Battered Bush watches as support ebbs away (lame duck)

[rodeodance]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1514954,00.html

Battered Bush watches as support ebbs away

With memories of his poll victory still fresh, the President already seems a lame duck. Backing for the Iraq war has collapsed and his domestic agenda is in disarray. Even his party is rebelling

Paul Harris
Sunday June 26, 2005
The Observer

On Tuesday at 8pm President George W Bush will speak to the American people. The setting will be Fort Bragg, a North Carolina military base that acts as a springboard for many soldiers on their way to the war zone of Iraq. It will be a rare prime-time appearance for a President notoriously shy of such performances.

But these are not ordinary times. Beset on all sides by the bloodshed in Iraq, rebellions in the Republican party and Democrat attacks on his domestic agenda, Bush faces the derailment of his second term only six months after his inauguration.

It is a remarkable turnaround. After his 2004 victory, Republican advisers spoke of a 'Bush unshackled', freed by the fact he will not fight another election and buoyed by winning 12 million new voters to his cause. Bush boasted of spending 'political capital' in a radical second term to transform America.

No longer. Bush is confronting the nightmare of any American President in his second term: he is becoming a lame duck......

[dbt]

1. I LOVE the smell of napalm in the morning!

One small nit to pick, though. The line should read: "even his party is revolting."

:evilgrin:

[Art_from_Ark]

3. His party has always been "revolting"

since at least the Raygun era

[LaurenG]

4. I have to agree

about his party being revolting. Though I know you didn't mean it the way I read it. There is noting more revolting than people who would lie and cover up the lies at the expense of so much. Bush republicans are revolting and sinister.

[baron j]

2. Will have to argue with the wonderful Guardian on a point:

He won 12 million new voters? Diebold won them, not Bush. ;^)

[mom cat]

24. Agreed! In fact I think the current polls and the polls before the

2004 election both show that George Bush is no winner and that the exit polls were correct all along. The curtain has been lifted and the smoke and mirrors aren't working anymore.

[ms liberty]

41. Too correct...

and now that the people who voted for him (or thought he really did win) are starting to wake up they will be more receptive to information about the voting scandals. Let's remember, he was NOT popular and was on his way to becoming an early lame duck before 9/11. A lot of people didn't think he should have been prez then, so anyone who got turned into a bushbot by 9/11 is now vulnerable to being "blinded by the light" (not to coin a phrase or anything!) along with the rest of his zombie followers. Of course, discussed below is the real question: will we have another "terra-ist attack on our beloved homeland" (I hate that word "homeland" - it sounds so Nazi-ish). I don't have anything to add to that discussion, so I'll let posts below speak for themselves.

All in all, however, this is a great article. I wish it would get play over here in our papers and so-called media. But I'll take the small joy of this article and nurture it, along with the other emerging signs of *'s (hopefully) impending doom.

[ixion]

5. not lame duck, just lame

he has always been a loser, and he always will be a loser.

Everything this idiot touches turns to sh*t.

Please go back to Crawford, you worthless waste of flesh, and let us try and mend the republic you've damaged so severely. :grr:

[tofubo]

57. aside from loser, and mass murderer, our new name for the pres is "donald"

n/t

[Oversea Visitor]

6. Dont forget

The moment of accountability and that was the 2004 election

Gee I never forget that line
Like I was judge by the people and I am innocent crap

[truthisfreedom]

7. he's always been a lame *uck. it's just recently dawned on a large portion

of an otherwise over-worked, worried nation.

it's occurred to me lately that the reason a lot of us here could see through bush from the beginning is that we're the kind of people who dedicate time to careful study of what's going on. the vast majority of people live in a world of soundbites, racing around like fiends trying to keep their sh*t together because they can barely make ends meet... whether poverty-stricken or upper-middle class... sometimes people create a place for themselves where they rely on other people's judgements to make their decisions, and they don't want to examine the small details to find out what they think the truth is.

[cybildisobedience]

13. so true...

When I get angry about how ill-informed some people seem to be, I have to remind myself that everyone doesn't follow this sort of thing so closely. They, as you say, rely on others to help them form their opinions because it simply takes less time and effort.

[bornagainhuman]

61. its not all their fault

remember most people still belive the MSM actually reports the news and that is where they get their news and info. i know i used to be one of them

[Skittles]

14. the man displays his enormous ignorance EVERY TIME HE SPEAKS

there's really not a whole lot of studying needed.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

27. exactly...

That's why the Whispering Campaign is so important.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3936661

:)


edit: spelling

[AuntiBush]

43. Please be Aware: At least 1 of the Articles is from a Right-Wing Confed

Here's my link - read it. I've not checked all the links out yet, but it's important enough to do so... not trying to cause any problems, just looking out for everyone out here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3936661&mesg_id=3953288

[AuntiBush]

62. Whisper Campaign is Real... Not a FReep.

I finally got word from that Winter Campaign... it's all sicere and authentic.

Go here what these fine brave souls are trying to do:
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13953361&postID=111990016477616569

[FredStembottom]

42. That needs to be remembered more

by all of us. Especially in my Blue-Collar economy, wages just erode and erode and erode, year after year. That was true in the boom-boom 90's as well! All the families I know are keeping it together by becoming virtual live-in workers at their jobs. 55 hour weeks are standard. Many have to do 2 or 3 jobs to get their 55 in.

I am that rarest of Blue-collar men who doesn't watch sports events on TV. I like a Minnesota Twins game on the radio as I do other things, but that's about it. This makes available a really large number of hours to "self-educate".

I wish more guys like me would try it. I just hate the way Americans self-classify themselves! Just because you work with your hands doesn't mean you have to idle your brain. Or watch Nascar. Or own a pickup truck. Or think you're a Conservative! Make any combination you like! That's what America is supposed to be for!

Be a car mechanic who enjoys Jazz recordings from the late 50's, paintball, shortwave radios, reads Lao Tzu and collects Hamm's beer memorobilia.

or WHATEVER.............

[zinndependence]

56. I couldn't agree more...

besides, it is much easier to to be passive than to engage yourself in the "process" and set yourself up for persecution. I think that is why so many are silent. They either feel hopeless/helpless or are too busy trying to survive. Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Your not going to become fully engaged if you're living on minimum wage and can barely feed your family.

[ClintonTyree]

8. Becoming a lame duck?

It's seems quite plain to me that he already is a lame duck, the lamest in history. No one has ever gone from the penthouse to the outhouse as quickly as bush. I'm sure all he's concerned about in his pea sized brain is his "legacy", how will history judge him as President. The handwriting is on the wall. He will be judged as the miserable failure he's been all along. He'll be judged as the President who squandered seas of goodwill after an horrific attack upon our nation and morphed us into the most hated, untrustworthy nation on the planet.
The word "lame" does not suffice in describing bush's guidance of our Ship of State. He's put America onto the rocks with both his foreign and domestic policies with no hope of recovery for at least four more years. He's been cut off at the knees by his own Party, the Party that once so blindly echoed every inane idea that bounced around in his empty head.
Lame? No, incapacitated, paraplegic, not a leg to stand on. You'd think that after this type of rapid transformation an epiphany would have taken place. You'd think we'd see a more humble, malleable bush willing to admit mistakes and set a course that would save our Nation from the train wreck that is sure to come. But no, if anything he's more "steadfast" and corrosive than before, unwilling to admit he took the wrong tack and try to correct his course.
Sail on, oh Ship of State. Your Captain appears to be on a suicide mission, broadsiding the world in a last ditch attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of certain defeat. Too late. The damage is done and our ship is sinking, fast.

[rodeodance]

17. becoming--refers to those who have had a long nap--like the media!

[Cha]

46. No one has been so deserving as

bush in making that rapid slide into the crapper.

That was one of our mantras during the last five years.."The Bigger they Are The Harder they FALL!


Good Riff, ClintonTyree! :patriot:

[MarkTwain]

9. It's a damn shame that....

... this article was not written and did not appear on either the front page of the New York Times or The Washington Post - both now consistently on their knee pads at the crotch of Karl Rove.

For any progressive, it deserves a reading in its entirety; a positively beautiful piece that will make your Sunday morning.

[teryang]

10. It is the decline of his father that makes him lame

Without the all powerful Machiavellian pulling the strings anymore, the question of a succession crisis arises in a non-constitutional government secured by coup, a Reichstag like catastrophe, and a contrived and debilitating war.

To make it sound as if there were constitutional reasons for his decline in influence presumes that we still have constitutional transfer of power. We don't. The successor will be chosen by the string pullers who have controlled the election outcome by fraud since 2000. The bush family is vulnerable here because no one else in the family has the pull with the black bag community that GHWB had.

[Cha]

47. And what of rove? I thought

his were the marionett's fingers?

[Wright Patman]

11. The entire article

assumes a fact not in evidence--that there will be another honest election in this country.

There haven't been any in a while and I haven't noticed a return en masse to paper ballots, so I don't expect one any time soon.

[Cha]

48. You're Right!

That needs to be in the forefront just like the Downing Street Minutes/aka/Memo!

[Patty Diana]

12. Here's the conservative AOL Poll on Bush__the lame duck

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050621111609990001&ncid=NWS00010000000001 How would you rate Bush's overall job performance?
Poor 64%
Excellent 16%
Good 11%
Fair 9%
Do you consider Bush a lame duck?
Yes 68%
No 32%
Total Votes: 4,548
Note on Poll Results

[Mr_Spock]

20. 16% voted excellent? WTF is wrong with those morons?

How can anybody say that - oh, there are brain dead Republicans out there? - never mind :D

[agincourt]

38. That's probably the same ones,

who think the earth goes around the sun in one day.

[vogonjiltz]

39. Yes, there are plenty of brain dead Repub morons,

...I'm just happy to see someone spell moron right.

[ginnyinWI]

51. they're too stubborn to give it up and admit it, that's all

I think * expected to be able to govern at least through the 2006 elections--expected the Congress to do his bidding to get his support for their re-elections. Now it seems they don't want to get to close to a loser president. The people's opinions matter!

Surprise, surprise, chimpy boy. Nobody really wanted you very much-- they were just afraid to "change horses in mid-war". They thought you were fighting the terrorists over there so they wouldn't come over here. Turns out you're losing the war now, anyway, so the terrorists are still going to be out there and wanting to kill us, and in fact you have created MORE of them with your incompetent Sec-Def whom you WILL NOT FIRE, your torture and your arrogant words.

It's about a year too late, but at least the public is waking up.

[susu369]

15. Seems the lame duck is battered and ready for deep frying

Warmonger.

[rodeodance]

16. It would make my day to give Jr a verbal battering--a 'in your face' type"

[Windy]

19. "lame duck" is not a strong enough term for this murdering bas****

Lame duck means a person with no effect. He can still do a lot of damage because he doesn't care what the people of the country think.

[truth_is_extreme]

18. what poll victory?

the Nazi never won anything honestly in his sorry, criminal, corrupt life.

[manxkat]

21. it's such HARD WORK

poor baby

[AceAlmighty82]

22. It'll be the same thing...

Something about Iraq and democracy(isn't going to happen) then there might be some other thoughts in his head that he might bring up but all I will hear is..."Quack, Quack, Quack."

[rfranklin]

23. I think he'll end up as Peking Duck...

Skewered and roasted by the Red Chinese who now own about 50% of our future income.

[Broken Acorn]

25. It's the Election Fraud, Stupid.

[ray of light]

26. 12 million new voters? What do you wanna bet...

that 15 million are diebold voters for kerry!

[Cha]

49. I ain't taking that bet.

bush won dirty.

[sellitman]

28. Time for a terror Alert Color Change!

Quick ...everyone get out the duct tape and plastic sheeting!

[Bread and Circus]

29. This statement in article troubles me:

--- snip ---

'Bush's place in history will probably rest on Iraq becoming a stable democracy. Not too many historians, presidential watchers or political science professors believe that is a good bet,'

--- end snip ---

It would ring true if Bush was a failure in Iraq, it would add to the evidence of his failed Presidency. He broke it, he bought it.

However, if the converse were true, and Iraq miraculously became a real stable democracy, I don't see how that would make him a "great" President or even a good one. George Bush was elected (voting controversy aside) the President of the United States. He was not voted "The Liberator of Iraq". It his overall failings to provide domestic benefit to the American people which should serve as the basis for his judgement. The worse thing GWB has done is lie to the American people and ritually abuse the office of the execute branch for power and privelege. Whether he established "democracy" in Iraq or not, he truly withered it here at home.

[Cha]

50. Precisely!

But, bush started this Invasion under false pretenses so there ain't nothin' good going to come from his lyin', greedy, murderous, faction.

[pauldp]

30. Gee...must be time for another terrorist attack. n/t

[panzerfaust]

33. Sadly This Might Be TRUE.

If * falls far enough in the poles, it would not be surprising if there were another massive "Attack on America"©.

Yet, this might backfire (this time) given that “Making the USA Safe From Terra” is what the hacks give him credit for doing.

My prediction is a nuclear device in an expendable city. On an ironic note, likely most expendable cities are in the Red States - then so are the expendable young people who make up our invasion force.

May God (Continue) to Bless George W Bush in his struggle with Satan.

[A Simple Game]

40. My prediction is a nuclear device in an expendable city

I agree. But I see the expendable city being in Iraq.

That way they can show there is a real threat,and say they protected us.

[Gman]

54. They may even "find" a nuclear device

in like Los Angeles (Blue/expendable) in order to spare lives, but I can't imagine any scenario where they would want to spare lives in blue states.

[depakid]

31. Wishful thinking

Bush has yet to lose a battle with the Dems.

Thus far, he's gotten every single thing he's "wanted," including three of the most extreme and unqualified judges to ever sit on the federal bench....

When he starts losing a few policy fights, maybe then people can start talking lame duck.

[Robworld]

32. Does this administration even really care if Bush's poll ratings are down?

Maybe there concerned for PR purposes, but seriously they just needed their boy to win another round so they could destroy the Judiciary, and expand their Neo-con agenda.

http://www.myspace.com/dumdumgoestothecircus

[panzerfaust]

34. Yes.

For the same reason that Stalin cared how many people voted.

[kbm8795]

35. I really wonder how many people will even pay attention

to this speech. . .here it is, the start of a long, hot summer, and I get the impression an increasing number of Americans finally understand this President is full of horse manure and really has nothing to say.

This seems like another flagwaving attempt timed for Independence Day celebrations where Dubya can wrap himself up in the sacred cloth of stars and stripes and endorse that ridiculous constitutional amendment as an act of patriotism. But by now, after his pep-rally-by-invitation-only Social Security cheerleading tour, most people understand that his audiences are cued and controlled more than the laugh track/applause signs at a Hollywood situation comedy taping.

After this last week of Rovian nonsense, I found myself calling congressman joining the Republican chorus in outrage - but not over the remarks themselves. Instead, I found myself being extremely critical of their apparent inability to WORK - and how they have deliberately contributed to dividing a nation in a time of "war."

Like a lot of Americans, I'm sick and tired of hearing these allegedly adult bullies pretending they have any sort of moral righteousness. No one elected any of these people to spend their days blaming others for their mistakes, refusing to accomplish anything that matters, and engaging in fear and smear campaigns. If Bush wants to spew forth the "nation at war" crap, then his Party needs to ACT like it - and that means footing the bill, encouraging their young to enlist, and cutting the red tape to get proper equipment to the troops. It also means a halt to this endless circus of "it's the liberal's fault" - when they are the damned Party running the show.

And I wrote all of this to basically say the President has no credibility anyway....lol.

[Cha]

36. Kick for reading

when I come back.

[Doctor Panacea]

37. The speech on Tuesday

It will be all of the usual crap, plus a few scraps of hope thrown out to keep the faithful in lockstep and to lure the wavering back into lockstep.

You know the stuff — the same lines that failed tyrants have used throughout history: light at the end of the tunnel; an end in sight; we've come this far, let's finish it; the enemy is in its final throes; let's fight them there instead of here.

The theme will most likely be "Iraqization", turning it all over to a democratic Iraq. But that will be a lie.

[Cha]

44. No wonder jones has had a change of brain..

"Walter Jones has credentials that should have seen him flourish in Bush's second term. The North Carolina congressman has 60,000 military retirees among his constituents. Counties in Jones's district went for Bush in 2004 with a support level of around 65 per cent. But Jones's real claim to fame is that in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September he organised the renaming of the French fries served in the Capitol's cafeteria to freedom fries."

The military that are consigned to be in this ill-begotten war on Iraq.. Want to know Exactly what's Going On, bush????


This is the best article..sums up succinctly what has been going on the last few years. Too bad the Corporate m$wm in the US won't write articles like this.

[RickWn]

45. Thanks for the pointer

Made my day to read this article. It really does tickle me into gales of howling laughter to watch his speedy decline into "generally acknowledged" lame duck status.

He has been a lame duck since day-one of his first term in my opinion.

I've always resented the fact he notoriously goes to bed at 10:00 PM and does not wish to be disturbed until morning. You'd think though that a guy who runs for and wins the presidency of the United States would be willing to give up a little of the beauty sleep for the good of the nation. You'd think and hope that maybe, just maybe, a stay in the White House might be considered with some gravitas as a lot more than just another bed-and-breakfast vacation.

Speaking of vacation and thinking of legacy... is this man not on track to be the first president who spent the most time on official vacation?

Hard to imagine isn't it... a self-bragging war-time president who spent the most time on vacation away from official duties. Yeah, there's a legacy to be proud of.

Then of course, there's this issue of needless, additional loss of life since 9/11. The lazy calculator in my head seems to come up with a number of U.S. dead from his self-started war in Iraq that by Jan, 19, 2008 will far exceed the number killed in the 9/11 attack. I'm sure we'll all be asking ourselves about that time, who's the worst war criminal.

Yeah, enjoy your legacy, Mr. Bush. You earned it.

[RickWn]

58. Reread, oops!

Of course, I meant to type Jan, 19, 2009 - the final day of this fiasco of an administration. Sadly though, still might prove correct that on Jan 18, 2008, with one more year left to go, the number of dead from this shameful Iraq debacle might even then far exceed the number killed in the WTC tragedy. Talk about tragedy... history will prove it was the second Bush's years.

[dxstone]

52. This lame *uck still hasn't mastered HIS OWN NATIVE LANGUAGE yet!

And the paper-training is also yet to be fully achieved...
Poor Laura... I can't help feelin' sorry for her...



But NOT him:

SCENES WE'D LIKE TO SEE: 2007




If you'd like to check out a whole lot more of these, stop by
http://presidentevilonline.com

[confludemocrat]

53. Mind you this is a brit paper, let's see this in a U.S. paper

And that would be a different thing. The outside world has always talked about these obvious things things well before the lagging, self-censoring, timid (really retarded) U.S. media.

[savemefromdumbya]

55. Look behind you Bush, the Chinese are coming for your oil

Just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Here we have 'W' fiddling while our economy is going down the tubes and China takes over ALL the oil fields!

[dchill]

59. kick

for an excellent article.

[stevietheman]

60. Thoughts

1. It's funny to behold Bush continuing to touch the "third rail" over and over again, as he's apparently too utterly stupid to realize that it's electrocuting him slowly to political death. The American people have made it totally clear: "Don't touch Social Security!"
   
2. It's interesting that a brain-dead woman was one of the keys to waking up the brain-dead people who used to support Bush. The far-right Republicans went too far, and they should have known it. But Jeb still doesn't.
   
3. When Bush said to the Maryland audience, "You've got a good idea, step up with it...I'm more than willing to listen." Given that his audience was hand-picked, as all his audiences are, this is the height of hubris. How can everyday Americans not know what he's trying to pull here? (This makes me wonder if all these Social Security campaign stops are hurting him not just because his ideas are crap, but because more and more people are finding out about his 100% friendly audience stuffing--apparently this news didn't get out enough during the '04 election campaign).
   
4. I am making this prediction: If Bush goes anywhere near Iran or Syria with any military adventurism, look for many patriotic Americans to call not only for his impeachment or resignation, but also his head on a pole, literally. At this early stage in their war buildup process, we must all tell our leaders, "NO NO NO NO NO!" at every turn and let them there will be *real* consequences if there's another illegal war of naked aggression.