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Friedman: What History Will Damn Bush For

Trish

Reality is — unfortunately for the Bush Team — ideology-free.The New York Times’ “conservative” David Brooks and “liberal” Thomas Freidman reacted to clips shown by host Tim Russert on Meet the Press Sunday. The spots were of the First Lady and former Defense Secretary again bemoaning that the media doesn’t report on all the good things happening in Iraq.

Tim Russert: “What do you think?”

Brooks: “Get off of it!

“We’ve got a hero in our newspaper, John Burns, another hero, Dexter Filkins, a whole series of heroes over there. They’re not biased about this. They want the best for the Iraqi people, they want democracy. Listen to what they’re reporting. They’re reporting chaos. You have a hundred — I don’t know what it is — 1.6 million people leaving Iraq. You’ve got 9,000 Iraqis every week who are moving to the Shiia homeland or the Sunni homeland. This is a country…It’s not civil war, it’s just disintegration.

“So the idea that this is just some media concoction…I said that a year ago, two years ago, but at some point you have to face reality.”

Freidman: …The problem is, when you hear the First Lady, when you think of the way Bush is running this war, he thinks that in the Middle East, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. It’s all straight, it’s a matter of just add a little more force here and you know, give another speech there. [Speaking slowly] It’s insane.

“I wanted this to suceed, you how, as much as anybody. Alright? Because I thought it was really important. I thought it was really important and really hard. And to me, what history will damn these people for is they thought it was really important and really easy.”

Pensito Review Named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

Buck Banks

Humbled yet proud: Time magazine has named Pensito Review its Person of the Year, and we are happier than pigs in poop. Okay, technically the magazine didn’t name Pensito Review per se, but, as the Associated Press put it:

If you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals — citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web.

By those terms, Pensito Review certainly qualifies as Person of the Year. Hey, we create content, man. Currently, we have posted 3,228 (counting this one) posts. Our readers are almost as prolific, posting nearly 5,500 comments or complaints, so they get to share the singular honor of Person of the Yearhood with fellow digital democrats Jon, Trish and me.

Of course, some will say that Time was just being lazy in picking millions of people when there were so many stand-outs last year: Kim Jong Il, Vladimir “Polonium” Putin, George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Newt Gingrich, Nicole Richie — the list just goes on and on. But Time’s editor explains very well why they went with the cyber masses:

”If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people,” said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time’s managing editor earlier this year. “But if you choose millions of people, you don’t have to justify it to anyone.”

Oh wait, some of those folks on my list actually did receive honorable mentions:

The magazine did cite 26 ”People Who Mattered,” from North Korean dictator Kim Jon Il to Pope Benedict XVI to the troika of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Hey, and since George Bush uses The Internets to access The Google, there’s a passing chance that he posted content, too, qualifying for double honors. Unfortunately, Time Managing Editor Stengel couldn’t leave well enough alone:

Stengel said if the magazine had decided to go with an individual, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the likely choice. ”It just felt to me a little off selecting him,” Stengel said.

A … little … off? Come on, Time, don’t cheapen our laurels! We deserve to be right up there with Bill and Melinda Gates, and Bono (last year’s PoYs). Leave Mahmoud out of it, man.

How Did Giuliani become ‘America’s Mayor’ – And How Long Will It Take for Americans to See That He Is a Class-A Jerk?

Jon Ponder

California Conservatives may not be great in number but they do have a lot of money. That must be why former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani — a flaming liberal on social issues like abortion and gay rights — is planning to speak at the state Republican convention in February.

An article yesterday in the San Franciso Chronicle about Giuliani’s upcoming visit gave this glowing account of his resume:

Giuliani, called “America’s mayor” after his formidable performance in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, already has established a camaraderie with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — a Republican in the same moderate, bipartisan mold who also supports gay rights, abortion rights and stem cell research.

“Formidable?” I guess I was watching another channel when Rudy was being formidable. All I saw from him after the 9/11 attacks was a mayor doing his job.

We are disaster prone here in California but when our elected officials do their jobs efficiently in the aftermath of an earthquake, a riot or a brushfire, we don’t make them into saints — hell, sometimes we don’t even reelect them.

My theory is that Rudy was deified by the national media, which happens to be headquartered in his hometown, because, as individuals whose city had been attacked, they were scared and needed a leader. They were smart enough to know that Pres. Bush was play-acting at leadership that day he climbed on the rubble of the World Trade Center and shouted bumpersticker slogans at firefighters — and Giuliani was at least competent to lead.

As fouled up as New York City can be, its residents do not live with the constant presence of looming disaster, like those of us who live in areas prone to hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes. I have a theory that, goddess forbid, if the attacks had happened in Miami, Witchita or San Francisco, there would have been less soul searching before everybody rolled up their sleeves, cleaned up the mess and got back to their routines.

[…]

Jay Bakker: ‘What the Hell Happened to Christianity?’

Jon Ponder

The son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker has an op-ed up at CNN, co-written with a colleague, Marc Brown, in which he questions the politicization of Christianity by the political right:

What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity…

So when did the focus of Christianity shift from the unconditional love and acceptance preached by Christ to the hate and condemnation spewed forth by certain groups today? Some say it was during the rise of Conservative Christianity in the early 1980s with political action groups like the Moral Majority. Others say it goes way back to the 300s, when Rome’s Christian Emperor Constantine initiated a set of laws limiting the rights of Roman non-Christians. Regardless of the origin, one thing is crystal clear: It’s not what Jesus stood for.

His parables and lessons were focused on love and forgiveness, a message of “come as you are, not as you should be.” The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.

[…]

Could Mary Cheney Be a Worse Parent Than George Bush?

Jon Ponder
We live in a world where People Magazine asks the president, a below-average parent, and a man who was rather badly brought up himself, to assess what kind of parent Mary Cheney will be, because she is a lesbian.

I could not have less esteem for Dick and Lynne Cheney. The vice president gives a face to the evil bureaucrat and Mrs. Cheney is an ideological tool. On the other hand, there is no evidence they have been bad parents, and good reason to believe that their daughter Elizabeth has done a servicable job raising her kids, and that their other daughter Mary, who happens to be gay and pregnant, will do as well as most parents.

George and Laura Bush, on the other hand, have raised two girls, the twins Barbara and Jenna, who are widely regarded as drunken aristocratic flibbertigibbets.

And yet we live in a world where People Magazine asks the president, a below-average parent, and a man who was rather badly brought up himself, to assess what kind of parent Mary Cheney will be, because she is a lesbian.

The intent of the question was to draw Bush out on the topic of gay parenting, which is vehemently opposed by the Troglodytes and Talibanis who comprise his few remaining supporters. The president’s response was typically odd and sounded scripted:

“I think Mary is going to be a loving soul to her child. And I’m happy for her.”

Bush often uses code words meant to appeal to the religious right, so maybe his use of the word “soul” was intentional. (Or maybe I’m over-thinking it and he was simply drunk.)

Loving a child is fundamental to parenting but what an odd construction. Anyone — an aunt or a godparent — can be a “loving soul” to a child, but parenting requires a lot more, not the least of which is providing discipline. If all you do is love them, they’ll grow up to be spoiled aristocratic flibbertigibbets — or even the Worst President Ever.

Later, pushing his daily broom after the president’s elephant parade, White House spokesman Tony Snow clarified that by “soul,” the president meant “parent”:

“He believes that Mary Cheney’s child will, in fact, have loving parents.”

There are worse kids than Barbara and Jenna. Sure, they were arrested for under-age drinking and since attaining majority have regularly made fools of themselves in drinking establishments worldwide but they are not axe murderers. My armchair psychiatric analysis is, their parents loved them too much to discipiline them.

Still, I’ll bet Mary Cheney and her unmarried spouse Heather Poe will raise a child who is at least as sensible as the Bush girls.

Laura Bush: Condi Won’t Run for President Because She’s Single

Jon Ponder

In her end-of-the-year interview with People magazine, First Lady Laura Bush offered this unscripted assessment of the reasons Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice won’t run for president:

“Probably because she is single, her parents are no longer living, she’s an only child. You need a very supportive family and supportive friends to have this job,” the First Lady said.

Michael Kinsley said a gaffe is when a politician accidentally speaks the truth. Laura was clearly speaking off the cuff, and she certainly made Condi sound too weak and needy to be president.

Maybe Laura forgot that Queen Elizabeth I was single the entire 49 years she was queen of England. History remembers her as an accomplished world leader, who excelled in a male-dominated world.

Or maybe Laura remembered America’s only president who was single. James Buchanan was the 15th president, a one-termer who served immediately prior to Lincoln. Historians generally believe Buchanan’s failure of leadership put the country on a glidepath to civil war. Because of this, Buchanan was widely regarded to be the Worst President Ever until, the title that now belongs to George W. Bush.

Condi can’t be president because she has a record of egregious incompetence and a political tin ear. Her marital status is irrelevant.

Bush Says He Sleeps Well Despite Thousands of Needless Deaths He’s Caused

Jon Ponder

The president and Laura Bush did an interview with People magazine for their final 2006 issue. This bit is particularly galling:

People’s interviewer also mentioned that readers had asked if he takes sleep aids. Bush said generally not, but he does occasionally when he travels.

“I must tell you, I’m sleeping a lot better than people would assume,” he said.

He said he drinks a couple of cups of coffee in the morning and drinks a lot of water and, of course, no alcohol.

“I don’t drink alcohol. I can remember when I used to drink, I had trouble sleeping at night,” the President said.

White House Publicly Pissed Off at Senator’s Defiance

Trish

It wasn’t just that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) went to Syria this week that’s pissing off the White House. It was the fact that he went even after they made it known they really, truly, “wait until your father gets home ’cause you’ll be in big trouble buster” didn’t want him to.

This idea seems lost on Snow and Bush — he doesn’t need the White House’s permission… ”Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government”

The White House on Thursday escalated its criticism of Sen. Bill Nelson’s defiant diplomacy to Syria as other senators prepared to meet with the president of the country the United States accuses of aiding terrorists.

At a news briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow repeated his contention that the Florida Democrat’s trip was ”not helpful” and ”not appropriate…”

”The United States has a clear position, and you want to make sure that you’re sending a clear message, and not mixed messages, to the Syrians about the fact that they have obligations,” Snow said…

Snow also suggested that the senators could end up with egg on their faces…

”It may cost some people their credibility,” Snow said.

Nelson’s response?

“Whatever.”

The two-week to Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and yes, Syria, was — as you might imagine for a trip with these logistics — planned long ago, even before the Iraq Study Group released its recommendation that the United States enlist Syria’s aid to help us get out of Iraq. One might also venture that Nelson’s recent appointment to the Senate Intelligence Committee, along with his current seats the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, could have been factors.

Plus — and this idea seems lost on Snow and Bush — he doesn’t need the White House’s permission. As Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who is also slated to visit with Syrian Pres. Bashar Assad, put it:

”Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government, and as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where oversight is a critical component, members need to go to hot spots not just garden spots,” Dodd said. “I can’t think of a more critical part of the world than the Middle East, and I can’t think of a more critical player in effecting events in the region for good or for bad than Syria.”

The White House hopes it will have better luck intimidating Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and perpetual presidential candidate John Kerry from their planned excursions.

Asked whether the administration would wave off the other senators, Snow noted, “Well, I think they know now. It’s out there, guys.”

Or not.

Dodd…said Thursday that Syria is still on his itinerary.

Poll: Bush Is Worst President Ever (Or At Least Among the Last Five)

Jon Ponder

Most Americans agree that George Bush is the Worst President Ever, in the past 30 years, according to a new Gallup poll:

Americans think President George W. Bush will go down in history as the country’s worst leader of his era, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday.

But Bush rates the worst, with 54 percent saying history will paint him as a poor or below-average president, according to the survey.

The poll rated Pres. Reagan as the best president among presidents Carter, himself, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II.