk, trashy trashy - LOL nm - sm
                • Thank you, thank you! - Appreciate your confidence
            • They better get used to it! nm - nobama
              • And McFailin would have gotten this... - sm
                • Palin has more intelligence than you would ever give - her credit for. Obama=car salesman-you bought it.n
                  • HAHAHAHAHAHA! To You - that's probably true.....LOL nm - sm
                • As usual, bringing up the past...how 'bout something original... - nobama
                  • But the difference is.. - Yours Deserved it
                  • Thanks to you and your ilk.... - sm
                    • They Won't be Lauging Come November - When ALL pubs are voted out!
                      • YES WE CAN!!!! - sm
                        • Yes we can...fuc& the country over and have everyone behind us! - nm
                          • Oh honey, I can't follow your trashy trailer talk.. - sm
        • Unlike yours, eh? - NM
    • Wall Street has zero confidence in Obama's - plans. Sadly, neither do I. nm
      • I have zero confidence in Wall St......nm - sm
        • Me either, but even less confidence in Obama - Throw money at everything, money we dont have.nm
      • I can just see Biden's answer... - sm

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    Tuesday 30 August 2005

    Who lost Iraq? Someday, as a fragmented Iraq spirals further into religious madness, terrorism and civil war, there will be a bipartisan inquiry into this blundering intrusion into another people's history.

    The crucial question will be why a preemptive American invasion - which has led to the deaths of nearly 2,000 Americans, roughly 10 times as many Iraqis, the expenditure of about $200 billion and incalculable damage to the United States' global reputation - has had exactly the opposite effect predicted by its neoconservative sponsors. No amount of crowing over a fig leaf Iraqi constitution by President Bush can hide the fact that the hand of the region's autocrats, theocrats and terrorists is stronger than ever.

    The U.S. now has to recognize that [it] overthrew Saddam Hussein to replace him with a pro-Iranian state, said regional expert Peter W. Galbraith, the former U.S. ambassador to Croatia and an advisor to the Iraqi Kurds. And, he could have added, a pro-Iranian state that will be repressive and unstable.

    Think this is an exaggeration? Consider that arguably the most powerful Shiite political party and militia in today's Iraq, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its affiliated paramilitary force, the Badr Brigade, was not only based in Iran but was set up by Washington's old arch-foe, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It also fought on the side of Iran in the Iran-Iraq war and was recognized by Tehran as the government in exile of Iraq.

    Or that former exile Ahmad Chalabi is now one of Iraq's deputy prime ministers. The consummate political operator managed to maintain ties to Iran while gaining the devoted support of Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon, charming and manipulating Beltway policymakers and leading U.S. journalists into believing that Iraq was armed with weapons of mass destruction.

    Chalabi is thrilled with the draft constitution, which, if passed, will probably exponentially increase tension and violence between Sunnis and Shiites. It is an excellent document, said Chalabi, who has been accused by U.S. intelligence of being a spy for Iran, where he keeps a vacation home.

    What an absurd outcome for a war designed to create a compliant, unified and stable client state that would be pro-American, laissez-faire capitalist and unallied with the hated Iran. Of course, Bush tells us again, this is progress and an inspiration. Yet his relentless spinning of manure into silk has worn thin on the American public and sent his approval ratings tumbling.

    Even supporters of the war are starting to realize that rather than strengthening the United States' position in the world, the invasion and occupation have led to abject humiliation: from the Abu Ghraib scandal, to the guerrilla insurgency exposing the limits of military power, to an election in which our guy - Iyad Allawi - was defeated by radicals and religious extremists.

    In a new low, the U.S. president felt obliged to call and plead with the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, Abdelaziz Hakim, to make concessions to gain Sunni support. Even worse, he was summarily rebuffed. Nevertheless, Bush had no choice but to eat crow and like it.

    This is a document of which the Iraqis, and the rest of the world, can be proud, he said Sunday, through what must have been gritted teeth. After all, this document includes such democratic gems as Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation, and No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam, as well as socialist-style pronouncements that work and a decent standard of living are a right guaranteed by the state. But the fact is, it could establish Khomeini's ghost as the patron saint of Iraq and Bush would have little choice but to endorse it.

    Even many in his own party are rebelling. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur, said Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel last week, one of a growing number of Republicans who get that we should start figuring out how we get out of there.

    Not that our what-me-worry? president is the least bit troubled by all this adverse blowback from the huge, unnecessary gamble he took in invading the heart of the Arab and Muslim worlds. What is important is that the Iraqis are now addressing these issues through debate and discussion, not at the barrel of a gun, Bush said.

    Wrong again, George. It was the barrel of your gun that midwifed the new Iraq, which threatens to combine the instability of Lebanon with the religious fanaticism of Iran.

...this is the SECOND time he snookered Congress:  First with his Chicken Little rush to hurry up and go to war with Iraq (which most of us were stupid enough to buy hook, line and sinker, myself included).

Now the economic "crisis" that required us to hurry up and give more money to reward the Wall Street crooks who have already stolen from us WITH THE EXPRESS CONDITION that there be no oversight, that we simply hand the money over to former Wall Street guru Paulson (wink wink) and let him and Bush figure out (wink wink) with no questions asked regarding the identity of the recipients.  (Apparently, they are changing the rules as they go along, as we saw today regarding where the money is going.)

If you REALLY want to get your blood boiling, read the following two articles.  Seems everyone who is a decision-maker in the administration regarding this whole fiasco is a former employee of one of the failed companies.

Bush has always held America and Americans in contempt.  I now hold Congress in contempt and place the blame squarely on them for being stupid enough to believe Bush again.

Fed loans to AIG make Paulson's previous employer rich

http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=335924

---

And just last week, the Federal Reserve hired a BEAR STEARNS reject.

administration has blocked any kind of transparency and refuses to be acountable to the American citizens who are funding the Wall Street giant giveaway.

The General Accounting Office says the Wall Street bailout isn't being policed properly: 

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers want the Treasury to do a better job of insisting that banking institutions sharing in the $700 billion bailout comply with limits Congress imposed on executive salaries and use the money for its intended purposes.

In the first comprehensive review of the rescue package, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday that the Treasury Department has no mechanisms to ensure that banking institutions limit their top executives' pay and comply with other restrictions.

"The GAO's discouraging report makes clear that the Treasury Department's implementation of the (rescue plan) is insufficiently transparent and is not accountable to American taxpayers," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The auditors acknowledged that the program, created Oct. 3 to help stabilize a rapidly faltering banking system, was less than 60 days old and has been adjusting to an evolving mission.

But auditors recommended that Treasury work with government bank regulators to determine whether the activities of financial institutions that receive the money are meeting their purpose.

In a response to the GAO, Neel Kashkari, who heads the department's Office of Financial Stability, said the agency was developing its own compliance program and indicated that it disagreed with the need to work with regulators.

Continued at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/03/the-bailout-isnt-being-po_n_147982.html

P.S.  Neel Kashkari, formerly of Goldman Sachs (a/k/a the fox guarding the hen house), just recently got his job.  His bio:

http://www.ustreas.gov/organization/bios/kashkari-e.html

I know Gov. Napolitano wanted to secure Arizona borders years ago.  She was Attorney General back then and US attorney.  She went to congress and fought for border control several times, but was ignored by Clinton.  Finally Bush came into office and he signed (article below) Border Fence Act. 

As for Obama, well he picked Gov. Napolitano to be in his office. 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6388548

President Has Issued 750 Statements That He May Revise or Disregard Measures.

WASHINGTON (June 27) -- The White House on Tuesday defended President Bush's prolific use of bill signing statements, saying There's this notion that the president is committing acts of civil disobedience, and he's not, said Bush's press secretary Tony Snow, speaking at the White House. It's important for the president at least to express reservations about the constitutionality of certain provisions.

Snow spoke as Senate Judiciary Committe Chairman Arlen Specter opened hearings on Bush's use of bill signing statements saying he reserves the right to revise, interpret or disregard a measure on national security and consitutional grounds. Such statements have accompanied some 750 statutes passed by Congress -- including a ban on the torture of detainees and the renewal of the Patriot Act.

There is a sense that the president has taken signing statements far beyond the customary purview, Specter, R-Pa., said.

It's a challenge to the plain language of the Constitution, he added. I'm interested to hear from the administration just what research they've done to lead them to the conclusion that they can cherry-pick.

A Justice Department lawyer defended Bush's statements.

Even if there is modest increase, let me just suggest that it be viewed in light of current events and Congress' response to those events, said Justice Department lawyer Michelle Boardman. The significance of legislation affecting national security has increased markedly since Sept. 11..

Congress has been more active, the president has been more active, she added. The separation of powers is working when we have this kind of dispute.

Specter's hearing is about more than the statements. He's been compiling a list of White House practices he bluntly says could amount to abuse of executive power -- from warrantless domestic wiretapping program to sending officials to hearings who refuse to answer lawmakers' questions.

But the session also concerns countering any influence Bush's signing statements may have on court decisions regarding the new laws. Courts can be expected to look to the legislature for intent, not the executive, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas., a former state judge.

There's less here than meets the eye, Cornyn said. The president is entitled to express his opinion. It's the courts that determine what the law is.

But Specter and his allies maintain that Bush is doing an end-run around the veto process. In his presidency's sixth year, Bush has yet to issue a single veto that could be overridden with a two-thirds majority in each house.

The president is not required to (veto), Boardman said.

Of course he's not if he signs the bill, Specter snapped back.

Instead, Bush has issued hundreds of signing statements invoking his right to interpret or ignore laws on everything from whistleblower protections to how Congress oversees the Patriot Act.

It means that the administration does not feel bound to enforce many new laws which Congress has passed, said David Golove, a New York University law professor who specializes in executive power issues. This raises profound rule of law concerns. Do we have a functioning code of federal laws?

but read Lurker and Imagine! Just IMAGINE!

hatred, rage, intolerance, factual manipulation and hissy fits back to the Conservative board where they belong?

I understand your frustration that the Conservative board is relatively quiet and peaceful these days and realize that must be a tremendous source of discomfort for you, but please take your hatred and rage somewhere else. 

And for the record, I couldn't care less what you think, either, about ANYTHING, although I am embarrassed for you that you're so full of hate, you couldn't even write a small sentence like that without resorting to profanity.

Adding you to my ever-growing list of the troll soldiers sent by the right to insult, berate, badger and harass the people who would rather discuss issues intelligently, and I've decided not to respond to posters who can't behave like adults.  So this will be my last post to you.

Have a nice evening, and I truly hope you can someday find some inner peace and serenity. 

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29722440#29722440

Thanks for the laughs.  I really needed them today.  Laughter truly is the best medicine. 

I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend.  :-)

    Even as he was pledging to "change the way government does almost everything," the senator from Arizona announced his commitment to much, much more of the same.

    He pledged to maintain endless occupations of distant lands that empty the U.S. Treasury of precious resources that might pay for infrastructue renewal, housing and job creations initiatives for hurting Americans.

    He outlined trade and tax policies that would extend, rather than alter a failed economic status quo.

    He reintroduced flawed proposals for health care, education and entitlement reforms that Americans have wisely rejected.

    And he threatened to achieve "energy independence" by declaring:

    "We will drill..."

    "We'll drill..."

    "More drilling..."

    McCain's rhetoric was that of a liberated man declaring his independence from his party's failed president and corrupt Congresses.

    But his platform was that of Republican candidate who, for all of his talk of reform, offers the crudest continuity to a country that is crying out for change.

http://www.truthout.org/article/the-anti-republican-republican-who-is-really-a-republican

x

instead of talk radio or Gore's electrice bill. I am referring to Libby's trial,

Well....he was convicted of perjury and if he in fact did lie under oath to the grand jury, he should go to jail.  That being said...why not pardon him?  Clinton was cited for exactly the same things...lying under oath (perjury) before a grand jury and obstruction of justice.  He is free as a bird, finished his term as President, making money hand over fist....yes, for that reason alone I think Libby should be pardoned to level the playing field again.  If liberals were happy that Clinton walked, they should not scream bloody murder if Bush does pardon Libby.  Because it is the very same thing and would expose the hypocrisy BIG time.  But, that has never stopped them before, has it? 

the firing of 8 judges,

I am having a hard time finding much usable information about this.  What I can find are various blogs that lean hard right or hard left and not much fact.  I saw where it was stated that they were fired for cause, citing one refused to file death penalty cases, one refused to file immigration cases, yada yada.  But I did not really find anything compelling and not in a blog that compelled me to fall either way on this.  I don't see any reason to think they were not fired for cause...don't see anything in writing to convince me either.

Pete Domineci,

If you are talking about the firing of David Iglesias, I am not much buying it that the administration fired him because of something he did or did not do back during the presidential election.  I can't find any evidence to prove that.  It is of concern to me that Iglesias held that information all this time, and now that he has been fired brings it forward.  He said himself, or at least was quoted as saying, he had no proof that his firing was related to that.  It sounds like sour grapes for being fired to me.  Typical, human reaction to being fired.  But because it is a political position, the sour grapes are made public.

the unnecessary and ever rising numbers of dead - everywhere, 40 towns in Vermont calling for impeachment (of course this won't go anywhere but the gesture is telling),

Nothing much to say about this.  Wars kill people.  Most of the Iraqi deaths are at the hands of other Arabs.  You can blame that on America if you wish.  I choose not to.  More Iraqis are coming forward and fingering the bad guys, and that is what it is going to take.  We have had a lot of successes.  Of course, you have to watch Fox to see them.  CNN studiously ignores such things as it does not fit their agenda.  As do the networks.  I hope you are not going to suggest that Fox has a soundstage where they fake the reports.

a pardon for Libby (and does he have to admit guilt to be pardoned which he has not done), the fact that Libby was the attorney to the much maligned Marc Rich who was pardoned by Clinton, which was also much maligned. Was Scooter as evil as Clinton for having defended him in his dealings with Iran and his tax evasion as Clinton was for pardoning him ??  If all this was just about infighting between the FBI and the administration and George Tenet, then why did Libby lie at all; wouldn't be important enough to lie about, IMHO. Throwing it out there.

This whole thing smacks of getting back, to me.  More interesting to me than Scooter and Marc, is Fitzgerald and Comey.  Fitzgerald and Comey were both prosecutors working on the Marc Rich case.  Obviously they were not happy when they were on the eve of an indictment when Rich ran (wonder who leaked to him that the indictment was imminent) and were even more UNhappy when Clinton pardoned him.  And who should be now prosecuting Scooter?  And who did most of the investigation?  Why, that would be Fitzgerald and Mr. Comey.  Which is why I think they went for Scooter's throat and did not indict the man who REALLY leaked the information, Richard Armitage.  Payback in politics is hael, my friend!!

I will have to admit though that I don't know that much about that aspect of it.  I do know there is some controversy surrounding the whole Hezbullah vs Hamas and Lebanon vs Gaza.  I obviously have some catching up to do on that one...LOL.

I do think, however, that Hamas kind of got a bad rap because they couldn't keep up with the demands for food, housing, etc, and particularly the distribution of aid....?  However, I also think that it's kind of hard to keep that flow of aid going when Israel is attacking incoming ships that carry that aid.  With that and the constant bombardment from Isreal in a military sense on the ground, I think it kind of put them on shaky ground to begin with.

I think in the end the success of whoever wins will be very dependent upon us being able to control Israel.

the economy.  Cooporations starting to lay off and anticipate many more lay offs next year, affecting local and state governments, police, fire and rescue operations due to a fall in tax revenues, precipitating more foreclosures.  Wow, all frowning faces and gloom and doom.  I really think we are on a runaway train into the second great depression, something we have no idea about other than stories from our parents and grandparents.  Very scary.  I think that we MTs are pretty secure in our jobs but so many people's jobs are at risk. 

To top it all off, the treasury department has decided to not use our tax bailout money they way they promised, rather are taking a different tactic without telling any of us or congress.  I sure hope they know what they are doing because I sure don't understand it.