Oh my. Just watch. This administration cannot end soon enough. Oh my. Just watch. This administration cannot end soon enough. Olbermann shows a pic of Dear Leader playing golf two months after he claimed he stopped playing “in solidarity” with grieving families who lost loved ones in his Iraq nightmare. That was bad enough, but his sacrifice wasn’t even his own idea, so his handlers even saw this as some sort of noble gesture to spin — it’s an administration of completely morally and ethically bankrupt people, and KO had enough.

Part 1:

A snippet:

Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on two topics a lot of us had foolishly thought, had naively hoped, we would not again have to address… and a third topic nobody thought a president would ever seriously mention in public unless perhaps he’d just been hit in the head with something and was not in full possession of his faculties - how he expressed his “empathy” to the families of the dead in Iraq - by giving up golf.

The President has resorted anew to the sleaziest fear-mongering and mass manipulation of an administration - of a public life - dedicated to realizing the lowest of our expectations.

Part 2:

Full transcript is below the fold.
(more…)

(UPDATE: The GOP is in a panic over the legacy of this administration and its effect on November elections. See below the fold.)

We all know Dear Leader has no shame, but here’s yet another example of his terror alert leash jerking and fearmongering, intimating that electing a Democrat will lead to disaster if the U.S. withdraws from Iraq.

President Bush warned in an interview Tuesday that the Democratic presidential candidates’ plans to withdraw abruptly from Iraq could “eventually lead to another attack on the United States” and would “embolden” terrorists.

In a White House interview with Politico and Yahoo News — a president’s first for an online audience — Bush said his doomsday scenario for a premature withdrawal “of course is that extremists throughout the Middle East would be emboldened, which would eventually lead to another attack on the United States.”

I hate to break it to his highness, but he f*cked up the whole region with his Big Military Adventure. It’s hard to imagine anyone screwing over both this country and Iraq any more than he has.

In the interview, he also shows how he prays away any guilt at sending young Americans to perish fighting military battles based on his bad judgment and Darth’s dark hand. God’s comfort is all these families need, not an apology from the man sitting in the Oval Office.

His Christian faith has increased in office, since “part of the faith walk is to understand your weaknesses and is to constantly try to embetter yourself and get closer to the Lord, and that’s a daily occurrence.”

“Obviously, there’s been some tough moments in here,” he said. “When you know that somebody lost their loved one as a result of a decision that I made, that’s a tough moment. If you’re a faithful person, you try to empathize with the suffering that that person is going through. On the other hand, there is a knowledge that the good Lord can comfort during these moments of grief. And that’s what I ask for in my prayer.”

And what can only be described as the public ramblings of a sociopath, our president said he shows his solidarity with families who have lost loved ones in his military misadventure by...not going out on the links anymore. I’m not sh*tting you.

See the video below the fold.
(more…)

So I was listening to the latest episode of “On The Media” on Mighty Ponygirl’s suggestion (because they have a great report on the Cult of Ayn Rand and how they’re trying to buy themselves credibility they can’t generate honestly), and I heard this story that I think should be an iconic example of how the Bush administration is both evil and stupid. It’s about the corruption in the Office of Special Counsel, which is a whistleblower protection agency. As you can imagine, the Bush administration is opposed to whistleblowing (and puppies and kittens and sunshine), so they went out and found the craziest asshole wingnut possible to head up this office: Scott Bloch. He did an admirable job of refusing to do the job he was appointed, and in proper BushCo fashion, this exemplar of malfeasance is now facing a cavalcade of subpoenas and general calls for his head. Bloch ran into trouble when he squelched a complaint that came from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, because it turns out they were able to get the FBI to care enough to raid Bloch’s offices, take his computers, and subpoena 17 employees to testify against him. The executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility is suggesting that Bloch successfully destroyed the office to the point where it’s easier now to dismantle it and rebuild how the government handles whistleblowers than to salvage the office.

(more…)

Atrios, in his pony watch series, has a new low for George Bush: least popular President ever. 71% of pollees disapprove of Bush now, which is kind of remarkable if you think about it in psychological terms. Basically, the concept of cognitive dissonance and rationalization would say that people usually don’t admit that they were in error so much as they rationalize how they were right all along. Bush got enough votes to win, and we can expect that people who voted for Bush, instead of saying, “Damn, I fucked up,” are going to say things, well, like right wing nuts say all the time. Things like: History will vindicate Bush. Iraq is going great! The economy isn’t depressed, that’s just the liberal media telling lies. Etc. But as Bush’s polls slip, we can expect a lot of people are having serious moments of reckoning, which are never easy. It’s kind of amazing, if you think about it.

That, or they’re finding some sort of cheat to explain why they weren’t wrong. This is probably likely for a good number of Bush voters and explains why we should not assume that it will be so easy to beat McCain. I’ve seen hints of this in some conservative writings, and suspect it’s much more widespread in the non-pundit conservative community. Basically, it amounts to telling yourself that Bush isn’t a real conservative, that he lied to you and that you were completely right but just working on bad information. Which makes it real easy to justify voting for McCain, because you just have to tell yourself that he’s the straight shooter, going to be the things that Bush promised to be, and tah-dah! Will show that you were right about that conservatism stuff all along.

We need a smackdown win that’s impossible to steal. I just don’t see it happening. If it does, it won’t be without a massive fight.

Bush’s Torture U.S.A - they all knew.

You’ll find out the one member of the administration who made the above statement below the fold. It’s hard to find any words to describe how sick this is. The ABC headline says it all: Top Bush Advisors Approved ‘Enhanced Interrogation‘.

In dozens of top-secret talks and meetings in the White House, the most senior Bush administration officials discussed and approved specific details of how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, sources tell ABC News.

…The high-level discussions about these “enhanced interrogation techniques” were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed — down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

The advisers were members of the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy. At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.

I guess it’s bye-bye to that VP fantasy, Condi. Below the fold, there was only one member of that committee who had any reservations about the path of torture they were taking.
(more…)

Your tax dollars at work, people. (NPR):

The Justice Department’s inspector general is investigating whether a career attorney in the department was dismissed from her job because of rumors that she is a lesbian. The case grew out of a larger inquiry into the firings of U.S. attorneys and politicization at Justice under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Several people interviewed by the inspector general’s staff described the case to NPR and said they came away with the impression that the Attorney General’s office decided not to renew Leslie Hagen’s contract because of the talk about her sexual orientation. Hagen received the highest possible ratings for her work as liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys’ committee on Native American issues. Her final job evaluation lists five categories for supervisors to rank her performance. For each category, a neat X fills the box marked, “Outstanding.” And at the bottom of the page, under “overall rating level,” she also got the top mark: Outstanding.

Who pulled the trigger on Hagen’s dismissal? The fun is after the jump.
(more…)

This is the problem created by pols who churn out a “leave marriage to the states” position as a fig leaf to hide behind; real life sometimes places this problem — and the existence of the federal Defense of Marriage Act — in stark relief.

Until same-sex unions (marriage, civil unions, domestic partnerships, or the other patchwork of state arrangements around the country) are recognized, lesbian and gay relationships are meaningless in the eyes of the federal government. The average gay couple doesn’t have Nancy Pelosi to intervene when we are discriminated against. (The Politico):

Prior to the Easter recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to intervene with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in order to get Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s domestic partner on a military flight for a congressional fact-finding trip to Europe.

The speaker succeeded, but the issue continues to simmer for both sides. The Pentagon appears to be self-conscious about transporting gay domestic partners at a time when it continues to enforce a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in its own ranks. The speaker is sensitive to the gay rights issue but doesn’t want to be drawn into a situation where it appears she is dictating policy for the use of military planes.

Under House guidelines, members of Congress may take their spouses with them on military flights if there is room for them and when it is “necessary for protocol purposes.” Although Baldwin, the only openly gay woman elected to Congress, exchanged wedding vows with Lauren Azar in 1998, her home state of Wisconsin does not officially recognize same-sex marriages, and military officials were apparently unwilling to consider Azar a “spouse” within the meaning of the House guidelines.

What’s interesting is that Denny Hastert apparently approved Azar’s travel as a spouse before, something now disputed. Read below the fold.
(more…)

A truck with bomb near the Capitol goes undetected for three weeks.

According to an indictment filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, Michael Gorbey, 38, of Rapidan, Va., faces charges of planning to set off a bomb. He also is accused of making or transporting an explosive device with the intent of using it against people or property and multiple firearms charges.

Gorbey allegedly tried to manufacture a “weapon of mass destruction, that is, an explosive device capable of causing multiple deaths or serious bodily injuries to multiple persons, or massive destruction of property,” according to the indictment.

He was arrested Jan. 18 for carrying the shotgun and a sword outside the Capitol. Gorbey told police he was headed to an appointment at the Supreme Court. No one was injured in the incident, which caused gridlock for hours on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Capitol Police discovered the explosive device three weeks later when they returned with a search warrant to check the truck, which was in a government parking lot.

Terrance Gainer, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, told The Washington Post the device in Gorbey’s truck, which was parked about two blocks from the Capitol, “could have caused serious injuries,” if detonated.

With this and the news that perhaps only 1% of flights in the U.S. have air marshals on them (pilots and marshals told CNN about the dearth of agents out there), what is all that Homeland Security cash going?

One marshal said that while security is certainly one reason the numbers are kept secret, he believes the agency simply doesn’t want taxpayers to know the truth.

“I would be very embarrassed by [the numbers] if they were to get out,” one air marshal said. “The American public would be shocked. … I think the average person understands there’s no physical way to protect every single flight everywhere,” the air marshal said. “But it’s such a small percentage. It’s just very aggravating for us.”

Wow. What candor — from a man who desperately avoided serving his country. I’m sure all 4,000 service members that have died as a result of the Cheney/Bush Iraq misadventure really wanted to be there.

“The president carries the biggest burden, obviously,” Cheney said. “He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.”

[ABC News’ White House correspondent Martha] Raddatz noted that some soldiers, Air Force members, and Marines have been on multiple deployments and have been sent back to Iraq because of the stop-loss policy — an involuntary extension of a service member’s enlistment contract. The Army alone says 58,000 US soldiers have been redeployed to war because of the stop-loss policy.

“When you talk about an all-volunteer force, some of these soldiers, airmen, Marines have been on two, three, four, some of them more than that, deployments,” Raddatz said. “Do you think when they volunteered they had any idea that there would be so many deployments or stop-loss? Some of those who want to get out can’t because of stop-loss?”

…”A lot of men and women sign up because sometimes they will see developments,” Cheney said. “For example, 9/11 stimulated a lot of folks to volunteer for the military because they wanted to be involved in defending the country.”

Oh, so he’s still pimping the idea that Iraq had something to do with 9/11, or that he and Dear Leader did the old bait-and-switch on those who enlisted?

We’re going down… down… down…

The Federal Reserve is urgently moving to contain a deepening credit crisis and restore confidence in panicked financial markets by becoming a lender of last resort for Wall Street investment houses, which were able to secure short-term emergency loans beginning Monday.

…President Bush rushed to strike a note of calm to the turbulent situation on Monday morning, hailing the Fed’s action and saying: “We’ve taken strong decisive action.” The president spoke after meeting at the White House with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other members of his economic team. “We’re in challenging times,” Bush said.

The central bank, in an extraordinarily rare weekend move, took the bold action Sunday in an attempt to calm the markets. It also approved a cut in its emergency lending rate to financial institutions to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent, effective immediately.

…The Fed acted just after JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy rival Bear Stearns Cos. for $236.2 million in a deal that represents a stunning collapse for one of the world’s largest and most venerable investment houses. Just on Friday the Fed had raced to provide emergency financing to cash-strapped Bear Stearns through JPMorgan. Days earlier the Fed announced a set of other unconventional steps to thaw out a credit market in danger of freezing shut.

The Fed’s actions come as fears have spread that other financial houses could also be on shaky ground.

Hey free market folks out there — tell us all how it’s going to work itself out. Are some banking bootstraps going to be pulled up, or are we instead going to see crying corporate babies at the government teat?

Ah, yes. I guess John McCain really doesn’t mind giving off the air of “more of the same” and “four more years.” Why not continue the record of success, prosperity and harmony embodied by the work of former RNC head Ken Mehlman and Bush mastermind Karl Rove.

The same crowd wants to install themselves into a McCain administration. If anyone out there is looking for anything remotely resembling change or a drop kick for business as usual, you need to move along - nothing new here at all. (Politico):

John McCain is getting much more than President Bush’s endorsement and fundraising help for his campaign. He’s getting Bush’s staff.

It’s no secret that Steve Schmidt, Bush’s attack dog in the 2004 election, and Mark McKinnon, the president’s media strategist, are performing similar functions for McCain now.

But other big-name Bushies are lining up to boost McCain, too.

Ken Mehlman, who ran Bush’s 2004 campaign, is now serving as an unpaid, outside adviser to the Arizona Republican. Karl Rove, the president’s top political hand since his Texas days, recently gave money to McCain and soon after had a private conversation with the senator. A top McCain adviser said both Mehlman and Rove are now informally advising the campaign. Rove refused to detail his conversation with McCain.

The list could grow longer. Dan Bartlett, formerly a top aide in the Bush White House, and Sara Taylor, the erstwhile Bush political adviser, said they are eager to provide any assistance and advice possible to McCain.

Jeezus. After Katrina, we cannot expect anything but more of the same from Bush.

Imagine — there you are, amidst devastation, your house blown away, you have nothing to your name, and the President of the United States parachutes in to offer his heartfelt support. However, we have a sociopath-in-chief who apparently doesn’t have anyone on his staff that can prepare some basic remarks that would at least give the impression that he gave a damn. The leader of the formerly free world to victims of the tornados that ripped through the South this week:

We’re sorry you’re going through what you’re going through.

You know, life sometimes is, uh, you know, is unfair, and you don’t get to play the hand that you wanted to play. But, the question is, when you get dealt the hand, how do you play it?

And I’ve come away with this impression of the folks of Macon County. One, you’re down-to-Earth, good, hard-workin’ people. They have a respect for the Almighty, and this community’s going to be as strong as ever. That’s what I think.

Raw Story has the video. I know where some of those poor folks probably wanted to shove that metaphorical deck of cards.

January 20, 2009 cannot come fast enough. From Think Progress, a photo op gone horribly wrong: 

He “dances” better than he runs this country, sorry to say. Perhaps we should send Bush over to Dancing With the Stars for the remainer of his presidency. The familiar "Shame of a Nation" moments are below the fold.
(more…)

Surprised? I didn’t think so. At this point, there’s nothing left to shock when it comes to the handling of post-Katrina matters involving BushCo and FEMA.

[D]ocuments obtained by Salon show that FEMA also pressured scientists to water down a report on the health risks of formaldehyde. FEMA officials instructed the scientists to omit any references to cancer or other long-term health risks from exposure to formaldehyde in FEMA trailers.

In a scathing letter sent today to Dr. Howard Frumkin, chief of the National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Reps. Brad Miller, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, and Nick Lampson, chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, wrote, “you appear to have been complicit in giving FEMA precisely what they wanted … However what FEMA wanted and what you approved giving them was not the whole truth regarding formaldehyde. It was not based on ‘best science,’ nor did it provide ‘trusted health information’ to the Katrina survivors.” FEMA and ATSDR officials are expected to testify Tuesday before the House Committee on Homeland Security, which is also investigating the matter.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA placed tens of thousands of displaced families in travel trailers, more than 40,000 of which are still in use. Almost immediately, hundreds of families called FEMA to complain of illnesses, from breathing difficulties, bloody noses and rashes to more serious problems, and even deaths, possibly connected to high levels of formaldehyde gas permeating the trailers. Formaldehyde is a nearly colorless gas with a pungent, irritating odor even at low levels. It is used in many products and manufacturing procedures, notably as an adhesive in plywood used to make trailers. Health reports reveal that exposure to formaldehyde can impact fertility and the developing fetus, leading to spontaneous abortion or physical malformations.

I guess protecting the fetus under Bush doesn’t extend to government agencies like FEMA.

Seriously, there has been little public discussion in this election cycle about what kind of plans each candidate has for the overhaul/revitalization, quality control of FEMA. The next president will inherit a bureaucracy that has been crippled and rife with incompetence. A complete house cleaning is necessary.

(No need to liveblog this crap–the whole speech is up at Think Progress)

One observation I can make is that the applause wa tepid and Dems look incredibly bored.) 

Here's what the White House has up on its web site about Bush's final SOTU speech's "policy initiatives." Read and laugh as he tries to salvage his presidency. A couple of laff-fest highlights…

First, the economy, which is hard to sugar-coat these days, but he tries mightily, and absurdly, to use as the justification to make his tax cuts permanent. And how's that worked out for you so far, W? 

To build a prosperous future, we must trust people with their own money and empower them to grow our economy. As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty. America has added jobs for a record 52 straight months, but jobs are now growing at a slower pace. Wages are up, but so are prices for food and gas. Exports are rising, but the housing market has declined. And at kitchen tables across our country, there is concern about our economic future.

And the smartassery abounds — how presidential is this?

Some in Washington argue that letting tax relief expire is not a tax increase. Try explaining that to 116 million American taxpayers who would see their taxes rise by an average of $1,800. Others have said they would personally be happy to pay higher taxes. I welcome their enthusiasm, and I am pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.

Don't worry, Shrub, we'll be paying for your military misadventures for years. What's ridiculous about his threat to veto a bill is that is laden with pork and earmarks, is that he and the GOP 

“The people’s trust in their Government is undermined by congressional earmarks — special interest projects that are often snuck in at the last minute, without discussion or debate.”

Truth report — under the GOP-led Congress, federal earmarks have exploded, including ones Bush tucked in himself, such as $24 million for the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program.

And you won't believe how he manages to bring up 9/11 claim he's almost there in achieving justice. It's after the jump.

(more…)

Last year, Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN-6) just about tackled folks to slobber all over Bush at the SOTU:

On the right Bachmann continues her fondling of Dear Leader; fellow winger and Bush rubber-stamper Virginia Foxx(R-NC5) wants a piece of the action.

It’s televised live at 9 PM ET; try checking out a couple of items before suffering through this edition of the SOTU:

From the Center for American Progress: A Look at the Biggest Winners and Biggest Losers Under the Bush Administration. As President Bush’s days of power draw to a close, one thing is clear: We’ve got a lot more problems now than we did seven years ago. Here are 99 of them, everything from less money to more war and a planet in crisis.

From Perrspectives: Surf over to check out 10 Things to Look for in Bush’s State of the Union ‘08.

Tonight, President Bush will mercifully deliver his final State of the Union address. According to press secretary Dana Perino, Bush’s speech will “reflect the president’s mindset that he is going to sprint to the finish.” Given former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ similar promise to “spend the next year and a half in a sprint to the finish line” just weeks before his resignation, Perino’s preview may prove a bad omen for the President.

Anticipated to emphasize the slowing economy and the war in Iraq, the goals of the speech are said to be “modest.” The President’s dual needs to begin rewriting his legacy and badger Democrats in an election year suggest the direction and tenor of the SOTU. Still, we face the annual question: what will Bush cover in his address?

From Americans United for Change.

Take a look at this video from Brave New Films that blows away the ludicrous claim by Bill O’Reilly this week that there are no homeless veterans. He said this in response to a speech by John Edwards where the presidential candidate cited that there are 200K homeless vets out there on any given night in the U.S. He denied their existence again when interviewing progressive talk show host Ed Schultz.BNF found plenty of these invisible vets without batting an eye:

I went to U.S. Vets in Inglewood, California. US Vets is the largest non-profit organization in the US dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk veterans with temporary housing, counseling, and employment assistance. The facility currently houses up to 500 homeless veterans.

I talked to over a dozen homeless vets, some who had served as far back as the Korean War, and showed them the clips of BOR denying or dismissing their existence. The reactions to the clips were quite similar - a shaking of the head in disbelief, a derisive chuckle or snort, and a deep sigh when the videos were over. Some of the veterans couldn’t believe that anyone could be so clueless and naïve, while others wondered why BOR hadn’t bothered to do any research before making such a dubious claim. Twice.

Considering how the Bush Administration has treated men and women serving while on his watch, added to all the Vietnam-era vets down on their luck, many with untreated PTSD and mental health issues, the number isn’t surprising. Billo’s on-air denial is wishful thinking on his part; it’s politically inconvenient.

The right-wing flamethrower didn’t have a problem with racial profiling back when the main faces of terrorism were brown, but now that white folks are being recruited by Al-Qaeda, she may want to rethink that position. From The Scotsman’s screaming headliner — Al-Qaeda’s white army of terror:

HUNDREDS of British non-Muslims have been recruited by al-Qaeda to wage war against the West, senior security sources warned last night.

…Security experts say the growing secret army of white terrorists poses a particularly serious threat as they are far less likely to be detected than members of the Asian community.

Since the 7/7 and 21/7 London bombings, police and intelligence services have had considerable success in identifying, disrupting and stopping extremist plots. As a result, groups such as al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have been forced to change tack. Converting white non-Muslims has been one response.

…One British security source last night told Scotland on Sunday: “There could be anything up to 1,500 converts to the fundamentalist cause across Britain. They pose a real potential danger to our domestic security because, obviously, these people blend in and do not raise any flags.

…The trend is well established in the United States. American-born Adam Gadahn is one of the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted terrorists after converting to Islam and rising through al-Qaeda’s ranks to become a prominent spokesman.

Kate gets pulled regularly because she has an Arabic surname. One time she signed onto an airline’s web site to download boarding passes (I think it was for Thanksgiving), and when she logged in, she was unable to do so, receiving a message to the effect: “due to enhanced security measures, some customers will not be able to download boarding passes.”

Rejected.

I sign on — we were obviously on the same flight — and ping — I breezed through and downloaded both of our passes. Way to go Homeland Security measures!

The Bush economy keeps chugging along because of the sub-prime mortgage debacle. And Citi is looking for a foreign bailout; ah, the $elling of America continues because of greed. (CNBC):

Citigroup could write down as much as $24 billion due to subprime and credit-related losses, CNBC has learned. In addition, the company could lay off as many as 20,000 workers as part of a comprehensive plan to slash costs and raise capital.

Citigroup also intends to raise as much as $15 billion from various foreign and domestic entities including Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup’s largest individual shareholder, as America’s biggest bank grapples with heavy mortgage market losses.

And by the way, in other, distressingly similar news:

Merrill Lynch Mortgage Losses Could Reach $15 Billion. Looks like the bull’s “boys” will get squeezed hard, and it’s looking for more money from friends abroad.

Merrill Lynch is expected to suffer $15 billion in losses stemming from soured mortgage investments, almost double its original estimate, prompting the firm to raise additional capital from an outside investor.

…To shore up its deteriorating finances, Merrill is now in discussions with investors in the United States, Asia and the Middle East, including American private equity firms, to raise about $4 billion in the coming days, these people said.

The developments underscore the rising toll that the mortgage crisis is taking on many once-proud Wall Street banks. In recent months Merrill and several other firms have grabbed financial lifelines from wealthy foreign governments. Further investments by so-called sovereign wealth funds could prompt scrutiny by Congress.

…Merrill is hardly alone in seeking capital from overseas. United States financial institutions have raised more than $29 billion from foreign governments and their related investment entities, according to the market research firm Dealogic.

Bush Seeks to Restore Tattered U.S. Image With Heavy ‘08 Travel. Really. We don’t need any more help from you, Dear Leader. Please, someone revoke the man’s passport before he does any more harm to this or any other country.

Bush, 61, came into the White House promising a humble foreign policy and eschewing nation-building and foreign entanglements. That changed after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he adopted a style supporters hail as visionary and critics call cowboy diplomacy.

While the president will strive to strengthen alliances, it won’t come at the expense of continuing to prosecute the war on terror, said Jim Jeffrey, the deputy White House national security adviser.

“We want to be well-perceived in the world,'’ Jeffrey said in an interview. “But more importantly, we want to formulate policies that will protect the American people.'’

Good luck with that, folks.

Many presidents focus on international affairs in their final year as a way to compensate for their waning influence at home. For Bush, it’s unlikely to provide an escape.

“Bush also has problems at home, but he has even bigger problems with the rest of the world,'’ said Andy Kohut, president the Pew Research Center in Washington.

A Pew study of public opinion in 47 nations found “extensive'’ anti-Americanism and “increasing disapproval'’ of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy. A perception that Washington acts unilaterally was shared by 89 percent of the French, 83 percent of Canadians and 74 percent of Britons. America’s image in most Muslim nations is “abysmal,'’ Pew said.

Shame of a nation. Do we want to see more of this:

“Joking” with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel by giving her a little unrequested “massage.” (video here)

A touch of class chewing on a roll and shooting the sh*t with Tony Blair

Thank goodness for ace North Carolina Public Radio political reporter and blogger Laura Leslie. I didn’t get tix to attend Karl Rove’s appearance at Duke last night, but she has a great recap of Bush’s Brain’s bloviating over at her pad, Isaac Hunter’s Tavern. The event was moderated by Duke Political Science Professor Peter Feaver.

How about this laff line for the ages:

Rove: “The GOP is the party of the middle class.” As a chuckle surged through the audience, even Feaver couldn’t resist a dig: “I want to be part of your middle class.”

Some of Laura’s other observations:

Rove softened his stance slightly on the 2002 Iraq War vote, but he still insists Congressional Democrats were pushing to hold the vote before the election.  His evidence for that involves a creative interpretation of two comments made by Senator Tom Daschle in September of 2002. You can hear his whole explanation here. Note: it’s a big file, and you may not understand Rove’s argument any more clearly at the end of it, either.

For the record, Daschle disagrees with Rove - and so do Ari Fleischer and Andy Card, both of whom might be expected to know something about the White House’s role in the timing of the vote.

…Hottest exchange:

The first audience member to ask a question during the open Q&A wanted to know when Rove would stand trial for treason for his involvement in the outing of Valerie Plame.

It was the only time all night Rove really seemed rattled. Visibly angry, Rove sputtered about the “stupid civil lawsuits” filed by Plame and her husband, Joe Wilson. That exchange is here.

“Death of irony” moment:

Without a trace of self-consciousness, Rove complained that politics in DC have become too negative because it’s gotten personal and nasty. He blames it on the Beltway predilection for carrying a grudge, unlike the folks down in Texas, where he says everyone shakes hands, moves on, and gets along. Hear it here.

Additional reporting on the event:

News & Observer: Rove sees Republican beating Clinton.

Rove suggested there was a broad consensus to go to war in Iraq, including by key Democratic leaders. He said the world is better off with the removal of both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, both of which were responsible for human rights abuses.

“The United States has nothing to apologize for in its conduct in the world,” Rove said

Duke Today’s coverage: Karl Rove on Bush Presidency, American Politics.

Passions occasionally ran high during Karl Rove’s appearance at Page Auditorium Monday, with many people applauding the former White House chief political strategist for his remarks about U.S. anti-terrorism efforts and many others hoisting protest signs and voicing concerns about the war in Iraq and the treatment of detainees.

Master theologian George W. Bush has set off the bible beaters with comments he made in an interview given to Elie Nakouzi of Al Arabiya (a competitor of the Al-Jazeera news service).

Q But I want to tell you — and I hope this doesn't bother you at all — that in the Islamic world they think that President Bush is an enemy of Islam –

THE PRESIDENT: Sure.

Q — that he wants to destroy their religion, what they believe in. Is that in any way true, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT: No, it's not. I've heard that, and it just shows [sic] to show a couple of things: One, that the radicals have done a good job of propagandizing. In other words, they've spread the word that this really isn't peaceful people versus radical people or terrorists, this is really about the America not liking Islam.

Well, first of all, I believe in an almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace. And I believe people who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives aren't religious people, whether they be a Christian who does that — we had a person blow up our — blow up a federal building in Oklahoma City who professed to be a Christian, but that's not a Christian act to kill innocent people.

Bush made similar comments in 2003, and the usual suspects came out of the woodwork to chastise Bush. The following is from WorldNetDaily, which wryly tossed in the comments of Ted Haggard.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, was quoted in the Baptist Press as saying the president "is simply mistaken."

According to a Washington Post account, Land said in an interview: "We should always remember that he is commander in chief, not theologian in chief. The Bible is clear on this: The one and true god is Jehovah, and his only begotten son is Jesus Christ."

The Rev. Ted Haggard, then-president of the National Association of Evangelicals, also contradicted the president in a press statement. "The Christian God encourages freedom, love, forgiveness, prosperity and health," said Haggard. "The Muslim god appears to value the opposite. The personalities of each god are evident in the cultures, civilizations and dispositions of the peoples that serve them. Muhammad's central message was submission; Jesus' central message was love. They seem to be very different personalities."

In November 2006, Haggard was forced to resign from NAE following allegations of drug use and sex with a homosexual prostitute.

Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate and president of American Values, said Bush's comment was "not helpful to the president. Since everybody agrees he's not a theologian, he would be much better advised to punt when he gets that kind of question."

This also set off a firestorm on the WingNutDaily poll. See the results below the fold.
(more…)

This is what happens when BushCo contracts out his military misadventures. Your tax dollars are being burned on this:

Private security contractor Blackwater USA has had to fire 122 people over the past three years for problems ranging from misusing weapons, alcohol and drug violations, inappropriate conduct, and violent behavior, according to a report released Monday by a congressional committee.

That total is roughly one-seventh of the work force that Blackwater has in Iraq, a ratio that raises questions about the quality of the people working for the company.

The North Carolina-based Blackwater has been paid over $800 million dollars by the State Department to perform security work. In the 15-page report detailing Blackwater's record, the firm had more shooting incidents that the other two security firms (Dyncorp, Triple Canopy) combined.

Previously undisclosed information reveals (1) Blackwater has engaged in 195 “escalation of force” incidents since 2005, an average of 1.4 per week, including over 160 incidents in which Blackwater forces fired first; (2) after a drunken Blackwater contractor shot the guard of the Iraqi Vice President, the State Department allowed the contractor to leave Iraq and advised Blackwater on the size of the payment needed “to help them resolve this”; and (3) Blackwater, which has received over $1 billion in federal contracts since 2001, is charging the federal government over $1,200 per day for each “protective security specialist” employed by the company.

Several investigations are already under way because of Blackwater's role in an incident on September 16 when 11 Iraqis were killed in a shoot-out involving Blackwater guards. The company claims the guards acted in self-defense; Iraqi witnesses said Blackwater rent-a-cops opened fire without provocation. Hearings are being planned.

I’m thinking Mitt Romney must have access to some really strong “pharmaceuticals” to emit something like the above.

Trying to stand out from the crowded field, Romney is bluntly confronting problems plaguing the GOP in his new stump speech, fresh television ads and an open letter to party leaders. He is seeking to tap into anger among Republicans about the country’s direction even as one of their own, President Bush, sits in the White House.

In a blistering critique of Republicans, Romney argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation’s woes. He bemoaned excessive spending, insecure borders and ethical lapses. “When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses,” he said.
Even as he sought to distance himself from Bush, Romney gave him limited credit for keeping the United States safe and “restoring personal integrity and dignity to the White House.” But otherwise Romney rattled off a slew of problems with the government, saying, for example, that the post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup “didn’t look like Republicans were in charge.”

Holy Batsh*it-man, he must be high as a kite.

Here’s an exercise for you — give some fun examples of dignity, integrity (and competence). Think creatively…

Related:
* ‘The commander guy’ - shame of a nation

With five percent of Americans saying (in a NYT/CBS poll)  they most trust the Bush administration to resolve the war, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker will plop their posteriors before Congress and warn against changes in Bush Iraq strategery. Since the Bush administration actually wrote the report, I’m sure it will be an epic performance of half-truths and slippery statements.  If only the seats were wired to give them a little jolt every time a lie comes out. We would see a lot of tap dancing.

“The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the security front, there is, in fact, no real security in Baghdad or Anbar province,” said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a 2008 presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a moderate Republican, said he respected Petraeus’ judgment but would not blindly follow it.

“We’re going to look behind the generalizations that General Petraeus or anybody gives us and probe the very hard facts to see exactly what the situation is,” Specter said. “As I’ve said in the past, unless we see some light at the end of the tunnel here, very closely examining what General Petraeus and others have to say, I think there’s a general sense that there needs to be a new policy.”

I think all that you need to know about the level of spin control is the fact that somehow Brit Hume got an “exclusive” interview wtih Petraeus and Crocker tonight to further massage the message.

Lindsey Graham weighed in as well:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he trusts the military judgment of Petraeus and that it was foolish for Congress to try and second-guess commanders on the ground…”If politicians in Washington pick an arbitrary date, an arbitrary number to withdraw, it’s not going to push Baghdad politicians. It’s going to re-energize an enemy that’s on the mat,” he said.

If Gonzales is replaced by Homeland Insecurity head Michael Chertoff, CNN reports sources say that DHS will be headed up by Clay Johnson III, the Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget.

It would be yet another hack appointment, a friend of Bush, completely unqualified to defend the homeland, as it were. Think Progress:

Johnson, who has no homeland security experience, is a professional Bush loyalist. While Johnson may have familiarity with some aspects of DHS’s budget, he appears to have no experience in the many responsibilities of the department, including immigration, air travel security, disaster response, and other aspects of our nation’s homeland defense.

He is one of Bush’s oldest friends, having attended both prep school and college with the President. Johnson served as Bush’s gubernatorial chief of staff in Texas before heading up the Bush-Cheney transition team.

The Bush administration assault on freedom of speech continues, but the government ended up on the short end of the stick this time. Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi, Texas, were handcuffed and tossed out of an Independence Day rally at the West Virginia state Capitol, where Bush delivered a speech. Their “crime”? 

The front of the Ranks’ homemade T-shirts bore the international symbol for “no” superimposed over the word “Bush.” The back of Nicole Rank’s T-shirt said “Love America, Hate Bush.” On the back of Jeffery Rank’s T-shirt was the message “Regime Change Starts at Home.”

A White House spokesman said the $80K settlement was “not an admission of wrongdoing.”

The other news about the settlement, however, is that some of the contents of a purported “sensitive” Presidential Advance Manual have been revealed, which, as ABC’s Blotter reports, “laid out the White House’s meticulous efforts to protect the president and his public image from dissent.” Some nuggets:

“As a last resort, security should remove the demonstrators from the event,” the manual instructs. The government turned over a heavily redacted version of the manual to the ACLU in the course of the lawsuit.

The first step to keeping demonstrators out of events, the manual tells the president’s event staff, is to encourage the Secret Service to “ask the local police department to designate a protest area…preferably not in view of the event site or the motorcade route.”

Inside the event space, the manual advises, White House advance personnel should preposition “rally squads” that can swarm any protesters at the event and “use their signs and banners as shields between the demonstrators and the main press platform.” The rally squads can be formed using “college/young republican organizations, local athletic teams, and fraternities/sororities,” the manual notes.

The document is available on the ACLU web site.

Video unearthed by Grand Theft Country - Darth Cheney in 1994, explaining why invading Baghdad and getting rid of Saddam wasn’t a great idea — and how it would create a quagmire.

Because if we’d gone to Baghdad we would have been all alone. There wouldn’t have been anybody else with us. There would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq. None of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq.

Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein’s government, then what are you going to put in its place? That’s a very volatile part of the world, and if you take down the central government of Iraq, you could very easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off: part of it, the Syrians would like to have to the west, part of it — eastern Iraq — the Iranians would like to claim, they fought over it for eight years. In the north you’ve got the Kurds, and if the Kurds spin loose and join with the Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of Turkey.

It’s a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq.

More at E&P. When can the impeachment proceedings begin?

That’s why George W. Bush is on track to break the Ronald Reagan’s record for taking the most paid time off on your dime. (Houston Chronicle):

On Thursday, Bush left for a weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, and his family’s summer compound, Walker’s Point. On Monday, he heads to his Crawford retreat, where he has spent all or part of 418 days of his presidency, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS News White House correspondent and meticulous record-keeper.

…The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily.

…A recent survey by Yahoo Hot Jobs found nearly half of American workers did not take all of their vacation days last year.

Nice to know he’s getting tanned, rested and ready while men and women are working in 110-degree heat in Iraq and getting blasted by IEDs.

Remember, the president also told Nebraska resident Mary Mornin, in her late 50s, and raising three kids –  one mentally challenged — this, back in 2005:

MS. MORNIN: That’s good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.

THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn’t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you’re doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

Listen to that classic here.

No warrants necessary. And the Dems let him have it. (NYT):

President Bush signed into law on Sunday legislation that broadly expanded the government’s authority to eavesdrop on the international telephone calls and e-mail messages of American citizens without warrants.

Congressional aides and others familiar with the details of the law said that its impact went far beyond the small fixes that administration officials had said were needed to gather information about foreign terrorists. They said seemingly subtle changes in legislative language would sharply alter the legal limits on the government’s ability to monitor millions of phone calls and e-mail messages going in and out of the United States.

They also said that the new law for the first time provided a legal framework for much of the surveillance without warrants that was being conducted in secret by the National Security Agency and outside the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that is supposed to regulate the way the government can listen to the private communications of American citizens.

…Previously, the government needed search warrants approved by a special intelligence court to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, e-mail messages and other electronic communications between individuals inside the United States and people overseas, if the government conducted the surveillance inside the United States.

Melissa has a good roundup of reaction over at her pad, including, the ACLU, Larisa Alexandrovna, Glenn Greenwald, Shayana Kadidal, Publius, and Steve Benen. Kevin Drum:

“All [the government have] to do is claim that the real target is the foreigner and that a ’significant purpose’ of the eavesdropping is related to intelligence gathering. Not terrorism, mind you, just intelligence generically. What’s more, they don’t even have to go to the minimal trouble of making that claim to a court. They can just make it and approve it themselves. So that’s that. The government is now legally allowed to monitor all your calls overseas with only the most minimal oversight. But don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll never misuse this power. They never have before, have they?”