Tag: Worst President Ever

Prophetic ’04 Bush Quote: CIA Leaker ‘Will Be Taken Care of’

Jon Ponder

On February 10, 2004, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that a criminal investigation into the leaking of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson was underway.

The next day, Pres. George Bush addressed the new development in a brief Q & A with reporters:

“If there’s a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is,” Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. “If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

Now we know that those words were prophetic. By pardoning Scooter Libby, who was found guilty this year of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation into the outing of Wilson allegedly by senior Bush officials, Bush has indeed “taken care of” one of the leakers.

We also know now that Wilson was a covert specialist in weapons of mass destruction.

Here’s a more complete White House transcript:

[…]

Breaking: Bush Commutes Libby’s Sentence

Jon Ponder

So much for the rule of law:

President Bush commuted the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby on Monday, sparing him from a 2½-year prison term that Bush said was excessive…

“I respect the jury’s verdict,” Bush said in a statement. “But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.”

After Setting World on Fire, Bush Said to Be ‘at Ease’ Because He Is Doing God’s Will

Jon Ponder

An article up today at the Washington Post catches us up on the inner life of Pres. George Bush at what it calls the nadir of his presidency.

“[The president] seeks guidance, like every other president does, in prayer. And that means trying to be sure he’s +doing the right thing. And if you’ve got that set, all the criticism, it doesn’t faze you very much. You’re answering to God.”
– Theologian who recently met with Bush

What the president’s team wants us to know is that Bush is asking a lot of smart people over to the White House to ask them questions. Here’s my favorite:

After reading Andrew Roberts’s “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900,” Bush brought in the author and a dozen other scholars to talk about the lessons. “What can I learn from history?” Bush asked Roberts…

And:

“He asked me, ‘Do you think our unpopularity abroad is a result of my personality?’ And he laughed,” [Irwin M. Stelzer, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute] recalled. “I said, ‘In part.’ And he laughed again.”

Oh, yeah. LOL. That’s rich. “In part.” Very funny.

Despite all this soul searching, people who have been around the president have found him surprisingly unburdened by angst. Henry Kissinger is quoted as saying Bush is “at peace with himself.” Rep. Peter King, a reliable GOP tool from Long Island, says the president is “amazingly calm.” One of the scholars who was brought in said, “My God, he looked well. He looked like he came off a cruise in the Caribbean. He looked like he hadn’t a care in the world. It was amazing.”

What explains the president’s carefree attitude in light of all the damage he has wreaked? You guessed it — he’s on a mission from God:

“His faith is very strong,” said [Michael] Novak, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. “Faith is not enough by itself because there are a lot of people who have faith but weak hearts. But his faith is very strong. He seeks guidance, like every other president does, in prayer. And that means trying to be sure he’s doing the right thing. And if you’ve got that set, all the criticism, it doesn’t faze you very much. You’re answering to God.”

The problem is, the leader of the free world has faith, strong will and a weak mind.

The Search for Iraq’s WMDs is Officially Over

Trish

The U.N. announced today, five years after our invasion of Iraq because we were told by our president that he knew for sure they had weapons of mass destruction, the search is over.

The resolution, approved by a vote of 14-0, terminated the mandate of the U.N. bodies responsible for overseeing the dismantling of Hussein’s programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles…

Since 2005, the United States has been trying to get the Security Council to wrap up the work of the inspectors, who were pulled out of Iraq just before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and were barred by the U.S. from returning.

So George, you can stop looking. Now can we bring our troops home?

What If the US Was Commandeered by a Rogue Elements – And Nobody Cared?

Jon Ponder

By any objective measure, rogue elements at the very top of the Executive Branch have seized control of the United States government:

  • For all we know, Dick Cheney is using a frontloader to deliver state secrets to the Saudis, or the British or Israel. Since 2003, he has refused to accede to security oversight regarding secret documents from his own administration.
  • If you think Cheney wouldn’t do anything to harm the country, you are wrong. In 2003, he instructed his minions, including Scooter Libby, to unmask a CIA agent who was working on a covert project tracking blackmarket sales of weapons of mass destruction. There is no reason not to expect that one of the weapons that the agent, Valerie Plame Wilson, would have otherwise helped capture will be set off in Times Square one day.
  • Late yesterday, the White House confirmed that Pres. Bush has also refused oversight on documents.
  • For years now, when Bush has signed a bill into law that he doesn’t like, he has simultaneously countermanded it with a “signing statement” indicating his intent to break the very law he just signed. He has done this over over 700 times.
  • Pres. Bush has admitted violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act over 1,000 times.
  • The United States Dept. of Justice is being run out of a a boiler room at the RNC.
  • To further his party’s political ends, Bush divided the country and then took us to war using an indictment against Iraq that was full of lies.

And yet what this state of affairs evinces from a wide spectrum of the American public is a shrug. “What can ya do?”

For many people, shrugging off the outrage comes from fatigue. While the Republicans controlled everything, it seemed it would never end. When the Democrats took over last year, their margin in the Senate was too slim to fully take control. The conventional wisdom now is that Bush will serve out his term, albeit under constant barrage from his critics.

But this could be changing. If action is taken against the rogue elements at the top of our government before they are scheduled to step down in January 2009, it will only be with the blessing of the Republican minority.

Bush has polled under 30 percent in four polls this year. A majority of Republicans continue to support him, roughly 60 percent in a recent poll. But this number was 20 percentage points higher six months ago.

If it continues to go down, we may find that despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s assurances last year, impeachment is on the table.

Bush Says He, Too, Is Above the Law – Including His Own Presidential Decrees

Jon Ponder

That whirring sound you hear is the U.S. Constitution going through the shredder:

The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, President Bush’s office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.

An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn’t specifically say so, Bush’s order was not meant to apply to the vice president’s office or the president’s office, a White House spokesman said.

At Picnic, Bush Tells New Orleans Jazz Musician to ‘Pick Up Trash’ After Performance

Jon Ponder

At the annual congressional picnic yesterday, Pres. George Bush, addressing the crowd of 1,500, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggested that the African American musicians performing for the event should earn their keep after they performed:

THE PRESIDENT: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers, right out of New Orleans, Louisiana. (Applause.)

MR. RUFFINS: Thank you. Thanks for having us. We’re glad to be here.

THE PRESIDENT: Proud you’re here. Thanks for coming. You all enjoy yourself. Make sure you pick up all the trash after it’s over. (Laughter.)

Via Eric Alterman at Media Matters.

Poll: Bush Approval Remains Amazingly High at 26%

Jon Ponder

Pres. George Bush scored his lowest approval number yet in the latest Newsweek poll. Now only 26 percent of Americans say the think he’s doing a good job.

The only true revelation here, of course, is that 26 percent of our fellow Americans are delusional, by which I mean, “Republican.” Nearly two-thirds of Republicans still cling to the illusion that Bush is competent, according to the poll.

Republican Mom Leaves Party to End Stop Loss

Trish

Blogger and lawyer Suzanne Miller with her son, Army Specialist Matthew “Cory” Beard

Michael Bloomberg isn’t the only one discarding the Republican party. A war mom who twice voted for Bush but defines his “stop loss” policy as indentured servitude has also left their ranks.

If, like me, you gritted your teeth when Cindy Sheehan spoke…well, don’t expect to feel warmer or fuzzier about Suzanne Miller, Jacksonville lawyer and mother of Army Specialist Matthew “Cory” Beard. Local alt weekly, Folio, whose stories are only available offline, interviewed Miller after she launched a blog called End Stop Loss Now.

Miller disputes that the open-ended occupation in Iraq qualifies for stop loss — the policy of rescinding the release of service members who have already served deployment terms and sending them back to battle, sometimes for three or four tours. Folio writer Jane Akre:

I was…responding to comments Laura Bush had made regarding how much she and the President suffered over the loss of our troops. I lay awake thinking about their suffering all night long and finally the solution to their problem came to me: BRING OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME.

Miller the attorney believes stop loss is an illegal and unconstitutional policy. The military vehemently disagrees, and points to paragraph 9c in the enlistment contract: “In the event of war, my enlistment in the Armed Forces continues until six (6) months after the war ends, unless my enlistment is ended sooner by the President of the United States.”

But Miller takes exception of the military’s definition of war, which she says is being defined loosely to mean any conflict. “I’m pretty sure we have not declared war on Iraq and I’m pretty sure they haven’t declared war on us,” she says firmly.

Officially, she’s right. The U.S. hasn’t officially declared war since World War II…

…in the now-famous “Mission Accomplished” speech of May 1, 2003, Pres. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq. “In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed,” he announced. “And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.”

Miller’s blogging style could best be termed, “full-contact.” She posts replies to almost every comment, which are mostly from active military or their families and are about 60 percent in favor of her wave-making and 40 percent of the “leave the decision-making to our leaders” variety. But Miller pulls no punches and her opinions are decidedly right-wing.

We are losing dozens of soldiers each month for a country that will never be civilized. For the most part, they are barbaric. The cultural difference is too great. We gave them the greatest gift on earth and that is “freedom” and look what they have one with it. Not one more of our soldiers needs to die trying to make these people get along. They are simply not worth it.

Nor does she regret voting for Bush.

If Gore had been elected, he would still be bunkered down somewhere worried about the 3 trees in Afghanistan and nothing would have been done. At least George Bush did something.

Yet the only love Miller has found has been among Democrats. She petitioned all the cable news talk shows, she said, but none of the conservatives would touch her. She was embraced instead by Alan Colmes, we venture to say, for her wit and sarcasm.

I was, again, on the Alan Colmes nationally syndicated radio show responding to comments Laura Bush had made regarding how much she and the President suffered over the loss of our troops. I lay awake thinking about their suffering all night long and finally the solution to their problem came to me: BRING OUR BOYS AND GIRLS HOME.

Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and California’s Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey have also responded to her campaign.

I was greatly honored that Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey chose to quote me on the House floor. I agreed with everything she said about the civil war in Iraq. Ten billion dollars would have brought our kids home. So to Congresswoman Woolsey, I say “thank you” for not only recognizing that this is a useless war but also recognizing the fact that the stop loss policy is a policy that needs to end. I no longer call myself a Republican. I am American. I will vote according to my conscience and not a party affiliation.