Rasmussen via Think Progress:
Thirty-five percent (35%) of Americans now say that President Bush has done a good or excellent job responding to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. That’s down from 39% before his speech from New Orleans.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows that 41% give the President poor marks for handling the crisis, that’s up from 37% before the speech.
This is too weird to make up. Jeb Bush has an imaginary friend. Gainesville Sun:
Here are Bush’s words, spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politicians: ”Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.
”I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down.”
It’s a scary place inside Jeb Bush’s head. This insight into his twisted psyche explains a lot.
In a 1989 Washington Post article on the politics of tennis, former President George Bush was quoted as threatening to ”unleash Chang” as a means of intimidating other players.
The saying was apparently quite popular with Gov. Bush’s father, and referred to a legendary warrior named Chang who was called upon to settle political disputes in Chinese dynasties of yore.
O.K. then. I’ve heard enough. How did these freaks of nature get here? And when will they be leaving?
GOP rots from head down: Here is an update to this story about a staff member in the Texas secretary of state’s office who was fired after she gave a quote to the Washington Post that indicated Karl Rove may be voting illegally in Texas:
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove personally called the Texas secretary of state about a newspaper story quoting a staff lawyer about whether Mr. Rove was eligible to vote in the state.
The lawyer was subsequently fired.
Secretary of State Roger Williams said that he decided to dismiss the lawyer after talking with Mr. Rove but that the White House adviser didn’t request that he do so.
“Absolutely not,” said Mr. Williams, a longtime supporter of President Bush and a major GOP fundraiser.
“Karl called me. He had read the article and wanted to know if it was our stance” that his voter registration status in Texas might be in jeopardy, he said. “I told him it wasn’t and that the person who gave that opinion was not authorized to do so.”
Kentucky’s corrupt conservatives: We have been meaning to include Kentucky Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher and his shenanigans in our Conservative Values database for a while. Here is a good re-cap of what he’s been up to:
- A whole bunch of people on Republican Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher’s staff were implicated in a major hiring scandal, centered around violations of the state’s merit-based employment laws. Several were even indicted. I know, I know: Right now you’re thinking, “Republicans? Cronyism? No way!” But believe it!
- Fletcher decided to do the upstanding thing in response: He pardoned everyone involved, declaring that the state Attorney General’s investigation was (that old bugaboo) “politically motivated.” A textbook move from the GOP playbook: Go on the offensive, and attack your opponents with no regard for the truth.
- Despite the pardons, the AG (Greg Stumbo) has kept up with his investigation – and when it involves Republicans, you know the corruption runs deep. E-mails filed with court documents to get a search warrant for the office of Fletcher’s chief-of-staff indicate that it might go as high as Fletcher himself. Again, I know: You’re shocked, shocked!
- With the walls closing in around him, Fletcher belatedly announced he was firing nine staffers. Heavens to Murgatroyd! Fletcher also called for the head of the state Republican party, one Darrell Brock, to resign. Another playbook-textbook: When you’re under seige, find someone else to take the fall.
And now the update:
According to the Bluegrass Report, not a single prominent Kentucky Republican, such as Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, has got Fletcher’s back. They are all leaving him to twist in the wind. He’s about as isolated as John Rowland, former Connecticut Governor and current resident of the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, PA. If he doesn’t resign soon, Fletcher will be the lamest of lame ducks – and also probably the most heavily investigated.
He spreads lies and invective from there to here,
And his presidency is founded on retribution and fear.
He’s unethical and amoral,
Despicable and dishonorable,
So of course Donald Trump is Time’s Person of the Year.
