KRT Wire: GOP growing increasingly angry, frightened by Bush's missteps

[PhilipShore]

Knight Ridder Newspapers
GOP growing increasingly angry, frightened by Bush's missteps
Mar. 02, 2006

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/14002259.htm

WASHINGTON - President Bush, once the seemingly invincible vanguard of a new Republican majority, could be endangering his party's hold on power as the GOP heads into this year's midterm congressional elections.

A series of political missteps has raised questions about the Bush administration's candor, competence and credibility and left the White House off-balance, off-message and unable to command either the nation's policy agenda or its politics the way the president did during his first term.

This week, newly released video of Bush listening passively to warnings about the dire threat posed by Hurricane Katrina and a report that intelligence analysts warned for more than two years that the insurgency in Iraq could swell into a civil war provided fresh fodder for charges that the president ignores unwelcome alarms.

His attacks on those who questioned his administration's approval of a seaports deal with the United Arab Emirates and his ill-fated nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court have angered some conservatives and Republican members of Congress.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. Somebody Please Pass Me a Tissue!

:cry:

[Drum]

2. "increasingly angry, frightened by Bush's missteps"

As Bob Dylan would say, "How does it feel?"

Welcome to OUR world!

[calimary]

15. Do I hear the strains of "Buyer's Remorse"?

Go bush, go! Take 'em ALL down with you!!! :headbang:

They can cry me a frickin' RIVER. We TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to talk some sense into these people.
We TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to wake them up.
We TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to WISE them up.
We TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to warn them.
We TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED and TRIED to tell them the truth and to spread the word.
We did EVERYTHING we could.
They wouldn't listen. Just like him - didn't wanna know. Didn't wanna hear. WOULD NOT hear of it. ANY of it. Not interested. Nobody home. Goodbye and good riddance. And now - only NOW do they start to realize what's happened. Sheesh.

All I can say, for myself, is that hey - at least MY conscience is clear. I did EVERYTHING I could to stop it. We ALL did, here at DU and elsewhere in the liberal/progressive/Democratic world. Please don't forget that. You did everything you could. And those of us who are recent arrivals here, who drank the Kool-aid at first but then finally reawakened and saw the Light - you, too, did all you could. I try to comfort myself with that, small comfort that it is.

There's gonna be a LOT of "I Told You So" going around this country this year. I just hope it continues through November, so we can start IMPEACHMENT proceedings in January '07. Because NOW, it is HUGELY important to unlock the minds of those (many, now) who are dreading the rest of his term. I've spoken to more than a few former Republicans (and a few former republi-CONS) who are of the mentality that we're stuck with this bastard for another three years. WE'RE NOT. Repeat - NOT. We CAN get rid of him. And for the sake of our country and what's left of our Constitution, we HAVE to. This is something I think might be worthwhile into which to channel our energies. It'll be OUR preemptive strike (the GOOD, patriotic kind). We have to dislodge the seemingly set-in-stone attitude in a lot of our fellow Americans that we're stuck with this asshole for the duration. We're NOT. Invite them NOT to dismiss any ideas that he can't be IMPEACHED AND-AND-AND-AND REMOVED FROM OFFICE. Many of them may display an "oh, what's the use" attitude, or some other defeatism about stanching the blood flow or grinning and bearing it til his term's over, and just hoping we all survive and that there isn't another huge calamity to hit our country that he will be equally unfit and unwilling to handle like an effective manager/leader, or hell, just plain ol' adult would.

Start working on this, NOW. Time to gear up, mentally and emotionally. I think this is our next major, overriding campaign. At any rate, it certainly qualifies as a "noble quest."

[Danascot]

42. Great Rant! I feel better...

Of course, here at DU we've been sold on impeachment for years. But to really make it happen we need to promote the idea that the only way for Republicans and their Dem fellow travelers to inoculate themselves against going down with the Bu*h ship, which is clearly where they're now headed, is to advocate strongly and loudly for impeachment, and the sooner they can position themselves there, the better it will be for them. The remove Bu*h train is leaving the station and they'd better hurry to get on now or they'll miss it. Though, shit, I'd be happier with torches and pitchforks myself.

[boddhi]

49. I'm totally with you

it's time we stop the notion of winning at all costs and always being 'right' and reclaim our democracy. All the politicians have gotten wrapped up in the "live to fight another day" mentality and forgotten the words of the oath they swear to when they take their office to protect the constitution first and foremost - before their party and certainly before their personal gain. How can anyone in the world complain about Hamas being elected to power when * was reelected here?

And we DO live in a democracy. We DO have the right to demand of our representatives to correctly perform their sworn duty to advise and consent regardless of their political persuasion. I believe it will be a sad day for democracy if * is allowed to complete his term. From the economy to social programs, from domestic programs to foreign relations, from disaster response to civil liberties, very little - if anything - has actually improved for this country under this administration. It's time for our representatives to do something about thais fact.

After the last election, I felt that democracy had failed. Maybe it was vote rigging. Maybe it was sheeple. Maybe it was any number of things but the bottom line was that I felt democracy had failed. But we STILL HAVE A VOICE - and it needs to be heard LOUD AND CLEAR. We find this administration's response to the issues of the day totally unacceptable and they are to be held accountable. Politics be damned; this is about the power of democracy - the power of us as individuals - to decide for ourselves how we want this country to be run.

Let the impeachment proceedings begin.....

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. What seems odd is that they make it seem like these missteps

just happened. Guys, Iraq occurred nearly three years ago. Bush won re-election because too many people kept quiet for too long. We could have stopped this if you hadn't rounded the wagons.

[ribrepin]

37. Positively 4th Street written in 1965

Words ring truer today than then.


You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning

You say you lost your faith
But that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don't know to begin with

When you know as well as me
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I'd rob them

And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
It's not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you

[stlsaxman]

44. "You know something's happening here but you don't know what it is...

do you, Mr. Jones"

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. He's not our "president", either....he's a tinhorn dictator.

[wordpix]

33. he's the repukes' selection--unfortunately, we're all paying the price for

this incompetent dangerous moron.

[Tin Man]

4. Too late - GOP is already fucked, but just now started to catch on.

...good riddance to bad rubbish.

[grytpype]

5. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! And it's just going to get worse.

And worse. And worse. Hahahahaha!

[Independent_Liberal]

7. I hope it does get worse for them!

Because it's gotten as bad as it can get for us!

[spag68]

14. worse

I hope it gets worse for them, but never say "it as bad as it cab get"

[EVDebs]

53. They have no one to blame BUT THEMSELVES

It's becoming a three year test of endurance for "R"s and the restofus. How much more incompetence can the country take ? How much will they subject us to ? is more likely the better question.

[Vogon_Glory]

16. No Pity For The Gopsters Here

No pity for the GOPsters here. I have no sympathy for the self-righteous, hypocritical, lying sacks of (bleep) who have called the rest of us traitors, socialists, un-American, unpatriotic, and every other vile accusation their loathsome little intellects could think of.

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

The GOPsters sowed the wind, and I dearly hope to see them reap the whirlwind, and I hope that the tempest proves stronger than Katrina at its peak.

[f-bush]

40. Exactly, I hope the whole lot of them fall on their swords!

[tomhayes]

6. At least they're consistent...always ANGRY and Frightened

Stupid, stupid people.

[glitch]

46. Yes indeedy, Welcome to DU! nt

[jrw14125]

8. George, you're fired.

[MasonJar]

9. I'm not sure there would be any left if it were not for the machines;

we may never get rid of them.

[Warpy]

19. Don't count us out yet

If Richardson in NM can be dragged kicking and screaming to sign a 100% paper ballot/verifiable optical scan voting bill, there is hope for nearly everyone else. He even felt compelled to write a conciliatory letter about the sanctitiy of the voting process.

Big, ugly, nasty lawsuits can do that.

[peacebird]

10. the hits just keep on coming.... but cornered animals are dangerous

the * administration will not go quietly, there will be hell to pay as they try to find a way to cling on to power. What will their great distraction be this time?

another shock'n'awe campaign spreadin' freedom into Iran? war war terra terra terra 9/11 9/11 be afraid birdflu birdflu

and will the sheeple once more bleat in unison and go back to chewing their cud?

[calimary]

27. It would be interesting to see if they resort to desperate measures

to keep the public in line. Like another 9/11. That would be an ungodly risk. That's their - well - sort of - strong suit, although it, too, has been seriously compromised by the UAE ports deal. I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES, when I've talked to still-unapologetic, relentlessly entrenched republi-CONS, they say one of two things: "isn't it better to fight them over there rather than have to fight them here?" And "well, we certainly haven't been attacked since 9/11, have we?" That second comment would be very effectively done away with, if bushco tries something like that. They may. At this point there's nothing I'd put past 'em. My husband thinks bush is just going to suspend all elections and declare it some national martial-law-style emergency. Who knows? But they'll be severely cheneying themselves if they decide we need another terr-ist strike on our shores to scare everybody back into the pro-bush corral. It will be interesting to see if they get that desperate. As you point out, peacebird, cornered animals ARE dangerous.

[ktlyon]

50. That is what I think too. George can't afford an attack here

so look for something big somewhere else.

[pinniped]

11. They're angry, which is why they ALWAYS give the POS whatever....

he asks for, and more.

Down with the GOPukes.

[katty]

12. It's about time!! Now, get the Impreachment started!!

[Pryderi]

18. No way! Let them bear the stain of Bush in '06 so we can vote them out.

[Initech]

13. Ha ha, take that neocons!!

[xxqqqzme]

17. hello? this is NOT a recent phenomenon

raisin brain has been doing this since B4 day 1. This lies squarely @ the feet of corporate media refusing 2 report the emperor has no clothes

[judaspriestess]

20. the gop can go fuck themselves

You know smoke screens only work for so long.

[Pithy Cherub]

21. GOP wants an Exile Island for Big Brother Bush...

Bush & the GOP are eternally wedded in GOP faux fashion and they must stay together for the sake of the party.

The GOP will pay a price at the polls because of their unwillingness to be leaders and oppose bush. The critical key is to ensure those Democrats that will speak up,continuously tie republicans to their self-inflicted Culture of Corupton and ennummerate all of the missed opportunities by the GOp to do the right thing. repeat it ad nauseum.

Rpublicans under one party rule are unmitigated disasters for America! This miserable failure of a president is an incopetent fraud who was allowed to exist by the wimpy republicans who chose a flawed man child and his warped ideas over the collective goodwill of America.

[wordpix]

34. he should be voted OFF the island and sent to jail with his repuke buds

[EVDebs]

54. Elba or St. Helena ? eom

[Mandate My Ass]

22. freakin fascist enablers

are only worried about their own hides in '06. A pox on all their houses.

Candor, competence and credibility is something Bushco has never had, but they're only getting worried about it now.

Fook off!:nopity:

[stepnw1f]

23. Duh... Proof They Haven't Evolved

[wakeme2008]

24. "Nukes for Mangoes" on Lou Dobbs is showing tonight

:) :)

Link on this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x560603

[Laelth]

25. Missteps?

Don't you just love how the media continues to call *'s colossal, often intentional, malicious acts ... "missteps"?

Responsible for the death 3,000 American soldiers? Whoops ... a misstep.
Responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Iraqis? Whoops ... a misstep.
Let hundreds die in Katrina and abandoned them to the elements while you played guitar? Whoops ... a misstep.
Gut the Constitution and declare yourself above the law? Whoops ... a misstep.

Friggin shills! :mad:

-Laelth

[sendero]

26. The troubles for the GOP are just beginning..

.... our economy has been listing for 5 years and it is now headed INEXORABLY for the rocks.

When it does tank, the Republicans are simply not going to be able to dodge blame, and rightly so. They have been at the helm, they made the demonstrably absurd decision to aid the wealthy instead of the middle class and poor, and they are going to be derided for years at least, probably decades. Even the rich are corporations will suffer, there will be no "base" to stand up for these fools. Too bad America has to pay such a high price for their greed.

[bluestateguy]

28. I can see the Republican campaign ads already

Narrator: "When our ports were about to be sold to the Middle East Senator XXXX had the courage to stand up to President Bush and his own party and demand accountability."

[wiggs]

29. Sound familiar. Article from July 04

snip

The Bush campaign is shifting gears at a time when some Republicans have grown increasingly worried about Bush's prospects and concerned that the hard-edged and expensive campaign he waged over the past six months had inflicted less damage than many had hoped. Bush's job-approval ratings, historically a reliable indicator of incumbent's prospects for re-election, remain below 50 percent, a level that even some Republicans said put him in a danger zone. And the next few days could prove difficult for him. On Thursday, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks is to release its final report, criticizing government efforts to prevent the attacks, and Kerry is about to enjoy a week of presumably adulatory coverage of his nominating convention in Boston.
.
"He's in a heap of trouble," Clyde Wilcox, a government professor at Georgetown University, said of Bush. "I don't think the economy is really surging enough to put him back, and the public has a negative view about Iraq. He is a very spirited campaigner and he's got an amazing knack at connecting with the American people and persuading them that he's like them. But there are fewer and fewer people who remain to be persuaded." Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster said: "Job approval rating has always been one of the greatest correlations in a presidential race. All the job approval ratings I've seen -his disapproval in the mid 40s. I would say that's problematic."

snip

http://www.iht.com/articles/530403.html

[fob]

30. Hey you GOP dickheads! I got news for you. Those aren't "missteps",

everything that worthless prick* has done has been on purpose and deliberate. You are just too ignorant and had your collective heads so far up his* fucking ass, you couldn't/didn't/wouldn't see what was going on because you were oh too happy to be "winning". Welcome to our nightmare. Fuckers.

With Love,

fob - DEMOCRAT AND PROUD!

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

We tried to tell these sumsa bitches that the sky was falling, and they wouldn't listen.

[wordpix]

35. repukes just waking up--the rest have us have been frightened, angry from

Day 1 of the dangerous moron's two terms.

[Gelliebeans]

36. good I am glad they are frightened

this bastard has been scaring the hell out of me for 5 years now :scared:

[leesa]

38. You bastards were with him EVERY step of the way. You are accomplices.

[f-bush]

39. Hey Repukes! Don't take it dry, get out a jar of vasoline....

I love it when shrub and the repukes start eating their own!

[stlsaxman]

45. waitaminute- let's put some sand in that vaseline first!

taste the pain, you sons of bitches!

[f-bush]

52. Never thought of that, I like it!

[beltanefauve]

41. Codependency

"A series of political missteps has raised questions about the Bush administration's candor, competence and credibility and left the White House off-balance, off-message and unable to command either the nation's policy agenda or its politics the way the president did during his first term."

The Repubs and Conservatives are concerned, but still in denial. Its like parents who are becoming increasingly concerned about their kid's drinking: they can't quite arrive at the possibility that Junior's an alcoholic, but geez, they wish he wouldn't drink so much.

Even the discussion about * being "off-message" and "off-agenda" tells me they wish they just had a new set of lies to wrap themselves around. No wonder they're afraid.

[HuffleClaw]

43. "A series of political missteps has raised questions...

...about the Bush administration's candor, competence and credibility and left the White House off-balance, off-message and unable to command either the nation's policy agenda or its politics the way the president did during his first term."

music to my ears.

[stubtoe]

47. Anyone mind if I join in on the gloating?

Or maybe a little nose-rubbing instead - can't decide.

Ahhh, that feels good!

[Norquist Nemesis]

48. Angry? Angry??!!! Join the club, boys!!!!

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

"His attacks on those who questioned his administration's approval of a seaports deal with the United Arab Emirates and his ill-fated nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court ..."

Now they know how it feels! Assholes all of them!

[Quantess]

51. What a nice surprise for them.

B* Administration doesn't care about anything except all the $$$$ deals they can get during *'s reign. They don't care about anyone except themselves and their business partners. End of story. Period.

Repugs thought * supported them? How quaint.

It reminds me of satan worshippers naively thinking satan has their back.