Photo of the Day

For some strange reason, I’ll miss this guy:

But upon seeing that pic, all I can think is “Ha_Ha!”

Reaction to Bush’s Speech

First, he looked as if he had just re-read “My Pet Goat.”

Second, there’s definitely a problem with our leadership when the president tells us that if we don’t do what he tells us to do we will all lose our homes and stand in soup lines. It’s more fear-mongering.

Certainly, the economic situation is serious and action needs to be taken, but Bush just has no credibility when he tries to scare us. Again.

Update:

From a post by Andrew Leonard on Salon:

No matter how you feel about George Bush’s credibility, it is unnerving to watch the President of the United States stare his country in the eye and declare that “we are in the middle of a serious financial crisis” and “our economy is in serious danger.”

As a rule, Presidents in moments of national crisis aim to reassure a nervous populace. But on Wednesday night, Bush faced a unique challenge — convincing his country that the United States is in such dire straits that we have no choice but to expeditiously enact the Paulson plan to spend as much $700 billion “so banks and other financial institutions can avoid collapse.”

So — this was no time to channel the ghost of FDR and tell us that the only thing to fear is fear itself. Instead, we were told that we should be fearful, that the “situation is becoming more precarious by the day” and that “the market is not functioning properly, there is a widespread loss of confidence and major sectors of American industry are in danger of shutting down.”

Yikes!

Precisely.

Bush in China

I’ve been enjoying the opening ceremonies of the Beijing games.

The Chinese have put on a hell of a show, and they should be very proud.

But our Dear Leader was at the ceremonies and he pissed me off a couple of times.

First, NBC showed him shaking his foot and checking his watch during the Parade of Nations (which I love to watch). He seemed to be bored and annoyed that he had to be there.

Second, when the Iraqi team passed by, Bush clapped politely and smirked. The smirk was very clear. Upon seeing the Iraqi delegation, I would think that the American president who “liberated” Iraq would have gotten on his feet and clapped his heart out. Bush should have at least acted like he was proud to see the Iraqis there, but being the arrogant fuck that he is, he just clapped politely.

Even if McCain wins, it will be good to have an American president who is not GW Bush in office.

Why Does Bush Hate Thomas Jefferson?

What Bush said:

Thomas Jefferson understood that these rights do not belong to Americans alone. They belong to all mankind. And he looked to the day when all people could secure them. On the 50th anniversary of America’s independence, Thomas Jefferson passed away. But before leaving this world, he explained that the principles of the Declaration of Independence were universal. In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, “May it be to the world, what I believe it will be — to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all — the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.”

What Jefferson said:

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

I agree with Jefferson on the monkish ignorance and superstition part. Apparently, Bush doesn’t.

Bush Fired Rove in Church

Heh:

“On a Sunday in midsummer, George W. Bush accompanied Karl Rove to the Episcopalian Church Rove sometimes attended,” writes Alexander. “They made their way to the front of the congregation. Then, during their time in the church, Bush gave Rove some stunning news. ‘Karl,’ Bush said, ‘there’s too much heat on you. It’s time for you to go.’”

Apparently Rove’s temper is so bad that Bush felt the need to fire Karl in a church to avoid creating a scene. I love the irony there.

More nuggets from the piece on how Republicans view the Bush administration and Rove:

“Every Republican I know looks at the Bush administration as a total failure,” said Matt Towery, chairman of Newt Gingrich’s political organization.

“To do what he did politically to us is unforgivable,” Rep. Tom Tancredo told Alexander. “It will take generations to recover. I don’t know how long; maybe never.”

“I think the legacy is that Karl Rove will be a name that’ll be used for a long, long time as an example of how not to do it,” said long-time GOP strategist Ed Rollins.

And those quotes take me back to my original point: heh.

Joe Biden – My New Best Friend

Er, not really. But it’s nice to see a Washington Democrat as if he’s mad about something.

In case you missed it:

Speaking before the Knesset, Bush said that “some people” believe the United States “should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.”

“We have heard this foolish delusion before,” Bush said. “As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Biden’s response?

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset … and make this kind of ridiculous statement.”

Why can’t more Democrats just say what’s on their minds?

Bush Gave Up Golf for Dead Soldiers

He’s still an asshole:

For the first time, Bush revealed a personal way in which he has tried to acknowledge the sacrifice of soldiers and their families.

“I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

Bush said he made that decision after the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, which killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top U.N. official in Iraq and the organization’s high commissioner for human rights.

“I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man’s life,” he said. “I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, ‘It’s just not worth it anymore to do.’”

George, the problem isn’t that you like to play golf. Play all the golf you want. But just make sure that when veterans return from your war, they are well taken care of and have every opportunity available to them.

Scalia Is an Asshole

Torture is OK if the tortured person is not being punished for his deeds and it’s fine if he is being used to gain information. But torture is not OK for a prisoner who has been convicted of a crime.

Did I get that right?

Oh, and if you don’t like the Bush v Gore decision, get over it!

I’m not over Bush v Gore as its consequences are still with us, but courts have been told not to use the Bush v Gore decision as a precedent for anything.

Have you gotten over it?