40 posts tagged “bush”
A conservative talking head got dismissed from his think tank job for writing a book called The Impostor: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy.
Wow, Republicians really do live in their own reality:
Jerome takes a closer look at the latest ARG poll, and zeroes in on one of the poll's most astonishing findings:
Approve Disapprove
Republicans 84 12
Independents 17 75
Democrats 18 77If Rove and Co can't move those independents back into their column, they're going to be in a world of hurt.
(via Daily Kos)
What's gotten into the Weekly World News? Last week, I posted a link to a story they had written about Bush changing his name to God. This week, they are reporting more demigod-like behavior from the President:
With his controversial $500 million inaugural ball behind him, President George W. Bush has dropped another financial bombshell -- he's shelling out $82.5 million for a jewel-studded crown and sabletrimmed cape to wear during his second term in office.
And when new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pointed out that the Constitution bans blueblood titles, he snapped, "Heck, let's change it. Get me an amendment so I can be called 'Your Highness.' "
Insiders add that the Commander in Chief bristles at the suggestion that the traditional trappings of European monarchs send the wrong message to the American people, 40 million of whom live in grinding poverty.
I'm starting to think they might not like W as much as they did last year.
Currently being digested by my stomach: "Cheese Crackers" by Fastco.
Most ironic statement of the day:
PRESIDENT BUSH: I live in a transparent country. I live in a country where decisions made by government are wide open and people are able to call people to -- me to account, which many out here do on a regular basis. Our laws and the reasons why we have laws on the books are perfectly explained to people. Every decision we have made is within the Constitution of the United States. We have a constitution that we uphold. And if there's a question as to whether or not a law meets that constitution, we have an independent court system through which that law is reviewed. So I'm perfectly comfortable in telling you our country is one that safeguards human rights and human dignity, and we resolve our disputes in a peaceful way.
Currently playing in iTunes: The Song That Doesn't End by Spaceghost & Friends
Iowa was a "red state" this time around. Guess Iowans thought voting for the Republicans was good for farming. Well, Bush just gave the farmers the finger:
President Bush will seek deep cuts in farm and commodity programs in his new budget and in a major policy shift will propose overall limits on subsidy payments to farmers, administration officials said Saturday.
Such limits would help reduce the federal budget deficit and would inject market forces into the farm economy, the officials said.
The proposal puts Mr. Bush at odds with some of his most ardent supporters in the rural South, including cotton and rice growers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.
You reap what you sow. Farmers should not that better than anyone.
The Weekly World News has the scoop:
In a major sign that President Bush believes he has a huge mandate from his reelection, he's changing his name to "God."
"Bush has already remarked that God wanted him to be President," a top cabinet official says. "By changing his name to 'God,' he's just making it official."
I really like their depiction of the Democratic opposition as being "god-whipped":
Says a top Democratic senator, "We can't come out against God. We'll get killed."
Link: Weekly World News: BUSH CHANGING HIS NAME TO 'GOD' ...
Is there not a single public policy issue that Bush and I agree on? Now the money to fix the Hubble Telescope may be cut by the White House.
I don't think that Bush supporters are dumb, but they sure seem to have a general problem with denying the facts when they challenge their world view. In a sense, Republicans seem to support Bush out of a desire to avoid cognitive dissoance more than any thing else. Some proof:
75% believe Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda. 74% believe Bush favors including labor and environmental standards in agreements on trade. 72% believe Iraq had WMD or a program to develop them. 72% believe Bush supports the treaty banning landmines. 69% believe Bush supports the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 61% believe if Bush knew there were no WMD he would not have gone to war. 60% believe most experts believe Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda. 58% believe the Duelfer report concluded that Iraq had either WMD or a major program to develop them. 57% believe that the majority of people in the world would prefer to see Bush reelected. 56% believe most experts think Iraq had WMD. 55% believe the 9/11 report concluded Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda. 51% believe Bush supports the Kyoto treaty. 20% believe Iraq was directly involved in 9/11.
This gives all new meaning to the "reality based community." My colleagues who are into political psychology tell me that some voters won't vote for Kerry because to do so would require a conscience acknowledgment that they were wrong.
President George W. Bush rebuffed a plan last month for a Muslim peacekeeping force that would have helped the United Nations organize elections in Iraq, according to Saudi and Iraqi officials.
As a result, the UN continues to have a skeletal presence in Iraq, with only four staff members working full time on preparing for elections set for the end of January. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has refused to establish a new UN headquarters in Baghdad unless countries commit troops for a special force to protect it.
Saudi leaders, including Crown Prince Abdullah, personally lobbied Bush in July to sign off on the plan to establish a contingent of several hundred troops from Arab and Muslim nations. Abdullah discussed the plan in a 10-minute phone conversation with Bush on July 28 after meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to Saudi officials familiar with the negotiations.
Diplomats said Annan accepted the plan. But the Bush administration objected because the special force would have been controlled by the UN instead of by U.S. military officers who run the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Muslim and Arab countries refused to work under U.S. command, and the initiative died in early September.
Matthew Yglesias talks about the widening reality-based community. I want the t-shirt.
