BottleOfBlog

The Trade Towers Must Have Been Full Of Irony

Because it appears to be dead.

For his part, Republican Kennedy will make national security a dominant issue.

“How you win the war on terror is going to be one of the top issues” in this race, Kennedy said. “Clearly there have been mistakes made in the war on terror. And there have been corrections made. But the real question is: what is your focus? Is your focus just impeaching the president and having partisan investigations? Or is your focus on how to win the war on terror, how do we keep America safe?”

Yes, by all means! If the American people want a Congress that keeps its eye on the ball and doesn't get distracted by ridiculous partisan investigations and unwarranted impeachments, elect Republicans! That's a great election theme for the Gee Oh Pee!

It's enough to make you fall off your chair laughing. Let's review.

Bill Clinton August 20, 1998:

Our target was terror. Our mission was clear -- to strike at the network of radical groups affiliated with and funded by Osama bin Laden, perhaps the preeminent organizer and financier of international terrorism in the world today…

My fellow Americans, our battle against terrorism did not begin with the bombing of our embassies in Africa, nor will it end with today's strike…

We must be prepared to do all that we can for as long as we must. America is and will remain a target of terrorists precisely because we are leaders; because we act to advance peace, democracy and basic human values; because we're the most open society on earth; and because, as we have shown yet again, we take an uncompromising stand against terrorism.

Republican House of Representatives, December 19, 1998:

Tom DeLay, the House majority whip, took time out yesterday from his relentless campaign to impeach President Clinton to field a call from an angry Massachusetts voter.

"This is Tom DeLay himself," he told the caller, who had demanded that Congress call a halt to impeachment and get back to more important business. "And we are doing . . . what we're supposed to do. But we will impeach this president."

Aside from impeaching the president, what was it that the Gee Oh Pee thought it was supposed to do? June 25, 1998:

As of today, House Republicans have spent more than $17 million in taxpayer dollars on politically-motivated investigations. There have been more than 50 politically-motivated investigations in the House, 38 of which are still ongoing. These investigations have involved 15 of the 20 House standing committees. Currently, 13 committees are involved in investigations. Of all the completed investigations, none have turned up evidence of wrongdoing.

Perhaps even more important, a clear pattern of abuse has emerged. The House Republican leadership has called on and, when necessary, prodded its committees to devote their resources to harass political enemies. In the process, Republicans have: undermined the credibility of the oversight function of Congress; issued overly broad and excessive subpoenas; and targeted innocent private individuals with whom they have political disagreements, and as a result, have harmed those people's businesses, humiliated them personally and professionally, and forced them to bear extraordinary travel and legal costs to try to defend their reputations.

And remember that circus, when the Gee Oh Pee hijacked the entire investigative, legislative and oversite power of the Congress for years, was before September 11th.

When it might have actually done some good.

A Man Without Shame

ARLINGTON, Va., May 29 — President Bush paid homage to fallen members of the nation's military on Monday, using his annual Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery to draw a link between those who fought in an earlier era and those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I am in awe of the men and women who sacrifice for the freedom of the United States of America," Mr. Bush said, a remark that brought more applause than any other in his eight-minute speech. "Our nation is free because of brave Americans like these, who volunteer to confront our adversaries abroad so we do not have to face them here at home."

Big words from the Nebraska Prairie Dog.

It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week. The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age, and usually had a long waiting list…

But others say that it was not uncommon for well-connected Texans to obtain special consideration for Air Guard slots. In addition to Bush and Bentsen, many socially or politically prominent young men were admitted to the Air Guard, according to former officials; they included the son of then-Sen. John Tower and at least seven members of the Dallas Cowboys…

In 1989 [Bush] tried to describe his own thought process to a Texas interviewer. "I'm saying to myself, 'What do I want to do?' I think I don't want to be an infantry guy as a private in Vietnam…”

Among the questions Bush had to answer on his application forms was whether he wanted to go overseas. Bush checked the box that said: "do not volunteer."

If our last George had been our first George, Tony Blair wouldn't be visiting the United States.  He'd be running it.

Sixty Three Senators Unify Americans Into Thinking At Least Sixty Three Senators Are Assholes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Whether English is America's "national language" or its national "common and unifying language" was a question dominating the Senate immigration debate.

So, I'm just wondering: if Congress makes English our "national language", does that mean Preznit Stupid Mouth is going to have to learn how to actually speak it?  Or does the separation of powers allow him to continue to gibber away mindlessly in his native tongue of Retard?

I'm also wondering:  with a $400 billion deficit, $3 a gallon gas, two ongoing unwon wars, bin Laden still on the loose, a record $725 billion trade deficit, a military strained to the breaking point, and any number of federal agencies rendered so disfunctional they have to be either rebuilt from the ground up or disbanded altogether, why our United States Senate is wasting their time and our money debating unbelievably stupid shit like whether English should be the "national language" or the "common and unifying language" of the United States.

Hey, assholes, we already have a common and unifying language in this country.  It consists entirely of the words:  "Will you please quit fucking around and actually represent us???"

These dicks keep up this kind of bullshit and next the taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill for a brand new federal agency just to muck out the Senate chamber.

The Senate first voted 63-34 Thursday to designate English as the "national language" after lawmakers who led the effort said it would promote national unity.

Yes, that certainly will promote national unity--something Republicans like to do every election year.  It really energizes their base!

Up next:  national unity promoting flag burning and abortion banning amendments!

It can't be anything else.  They already covered wetbacks and homos.

Twist A Pig's Ear, Listen To It Squeal, Part II

WASHINGTON, May 13 — Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion…

In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on conservative goals…

And, just like that, the do-nothing, see-nothing, know-nothing Gee Oh Pee Congress springs into action!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage Thursday, after a shouting match that ended when one Democrat strode out and the Republican chairman bid him "good riddance…”

Among Feingold's objections was Specter's decision to hold the vote in the President's Room, where access by the general public is restricted, instead of in the panel's usual home in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Specter later said he would have been willing to hold the session in the usual room had he thought doing so would change votes.

Or if he would have been proud enough of his vote to have the general public actually see it.

Not all those who voted "yes" support the amendment, however. Specter said he is "totally opposed" to it, but felt it deserved a debate in the Senate…

You get that?  Specter is totally opposed to it, but he voted yes, in a special room the public isn't allowed into, because he felt he amendment deserved public "debate".

First, let me say, these are the same motherfuckers who accused John Kerry of being a flip-flopper who stands on both sides of an issue.

Second, these are the same guys, who while feeling that this idiotic amendment at least deserves debate before the whole Senate, haven't felt the slightest inclination to debate before the whole Senate Election 2000, Election 2004, the justificiations for the Iraq war, or September 11th.

They also felt little inclination to debate this particular issue at all before another election year.  Though, you wouldn't know that.  Not if you listened to your liberal media.

The issue has been on the political radar across the nation for more than two years.

No, it hasn't.  At all.  That's a lie.

It was an issue in the summer of 2004, in the run-up to the Presidential election and then--kablam!--it disappeared completely on November 4th.  And it stayed disappeared for nineteen months.  Completely.  Despite a Republican controlled House.  Despite a Republican controlled Senate.  Despite a Republican controlled White House.  Despite a Republican controlled Supreme Court.

The Gee Oh Pee did nothing about it.

And since your liberal media is only concerned with what Republicans are doing or saying, this entirely phoney issue vanished from the political radar for two years.

Until another election year.

Republican officials, who were granted anonymity to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the situation, acknowledged the difficult political climate but said they planned to rally conservatives by underscoring the contrast with Democrats and emphasizing the recent confirmations of two conservatives to the Supreme Court…

And your liberal media, I'm sure will jump at the chance to point out the glaring contrast between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to same sex marriage:

Democrats since 2004?  Did nothing.

Republicans since 2004?  Did nothing.

And the glaring difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to abortion:

Democrats since 2004?  Did nothing.

Republicans since 2004?  Did nothing.

How about the glaring difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to obscenity?

Democrats since 2004?  Did nothing.

Republicans since 2004?  Did nothing.

Though, I will say, since 2004, some prominent Republicans have taken a much more active roll with regards to vulnerable teenagers on the internet.

And we'll just let that little thing about the Preznit nominating a Supreme Court Justice who had to be withdrawn without objection from Democrats because the insane wing of the Republican party went speaking in tongues berserk over her slide.

In a country where the press felt some sort of obligation or responsibility to safeguard the Republic, these kind of laughable anonymous statements would be, well, laughed at.  But in America, your libera media types them up for you without comment.

"People are getting concerned that they have not seen some of these issues move forward that were central to the 2004 election," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, who attended the meetings.

Richard D. Land, a top official of the Southern Baptist Convention who has been one of Mr. Bush's most loyal allies, said in an interview last week that many conservatives were upset that Mr. Bush had not talked more about a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

"A lot of people are disappointed that he hasn't put as much effort into the marriage amendment as he did for the prescription drug benefit or Social Security reform," Dr. Land said…

Do you get it?  It's right there!  The nutjobs on the right can almost understand it.  But your liberal media, again, treats it like a fart at the dinner table.

Yes!  Yes!  Yes! 

Neither Bush nor the Gee Oh Pee has done anything about any of the "central" issues of the 2004 election because neither Bush nor the Gee Oh Pee actually, truly, honestly believed in any of those issues.

Hey, "values voters", you've been fucking scammed!  Hey, "liberal" media, you've been fucking hoodwinked!  Hey, America, you've been fucking lied to.

Bush doesn't care about gay people.  Bush doesn't care about abortion.  Bush doesn't care about obscenty.  Bush doesn't care about fiscal repsonsibility.  Bush doesn't care about terrorism.

What does Bush care about?  Legislating public money into private hands.  That's it.

And it ain't Michael Moore saying it!  It's Republicans.

No one expects the same-sex marriage amendment to pass this year. Republican leaders have not scheduled votes on a measure to outlaw transporting minors across state lines for abortions, and the proposal faces long odds in the Senate. A measure to increase obscenity fines for broadcasters is opposed by media industry trade groups, pitting Christian conservatives against the business wing of the party, and Congressional leaders have not committed to bring it to a vote.

Wow!  What a surprise!  You know what else Republican leaders in Congress have not committed to bring to a vote?  Despite their total control of both houses of Congress?  Anyone?  I'll give you eight hints:

On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:

    * FIRST,  require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress;
    * SECOND,  select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
    * THIRD,  cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
    * FOURTH,  limit the terms of all committee chairs;
    * FIFTH,  ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
    * SIXTH,  require committee meetings to be open to the public;
    * SEVENTH,  require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
    * EIGHTH,  guarantee an honest accounting of our Federal Budget by implementing zero base-line budgeting.

And how does your liberal media treat this wholesale fraud on the American electorate?

The immigration debate that reopened in the Senate yesterday offers Republicans an unpalatable political trade-off. Disappointing conservative, anti-illegal-immigration forces could demoralize a crucial constituency and depress turnout in the November elections at a time when every vote appears important to the GOP. Energizing only those conservatives risks destroying the president's long-sought goal of building a durable Republican majority by normalizing his party's relations with the rapidly growing Latino community.

Bush sought to reassure both sides with his speech last night, and in doing so he attempted to define the middle ground in a debate where consensus has been difficult.

That's right.  Your "liberal" media is in awe of the conviction and resoluteness, and political savvy of Bush to, despite his 29% approval ratings, take both sides of an issue!

Jesus Christ.  This is a full blown, out of control, lying jackass who ran an entire presidential campaign, complete with giant sandal props, on the idea that John Kerry was on both sides of every issue.  And your liberal media ate it up, yucked about it, and puked it back up on the pages of the New York Times and Washington Post and on every network and cable TV news program.

And now they, your liberal media, have to admire his attempt to define an issue by reassuring both sides.

Whatever.

I don't like Bush.  And I don't like the people he's betrayed and who he's now desperately trying to reassure.

But I can't believe it isn't painfully obvious to both our "liberal" media and the millions of betrayed "values voters" that the modern Gee Oh Pee is not trying to define any issue by some sort of middle ground.

And I'm astonished that, out of the two groups of Americans who have been most publicly and blatantly used, abused, lied to, and betrayed--the "values voters" and the "liberal" media--the one to be most upset and demand some sort of accounting is..."values voters".

The total rubes and suckers, and whackjobs, and gullible snakehandlers on the right.  They have finally figured out they've been rooked.  And they want answers.

Your liberal media?  Still impressed with how masterfully the Bush administration has manipulated them.

It's fucking pathetic.

Paranoid

CNN just reported that President Bush’s new job approval rating is at 36 percent, suggesting it was “a bounce for President Bush.”

But this isn’t a bounce. Bush’s early May approval rating was 34 percent. Each poll has an error of +/-3 points, meaning Bush’s numbers haven’t changed at all.

Is the media really this desperate for Bush’s approval rating to rebound?

What, just because CNN is reporting that a two percent increase in Bush's dismal approval ratings is a "bounce", liberals think the media is somehow pro-Bush???  Come on!!!

I'm sure if Bush's "approval" ratings went down two points, CNN would likewise report that as a drop in Bush's "approval" ratings!  The liberal, Bush-bashing media would never, like those moonbats at Think Progress, try to claim a two percent decrease in Bush's "approval" ratings was statistically insignificant or represented no change at all!

(CNN) -- Far more Americans think highly of first lady Laura Bush than they think of her husband, a poll released Thursday said...

Asked their opinions of the president, 46 percent said they were favorable, a figure statistically equivalent to the 48 percent who gave that response in a July 25-28 poll.

Your liberal media.

Nailed It

Josh Marshall on the headshaking dumbassitude that modern Republicans went through the effort of stealing an election to shove down our throats:

I guess I'm going to have to write something about the president's -- what is it, the 35th televised prime time address in the last year or so? -- speech on immigration Monday night. But all I can make of this plan to help guard the border with soldiers is that it's one more example that there is simply no gambit too craven or silly for this president not to resort to it.

My reading and reporting attention hasn't been focused on the immigration debate. But am I wrong to think that the president simply couldn't square the circle between the corporate cheap-labor forces who fund his campaigns and the cultural conservatives who supply his voters? Growing out of that failure, this 'militarize the border' hokum is the policy announcement equivalent of crawling under his desk and screaming "Help!"

Shazam! Wonder twin powers ... anything. It's like a primal scream.

The White House is now saying the troops would only be temporary. But temporary until when? I guess just until there aren't any more illegals trying to come across the border from Latin America.

And why are soldiers -- national guard or regular army -- better at managing border patrol than, well, border patrol? In part this is like it was during Katrina -- the president's inability to get anything to work by the normal civilian means leads him to claim that the problem is that there's not a big enough role for the military. But perhaps the truth here is that bringing in the military is the only way his advisors can think of to create an illusion of decisiveness and power in his current state of political impotence.

Mocking this stunt gives it too much credit. I think Atrios is right when he says that this idea is so stupid that it's unlikely there's really even a plan to do it. Just an gimmick to help the president get through whatever new bad news is about to pop.

Exactly.  Silly, craven, and stupid.

I love it when serious political writers try to intelligently discuss Bush and find out, try as they might, they have no choice but to sound like me.

One, illegal immigration is no different than it's ever been.  But suddenly we need troops on the border?

Two, if illegal immigration was such a problem that it requires troops, why didn't Bush do dick about it for six years?  Before Bush's horrendous and cynical "guest worker" proposal blew up in his face, the dude barely mentioned immigration.

Three, if our borders are so porous that national security requires troops on the border, why the fuck didn't Bush do dick about that for five years after September 11th???  What was he waiting for?

Four, how many September 11th hijackers waded across the Rio Grande?

Five, if the preservation of our jobs or our national security requires armed troops on the border, why are they only going to be there temporarily???  Does Bush know something we don't?  That within six to eight months Mexicans will be rich? That we'll have won the "War On Terra"? And we can forget about our southern border?

Either our southern border is a problem or it isn't. But one thing it's not is going away.  A year from now we'll still be bordering Mexico.  If we need armed troops on the border now, then we'll need them there a year from now.  If we won't need armed troops on the border a year from now, we don't need them there now.

Six, isn't this--Bush--the same asshole who ran for President--and lost--bitching about how Clinton and Gore had stretched our military to the breaking point?  Isn't this the same colossal bullshitter who accepted the Republican nomination by completely lying that, due to Clinton and Gore overextending out military, two entire Army divisions were unfit for duty?

And this same guy has over ten thousand Americans pretty much permanently stationed in Afghanistan--because he failed to even try to finish the job there--and 135,000 Americans stuck in Iraq for who knows how long--because he failed to even plan to finish the job there--and he's rubbing his hands together over attacking Iran with God only knows what army, and now he's going to deploy more troops to Texas???

Is there no end to the damage the modern Republican party can do to our military?  Is there no end to the sacrifice the modern Republican party can demand from our citizen soldiers?  Is there no end to the amount of money the modern Republican party can ask American taxpayers to pony up for ill-conceived, pointless, counterproductive uses of our formerly awe-inspiring military?

Yeah, there is.  It's coming.  And you don't even want to think about what it looks like.

I love Josh Marshall's TPM, but silly, stupid, and craven doesn't start to describe the empty dumbness of this waste of time and money.

USA Today Poll Finds Majority Of Americans Believe Washington Post Poll Is Bullshit

WASHINGTON (AP) -- CIA director nominee Gen. Michael Hayden on Friday defended the secret surveillance programs he oversaw while head of another spy agency as lawful and designed to "preserve the security and the liberty of the American people…"

"Everything that the agency has done has been lawful. It's been briefed to the appropriate members of Congress," Hayden told reporters outside a Senate office.

Which is a great answer! Except for that part about everything being "lawful".  Which is pretty much all the answer.  And none of it is "true".

The White House stood by Hayden as he spent another day promoting himself in face-to-face sessions with lawmakers. President Bush announced Hayden as his choice to head the CIA on Monday.

"We're 100 percent behind Michael Hayden," press secretary Tony Snow told reporters Friday.

That's right.  The White House is a hunnert percent behind a guy who broke the law ten million times and then lied to Congress about it.  Dude, no shit.  That is resolve.

Either that, or total contempt for the law, the Congress, the Constitution and the American people.

And speaking of the American people, do they even give a rat's ass?

Hell, no!

In a poll released Friday, almost two thirds of Americans said it was acceptable for the NSA to collect phone records.

Americans trust this administration to do the right thing.  Which is why a whopping 29 percent of Americans approve of Bush's job performance!  Which is why the American people, by about a seventeen percent majority, would like this modern Republican party to get the fuck out of Washington and let Democrats run the country.

But you'd never know it.  Not if you were some kind of political junkie and read crapola like ABC's The Note, which is, the Note tells us, the weather vane of the Washington Press Corps!

The American people and Tony Snow, however, just might know as much as they want to know about [domestic telephone record harvesting by the Bush administration].

On "Good Morning America," Charlie Gibson reported that ABC News crunched the numbers overnight and found that "by nearly two to one" (63 to 33 percent) Americans say that the phone tracking being done is justified. (Stand by for twin RNC and White House press releases!!)

Which is just kind of freaky.  When you consider that, according to the USA Today poll:

19% of people think the Bush administration has gone "not far enough" in restricting people's civil liberities...

54% say it definitely or proabably violates the law even though only 51% disapprove.

57% say they "would feel violated" if their phone company handed over records even though only 51% disapprove.

62% favor holding hearings.

Hey, The Note!  Who needs to wait for the twin RNC and White House press releases!  When the American people have The Note!  Guarding our democracy!

But, beyond that, here's what occurs to me, just a regular guy, and not The Note!  Not even the Gang of Five Hundred!

Who gives a flying fuck what percentage of Americans approve of a classified program that they are not allowed to know the details of???

I mean, yeah, if we, Americans, knew or could ever learn all the details of the program maybe our opinions would be relevant.  But, Tony Snow is already telling us:  "Hayden will be more than happy to answer any and all questions about NSA programs except for questions regarding NSA programs, which are, I'm sorry to say, secret."

So there's that.

Secondly, what the assheads at The Note! and CNN and the Washington Post can't seem to get through their incredibly thick heads--heads so thick that small yield, tactical, bunker busting nuclear weapons could not penetrate the fact that there is no such thing as a a "small yield, tactical" nuclear weapon--is that, when it comes to The Law, something the Washington Press Corps was obsessed with when Clinton and his administration were not breaking in a Bush, or Bush, or Reagan, or Nixon type fashion, it doesn't matter what a majority of Americans think.

Hey, if so many Americans feel a certain way, pass a fucking law, assholes.  The Gee Oh Pee controlls the House, the Senate, the White House, and the Supreme Court.  If they need to legalize something, they can.

What the Gee Oh Pee can't do is break the law and then say, "Hey, a majority of Americans say that's A Okay!"

Especially not when a majority of Americans say, "That fucking criminal."  That's even worse.

If the White House, or Congress actually believes so many people really support this kind of appalling crap, pass a law.  And, if not, follow the laws a majority of Americans saw fit to pass in the first fucking place.

It's horrible that our President and his White House fully and without apology support trashing the Constitution and pissing on the United States Code, but it's even worse that the Fourth Estate, the Guardians of our Democracy go out of their way to provide horseshit justifications for the gubment to break the laws our very gubment put into place.

For good reason.

But, rest easy, Democrats!  Your Democratic leadership is on the job!

Earlier Friday, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden blasted the surveillance program but called Hayden "a first-rate guy."

It's pathetic. 

Democrats aren't going to do dick about saving your Republic.  Republicans can barely restrain themselves, even in the face of the opposition of 60% of the American people.  The White House hates your Republic.  And the Guardians of Democracy, the heirs of the incomparable First Amendment, think the Constitution, politics, and their moral and historical responsibilities are a funny fucking joke.

Aside from Henry Waxman, America's Greatest Congressman, you know the only guy in America who is actually fighting to preserve our Democracy?

That's right.  Patrick Fitzgerald.  A Republican United States Attorney, who Republicans and Democrats and, most of all, the Washington Press Corps wish would go away.

He's about the only Federal official who's actually fighting for our democracy.

Shorter Richard Cohen

The 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention looks downright peaceful compared to the riot going on inside my inbox.

The Worst People In The World

Mary Cheney's new book is out. The author herself has been out as a lesbian for many years. In fact, before her father ran for vice president, she was the marketing liaison to the gay and lesbian community for Coors Brewing Co. Now she has published a book in which she says publicly for the first time that she disagrees with the positions President Bush has taken with respect to gay and lesbian issues.

Good for her.  But, hmmm, what does that remind me of...

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Vice President Dick Cheney called himself “a pretty angry father” on Thursday after Sen. John Kerry mentioned their gay daughter during the final presidential debate — comments Kerry said were meant to be positive about families with gay children…

Mrs. Cheney, introducing her husband in a post-debate appearance Wednesday night in Coraopolis, Pa., also avoided a specific reference to her daughter’s sexuality when she made clear she thought Kerry had crossed a line into family privacy.

“Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man,” Mrs. Cheney said. “Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick.”

Lyn Cheney: an indignant mom who uses her own daughter for a cheap and tawdry political trick.

Dick Cheney:  a pretty angry father who crosses the line into family privacy for cheap political purposes.

The Cheneys:  big ol' bullshitters.

But make no mistake--all of that had nothing to do with how they feel about their daughter, or gays or lesbians, or even John Kerry.

That bit of obscene horseshit had to do with how the Cheneys feel about you.

They think you're idiots.  They hate you.

Six Years Without Gubment

High pump prices are pinching the pocketbooks of seven in 10 Americans, a financial hardship that more middle- and higher-income drivers say they are beginning to feel, an AP-Ipsos poll found. People say they are driving less, cutting short vacations and curtailing their use of heating and air conditioning.

The number of people who expect rising gas prices to cause financial problems in the months ahead has jumped from 51 percent a year ago to 70 percent now, according to AP polling. This increase has been dramatic among people who earn more than $50,000.

Well, it's lousy.  But you can't blame this one on Bush.  After all, there really is no quick fix.  As the President pointed out in his May press conference, solutions to easing gas prices will take years.

Q    Mr. President, thank you very much, sir.

      A lot of families are struggling to pay for gasoline at record prices. What can you do to help them in the short-term?  Will your energy report address that?  And do you agree with your Energy Secretary, that OPEC bears some responsibility for these prices?

      THE PRESIDENT:  The price of crude oil has got something to do with the price of gasoline, but not nearly as much as the fact that we haven't built a refinery in years.  What this nation needs to do is to build more refining capacity.  And we're prepared to work with the industry to encourage capital development, capital to be deployed to develop more refining capacity.  And that may require us to analyze all regulations that discourage development…

Q    Mr. President, can I follow up on that point?  Your party in the past has argued in favor of either suspending or rolling back the federal gasoline tax.  Will you consider doing either?  And, secondly, what would you say to American families who may pay as much as $3 at the pump this summer, at the same time that oil companies in this country are experiencing and enjoying record profits?

      THE PRESIDENT:  What is say is I worry about the fact that hard-working people are paying high prices at the pump.  It concerns me a lot…I also say we need to build more refining capacity.  We need more supply.  We need to meet the increasing demands with better supply.  I'm optimistic in the long-term, not only will we increase supplies, but that our automobiles will become more technologically adept at dealing with the energy situation now.  In other words, we'll have new types of automobiles, hybrids.

      And in the energy plan I'm going to be discussing, you'll see some incentives for hybrid automobiles.

So there's the Preznit.  He's concerned.  A lot.  So much that he's prepared to work with "the industry"(big surprise there!), and increase refinery capacity, find new sources of oil, encourage capital development, and provide incentives for hybrids.

Terrific ideas.  But, please, people, don't get too excited.  Ideas like this could take years to ease the price at the pump.  The circumstances that led to these prices didn't occur overnight--they occurred during the Clinton administration--and the solutions won't be found overnight.

It could take four, five, six years before a comprehensive energy policy starts to show some results.  So, be patient.  Bush is working on it.  Hard.

At least, that's what he told us in his May press conference.

In 2001.

Five years later, what is Bush saying about the high cost of oil?

To reduce gas prices, our energy companies have got a role to play. Listen, at record prices, these energy companies have got large cash flows, and they need to reinvest those cash flows into expanding refining capacity, or researching alternative energy sources, or developing new technologies, or expanding production in environmentally friendly ways….

To reduce gas prices, our energy companies have got a role to play. Listen, at record prices, these energy companies have got large cash flows, and they need to reinvest those cash flows into expanding refining capacity, or researching alternative energy sources, or developing new technologies, or expanding production in environmentally friendly ways…

If we're trying to conserve energy, if we want to become less dependent on oil, let's provide incentives for consumers to use less energy.

Listen, we need to expand our refining capacity. One of the problems we face is we've got tight supplies because we haven't expanded refining capacity. There hasn't been a new refinery built in 30 years…

Congress needs to allow refiners to make modifications on their refineries without having to wait for years to get something -- to get their idea approved. I mean, if we want more supply, let's reduce the paperwork and the regulations.

Congress also needs to simplify and speed up the permitting process for refinery construction and expansion. And so I'm going to work with Congress. It's important for Congress to cut through the red tape and guarantee refinery construction permits will be processed within a single year.

Yep.

Five years later, Bush is saying we need a comprehensive energy policy to increase refinery capacity, find new sources of oil, encourage capital development, and provide incentives for hybrids. 

Which is exactly what he said in 2001.

In 2001, he wanted to increase refinery capacity.  It's 2006 and, according to Bush, not one single new refinery has been built.  In 2001, he wanted to find new sources of oil.  It's 2006, and aside from invading Iraq, not one single new source of oil has been found.  Virtually nothing has changed from May of 2001 to May of 2006.  Nothing.

But you can't blame this all on Bush! 

I mean, number one, Bush needs Congress to help him make all his sweet crude dreams a reality.  Bush needs Congress to approve all his ingenuous ideas so that all of Bush's hard, hard work pays off for ordinary Americans at the pump.

And since 2002, Bush has been saddled with an obstructionist Republican controlled House and an uncooperative Republican controlled Senate.  What's a Republican President to do?  How can a Republican President be expected to pass any legislation as long as Republicans are in control of the House, the Senate, and the majority of the Supreme Court???

Number two, Bush did, in fact, like he said in May of 2001, provide incentives for hybrid automobiles.

In 2005.  Four years later.

You know what Bush didn't wait four years to do?  Give huge tax incentive to buy enormous gas guzzling SUVs:

DETROIT — Buying big, luxurious sport-utility vehicles could cost a lot less under the Bush administration's economic stimulus proposal, even though a Bush appointee blasted SUVs last week as dangerous fuel hogs.

Small businesses and the self-employed could deduct the entire cost, up to $75,000, from business income the year of the purchase.

That's right.  A year and a half after Bush claimed he was going to provide tax incentives to purchase fuel efficient hybrids to help ease the pain ordinary Americans were feeling at the pump, Bush, instead, offered extremely generous tax incentives to purchase mammoth gas guzzling monsters which would only increase the pain ordinary Americans feel at the pump.

But you have to give Bush some credit.  He did finally, after five years, follow through with his half-assed proposal to provide incentives for fuel efficient hybrids:

Federal tax rules that took effect last month allow a credit of up to $3,150 for anyone buying a hybrid car. The credit is the same regardless of tax bracket.

However, owners of small businesses who buy a Hummer, Ford Excursion or other SUV weighing more than 3 tons get a deduction of up to $25,000 - depending on tax bracket - if they use the vehicle exclusively for work.

The benefits don't stop there. Once they subtract the $25,000 from the cost of their 3-ton SUV, small-business owners can deduct the depreciation on the remaining amount. Someone who bought a $60,000 SUV, for example, can claim the remaining $35,000 over six years.

No such luck for small-business owners who buy cars weighing less than 3 tons.

That's right.  If you buy an enormous gas guzzling SUV, you can write off anywhere from $75,000 to $25,000.  If you buy a hybrid, you can get a tax credit of up to $3,500.

And, I know, a tax credit is better than a deduction.  But not if your deduction is seventy five thousand dollars.

In 2003, generous incentives to lavishly waste gasoline.  In 2005, a piddly little incentive to buy fuel efficient automobiles.  In 2006, still not one single new refinery built. 

That means in the five years since Bush first addressed high gas prices, the Federal government, your government, has had a net negative effect on the price you pay at the pump.

Without any meaningful resistance from Democrats.

That means, while your disposable income has been shrinking for five long years, Bush has done nothing.  He's done worse than nothing.  He's compounded the problem.  For five years.

There was absolutely no reason why the Republican party could not have done anything they wanted with regard to energy.

And they did nothing.

Well, that's not quite true.  The Gee Oh Pee Congress and White House passed a bill cutting taxes on the richest 1% of Americans which was so generous that it turned a $230 billion a year surplus into a $400 billion a year deficit.  And why did they do that?

To help ease your pain at the pump:

THE PRESIDENT: ...but the best way to make sure that people are able to deal with high energy prices is to cut taxes, is to give people more of their own money so they can meet the bills, so they can meet the high energy prices…

What is say is I worry about the fact that hard-working people are paying high prices at the pump.  It concerns me a lot.  And, therefore, the Congress needs to cut taxes as quickly as possible, to give people money to be able to deal with this situation…

And in the energy plan I'm going to be discussing, you'll see some incentives for hybrid automobiles.  But the quickest way to get money in people's pockets to deal with prices is tax relief…

But I want to remind the members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat, all of us are concerned about high energy prices and prices at the gas pump being too high.  Let's get the tax relief done and do it quickly…

I'll look at all options.  But the clearest way to get things done quickly is tax relief…

The quickest way to help people with their energy bills is tax relief. That is the quickest, surest way to do so…

If anybody thinks they've got a good idea, I'll listen.  But, for certain, what needs to happen is additional refining capacity, as well as tax relief…

To anybody who wants to figure out how to help the consumers, pass the tax relief package as quickly as possible…

…the right thing to do is to have proposed a tax relief package that is an integral part of a fiscal policy that makes sense.

I proposed the plan.  I campaigned on the plan.  Many of you, the truth be known here, didn't actually think it was going to happen.  Now there's a budget in place, $1.25 trillion of tax relief…

He got his tax "relief"--well, it wasn't so much tax "relief" as tax deferral.  After all, Bush and the Gee Oh Pee Congress added about two trillion dollars of debt to what average Americans owe.  Plus interest.

We'll have to pay that money back.  Plus interest.  Possibly at a time when skyrocketing gas prices have caused massive inflation and our disposable incomes to disappear.  I'm sure we'll be really happy, say, in ten years or so, to pay half our incomes or more for the American glory and plenty that was the Bush years.

But, beyond that, he got his tax "relief", and then some.  Five years ago.

How you feeling at the pump?  Better?  Or worse?

Tax "relief" wasn't intended to help our energy problems.  And it didn't.  So that was a huge lie.  And, despite an energy crisis which was apparent in 2001, the Bush administration has done nothing for five years.

This is just one more example of something which is very soon going to become horrifically clear to nearly all Americans:  for the last six years, we've had no government.  We haven't even had bad government--it seems like it.  But we haven't.

Bad government, at this point, would be a fucking blessing.

We've had no government.

When these awful eight years under Bush are finally done, we're going to find out we had no clue how bad we actually had it.  We're going to find a gubment that's busted, broken, disorganized and disfunctional. 

We're going to find that nearly every federal agency is beyond repair.  And that the debt for fixing what Bush ripped apart is now beyond what we can afford.

You want to know what kind of man did this to us, a nation of good people?

Q    Mr. President, you would not equate the baby that was killed in retaliatory Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip with a 13- and 14-year old Jewish boys, one of them a U.S. citizen, who were tied up, beaten to death and mutilated near Tekoa, would you?

THE PRESIDENT:  I was kind of smiling, it sounded kind of like an editorial.

A sociopath who kind of smiles when he gets a question about 13 year old boys being mutilated.

But he's concerned about you.

It's a nightmare.

Though, on the other hand, it might get out the libertarian and anarchist vote.

So there's that.