Author: Trish

Bush Spent $1.62 Billion to Make Us Love Him and He Still Only Has a 42 Percent Approval Rating

Trish

Wondering how much all those paid White House product placements cost us taxpayers? Would you believe $1.62 billion?

“The extent of the Bush administration’s propaganda effort is unprecedented and disturbing,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif

Yes, fake news stories and secretly paid endorsements aren’t cheap, as we’re beginning to find out, thanks to the Government Accounting Office and our hero, David Walker, 54, U.S. comptroller general and one of the few people willing to challenge the Emperor Bush.

“The extent of the Bush administration’s propaganda effort is unprecedented and disturbing,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. “The fact is that after all the spin, the American people are stuck with high prescription-drug prices, high gas prices and high college costs. This report raises serious questions about this administration’s priorities for the country and I would hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that changes need to be made to rein in the president’s propaganda machine.”

… The White House did not immediately return a call for comment.

Do they ever? Give them another 22 hours, and maybe they’ll come up with something.

The biggest government spenders were: the Department of Defense ($1.1 billion); Health and Human Services ($300 million); Department of the Treasury ($152 million); and the Department of Homeland Security ($24 million).

The spending was for everything from military recruitment advertising to prizes for various promotions. Democrats pointed to the $10,212 the Air Force spent for items bearing the Coca-Cola logo including portable radios, victory t-shirts, hats and coolers, as well as more that $35,000 for promotional materials for a golf program.

Meanwhile, Bush’s proposed budget includes selling park lands to pay for schools and cutting commodity food programs for seniors and placing them on food stamps instead.

New Orleans — And Even Brown? — Tell the Truth About Katrina

Trish

Gotta love the people of New Orleans as they put on Mardis Gras.

Brown: “Had there been a report coming out . . . that said, ‘Yes, we’ve confirmed that a terrorist has blown up the 17th Street Canal levee,’ then everybody would have jumped all over that

This year’s parade theme was C’est Levee, a pun on the French expression c’est la vie , or that’s life.

Floats and props built for the Saturday evening parade in the French Quarter included hand-pulled carts elaborately decorated with blue tarps, fake broken levees, cardboard travel trailers and effigies of Mayor C. Ray Nagin (D) and Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D).

One display asked France to buy Louisiana back, suggesting that the state might get better treatment from the French than it has from the U.S. government.

Indeed. As PR editor Jon notes, Bush Etc. didn’t give a crap about the people of New Orleans or the Gulf Coast, except for losing one day of vacation.

And even I had to hand it to Brownie the other day. He did a heckuva job at nailing the feeling at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security.

“Had there been a report coming out . . . that said, ‘Yes, we’ve confirmed that a terrorist has blown up the 17th Street Canal levee,’ then everybody would have jumped all over that and been trying to do everything they could,” Brown said.

But how do you exploit the weather for political gain? True, Bush did use it as a convenient exit strategy to get away from a summer of press coverage of Cindy Sheehan’s fruitless attempts to get him to acknowledge her. But let’s face it, a hurricane doesn’t offer the “talkin’ tough” and fanning-the-flames-of-fear opportunities of a terror attack.

Meanwhile, New Orleans makes the best of it.

The Mid-City parade, scheduled for Feb. 26, will have floats called “New Orleans Culture” — that’s culture as in mold — and “I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was gone,” a bitter twist on the line from Don McLean’s “American Pie.”

List of Scooter Libby’s “Superiors” is Pretty Short

Trish

Columnist Cragg Hines notes the list of people who might have instructed Scooter Libby to tell members of the press that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent is pretty small.

Libby didn’t have that many “superiors.” Bush, Cheney and, at least organizationally, White House chief of staff Andrew Card.

As emerged in news reports, Libby told a grand jury that “superiors” told him to leak to reporters in June and July 2003 information about Iraq’s weapons capability. Let’s examine this megawatt info…

Libby didn’t have that many “superiors.” Bush, Cheney and, at least organizationally, White House chief of staff Andrew Card.

Or could there be some higher, metaphysical “superiors” being suggested, which would be interesting jurisprudentially if not strategically (unless there’s to be a sudden shift to an insanity plea)?

Hines adds that Bush keeps waffling on his response to the wrongdoing. My own personal theory is that Bush talked tough early on about firing people because he never thought he, Rove, and Cheney would be found out.

In the wake of his indictment, Libby resigned. But Bush’s deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, who remains under investigation by Fitzgerald, has been shown to have leaked. He’s still firmly ensconced in the White House.

That, in part at least, is because Bush last summer moved the goal posts for what it takes to get the heave-ho.

“If someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration,” Bush said.

As I’ve noted before, that’s a lousy benchmark for someone who, as Bush did repeatedly in the 2000 campaign, swore he would uphold the “honor and dignity” of the White House.

Under Bush’s sliding standard of leaking as a firing offense, as long as Rove remains unindicted, he apparently can hang around.

Now we have Libby reaching for Cheney’s throat — at least as a pretrial tactic.

My problem is that I don’t believe that even if Bush fired Rove publicly that he would quit taking orders from him privately. Bush, who isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, needs Rove behind the scenes to think of…stuff. He’ll find a way to keep him on a payroll somewhere, and keep pulling the strings in the White House.

‘Outrage Fatigue’ Pandemic Strikes Non-Republicans

Trish

Big ups to Pensito Review reader Stephen K. for a phrase that perfectly sums up our reaction to the overwhelming, stupefying, dazing amount of corruption and naked power plays put forth by Republicans:

“Outrage fatigue.”

Thanks, Stephen, you said it so well. Now I’m just going to lie down and rest with a cold compress for a little while.

Saudis Not Feelin’ the Love Over Hydrocarbon Hatin’

Trish

Middle Eastern oil suppliers aren’t so happy with Pres. Bush’s State of the Union admission that America is addicted to their main export. Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Naimi is decrying Pres. Bush’s newfound “prejudice against hydrocarbons.” They might not even expand production if that’s the way we feel about it.

When I hear Bush talk about limiting imports, I figure that’s Rovespeak for “Goodbye ANWR. Goodbye Florida Gulf coast.”

“What concerns us is all the talk about not wanting our oil,” Naimi told an audience at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference. “It’s something to take into consideration.”

We’re not worried. We have a plan.

Bush’s strategy calls for substituting 30 percent of the nation’s fuel supply by 2025 with ethanol made from farm waste such as cornstalks and switch grass.

Actually, when I hear Bush talk about limiting imports, I figure that’s Rovespeak for “Goodbye ANWR. Goodbye Florida Gulf coast.”

But our friends in the field, not surprisingly, hear it differently.

His singling out of Middle Eastern oil was striking, rankling Saudi sensibilities.

After all, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf producers accounted for only 17 percent of the nation’s oil imports during the first 11 months of 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

And the Gulf states could hardly be deemed more volatile than producers like Venezuela, Nigeria or even Russia.

The Saudis don’t really see the problem anyway.

Asked whether he thinks America is addicted to oil, [Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington Prince Turki Al-Faisal] wondered: “Why do you want to live without it?”

Because when the same percentage of Chinese people as Americans decide to drive Hummers we, as a planet, are toast?

Obama Posts the Letters; See What an Ass John McCain is For Yourself

Trish

First of all, the snarky, snarly, nastiness of Sen. John “Please W., Screw Me a Little Harder Just So Long As You Let Me Be President Next” McCain (R.-Ariz.) is way understated in the news reports about his attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill).

Everyone that frames this as “an exchange” in which one side is just as bad as the other, ala the Refrickinpublican Abramoff scandal, is just flat wrong.

Second, everyone including NPR’s Day to Day, that frames this as “an exchange” in which one side is just as bad as the other, a la the Refrickinpublican Abramoff scandal, is flat wrong.

Don’t take my word for it. Sen. Obama has posted the actual letters for the world to see. If you don’t walk away from reading John McCain’s sarcastic, insulting, and belittling missive feeling like he’s a complete — forgive my French — shithead then check your voter registration card. It must say “Republican.”

Here’s what Obama said that Johnny evidently took such exception to:

I know you have expressed an interest in creating a task force to further study and discuss these matters, but I and others in the Democratic Caucus believe the more effective and timely course is to allow the committees of jurisdiction to roll up their sleeves and get to work on writing ethics and lobbying reform legislation that a majority of the Senate can support.

And here’s just a sample of “Hothead” McCain’s vitriol in return:

I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party’s effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn’t always a priority for every one of us.

Are you feeling it yet? Barack “Real Deal” Obama took all that and still turned the other cheek, in a new letter dated today.

I confess that I have no idea what has prompted your response. But let me assure you that I am not interested in typical partisan rhetoric or posturing. The fact that you have now questioned my sincerity and my desire to put aside politics for the public interest is regrettable but does not in any way diminish my deep respect for you nor my willingness to find a bipartisan solution to this problem.

Visit the site for updates, if McCain still has the heart for showing his ass to the world.

Next Election Fraud Explanation Already in the Works

Trish

A.P. is reporting on what will no doubt be the excuse used to conceal fraud in the next election.

Fewer voters will cast their ballots by punching a card or pulling a lever in this November’s elections as the country continues to turn to newer, electronic machines, according to a study released Monday…experts also note that means many Americans will be voting on unfamiliar equipment this fall.

…The widespread push to modernize means that, in the six years between November 2000 and this fall’s elections, nearly 82 million people in a nation of 170 million registered voters will have cast ballots on new equipment…

See, it’s not that we rigged things, it’s that the voters cast their ballots the wrong way because they didn’t know what they were doing. Yeah, that’s it!

Jeb Criticizes Those Who Do the Same Thing as Him Only Better

Trish

Gimme a H! Gimme a Y! Gimme a P! Gimme an O! Gimme a… Aw never mind — just yell, “Jeb!”

Tallahassee Democrat:

”Democracy is imperiled a little bit when big donors that can’t get their way through the traditional way of creating policy through the Florida Legislature, (and) secret donors who do not disclose who they are, come into our state from out of state to advance in many cases a left-wing political agenda,” Bush told the crowd, ”to put things on the ballot that sound good but create long-term challenges for us.”

The executive director of Common Cause Florida…noted Bush had no problem with raising Florida cash for another state’s redistricting drive last year when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came calling.

The governor’s remarks were directed in part at Common Cause, a government watchdog group that has gathered enough signatures to put a redistricting ballot question before voters this year.

Common Cause raised $2.6 million from its national membership to cover the $2.8 million spent to gather the 611,000 signatures needed. Bush has been critical of the group over the last week for not volunteering the names of its donors.

Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida, said it is a nonpartisan effort and noted Bush had no problem with raising Florida cash for another state’s redistricting drive last year when California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came calling.

Jeb also didn’t mind the Republican Party of Florida contributing $150,000 of the $193,000 raised to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot, despite the fact that the aforementioned Florida Legislature already passed a law years ago outlawing such unions. He also didn’t have a problem with the fact that the amendment’s sponsors passed the move off as a grassroots effort until the St. Petersburg Times exposed the funding last month.

John Edwards: Americans Need Hope and Inspiration

Trish

Say what you will, but I think John Edwards has it right.

America needs leaders who understand that the country needs to be inspired again, former Sen. John Edwards said Friday.

Edwards gets that Americans like you and me are…better than snarky rich idiots who act like assholes because they know deep down inside no amount of money or external success makes up for the fact they are small, nasty people

Edwards said that after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Americans reached out to volunteer and take families into their homes.

“It says something about the heart and character of our country,” said Edwards, a Democrat. “What we need is we need leaders who tap into that.”

Ain’t it the truth? Full disclosure: I voted for Edwards in the Florida primary in 2004, even though the press and my party had already given the state to Kerry. I see something in him that I saw in Carter and in Clinton, and it’s not just the Southern thing, although “not for nothin’,” as we say down here.

Edwards now heads the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina law school and has previously said he has not decided whether he will run for president in 2008…

“The people I’ve met, they violate every stereotype that exists about people who are struggling,” Edwards said.

He said the great moral issue in the country today is that 37 million people live in poverty.

“They have never had a champion,” Edwards said. “They can’t even imagine someone actually being willing to speak up for them.”

Contrast Edwards’ remarks with those of former First Lady Barbara Bush, who in the wake of the most devastating natural disaster of our times looked on her idea of the bright side for the evacuees:

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them. They are faring far better than before Katrina.

Edwards gets that Americans like you and me are better than that, better than snarky rich idiots who act like assholes because they know deep down inside no amount of money or external success makes up for the fact they are small, nasty people.

During his travels, Edwards said he has learned that there is a hunger in the United States for something big and important that people can be involved in and inspired by…

“We need hope,” Edwards said. “We need the belief inside us that we are good, strong, honorable people and we can do great things together.”

Somebody say “Amen!”

How Much Do They Hate Us? Pretty Damn Much

Trish

For all the people who asked how we would like to be on the receiving end of an objectionable Hollywood-esque portrayal, we have an answer: Not so much.

CNN reports on a film that opened today in Turkey starring Gary Busey and Billy Zane as a couple of people we would just as soon not share a nationality with.

In the movie, American troops kill dozens of innocent people with random machine-gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv

In the most expensive Turkish movie ever made, American soldiers in Iraq crash a wedding and pump a little boy full of lead in front of his mother.

They kill dozens of innocent people with random machine-gun fire, shoot the groom in the head, and drag those left alive to Abu Ghraib prison — where a Jewish doctor cuts out their organs, which he sells to rich people in New York, London and Tel Aviv.

Whoa. Why would they make a movie like that?

One recent opinion poll revealed the depth of the hostility in Turkey toward Americans: 53 percent of Turks who responded to the 2005 Pew Global Attitudes survey associated Americans with the word “rude”; 70 percent with “violent”; 68 percent with “greedy”; and 57 percent with “immoral.”

I won’t bother saying we brought part of this on ourselves. O.K., I just did.

“Valley of the Wolves Iraq” opens with a true story: On July 4, 2003, in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, troops from the U.S. Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade raided and ransacked a Turkish special forces office, threw hoods over the heads of 11 Turkish special forces officers and held them in custody for more than two days…the incident damaged Turkish-U.S. relations and hurt Turkish national pride. Turks traditionally idolize their soldiers; many enthusiastically send their sons off for mandatory military service.

In the movie, one of the Turkish special forces officers commits suicide to save his honor.

I’m already feeling sick. No popcorn, thanks.

Looking on the bright side, it’s just a movie, right?

“There isn’t going to be a war over this,” said Nefise Karatay, a Turkish model lounging on a sofa after the premiere. “Everyone knows that Americans have a good side. That’s not what this is about.”

So what is it about? And I wonder how they would have portrayed us if they didn’t know about our “good side.”