"Dismal Six Weeks for Bush Has Supporters Edgy"

[louis-t]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040219/ts_nm/campaign_bush_stride_dc

<snip>
In the latest embarrassment to hit the White House, the administration on Wednesday distanced itself from its own buoyant employment forecast that had predicted 2.6 million new jobs this year.

<snip>
Bush's State of the Union Address was not well received and neither was his budget. Major policy initiatives on sending humans to Mars and reforming immigration law had a mixed reception at best. An interview with NBC's Tim Russert, a rare such appearance for Bush, failed to quiet the criticism.

<snip>
The White House allowed a controversy over Bush's service in the National Guard to grab headlines for two weeks. And the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Bush's main justification for last year's war, promises to be a continuing embarrassment.


Vote it up folks! Edited to correct Reuters spelling.

[Zero Gravitas]

1. Iraq War an "embarrassment" ?

WTF? its an "embarrassment"? We'll be lucky to get out of there with under a 1,000 Americans dead and less than a TRILLION dollars the poorer and for what? NOTHING!

IF thats an "embarrassment" I'd like to know what the media whores idea of a total frickin' disaster would be.

[tridim]

2. Only 6 weeks?

Bush has had a dismal 6 months, a dismal 6 years and a dismal life, period. He's failed miserably at everything he's ever done, and these pukes are just starting to get it?

At least the Yahoo message board will be fun to read for this article.

[Beetwasher]

23. Yahoo Message Boards

I defy anyone to find a single Bush supporter there. Pretty funny and very encouraging reading!

[leftchick]

3. perhaps this will force their hand too soon....

OBL by July maybe?

[judge_smales]

4. And-

"Republican sources said Bush's political adviser Karl Rove has assured leading conservatives the president will soon give his backing to a constitutional amendment."


Oh goody!!!

Dubbya speaking from his podium, nestled comfortably in the back pocket of the religious right!! Should do plenty to show the average "Merican just what "their" Pres. stands for.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[billbuckhead]

5. Rove plans to turn gay marriage into a big issue. I hate the Bush regime

Further down in this article.

"Bush's biggest immediate decision is when to publicly embrace a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and whether he should also come out against allowing same-sex couples to have civil unions that give them many of the same rights as married people." <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20040219... >

[VeniceBeat]

14. Not If the Governor Goodhair Rumor

turns out to be true.

Hypocrites!

[54anickel]

6. Can't believe Rove thinks the deciding issue is gay-marriage.

snip>
It seems to me that Bush's people were so busy raising their incredible war chest that they didn't focus on reaching back to their political base and to the people," said K.B. Forbes, a former spokesman for Republican presidential candidates Steve Forbes (news - web sites) and Pat Buchanan (news - web sites).

snip>
Bush's biggest immediate decision is when to publicly embrace a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and whether he should also come out against allowing same-sex couples to have civil unions that give them many of the same rights as married people.

Republican sources said Bush's political adviser Karl Rove has assured leading conservatives the president will soon give his backing to a constitutional amendment.

"This is absolutely the number one issue for conservatives and the sooner Bush gets out there the more he will energize his support," said Appell.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. I can

Highlight wedge issues and keep the focus elsewhere

[yellowcanine]

10. May be #1 issue for conservatives but it certainly not for anyone else

The rest of America is worried about job loss, prescription drug costs, health care accessibility, and the mess in Iraq. I also question if it is indeed the #1 issue with conservatives but it really doesn't matter. Let them play to their base and lose the election.

[Zero Gravitas]

16. They're out of touch

People who think banning gay marriage is more important than Iraq, jobs, the economy, healthcare, broken international alliances, the $500,000,000,000 deficit, Bush's incompetence etc. are not going to vote Dem anyway.

Let Rove and the fundies have a circle jerk (with the light out of course) over gay marriage, it will not distract the majority of voters from the real issues and it will only demonstrate how out of touch they are and highlight the bigotry of Chimpy's base.

[Beetwasher]

26. Bingo! Absolutely Correct!

I'm very glad they are going to pursue this culture war as their biggest issue. They will rightfully be percieved by just about everyone as completely out of touch. They will get creamed.

[Terran]

28. Ooooo! Great line for the debates!

Kerry should use this, once Bush comes out for the Amendment:

"Mr. President, if you think that preventing people who love each from getting married is more important than our soldiers dying everyday in Iraq, or millions of Americans who can't find jobs, or millions of American children who have no health insurance, then you are seriously out of step with the American people!"

USE IT!! USE IT!! People need to be told that gay marriage is a non-issue compared to all our real problems as nation.

[diamond14]

7. wow ! OUR soliders are KILLED in two wars...nobody has jobs...

45 MILLION Americans have no health insurance...

and the biggest decision bush* has is gay marriage? these people are DELUSIONAL....lack any sense of reality

-snip-

Bush's biggest immediate decision is when to publicly embrace a constitutional amendment banning gay marriageand whether he should also come out against allowing same-sex couples to have civil unions that give them many of the same rights as married people.

Republican sources said Bush's political adviser Karl Rove has assured leading conservatives the president will soon give his backing to a constitutional amendment.

"This is absolutely the number one issue for conservatives and the sooner Bush gets out there the more he will energize his support," said Appell.

[underpants]

9. I just heard O'Reilly's replacement going off about W not striking back

It was the "Big Story" guy (5PM) on FOX and he was ranting about how sick he was of W getting beaten and abused. He said that they sent Racicot out to be "torn apart" by Katie Couric (uh it was MAtt Lauer and I didn't think it was that bad) and hit "below the waterline...he SANK on national TV".

I thought this is what RW talk radio and FOX were created for.

He also was trying to lessen the blow of W getting beaten in every poll to KErry AND Edwards.

Hannity must have known this was coming as he pre-emptively tried to sooth fears yesterday.

[tinrobot]

11. Funny...

I thought going on Meet the Press was striking back.

Bush* is out of ammo. He has nothing to strike back with.

[54anickel]

13. "He has nothing to strike back with" - Let's hope he doesn't resort to

Plan B - Martial law and no election.

[underpants]

17. You are right they don't have anything

The war was obviously wrong-apparently containment DID work

The tax cuts are blamed for (conservatively) a third of the deficit

There is NO domestic policy. Even if you include the tax cuts (shouldn't) the only other thing is No Child Left Behind which people are starting to get a look at and don't like plus it isn't even funded yet.

Their environmental policy is to have none and reverse anything already on the books.

All their buddies are being arrested (Cheney's indictment is coming)

Everyone sees that the Plame investigation is going to take someone down (we need a name) and they are stonewalling the 9/11 investigation (they have no answer when the widows start getting on the air...and they will).

Everything they touch turns to s**t or at least high priced s**t-Medicare, Rx, and $$$$$$$$$$$.

They have nothing. Gay marriage? That will go over about as well as the steroid thing in the SOTU.

All they have left is a boat load of money to ATTACK the Dem nominee and I don't think that is going to sit well with many especially the independents.

[diamond14]

15. Meet-the-Press, high-profile appearances at NASCAR, and

several military bases...all in just the last few days....AND rummy appearing, and snow, and TONS of government officials spewing praise for the shrub...PLUS a complete newscoverage by right-wingnuts, and today's bremer appearance....

as you note....shrub has no ammo left...the emporer has no clothes and WE THE PEOPLE have suddenly realized that....

relentlessly pursuing BLOOD FOR OIL....

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah
being chauffeured by the shrub....

photo taken at the exotic expensive Egyptian resort
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt
June 03, 2003....shortly after the aircraft stunt on May 01, 2003

[underpants]

18. LEADERSHIP........DANGER...THREAT....LEADERSHIP

I think that is what they are going to run on. People are tired of hearing about it they want to see, even his supporters who think he is a straight shooter are not happy.

[saigon68]

12. Also in the Article---- HOMO-PHOBIA

Bush's biggest immediate decision is when to publicly embrace a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and whether he should also come out against allowing same-sex couples to have civil unions that give them many of the same rights as married people.

Republican sources said Bush's political adviser Karl Rove has assured leading conservatives the president will soon give his backing to a constitutional amendment.

"This is absolutely the number one issue for conservatives and the sooner Bush gets out there the more he will energize his support," said Appell.

My take:

You gotta hand it to this fine southern family (Shrub Poppy and Jebby) their prejudices are impeccable-- only 60 years ago or so they championed laws preventing "darkies" from marrying white women

[diamond14]

21. bush* campaign issues: 'steroids' and 'legalizing Federal bigotry'

what a 'little man'.....


sending in the BIG GUNS....

John Kerry...who WILL talk about jobs, the environment, health care, Iraq, foreign policy, defense spending and LOTS of important issues...

bush* can talk all he wants about changing to Constitution to institutionalize his own bigotry....but much like the MILLIONS of OUR dollars shrub spent to fight affirmative action...it won't work....Americans are much more progressive than that 'old school' thinking....

[grasswire]

19. yesterday on Hardball...

...even Tony Blankney was having trouble finding words to characterize Bush's drop.

He finally blamed it on the fact that Dean is out of the race and the WH is having to "re-tool" the campaign for a run against Kerry. He said it will take about six weeks more to re-tool.

He also said that the 6-point erosion in REPUBLICAN support for Bush is huge and a possible disaster. He blamed that on immigration policy.

Tweety was quite surprised to hear that Blankney thought the Republican erosion important.

Blankney looked like a man watching a train go off the tracks.

[kskiska]

20. An acquaintance was at Daytona last weekend

and said that * was booed there.

[Skittles]

22. DISMAL TEN YEARS OF BUSH HAS SKITTLES INSANE

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. Folks Rove intends to make Gay Marriage

a wedge issue... ok, sharpen your quills and lets make this a CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE, which is exactly what it is.

If you choose to use as example... here is the letter I just fired out to my delegation

Now if enough critters get this, they will realize that this is not an issue they want to go with... but it will show the country exactly where Bush is... against Civil Rights... so it is time we take their issues and reframe them in ways that most Americans understand them... and yes jobs et al are critical, so are civil rights wiht the chimpy junta.

*******************************

Dear Madman:

Well, red meat issues are being used to keep the base excited... AKA Bush in favor of a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Maybe, while the President (and the Christian Right) are at it, they should beg for the return of Plessy Vs Ferguson, I am sure a Constitutional Amendment is also in order. Maybe we should also ban all inter racial marriages. Maybe, we should forget that this country has a theoretical separation of Church and State.

Now lets be plain.

If any religious leader decides that the tenets of his or her faith prevent him or her from carrying out a marriage, that is a religious decision, and the State cannot, indeed should not force him or her to carry out that RELIGIOUS ceremony. But we are not talking here about a Religious Decision but a policy decision within a SECULAR State. In that sense, the rights of marriage, AKA that marriage license, accrues benefits and obligations to the state, not to the Church. Never should we forget there are differences.

In many ways marriage, yes the dreaded word, in city hall before a representative of the State is a policy decision and it affects things such as visitation rights, inheritance rights and civil rights. It has nothing to do with whether that couple is living in sin or not. This is not the decision of the state ... and this is not the purview of the state.

As John Locke once wrote, the state's obligations should be limited to keeping tranquility, the raising of taxes and services to the people. The Church has no role in telling me how to live my civil life. It has a role on how to live my religious life. But those two should never be confused ... and right now we are in danger of the Church, in particular the Religious Right, telling the state what to do.

Now I will also make another point ... this problem truly started with the Defense of Marriage Act ... which is a RELIGIOUS DECISION, as marriage is defined in the act in religious terms. I have also to say, that the DOMA is a mistake, not unlike Separate but Equal of Plessy Vs Ferguson, but it seems some folks insist on taking the country back to 1900, or worst, some of our Religious leaders are like any religious zealot across history, wanting to impose their believes on the whole society ... not unlike the Taliban.

I may remind you, when those six kids went to Central High in Arkansas, that required the Screaming Eagles and the US Marshals to protect them. It was that unpopular and those kids would have been lynched otherwise. The arguments that were made back then against getting rid of Plessy Vs Ferguson, (Separate but Equal) were very similar to the arguments made today about Gay Civil Rights. Yes, Ma'am, this is not about sin, or lack of, but purely civil rights and the expansion of such to a group of citizens who have them denied right now. And if we were to go by polls, Plessy Vs Ferguson would still be in the books, and I would have never been able to marry my husband, as I happen to be Jewish and before he converted he was Catholic, in the 1950s that was frowned upon, and was down right illegal in some states.

It is time to throw all pretenses and clearly state, that in a SECULAR State, a small group of religious fanatics has no role in determining Secular policy. Otherwise, the dream of this Republic may be in peril, as slowly the principles under which she was founded are being chipped away, and this is no coincidence either.

Sincerely,
***********
*************

[diamond14]

27. very good summary of the 'civil rights' issue and separation of

church and state...

it made me sick when bush* decided to throw the entire weight of the Federal Government Justice Department against the University of Michigan, costing the citizens of Michigan millions of dollars and the citizens of the entire United States millions of dollars...and bush* own supreme court told him that he was a racist....these pigs have got to be sent back to the pig-farm in crawford where they belong...

bush* had no business even entering that lawsuit...

[Sagan]

25. So they don't care that he's been WRONG...

They just want to make sure he spins is idiocy effectively.

Wow.. the politics of self-delusion.