Hitting George with a 5X5

One of my favorite features from by brother's blog is his semi regular 5x5. Since I have been a little lazy of late in updating my blog I thought I would 'borrow' his format for one post. So in honor of Scott McClelland's new book, I have for you a special 5x5 George Bush edition.

5 most evil members of the Bush Administration

1 Dick Cheney- He is so evil Karl Rove comes in #2.
2 Karl Rove- You gotta respect a good villain. There is nothing good about this soulless creep.
3 Paul Wolfowicz- The master architect for the failed Iraq policy
4 John Bolton- With a mustache and hair like that has the evil looks to go with his evil persona.
5 John Ashcroft- It's hard to imagine anyone evil enough to lose a governor's race to a dead man, but somehow he managed.



5 most incompetent members of the Bush Administration

1 Donald Rumsfeld- He would have made the evil list except I was keeping the lists separate. He was such a master of inocmpetence that the phrase Rumsfeldian Incompetence was coined in his honor.
2 Condoleeza Rice- How she has escaped the the criticism her incompetence warrants is beyond me.
3 Alberto Gonzalez- Think about this for a minute. This guy was Attorney General and now can not get a job in the private sector. Wow!
4 Paul Bremer- If ever our Iraq policy had a small window to succeed, this guy shut the window with authority.
5 Michael Brown- Heck of a job Brownie

5 Biggest Failings of the Bush Administration

1 Iraq- I could break it down into it's components and it could fill the full list, but the Iraq policy as a whole is a disaster.
2 Protecting our country- Failing to show leadership in the run up to 9/11 failed to prevent the biggest attack in US history.
3 Failing to capture Bin Laden- Deserves a separate mention than the above line. Think about it. This cretin is responsible for killing 3000 Americans and yet he still draws breath.
4 Katrina- To allow the slow response on American soil that watched as hundreds died needlessly and an American city was wiped out is unfathomable.
5 Opportunity lost- instead of uniting the world with the US post 9/11, the administration drew the line of either you are with us or against us. Citing Guantanamo and Abu Grahaib, many decided to be against us.

5 Policies that the Bush Administration has exploited for their gain

1 Iraq War- After watching how the administration ran over the anti war candidates in the 2002 mid terms, many Congressman fell in line fast.
2 Gay marriage- Gotta appease the base.
3 Stem Cell Research- How much progress could have been made if the administration had not exploited this policy to appease the Christian Right
4 Terror Threat- It's ironic how the terror threat hasn't been mentioned since the 2004 election.
5 FISA/Illegal warrantless wiretaps- No one has ever come out with a compelling reason why it was necessary to circumvent the FISA court (pr work on updating it)

5 Accomplishments of the Bush Administration that will have a lasting positive impact on our country

1 Social Security reform- nope
2 Immigration reform- nope
3 Middle East Peace- Nope
4 Energy Policy- Nope
5 Reduce Carbon Emissions- Nope

Stupid Enough

When I first started this blog I gave an almost daily insult to our commander in chief. Lately I have left him alone, after all he is mailing in his last term just running out the clock.

However, there has been growing efforts to ratcheting up the rhetoric with Iran. Seymour Hirsh said a couple of years ago in his revealing New Yorker article, George Bush feels that it is his 'moral imperative' to act against Iran.

While I am not going to debate the merits of attacking Iran, I think you could have made a better argument in 2003 that we should have dealt with Iran vs Iraq (a better argument, but still very flawed). But it isn't 2003 anymore. In the current environment, there are bigger concerns than Iran.

Our economy and the world economy are more of a peril to our country than the possibility that in 3-5 years Iran could have a nuclear weapon. The ramifications of attacking Iran would be $7.00 a gallon gas prices, sky rocketing inflation, mass layoffs, weakening tax base for federal, state, cities and towns.

Just think about all of the above happening in conjunction with the banking crisis we are currently in and people mortgaged beyond the value of their homes.

Funding this war in Iraq has helped bring us to where we are today. Escalating to Iran would be a financial disaster beyond our darkest nightmares.

While you have to believe the administration knows all of this, I wonder what they believe is a bigger priority. You have to believe Dick Cheney is fully entrenched in the bomb Iran camp, but is President Bush stupid enough to risk it all for his moral imperative?

So?

RADDATZ: Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: How do you feel about the lack of WMD found?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: Could the 500 billion $'s be better spent at home.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: 4000 American soldiers have now lost their lives in this War.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: American credibility has taken a hit all over the world over the lies that were told leading us into war.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: The instability caused by the actions taken leading us into this war will threaten the United States for years to come.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

RADDATZ: By shifting military to Iraq, the chief architect of the greatest attack on the United States of America has gotten a pass for the last 7 years.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: So?

George and Dick laugh at us every day for being dumb enough to give them a second term. Just look at the contempt that Dick Cheney has for the American public and then tell me how this is less insulting and hateful than Jeremiah Wright.

As despicable as Dick Cheney is, can't you see John McCain making the same comments?

No more Republicans, we've had enough!

The Legacy of King George

A great former football coach once said, you are what your record says you are. With that in mind lets give George Bush his Performance Appraisal:

click on the image for a better view:


After this review, the President is going to need to go on a performance improvement plan. Seriously, who are the 35% that give him high approvals. They must include the 19% of Americans that think the country is on the right track.

One Year and Counting

Lost amid the coverage of the Presidential election is that we hit a milestone this weekend. We now only have one year left of the worst President in history. When I look at the list of potential Presidents, I can't think of any (ok, maybe Huckabee) that would be worse than the current occupant.

This Presidency has been so incredibly bad, that Republicans no longer defend him.

I could list out the constant incompetence that they have displayed over 7 years but most of that is old news. Upon reelection in 2004, Bush stated that he won political capital and he intended to use it. During the last three years since he made those remarks, I can not think of one accomplishment that he can point to.

The next President is going to be faced with some extremely serious issues that will need to be addressed quickly. The new President will face a recession that could be the worst of my lifetime, an accelerated trend on global warming, a national debt that is spiraling out of control, a health care crisis of 50 million uninsured that is bound to grow during the recession, a looming Social Security/Medicare shortfall, a war that shows no signs of ending, and a continuing threat from extremists.

With all of the problems that face us we need a President that is sprinting to the finish line not one that is running out the clock. One year from now I hope we get someone that is going to work hard and address all the things that have been largely ignored for 8 years.

I Told You So

Back in 2000, I was very pro Gore. Nothing will ever convince me otherwise that nothing short of deceptive illegal voter intimidation and fraud cost him the election. To date President Bush has turned out to be the worst President of my lifetime (including Nixon). This morning Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize.

While it would be tempting for the 50,996,116 of us that voted for Al Gore to say "I told you so" to the 50,456,169 people who voted for Bush. However, that just isn't true. I would much rather have seen GWB succeed. I would rather have a President who I could have respected.

On the day Al Gore took the spotlight again I feel compelled to ask:
Where would we be on Stem Cell research with President Gore?
Would we have gone into Iraq?
If we go into Iraq, would it have been managed so incompetently?
Would we have finished to job in Afghanistan, including making it more stable and less prone to terror?
Would he have kept the budget deficit from rising to near crisis levels?
Would he have made us less dependent on foreign oil?
Would he have dropped the ball on all the signs leading up to 9/11?

I can't help but think that on every one of these issues, President Gore would have succeeded where President Bush failed miserably. When I do think of how much better things could have been I can only say "I told you so".

Why now?

After watching Bush's speeh the other night, I couldn't help but ask why we should believe them now given their track record.

"Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent.”

State of the Union Address – 1/28/2003

"Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people
now in custody reveal that
Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaida."

State of the Union Address – 1/28/2003

"Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding facilities at [past nuclear] sites."

Bush speech to the nation – 10/7/2002

Joe Wilson's favorite:
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

State of the Union Address – 1/28/2003

"We know he's been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons."

VP Dick Cheney – “Meet the Press” 3/16/2003

"The Iraqi dictator must not be permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and diseases and gases and atomic weapons."
-- George Bush, Oct. 7, 2002, in a speech in Cincinnati.

"We know where [Iraq's WMD] are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat."
-- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003, in statements to the press.

"Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets."
-- Secretary of State Colin Powell, Feb. 5 2003, in remarks to the UN Security Council.

Bush Bashing

I have refrained a bit from totally bashing the Administration. There are a million blogs that specialize in that and do a much better job at it than I do. Tonight two stories really annoyed me. One article in which the admistration manual on quieting dissenters is revealed and another article blaming George Tenet for 9/11 really iritated me. I go into both in more detail in the next two posts.

I know Bush's approval rating reflects numbers that contain positives from barely more than his immediate friends and family (and Barney), but why is it that nothing sticks to these guys.

Not accountability for errors leading up to 9/11 or failing to hold those responsible accountable or breaking laws on wire tapping or silencing critics or a failed Social Security plan or (how could I forget) misleading us to war or (almost as bad) having a bad war plan or leaving Afganistan a mess or failing to staff FEMA with experienced professionals able to help in emergency situations or failure to show leadership in fighting climate change.

I'm not one that thinks that the Administration should be impeached even though it deserves it, but what are the other options? Ultimately we get the government we deserve (although Gore won in 2000). We collectively knew they were incompetant when we (not me) voted for them again in 2004. Why do we do this to ourselves?

AAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!


I feel better. 517 days and counting (I feel worse again).