The bungling Bush presidency is falling apart (Newsday)

[kentuck]

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/opinion/ny-opklu034647696mar03,0,38097.column?coll=ny-opinion-print

<snip>

An old acquaintance in Washington - a former member of Republican administrations whose foreign policy views are decidedly hard-line - recently had this to say to a friend about the Bush administration: This might be the most inept administration in American history.

Considering some of the bozos who have served in the White House - James Buchanan and Warren Harding are two names that come to mind - that is a breathtaking statement. Considering the stakes involved with the United States, the most powerful nation in the world, it is also frightening.

<snip>
But I fear we are now seeing the other side of the coin with Bush. His lack of historical perspective, his crusading religiousness, his Texas-style shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach to complex problems - that is, all the shortcomings that were obvious from the beginning of his presidency - seem to be catching up with him now. It's one thing to be a decisive leader. It is quite another to be consistently making the wrong decisions.

The tape of him being briefed on Katrina by Federal Emergency Management Agency officials is particularly damning. It's a glimpse of the man without his eloquent speechwriter, Michael Gerson, putting words into his mouth. Bush doesn't ask a single question about the government's level of preparedness even while being told how concerned officials are. He manages only the most cliched assurance that the government is prepared to do whatever will be necessary. Not only was that not true, but when the finger-pointing started, Bush said he was surprised by the storm's impact.

[gordianot]

1. Bush has done the impossible he made Nixon appear more honest.

[linazelle]

11. And he's even redeemed Raygun...a genius in comparison.

I used to think that "they" would/could rewrite history and make Bush out to be some great figure. But the negativity and discontent towards him is much more prevalent than anything I've ever seen, they couldn't get away with it. History will not look kindly upon him--thank GOD.

[magellan]

2. They are not inept

They're doing exactly what they wanted to do from the get go, and laughing all the way to the bank.

[napi21]

5. They sure have! I hope Nov will stop total disaster!

A turn over of comtrol of the House and the Senate is the only way I see to stop total disaster in our Country! If Shrub is left with unbridled power, we will be a dictatorial theocray by 08!

[OnionPatch]

15. You are right there

for sure. They are highly talented at lining their own pockets. The ineptitude, to me, is just a by-product of not giving a damn about anything else.

[Greyhound]

16. See, some people do pay attention! Thank you. n/t

[cassiepriam]

20. I agree, the ineptness is all by design.They are brilliant underneath it.

[glitch]

26. Not brilliant - just criminal. Most people aren't willing to do what they

do for money. Most people aren't sociopaths, thank God.

[cassiepriam]

28. Bad sociopaths break the laws, the good ones make them

The stupid sociopaths are in jail, the bright ones are running the country.

[glitch]

29. For now. But if they were really bright we woudn't know what they were

doing until they were done and safely away. Maybe not even then. These guys have been ham-fisted from the beginning, and without a complicit media they wouldn't have gotten away with any of it, starting with Bush v. Gore.

[cassiepriam]

30. yes, it is so amazing how brazen they have been.

If they were a bit smarter and more subtle, they could have kept the scam up forever.

Not to worry, the next group of repug sociopaths will most likely figure this out, they will be even more dangerous.

Of course we can hope that the American people have become smarter and have a moral compass at long last.

[glitch]

31. And a legitimate media! I agree, they will be more subtle next time

and we can count on them trying this again and again.

Fraud and looting is what they do, I don't think they even know how to be productive.

[cassiepriam]

32. Free elections would be nice too.

Basically the game is looting, by any means possible.
They have a sickness called Greed, they want all the money they can get. Power is only important in that it can gain them vast wealth. Productivity is only measured by how much money they accrue for their personal gain. The idea of being of service and working for the common good is totally foreign to them. They are narcissistic sociopaths.

And yes, there are many in the wings waiting for their turn, they saw that robbing the American people was like taking candy from a baby. They are just waiting for their turn.

[glitch]

33. Ain't that the truth. A true media and free elections are all we need

to de-infest our house.

Which is why they went to such extremes to take them from us. The fact that they had to does give me faith in regular Americans though.:)

[cassiepriam]

34. That is a good point, or maybe they are just belts and suspenders

type people, covering all the bases just in case.

I hope you are correct, that we can de-louse our house!

[NewJeffCT]

39. I don't think it's entirely by design

I do think a lot of the incompetence is genuine... some by design, but some by sheer incompetence.

[cassiepriam]

40. I agree. But notice how their incompetence usually results

in them making a lot of money at taxpayer expense.
When I screw up, it usually costs me money.
They screw up and get rich. Go figure.

[carolinalady]

3. sry-of all the words I would choose for that speech writer-

eloquent wouldn't be in the top ten!

[babylonsister]

4. Not inept - criminal. Rec'd, because I love personal accounts. nt

[oasis]

6. Good article. Tellin' it like it is. (n/t)

[EVDebs]

7. The Ptech/GoAgile scandal re 9-11 should have been covered by the press

Ptech article
http://www.madcowprod.com/index45.html

showing their FAA and NAS computer access, along with other clients tied to intelligence. I understand that Ptech has now changed its name to GoAgile, for what it's worth.

Dollars of Terror
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.a...

""Ptech’s clients in 2001 included the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy, Customs, Air Force, the White House, the FAA, IBM, Sysco, Aetna, and Motorola, to name just a few...
The FBI finally raided Ptech on December 6, 2002. However, no arrests were made and the company continues to operate, and according to Ptech’s CEO, Oussama Ziade, in May 2004, "Ptech still has government agencies as customers, including the White House."...Recently, Ptech changed both the name of the company and of its software to GoAgile.""

If anything puts the last nail in the coffin of this administration, it will be the spotlight on the Dubai Ports World dustup followed by questions about Ptech/GoAgile. This White House has much to answer for.

[wordpix2]

12. OMG: FBI on terror risk: “Saudis have been given a free pass for 9/11.”

Shout this from rooftops---you want a smoking gun, here it is.

[wordpix2]

13. could not find the frontpagemag article but other is SCARY

[EVDebs]

42. Try this

http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17730

or google up

Dollars of Terror
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 18, 2005

[stevedeshazer]

8. Swift and brutal

That's gonna leave a mark. :spank:

[Iowa]

9. The article ends with these observations and a question:

"This is a presidency coming unraveled before our eyes. It is not a pretty sight..."

Like hell it's not. The unraveling of this presidency is a thing of beauty in my eyes.

"...and it is not good for the country."

Bullshit! It's one hell of a lot better than a Bush presidency that is NOT coming unraveled.

"What a difference a year makes. After his re-election, Bush said that he would use his political capital. Soon he won't have any left. Then what?"

Then we all frikin' breathe a sigh of relief.

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. It's not good for them

because many of them in the M$M are going to go down with him.

It is time to throw the bums out. I'm sick of the corruption that is running rampant in the GOP.

[Hissyspit]

10. "The adults are in charge now."

The corrupt, dishonest, delusional, greedy, hypocritical, ignorant, disingenuous, incompetent, self-serving, unethical, immoral adults, apparently.

[WiseButAngrySara]

14. Enjoyed reading. K & R. ....n/t

[unblock]

17. make that his "shoot-first-and-COVER-UP later" approach

[jmowreader]

19. No, no. Only the Vice President does THAT

Bush shoots and covers up at the same time.

Dick shoots--with real guns--then covers up later.

[Swamp Rat]

23. AND makes his victims apologize!

:eyes:

[BuyingThyme]

18. Soon he won't have any left. Then what?

kcik

[BlueEyedSon]

22. "eloquent speechwriter"......??????

Gotta be kidding me, everything Bush says sounds like a 4th grader impersonating John Wayne.

[gatorboy]

37. And the vocabulary of one.

How many different ways can you write the same "Liberty, Freedom, Democracy" speech? You'd think Chimpy would've memorized a rough version by now.

[pat_k]

24. Wake Up Dems! Take up the battle cry **** Impeach Bush NOW *****

More than half the nation has been furious for a long time. The new thing is that a growing number of folks on the "other side" are getting VERY angry, and their anger is finding a focus: George W. Bush.

If Democratic members of Congress started demanding Impeachment, loud and clear, right now, they would be giving voice to that anger.

Republicans tend to be impatient people who, when faced with a problem, just look for someone to blame. If Dems were accusing Bush of his crimes in no uncertain terms, and demanding impeachment, they'd be giving pissed off Republicans their scapegoat (It's all Bush fault. He's ruining the party. Let's Get 'Em!)

If the Dems started demanding REAL accountability (i.e., accuse/impeach and demand punishment/removal from office), they would be creating a stark contrast: Dems, demonstrating strength and conviction vs. rubber stamp Repubs.

The most serious problem Democrats face is the perception that they are weak. This perception is rooted in the reticence that centrists seem to have when it comes to accusation and punishment. (Something the right clearly revels in.) Instead of going after wrong-doers, Democratic leaders seek to "make sure it doesn't happen again" (and the Republicans chuckle, "Gee, for a minute there, I though they were actually going to do something.")

If our "leaders" finally got in front of our fight for impeachment, I would not be surprised to see them garner an additional 5-7% of the white male vote overnight, simply for showing the fortitude that demographic respects.

[Carni]

25. Gee...do they THINK? Someone slap me please...

You know I have to rant...

In 1997 I didn't even know what right wing and left wing were.

I didn't know what a Conservative was (well I did sort of/but I thought mainly it pertained to fiscal matters)and I certainly didn't know anything about PNAC or Halliburton, or about any of what we are dealing with today.

Stupid me, ordinary dumb citizen with a computer, a dial up connection and some time on their hands stumbled on to a bulletin board regarding the topic of Clinton bombing Afghanistan way back when.

Immediately the right winged boiler room posting loons swooped in on me...
They sent me all the so called "dirt on Clinton"

*He's killed people* they claimed with their *Clinton death list*

All of their Vince Foster crap/FBI file-travel gate crap and on and on...

I was shocked and appalled--was Clinton really doing all of these terrible things?

I started researching their claims and low and behold everything they claimed lacked any type of basis in actual fact...I would find myself at bizarre sites run by miltia groups when I would follow their links to so called *articles* (or of course to one of the biggest spreaders of bullshit back in the day Newsmax and the mother of all lies, bush operatives and whack jobs--the Freakrepublic)

By the time blow job gate started to surface I had become well aware of the bullshit extremist Christian movement afloat and I couldn't believe they were going to get away with imeaching a President during a good (hell a great) economy in times of peace.

By the time bushit announced his intention to run I knew we were about to experience a coup--

Now I guess the reason I bring this up is...I am not *in the beltway*
I have never worked as a politician, an aid, a paid journalist or researcher and yet I would be willing to wager that I could match any pundit, talking head, Congressman, or Senator in this country with my knowledge of facts about bush's exploits scandals etc etc.

End point being -- How the hell is it that THOUSANDS of us here in the real world know more and knew more about bush than any of these so called *people in the know*

How TF could they NOT NOTICE what bush was up to within the first couple of months?

It's a bunch of rats jumping a sinking ship and while it makes me happy to FINALLY see it...what in the hell took them so long?

And that goes for the Joe Blow fool citizen that was apparently asleep for five years in this country.

God this is frustrating!

[info being]

27. They are looking at the suit, not the man

They are blinded by authority and status...and have learned to distrust what which is obviously before them. We are at a safe distance and we can see clearly.

Have you ever been in a room with military personnel or government employees? You may find yourself self-sensoring and just trying to fit in. When you become submerged into this world, it is very difficult to stay focused on your ideals and that which is obvious.

[Ksec]

35. Its not just bush, its conservative ideology thats going down

Weve had years of them at the helm, and look what its brought with it. Wars, deficits, division, reputation..

The people see this , and they dont like what they see- hence poll numbers. I believe they thought it would be way different , the promises they made were just hot air. The circular political world is now headed our way, lets make it shine.

[Disturbed]

36. The RW is now trying to shift the blame.

The RW Agenda has not changed. They know that the Sock Puppet is falling apart so they are blaming their failures on him. It is better to foist the incompetence concept onto their PR stooge than to allow the American public to know that the RW are crooks and liars.

[Joe Chi Minh]

38. A good article, kentuck, but "crass religiosity", rather than

"crusading religiousness" would have been more accurate.

[opihimoimoi]

41. BushCo has not the American people best interest at heart....and now,

over these past 5 1/4 years..it has become EVIDENT/Obvious to 95%...some of whom will not admit...lol

They had the Power and thought they were Untouchable...like so many Rulers before them...

Sadly, Bush has not a clue as he does not watch TV other than Sports..and reading? forget that.

That man don't deserve to be in a Bar ordering a drink... He is a neg on Society....