Tag: Worst President Ever

Poll: Not Even Catching Osama Would Boost Bush’s Performance Rating

Buck Banks

Beyond help: A recent Zogby poll found that George Bush’s 30-something approval rating would not receive a boost if Osama bin Laden were captured.

Asked how much credit Bush would be due if bin Laden were caught, 52 percent said they would give him no credit, 28 percent would give him all the credit, while 17 percent said he would deserve some of the credit.

Bush’s job approval rating in fighting terrorism would be at 42 percent if bin Laden were found, which is about where he is now with bin Laden still on the loose. A Zogby telephone poll in May showed his job approval for fighting terrorism at 41 percent, down from 44 percent in February.

While 86 percent of Republicans would give him positive marks for fighting terrorism if bin Laden were found, just 3 percent of Democrats would give him a positive rating on terrorism. Among independents, 36 percent would give him good marks, while 64 percent would give him negative marks.

What’s interesting here is that to a large extent Bush created this conundrum — he tied the war on terror, i.e., bin Laden and al Qaeda, to the war in Iraq. And most Americans are sick of the war in Iraq and, by extension, Bush’s war on terror. Neither “war” can be won in the traditional sense of “victory,” but Bush can continue to lose indefinitely, Osama or no Osama.

Keillor Defends San Francisco

Trish

Garrison Keillor is outraged that the best argument Republicans can make for people to vote for them this fall is to keep Nancy Pelosi from becoming Speaker of the House.

Because she’s from San Francisco.

The iPod was not developed by Baptists in Waco, Texas

…it does draw attention to the large, shambling galoot who is House speaker now, Tom DeLay’s enabler for years, a man who, judging by his public mutterances, is about as smart as most high school wrestling coaches. For the past year, Dennis Hastert has been two heartbeats from the presidency. He is a man who seems content just to have a car and driver and three square meals a day. He has succeeded in turning Congress into a branch of the executive branch. If Mr. Hastert becomes the poster boy for the Republican Party, this does not speak well for them as the Party of Ideas.

People who want to take a swing at San Francisco should think twice…the Bay Area is the cradle of the computer and software industry, which continues to create jobs for our children. The iPod was not developed by Baptists in Waco, Texas.

…Meanwhile, the Current Occupant goes on impersonating a president…And one of the basic assumptions of American culture is falling apart: the competence of Republicans.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank…To see them produce a ninny and then follow him loyally into the swamp for five years is disconcerting, like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz. So here we are at an uneasy point in our history, mired in a costly war, a supine Congress granting absolute power to a president who seems to get smaller and dimmer, and the best the Republicans can offer is San Franciscophobia?

And flag burning amendments, and 700-mile border fences, and bans on gay weddings, singing the national anthem in Spanish and abortion in South Dakota.

Think Fast: Who Are We At War With?

Trish

West Points cadets heard a quick, empty commencement address from Pres. Bush Saturday.

I finally concluded that like that third guy, I don’t know who we’re at war with. I suspect no one — including our leaders — does.

“The war began on my watch — but it’s going to end on your watch,” he said during a brief appearance…before returning to Camp David outside Washington, D.C., for the weekend.

Hold the bus to the holiday retreat, George. I’m not sure if you’re talking about kids now or the ones you let die in your stead in Vietnam.

“…Thirty-four times since your class arrived, you have observed a moment of silence in Washington Hall to honor a former cadet fallen in the war on terror…We will honor the memory of these brave souls,” [Bush said.] We will finish the task for which they gave their lives. We will complete the mission.”

“We,” of course, meaning, “you guys.”

When I hear Bush talk about “the war,” “the mission,” etc., my thoughts go to something that’s been bothering me since I was listening to the radio a couple of weeks ago. Punching buttons, I paused on the Lex and Terry Show, syndicated from nearby Jacksonville, which proudly defines its appeal as “male humor.”

Callers competed in a contest called, “The Mental Challenge,” which I gathered required one listener to identify which of several others was, in fact, mentally challenged and which were merely uninformed dolts. After a series of “duh” queries about sports and American Idol, the hosts asked an amazing question:

Who are we at war with?

One player answered “Afghanistan.” Another said “Arabs.” The third began to answer several times and finally said he didn’t know. Lex and Terry never supplied the correct answer.

Listening in the car, I was like the third contestant. I started to say, “insurgents” but they weren’t even in the picture when we launched this errand. So I switched to “terrorists,” but if that’s the case, why are we in Iraq instead of wherever it is terrorists come from? Saddem Hussein? No, we took him out but we’re still there. I finally concluded that like that third guy, I don’t know who we’re at war with.

I suspect no one — including our leaders — does. Yet they keep sending more West Point cadets, and National Guard dads and moms, and kids whose lives are just starting, to be killed or maimed. And we keep permitting them to.

Poll: Bush Bounce Baffles

Buck Banks

Nitwit nation: Quick, somebody run a chemical analysis on the water supply — somebody’s slipped us a collective mickey. What else would explain George Bush’s sudden rise in approval ratings? It’s not like he’s done anything positive this week, has he?

Bush is no Comeback Kid, but according to National Journal’s PollTrack, a new CBS poll has his job-approval mark up four points to 35 percent over an earlier May survey. A new CNN poll has the measure inching up two points to 36 percent since early May’s 34 percent and four points since late April’s 32 percent.

It’s significant that we are even talking about a two- or four-point rise — what does that really mean? That we got so used to Bush’s seemingly inexorable slide toward zero that a two-point uptick makes us want to upchuck.

It gets worse: CBS pollsters found that approval for Bush’s handling of immigration surged 12 points to 38 percent over the past two weeks. His rating on the economy jumped six points to 34 percent during the same period, and, incredibly, the rating on the “situation in Iraq” has crept up two points to 31 percent. But at least Bush’s rating on the “campaign against terrorism” — usually his highest mark — remained unchanged at 46 percent.

Gah! Who are these “respondents?” Get the NSA on the line, we need a few million phone numbers.

Bush Guts Education, Human Services to Save a Pittance

Buck Banks

Unkind cuts: There has been a lot of discussion in the media about the budget battles over the 2007 federal budget and the ballooning supplemental spending bill that Herr Bush has threatened to veto. But there has been virtually no coverage of what Bush says he wants to cut out of the federal budget.

The Office of Management and Budget has just released its report on the spending reductions Bushco wants — surprise! — they are mostly in education and health and human services areas. The total is nearly $7.3 billion, almost half of it in education spending cuts.

Here are some of the program terminations I consider to be most egregious.

From the Department of Agriculture Bush wants to cut $511 million, including $75 million from watershed protection and flood prevention, and $10 million from the beleaguered Forest Service.

Given our current gasoline ‘crisis,’ does it make sense to also cut the $64 million Oil and Gas Research and Development program?

From Education, the “Education President” wants to cut 42 programs for a total of $3.5 billion. High school vocational training will see elimination of $1.15 billion in programs. Other education programs getting the axe include Arts in Education, Civics Education, National Writing Project, School Dropout Prevention and Vocational Rehabilitation for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers. You can bet some children are getting left behind.

Remember, these are eliminations, not budget cuts — gone, daddy, gone.

From the Energy Department Bush is slicing $114 million in programs. Those include the University Nuclear Energy and the Geothermal Technology programs. Given our current gasoline “crisis,” does it make sense to also cut the $64 million Oil and Gas Research and Development program? It does to somebody, ‘cause it’s history.
[…]

Cheney and Rumsfeld Shielded Telecoms from Domestic Spying Charges in the 1970s

Jon Ponder

President Bush’s illegal domestic spying program is not the first instance of the government spying on American citizens in our history. To understand how the present controversy will probably play out, we need look no farther back than the Ford Administration:

After World War II, the NSA’s predecessor, the Army Signal Security Agency, sent representatives to the major telegraph companies and asked for cooperation in getting access to all telegraph traffic entering or leaving the United States. The companies complied, over the objections of their lawyers. When these practices came to light as part of a 1976 investigation into intelligence abuses, President Gerald R. Ford extended executive privilege, which shielded those involved from testifying publicly, to the telecommunications companies on the recommendation of then chief-of-staff Dick Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, according to the Project on Government Oversight.

Poll: Another New Low for Bush — 31% in CBS-NYT Survey

Jon Ponder

Third lowest rating of any president in the past five decades

New indications that conservatives and Republicans are starting to wake up:

Mr. Bush’s overall job approval rating hit another new low, 31 percent, tying the low point of his father in July 1992, four months before the elder Mr. Bush lost his bid for a second term to Bill Clinton. That is the third lowest approval rating of any president in 50 years; only Richard M. Nixon and Jimmy Carter were viewed less favorably.

Mr. Bush is even losing support from what has been his base: 51 percent of conservatives and 69 percent of Republicans approve of the way Mr. Bush is handling his job. In both cases, those figures are a substantial drop in support from four months ago.

Bush Urges Democracy on Germany Then Goes Fishing

Trish

I hate it when someone writes a commentary so good I wish I’d written it myself. O.K., actually I love it. The Miami Herald’s Ana Menendez made me hate/love her for her column on the president.

While everyone was distracted by Bush’s admission that catching a fish of disputed genus was the highlight of his presidency, we missed other gems in the same interview. Menendez combed the rest of the transcript:

Meanwhile, no respectable commentator is allowed to point out that the emperor has no mind.

Bush’s interview with Bild, released by the White House press office Sunday, offers the following additions to the startling Bush opus:

“That’s George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three –Three or four books about him last year. Isn’t that interesting? People say, so what?”

Indeed. Here’s another one:

“Germans have always been incredibly efficient, capable business people, and when they make a product, it is always of the highest quality.”

And finally:

“The point now is how do we work together to achieve important goals. And one such goal is a democracy in Germany.”

Right. And then on to France, England and maybe even the United States.

Satisfying though it might be to cringe and guffaw at Bush’s idiocy, Menedez says the fun is wearing off.

Meanwhile, no respectable commentator is allowed to point out that the emperor has no mind. Democrats, terrified of sounding snobby, would rather retain some fake ”credibility” than be accused of saying anything interesting. And Republicans . . . Well, what few remain loyal to King George have made a career of crafting apologias whose authors should be arrested for reckless and cruel abuse of the exclamation point…

The leaders are swinging from the monkey bars, but the people are not fooled. Bush’s abysmal approval ratings are no mistake. There’s only so much nonsense that the average citizen can take before it stops being hilarious.

For me, that point came when Bush usurped John McCain in South Carolina before the 2000 election. That was when I had the illogical yet persistent feeling that he was going to be president. It’s been downhill ever since.

Special Delivery — Bush’s Letter from Iran

Buck Banks

Return to sender: You have to admire the cojones of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab to pen a note and send it rather publicly to George W. Bush, a notorious non-reader. It’s a great public relations ploy, and when you read excerpts from the letter, you realize that Ahmadinejab’s questions are our questions, and Bush should be made to answer them.

Reuters India somehow got a copy of the letter and translated it from Farsi. Here are a few excerpts from Reuter’s excerpts:

Mr. George Bush,

For some time now, I have been thinking, how one can justify the undeniable contradictions that exist in the international arena … Many questions remain unanswered. These have prompted me to discuss some of the contradictions and questions, in the hopes that it might bring about an opportunity to redress them.

Can one be a follower of Jesus Christ (Peace Be Upon Him), the great Messenger of God, feel obliged to respect human rights, present liberalism and a civilization model, announce one’s opposition to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and WMDs, make “War on Terror” his slogan, and finally, work towards the establishment of an unified international community – a community which Christ and the virtuous of the Earth will one day govern, but at the same time, have countries attacked. The lives, reputations and possessions of people destroyed and on the slight chance of the presence of a few criminals in a village, city, or convoy for example, the entire village, city or convoy set ablaze?

Or because of the possibility of the existence of WMDs in one country, it is occupied, around 100,000 people killed, its water sources, agriculture and industry destroyed, close to 180,000 foreign troops put on the ground, sanctity of private homes of citizens broken, and the country pushed back perhaps 50 years.

….

Mr. President,

You might know that I am a teacher. My students ask me, how can these actions be reconciled with the values outlined at the beginning of this letter and duty to the traditions of Jesus Christ (Peace Be Upon Him), the Messenger of peace and forgiveness.

There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals.

….

Young people, university students and ordinary people have many questions about the phenomenon of Israel. I am sure you are familiar with some of them. Throughout history, many countries have been occupied, but I think the establishment of a new country with a new people is a new phenomenon that is exclusive to our times. Students are saying that 60 years ago such a country did not exist. They show old documents and globes and say, try as we have, we have not been able to find a country named Israel.

….

The people of the world are not happy with the status quo and pay little heed to the promises and comments made by a number of world leaders … The people are protesting the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots and the rich and poor countries. The people are disgusted with increasing corruption. The people of many countries are angry about the attacks on their cultural foundations and the disintegration of families … the people of the world have no faith in international organizations, because their rights are not advocated by these organizations.

Liberalism and western-style democracy have not been able to help realize the ideals of humanity. Today these two concepts have failed. Those with insight can already hear the sounds of the shattering and fall of the ideology and thoughts of the Liberal democratic systems.

Mr. President, whether we like it or not, the world is gravitating towards faith in the Almighty and justice and the will of God will prevail over all things.

The More Bush Speaks, The Less America Likes Him

Trish

CNN Senior Analyst Jeff Greenfield sniffed out a correlation between Bush’s speeches and his approval numbers.

The problem isn’t that the longer Bush is in office, the more we need to see “what he’s really like.” The problem is that we already do.

All through the second term, Bush has been using the “bully pulpit” of the presidency to argue his case on the war in Iraq… And what has happened?

Approval ratings — on Iraq, on terror and on job approval in general — have steadily fallen.

On April 12, 2005, a day when the president gave a speech to military families on terror, Bush’s job approval rating was at 50 percent. Two months later, he made a visit to the National Counterterrorism Center and then gave a nationally televised speech to the nation from Fort Bragg. By month’s end, his job approval was at 45 percent.

Last November, the president visited the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and Elmendorf Air Force Base to talk about terror and Iraq. By year’s end, his job approval was at 41 percent.

So far in 2006, Mr. Bush has given this year six speeches on terror and Iraq, not counting the State of the Union. What has happened? He began the year at 43 percent job approval — in CNN’s latest polling, he’s at 32%…

Every White House loves to argue that its best weapon is the president, connecting directly with the people, and this White House has been relentless in the belief that when the president goes to the country, surrounded by respectful, if not admiring citizens, with the slogan of the day emblazoned in the background, it will be politically effective.

This will come as bad news to new chief of staff Josh Bolten, who recently announced the key to the White House turning things around is trotting Bush out in front of the people.

It’s time for the White House to go on offense and “get our mojo back,” Josh Bolten said Sunday in his first interview since taking over as the president’s chief of staff.

“We’ve taken advice from a lot of folks that we ought to put the president out more in ways that the American people can see what he’s really like,” Bolten said on “Fox News Sunday.”

I got two words for you Josh: social security tour flop.

Anyway, the problem isn’t that the longer Bush is in office, the more we need to see “what he’s really like.” The problem is that we already do.