Department Of Defense Directive 1344.10, Section E3.3.9 (August 2, 2004) states that an armed services member on active duty shall not: …Participate in any radio, television, or other program or group discussion as an advocate for or against of a partisan political party, candidate, or cause. Today, Robert Novak writes: At the same time, the Bush administration is going directly … Read More
Science, Politics And Liars
A week or two ago, the New York Times reported about a NASA climate scientist who claimed he was stifled by the Bush Administration: The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to … Read More
Awwwkward
President Bush was among the four presidents attending the funeral of Coretta Scott King (the others were Clinton, Carter, and Bush I), and he had to sit through this: "We know now there were no weapons of mass destruction over there [standing ovation]… but Coretta knew and we know that there are weapons of misdirection right down here. Millions without … Read More
Rove Threatened To Blacklist Republicans
Well, the unitary executive is so unitary that nobody can accuse him of being partisan: Congressional sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has threatened to blacklist any Republican who votes against the president. The sources said the blacklist would mean a halt in any White House political or financial support of senators running for re-election in November. "It’s … Read More
Last Post About The SOTU, I Promise
The best thing about this clip (Quicktime) is that Bush thinks he is about to give a snappy retort to the Democratic outburst, and then he totally trips over his tongue.
As Emily Litella Said: “Never Mind”
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry: One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America’s dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn’t mean it literally. What the hell?
Cindy’s Story
As you probably know, Cindy Sheehan was arrested lat night just before Bush’s State of the Union speech. She blogged the full account here, but this is how it begins: This afternoon at the People’s State of the Union Address in DC where I was joined by Congresspersons Lynn Woolsey and John Conyers, Ann Wright, Malik Rahim and John Cavanagh, … Read More
Bush State Of The Union
I caught most of it, and these are my few sporadic impressions. (1) When he was listing all the democracies now in the Middle East . . . was it just me, or was there a big huge elephant in the room? An elephant by the name of "Palestine"? C’mon. Everybody was thinking about it. (2) He wants a line-item … Read More
Bush’s State Of The Union
I won’t be watching (rehearsal) and I might not even TIVO it. Besides the State of the Union on the right hand column (which I’ll take down in a few days) is better. But by all accounts, including those of the Wall Street Journal (sumamrized here), Bush’s best bet — if he wants to be accountable to the American people … Read More
The Insularity Problem
This is what happens when you send a bunch of people to Washington, who act on their belief about how things are, rather than – you know – reality. They come off as "surprised" all the time. From The Left Coaster: "I’ve asked why nobody saw it coming. It does say something about us not having a good enough pulse."–Condi … Read More
Delayed Learnin’
Bush Taking Bin Laden Threat Seriously reads the headline. Really. I’m not kidding. The fact that Bush is taking a bin Laden threat seriously . . . is news. So 9/11 did change something. Albeit belatedly. Recall in March 2002, Bush said this in response to a bin Laden-related question from the press: [T]he idea of focusing on one person … Read More
The Incompetent President
Focusing primarily on Bush’s disasterous Medicare program, WaPo’s editorialist Harold Meyerson has a few words to say: Incompetence is not one of the seven deadly sins, and it’s hardly the worst attribute that can be ascribed to George W. Bush. But it is this president’s defining attribute. Historians, looking back at the hash that his administration has made of his … Read More
The White House Loooooves That “Executive Privilege” Thing
Two days ago: The White House was told in the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans that the city would probably soon be inundated with floodwater, forcing the long-term relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, documents to be released Tuesday by Senate investigators show. A Homeland Security Department report submitted to the White House at 1:47 a.m. on … Read More
State Of Presidential Credibility
Think Progress has created a comprehensive document (PDF format) that catalogues the distortions, misrepresentations and broken promises in Bush’s four previous SOTUs. Download it here. Or simply watch the video (Quicktime required).
Fish. Barrel. Kapow.
Quote Of The Day: President Bush on Thursday categorically ruled out a run for office by his wife, Laura Bush. "She’s not interested in running for office. She’s interested in literacy," Bush said during an appearance at RK Moving & Storage here. There’s so many ways I can go with this, but sometimes the joke unsaid is the funniest.