Wednesday, December 26, 2007

We have the top political quotes

As we get closer and closer to the end of 2007, we at TBWA continue with our Top Lists of 2007. Today; The Top Ten Political Quotes of 2007; enjoy.

  • “Put your big-girl panties on.” – Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' advice to deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino, who replaced Tony Snow as White House press secretary (Meowwwww
  • “Think about it. Rudy Giuliani. There's… there's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11. I mean there's nothing else.” – Democratic presidential contender Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware (very nice Mr. Biden. Unfortunately you also said this this past yea:)
  • “You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) on Barack Obama
  • “Um, no.” – Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, on whether he misses President Bush (Ouch… not words you want to hear from your one-time BFF)
  • “Dumb as hell.” –President Richard Nixon, on tape, talking about Fred Thompson (Being called dumb by Nixon? That’s gotta hoit)
  • “It was an unidentified flying object, OK? It's, like, it's unidentified.” Rep. Dennis Kucinich on his UFO sighting (do I really need to say anything else?)
  • “I don't recall.” Former U.S. Attorney General and Bush(whacked) Administration Albatross Alberto Gonzales
  • “I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9% approval rating.” – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Ouch)
  • “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.” – Former President Jimmy Carter (pretty hard to argue with that…)
  • “(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom.” Senator Larry Craig trying to explain why his foot touched the foot of an undercover police officer in an airport men's room known for gay pick-ups (Gonna take me another 2 weeks to get that image out of my head…)
  • “I would not refuse to meet Barry Manilow.” – Mitt Romney. (Reason enough to not vote for him…)
  • “You never point your gun at the carcass of a dead animal.” — Mike Huckabee. (Good safety tip, thanks Egon)

That’s it for 2007…I am on vacation starting tomorrow until January 2nd. So I will see you all when I get back from visiting the evil empire Disney World. See you in 2008. With elections, lameduckiness ® and all, it should be one helluva year…

Things are slow going this day after Christmas, so whilst you break-down boxes, put together kids’ toys and try to get your daughter’s latest Barbie out of the box, enjoy today’s ‘BushWhack’ing…

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!!


from Kemp & Scott

Monday, December 24, 2007

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

One more shopping day left…

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The Weekly Rewind

Rather long Rewind this week folks, so we’ve split it up into 2 parts… enjoy!

Applaud: to the memory of J. Russell Coffey. Mr. Coffey passed away yesterday at the astonishing age of 109. If you’re wondering what is so special about Mr. Coffey, he was one of only three known World War I veterans remaining. We at TBWA salute you Mr. Coffey; we salute you…

Cross-pollinated Applaud/Heckle: Minor applaud to Mike Huckabee (r-AK) – don’t revoke my Liberal credentials just yet, hear me out – for calling Bush’s foreign policy, in an interview with Foreign Affairs magazine no less, indicative of an “arrogant bunker mentality.” (the man is speaking the truth – probably one of the few times in his life he can claim that). That was the applaud, the heckle goes to presidential opponent Mitt “Mormonism doesn’t define me. Have I mentioned I’m Mormom?” Romney. After kissing Bush’s ass vociferously defending Bush all week, he told an Iowa crowd this past week that Huckabee sounded like a Democrat and suggested that “we ought to be saying thank you to the president for keeping us safe these last six years.” (Um… NO). He went on to say that Huckabee “went over the line” and “owes the President an apology.” (Awww, poor little Georgie got his feelings hurt and now widdle Mitt is mad too. What is this, a presidential campaign or a grade school??)

Über-heckle: to the first Democratic-led Congress in a dozen years. After sweeping into office in last years mid-terms, they limped out of Washington this past week with an impressive job of getting nothing done regarding core issues that helped sweep them into power. Let’s hope they get their act together in 2008… or we’ll be faced with more ineptitude and inabilities…

Heckle: to republican tool Joe Lieberman (I r-CT). I think we all know why…

Applaud: to things that just make you feel good. Ann “Adam’s Apple” Coulter’s latest book, is an unmitigated disaster as it “hasn’t caught fire” with book buyers as it has undersold her previous book by 136,000 volumes. Brings a smile to my face…

Heckle: to awkwardness. The Senate confirmed Julie Myers as head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this week. Comes two years after “President” Bush originally nominated her and a few weeks after she awarded “Most Original Costume” to an employee who dressed in an offensive Halloween costume… nice message Senate… besides the fact that she doesn’t really have the qualifications for this post, confirming her so soon after she handled an internal matter very poorly is inept to say the least…

Applaud: to Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey for telling more people what some already knew. In a new interview with Stars and Stripes, General Casey calls the current state of the Army “out of balance,” because it’s been stretched by the President’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan… (welcome to the self-evident point that thousands knew months ago…)

Heckle: to republican Rep.Ted Poe (r-TX). He’s speaking out about Halliburton (which is something republicans just don’t do). Earlier this week on CNN, Mr. Poe said that he doesn’t think the gang rape in Iraq of former Halliburton/KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones was an “isolated case of assault” and encouraged “other victims” to contact his office. Now his office has been contacted by three additional women claiming that they were also victims of sexual assaults while working for KBR in Iraq. (Way to go Mr. Poe. Halliburton has always played fast and loose with the law, and it’s refreshing to see a politician go after them; especially a republican politician. Don’t be harangued into letting this go – keep at at)

Applaud: to Sen. Tom Coburn (r-OK) for threatening to withhold support for legislation making technical corrections to the 2005 highway bill. He says he will withhold support for the bill if it doesn’t require a “full and open” investigation into the “Coconut Road earmark” of fellow-republican Rep. Don Young of Arkansas. (Isn’t it sad fun when party-members fight amongst themselves? That’s entertainment. The only thing that could make it better would be if they were both in the same Congressional house…)

Heckle: to coming really late to the party. Senior Bush(whacked) Administration officials now believe that Afghanistan may pose a “greater longer-term challenge than Iraq.” (Mr. Obvious, I want you to meet Mr. Noshit Sherlock… dumb-asses...)

Applaud: to Rep. Pete Hoekstra (r-MI), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, for promising to push forward a probe into the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations, thus ignoring a request by the DOJ that congressional inquiries be suspended… (Way to go Pete… though I am worried that I am applauding yet another republican. I better go see my doctor… I must be sick…)

Heckle: to former Senator Bob Kerrey (D-NE) for speaking out of his ass. Earlier this week on CNN he asserted that Barack Obama had spent time “in a secular madrassa” and tried to play it up as a strength. Problem is, Obama never attended a “secular madrassa” (as proven by CNN earlier this year). Another problem is this brings back an issue that originally was created by conservative pundits to make people question Obama’s loyalties, and now Kerrey has brought it up again. Why? Because Kerrey is an idiot who is turning into a retired version of Joe Lieberman. Here’s some advice Bob; STFU.

Applaud: to Congress. Look everyone, Congress actually accomplished something!! (Sorry, couldn’t resist). Congress “struck back at the Bush administration’s trend toward secrecy” earlier this week and passed legislation aimed at toughening the Freedom of Information Act while also increasing penalties on agencies that don’t comply...

Heckle: to the FCC for trying to bring back the concept of monopolies. They’re pushing ahead to pass a rule today that would allow more consolidation of local media ownership, essentially allowing one person/group own as many media companies as they want. (Personally, I think FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin is pushing the rule through without listening to public opposition, which is very high. Not surprising, just one more example of how this administration does whatever the hell it wants; public opinion be damned…)

Applaud: to Saudi Arabian King Abdullah for pardoning a teenage gang-rape victim. She had been sentenced to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term for being alone with a man unrelated to her.

Heckle: to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Speaking at Chapman University earlier this week he revealed that he doesn’t even really “like” being a Supreme Court justice, saying; “There’s not much that entices about the job. […] There’s no money in it, no privacy, no big houses, and from an ego standpoint, it does nothing for me.” (then quit ya useless putz… seriously, can’t we get him removed for this crap??)

Applaud: to Senator, and Democratic presidential candidate, Chris Dodd (D-CT) for showing some balls and threatening to filibuster Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and his decision to bring legislation to the Senate floor that would provide retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in the Bush(whacked) Administration’s illegal spying efforts. Dodd won a victory, albeit temporary, after his filibuster threats forced the Dem leadership to push back consideration of the measure. Naturally, Reid tried to cover his ass and appease his republican cohorts (as so many Democrats have done this year) by saying the threat of a Dodd filibuster had nothing to do with the decision to table the vote. (Bull. Shit. Dodd was doing what the majority of Americans want to do, not allow retroactive immunity. Reid, like fellow majority leader Pelosi, have done little this year except kowtow to republicans and to a lame-duck president that has approval numbers lower than Lynn Spear’s mothering abilities… way to show something there Mr. Dodd…)

Heckle: to the EPA for doing the administration’s bidding. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson denied California’s long-standing request for a waiver from federal law so they could implement their own regulations to slash greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The Agency said it didn’t find that separate California standards were needed to “meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.” (Idiots… pure, unadulterated idiots…)

Applaud: to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (r-CA). He’s planning on suing the federal government over the above decision to not allow California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and is citing the administration’s “failure” to treat global warming seriously… (that’s some mighty fine political work there Lou…)
Applaud: to a recently-released USA Today/Gallup Poll that showed Americans giving the president, congressional Democrats, and congressional Republicans unfavorable ratings “by more than 2-to-1 margins.” (As was said in one of my favorite movies “Blazing Saddles”; ‘…and they be right’)

Heckle: to the rumor (though it certainly sounds like something he would do) that Vice President Dick “President” Cheney met with executives of the auto industry before the White House killed the California emission law… EPA staffers told the LA Times that EPA administrator Stephen Johnson “made his decision” only after Cheney met with the executives… (Once again, an agency makes a decision because of influence from the White House… something they’ve made into an art form…)

Applaud: to making the snark just too damn easy… “President” Bush held a year-end press conference this morning and talked about “the good, bad and the unfinished”… damn joke overload…

Heckle: to the fact that Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) is still in the Senate and is still as corrupt as he’s ever been. He’s been under investigation by the FBI for his relationship with Alaska energy company Veco and his use of earmarks to reward his friends. This past summer, Stevens’ home in Alaska was raided by FBI agents in Alaska. Despite this, he hasn’t changed his behavior as he added $88 million in “earmarks and directed spending” to this year’s omnibus bill, some of those earmarks include: $113,000 for “rodent control”, $975,000 for berry research and $825,000 for “alternative salmon products”

Applaud: to Maj. Gen. Doug Stone, who oversees detainees for the US-led force, for asking what many are wondering. He has been “wondering aloud” lately asking and wondering if holding all these detainees is breeding a ‘micro-insurgency’ (short answer; yes)

Heckle: to Bush’s idea on what makes a good president, from a Bush press conference earlier this week; “And secondly I would say, how do you intend to get advice from people you surround yourself -- who are you going to surround yourself, and what process will you have in place to ensure that you get the unvarnished opinion of advisors?” (People like Karl Rove? Alberto Gonzales? Scooter Libby? Harriet Miers? Like I asked recently, what color is the sky in your world George?)

Applaud: to GAO Comptroller General David Walker, speaking to the National Press Club earlier this week, said; “If the federal government was a private corporation and the same report came out this morning, our stock would be dropping and some people would be talking about whether the company’s management directors needed a major shake-up.” The report he was talking about was a financial report that revealed the federal government’s total liabilities and unfunded commitments for future payments, as it relates to Social Security and Medicare, are now estimated at $53 trillion… another day older and deeper in debt should be the financial motto for this administration…

Heckle: to 37%. That’s the percentage of Americans that (Amazingly? Obdurately? Stupidly?) believe that “victory remains possible” in Iraq, down from 40% in November…

Applaud: to 57%. That’s the percentage of Americans that think the “most responsible” U.S. course is to pull most troops out of Iraq by the beginning of 2009…

Applaud: to the House for passing the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act earlier this week. The Act ensures that future soldiers who are discharged as a result of combat-related wounds receive the full compensation to which they are entitled by the DOD. The bill was a result of Iraq war vet Jordan Fox, who revealed last month hat some wounded soldiers were being asked by the Pentagon to return the bonus they received for enlisting. (it was the right thing to do… to bad it even had to come up. The mere fact that the DOD did this in the first place is both sad and pathetic… but what should we expect from this administration??

Take ‘em as you will…

Friday, December 21, 2007

What color is the sky in your world George?

As if we needed more proof that “President” Bush is a little… off… I give you this.

Earlier this week former President Bill Clinton stated that in the Hillary Clinton administration, he and former President George H. W. Bush would travel around the world together to help improve the international reputation of the United States that had been destroyed by the current Bush.

During a presser today, President Bush said he already does that in his current job, saying; “It’s what I do during my presidency. I go around spreading good will, talking about the importance of spreading freedom and peace.”

Um… not really… what you do is go around spreading fear… spreading ignorance… spreading intolerance.

What you do is go around asking for the opinions of world leaders and promptly ignore those opinions and do whatever the hell you want to do… opinions of the rest of the world be damned.

The man just doesn’t get it…

The Friday Presidential ‘BushWhack’ing

Thursday, December 20, 2007

We have ethics lapses

As the year ends, we look back at some of the Top Ten things of this past year. Earlier this week we gave you the Top Bushisms for the year, now we give you our Top Ethics Scandals of 2007. We can’t mention all of them, so these are our Top scandals. If you have one to add, leave a comment and let us know.


  • No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics. (Does this surprise anyone?? Did people really believe that either party would lead a charge about ethics and take away the perks associated with being a US politician? If you did, then you might be a little too naïve for politics)

  • Millions of missing White House emails still unaccounted for (Yeah, like they’re ever going to be ‘found’)

  • Head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Nancy Nord getting free travel from the companies she’s supposed to be regulating. More for Nord, her NOT wanting more money for her departmental budget, which could be used to ensure the agency could do their job properly. (This one is mind-boggling. She’s unqualified for the post – save for the fact she’s a Bush-crony and didn’t want more money for her budget. So instead of doing her job of keeping lead-laden toys out of the country, she’s flying around the world doing, absolutely nothing…)

  • White House covering up its role in the firings of the U.S. Attorneys (Does this surprise anyone? Does anyone really believe the White House will EVER come clean about its role in AttorneyGate? If you do, like above, you may be a little too naïve for politics)

  • Rep. Murtha’s abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked. (He’s friends with majority leader Nancy Pelosi; does anything else need to be said?)

  • FEMA knowingly let Katrina victims live in hazardous trailers. (FEMA has shown its disdain for Katrina victims time and again since the hurricane made landfall. This, unfortunately, is more of the same…)

Next up? The Top republican tools for 2007…

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

One more day closer to the Friday...

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

We got Bushisms!

It’s December, which can mean only one thing, it’s time for a recap of “President” Bush’s “intellect” from this past year... yes, I use the term intellect very, very loosely...

Dan Kurtzman of
About.com, is out with the Top 10 Bushisms of 2007, here are my personal favorites;

  • “And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it.” - (Here’s a chance for Bush to actually mean it when he says “Mission Accomplished”)
  • “One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be.” (See above…)“Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit. […] As John Howard accurately noted when he went to thank the Austrian troops there last year...” (Um, first of all, I think that was supposed to be the APEC Summit. Second, I think that was supposed to be Australian troops as Mr. Howard is the PM for Australia…)
  • “There are some similarities, of course (between Iraq and Vietnam). Death is terrible.” – (Wow, he has a great grasp of the obvious doesn’t he?)
  • “As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured.” – (Sorry, this one doesn’t surprise me in the least…)

Remember, we have one more year of this.

...

God help us...

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump-day…

  • Fire in the OEOB
  • Sen. Clinton has recaptured her lead in New Hampshire… and by reading the CNN story, everyone else should pack-up and go home – the election is over…
  • With the Iowa caucuses getting closer and closer, the mudslinging campaign ads are in full swing with the latest coming from republican candidate Mitt Romney and a salvo towards Mike Huckabee. Saying Huckabee is soft on crime, Romney is puffing up his record on crime as governor of Massachusetts and criticizing Huckabee’s record on crime as governor of Arkansas… I would say more, but the two candidates are starting to blur together…
  • While speaking about his campaign strategy of visiting Iowa every day until thje caucus, Fred Thompson said yesterday; “… I’ve had my mojo the whole time.” (Ya know, sometimes the snark just writes itself…)
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin was named Time magazine’s 2007 “Person of the Year” for “taking a country that was in chaos and bringing it stability.” (Really? Stability?) Some of the runners-up include Al Gore, Gen. David Petraeus and J.K. Rowling… (talk about an incongruent group of people…)
  • A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to appear in court Friday to answer allegations that it defied his demand to preserve evidence that could have included the destroyed CIA interrogation tapes, which the NY Times accuses former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of being in on… stay tuned, Friday could be an interesting day…
  • And have we mentioned? That every sectarian and ethnic group in Iraq believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them? It’s true, they also see the departure of ‘occupying forces’ as the key to national reconciliation. (Um… correct me if I’m wrong, but there were violent differences between all the groups before the US-led invasion, so I don’t believe that for a moment. Sounds like someone is employing the ‘toddler defense’ of not taking accountability for their own actions… but of course, that’s just my opinion…)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to Christmas Holiday Christmas...

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week, more absurdity...

  • Joe Lieberman (I r – CT) has endorsed Sen. John McCain (r-AZ) for president saying that McCain can reunite the country… Sigh, what more can I say other than Lieberman is a fucking tool…
  • As the first primary nears, the newspaper endorsements are starting to roll in… The Des Moines Register endorsed Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and The Boston Globe picked Barack Obama (D-IL). On the republican side John McCain picked up not only the Register’s endorsement but also the Globe’s… which snubbed native son Mitt Romney… (This is big news for the three camps as newspaper endorsements usually bring more clout than celebrity’s…)
  • Scary sentence in WaPo article; “As Congress stumbles toward Christmas, President Bush is scoring victory after victory over his Democratic adversaries.” (Scary but true. Many times this year the Democrats have looked to be growing a pair, but then they disappear…)
  • In a new interview with Stars and Stripes, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said that the current state of the Army is “out of balance” due to “President” Bush’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan… (well, duhhhhhhhhh)
  • And have we mentioned? That a republican, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (MI), is stirring the CIA videotape destruction pot? It’s true as Hoekstra, the ranking republican on the House Intelligence Committee, promised that he will push forward with “a probe into the destruction of CIA videotapes of detainee interrogations, despite a Justice Department request that congressional inquiries be suspended.” (Stay tuned…)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another day closer to TGIF… woot!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Bush White House Excuse #9,242

Earlier this week I wrote about Scooter Libby and his appeal dropping… well, it now seems that the White House and mouthpiece Dana Perino have a new excuse to not talk about it…

Some background; after Scooter Libby was convicted earlier this year, Dana Perino said that the White House wouldn’t and couldn’t comment on it because it was an ongoing criminal proceeding.

Flash-forward to a July 2007 press briefing with Tony Snow. Snow assured the White House press corps that “we’ll deal with it” after Libby’s appeals were exhausted.
This past Monday Libby dropped is appeal and, almost immediately, the White House avoided commenting on the case…

QUESTION: Okay. Well, now that the appeal — there is no longer any appeal, can you speak to what the President thinks about Scooter Libby disclosing the name of a CIA official?
PERINO: I did not have a chance to talk to — chance to speak to the President after this announcement was made this morning, and so I don’t have his immediate reaction. He gave a lengthy statement in July in regards to the commutation and so I’ll have to refer you to that for now.


Reporters asked again yesterday if Perino could comment… I’m sure you can guess the response;
QUESTION: Have you had a chance yet to speak with the President about Scooter Libby since he dropped his appeal?
PERINO: Well, you might have missed the gaggle, but I’ll refer you to those comments I made in the gaggle.


Which obviously leads to the question of what exactly Dana said in the gaggle, right? Well, knowing this administration, what she says would obviously lead to yet another convenient excuse to NOT answer the question about the White House’s involvement in the Plame leak.

What do you know, I was right…

Perino said that she hadn’t spoken to Bush yet, but she cited the Wilson’s ongoing civil case as a reason not to comment, saying;
“I did talk to our counsel’s office because I forgot that there is a civil case that is pending on this issue. I did forget. The Wilsons have filed a case in civil court, it was dismissed, and they are on appeal.”


Wow… how convenient

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump day… let’s get to it.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Presidential Poll Positions

As mentioned in this morning’s ‘BushWhack’ing, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll is showing something interesting.

Granted, I don’t usually trust polls… but the more I think about this one, the more I think it might actually be pertinent to the campaign as a whole.

The poll (1,002 adult Americans conducted by telephone by on December 6-9, 2007 with a margin of error +/- 3%) pit the top 3 Democratic candidates – Clinton, Edwards, Obama – against the top 4 republican candidates – Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Romney – in a head-to-head mash-up.

(Aside; notice who is conspicuously absent? The man called the second-coming of Ronal Reagan, Fred Thompson. Once heralded as the savior of the republican party, his campaign has disintegrated and all’s that’s left now is a couple of endorsements and little else…anyway; back to our post…)

In the poll, the Democrats swept the republicans out the door faster than Rush Limbaugh going through a bottle of OxyContin, well, anything really...

The numbers, as the saying goes, don't lie:

Against Guiliani:
Clinton 51% to Giuliani’s 45%
Obama 52% to Giuliani’s 45%
Edwards 53% to Giuliani’s 45%

No large deficits there, but it’s still interesting… and about to get more interesting…

Against Romney:
Clinton 54 % to Romney’s 43% (11 point deficit)
Obama 54% to Romney’s 41% (13 point deficit)
Edwards 59% to Romney’s 37% (22 point deficit)

A pattern starts to emerge…

Against McCain:
Clinton 48% to McCain’s 50% (statistical tie)
Obama 48% to McCain’s 48% (statistical tie)
Edwards 52% to McCain’s 44% (8 point deficit)

Against current gop-darling Huckabee:
Clinton 54% to Huckabee’s 44% (10 point deficit)
Obama 55% to Huckabee’s 40% (an incredible 15 point deficit)
Edwards 60% to Huckabee’s 35% (a staggeringly large - and smug - 25 point deficit)

At first blush we realize a few things about this poll; John Edwards runs stronger against ALL of the republicans in the survey and John McCain is the strongest republican candidate.

So in simpler words; anyone the Democrats run will beat the republicans…

Let’s just hope we, and by we I mean ALL DEMOCRATS, don’t do something stupid and screw this up…

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Have at it...

Monday, December 10, 2007

Nicely done

As I sit here and ponder what could have been with a presidential run by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), take a gander at a letter he wrote to Attorney General Michael "Not yet an albatross" Mukasey. Wrote Feingold;

“During the hearing on your nomination to be Attorney General and in your answers to questions submitted for the record, you repeatedly refused to answer questions related to interrogation techniques on the grounds that you had not yet been briefed on the CIA’s interrogation and detention program. I was disappointed with these responses. […] Nonetheless, now that you have been sworn in as our nation’s Attorney General and presumably have been briefed on the program, I urge you to provide your views on its legality to Congress at the earliest possible date.”
Your turn Mr. Mukasey...

'Scooter'ing Libby

Seven months after “President” Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter “Perjurer” Libby he is dropping his appeal in the CIA leak case. Quick recap; Libby was Cheney’s former COS who was convicted earlier this year on obstruction of justice and perjury charges.

Said Libby’s attorney Theodore Wells; “We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby’s innocence. However, the realities were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and several years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his young family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great to ask them to bear.”

AP notes that Libby is still a convicted felon, but mentions that Bush could issue a full pardon as his administration winds down… say on January 19, 2009…

Remember back in July when White House Press Secretary Tony “Job” Snow said that the Bush(whacked) Administration couldn’t discuss the Libby case because there was “still an appeal” going on…

So I guess {he typed, his eyes rolling hard in his head} we can expect a discussion about this from the White House soon…

Right?

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week, another helping of a thing we like to call the Daily ‘BushWhack’ing...

  • Have you heard that Oprah Winfrey is stumping for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)? Yeah, me neither… in case you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm…
  • Hilarious CNN political headline of the day; “gop debaters try civility” (Um… okay…)
  • Apparently four members of Congress (both Democrats and republicans) were briefed in 2002 about waterboarding and other CIA torture techniques and allegedly no objections were raised on that day. (this revelation hardly surprises me… I’ve always suspected that some in Congress knew about the torture and chose to either ignore it or accept it while publicly ignoring it. Now what? Stay tuned…)
  • South Carolina is embracing gop presidential candidate Mike Huckabee not so much for Rudy Giuliani… does that surprise anyone???
  • “President” Bush is suffering from Ollie North-itis as he is saying he has “no recollection” of videotapes existing that show CIA interrogations of al Qaeda suspects or CIA plans to destroy the tapes… (For a president, he certainly doesn’t know a lot about what’s going on within his own administration… rather scary isn’t it??)
  • And have we mentioned? That “President” Bush likes to surround himself with people as, (ahem), smart as he is? White House Press Secretary Dana Perino appeared on NPR’s quiz show “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” over the weekend and revealed her most stressful moment on the job. During a White House briefing, a reporter referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Perino “panicked a bit” because she didn’t “know about” it. Said Perino; “It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I’m pretty sure.” (Wow… great deducing there Ms. Perino. Did you really think her most stressful moment was going to be about Iraq, Osama bin-Laden, AttorneyGate, Iran or the Constitution?. Of course not, it’s something that happened over forty years ago… something that most people learn about in grade school or high school. Nothing like surrounding yourself with the best and brightest George…)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

The Weekly Rewind

It’s been one of those weeks, one where it was mighty hard to find anything to Applaud in the world of politics. Irregardless of that… sit back, open your brain and enjoy this week’s Weekly Rewind… right… now!

I said NOW!

Now??

How about… now!?

Please blogger, how abouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut… NOW! Awright it finally worked…

Applaud: to the findings of the NIE that stated that Iran stopped its nuclear program back in 2003.

Heckle: to the spewing rhetoric coming from every conservative, and a few Liberals, about how the NIE changes nothing, how it’s a ruse to allow Iran to continue its program and part of a clever Iranian deception campaign and how it’s a ploy to undermine the administration (please, they don’t need any help with that)

Applaud: to a group of senators showing some backbone to “President” Bush. A few weeks ago Bush announced an “enduring” occupation of Iraq that was to be implemented without the approval of Congress. But a group of senators are saying ‘not so fast there Georgie-boy’ as earlier this week Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) sent a letter to Bush about committing the U.S. to a long-term presence without congressional consent… (It’s on…)

Heckle: to Sen. Arlen Specter (r-PA). The same week that he took offense at being described as a “puppet” of President Bush by Harry Reid (D-NV), he objected to “contempt resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential political guru Karl Rove for failing to respond to subpoenas” regarding the U.S. attorney scandal… meaning the vote has now been postponed so Specter could “revise the draft resoltions.” (Yeah, no puppeteering going on there at all, no sirree…nope, Specter worked under his own accord I’m sure. It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)

Applaud: The House approved the Energy Independence and Security Act today, 235-181. The bill would raise CAFÉ levels for cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, would require utilities to generate 15% of their energy from renewable sources and would greatly increase funding for biofuels. Naturally, the White House is threatening to veto the bill… (And once again the claims that this administration cares about people are disprove… but why should that surprise anyone?)

Heckle: to Bush’s abstinence-only policies at work, or lack thereof. A new government report shows that the teen birth rate in the U.S has risen for the first time in 14 years, jumping 3% from 2005 to 2006… it had been dropping since 1991. (So all that money that Bush and his party have thrown at programs that stress abstinence have done less than a condom bought at a bowling alley…)

Applaud: to the Senate and House intelligence committees. Earlier this week they sent a “sharp rebuke to White House counterterrorism policy” when they announced that “all American interrogators (nned) to abide by the Army Field Manual, which prohibits coercive methods.” Essentially it means that they’ve outlawed the techniques used by the CIA… though knowing the CIA, they’ll get around it…

Heckle: to not knowing when to shut-up. A few Senate republicans are thinking about calling for a congressional commission to investigate the conclusions of the new NIE on Iran as well as the specific intelligence that was in it… (Those wacky conservatives, they just want their new war, don’t they? Can’t leave well-enough alone can they?)

Applaud: to an unknown gop aide who said this earlier this week; “(they’re) not only the kings of pork, they’re outright hogs.” The aide was speaking about Sens. Tad Cochran (r-MS) and Ted Stevens (r-AK), who have “collected more money in earmarks than any other members of Congress.” (Precisely why Stevens is being investigated by the FBI… some people never learn…)

Heckle: to losing a LOT. A Pentagon Inspector General report shows that more than $1 billion in military equipment has gone missing in Iraq. The report details a “massive failure in government procurement” and mentioned that most of the missing equipment is military equipment and services that were provided to the Iraqi security forces. Among the missing, 12,712 out of 13,508 weapons that includes pistols, assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and machine guns… (this is not the first time this has happened in Iraq, and many times the missing equipment isn’t found until it is used against our military. Something, anything, needs to be done to ensure this doesn’t happen again…)

Applaud: to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE). He assailed “President” Bush’s claim of not having previously learned of the NIE’s findings earlier this week by saying it’s “unbelievable”, adding; “If that’s true, he has the most incompetent staff in modern American history, and he’s one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history.”

Heckle: to someone not doing their homework. During a speech earlier this week to announcing a plan “to ease the mortgage crisis for consumers, “President” Bush gave out the wrong number for the new “Hope Now Hotline.” This I can’t blame on Bush but rather his communications staff who should have verified the information before the speech was okayed… btw, the correct “Hope Now Hotline” number is 1-888-995-HOPE.

Applaud: to the Government watchdog CREW for not being afraid to kick-up a hornets nest and for letting the public know what’s going on behind the scenes in Washington. They released a report earlier this week that details “massive failures and billions wasted at the Department of Homeland Security.” A few highlights: $24 billion has been spent, and at least $178 million wasted, on the failed Coast Guard Deepwater program. Over $600 million has been allocated for radiation border scanners that don’t work and a projected $2 billion loss on the SBInet “virtual fence” border program…. (And this is the department created to keep our nation safe… do YOU feel safer??)

Heckle: to the CIA for destroying tapes of “harsh interrogations.” While the agency was “in the midst of congressional and legal scrutiny” over its secret detention program in 2005, the agency “destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation” of two suspected Al Qaeda operatives out of concern that they could “could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy.” (Um… okay, apparently they’re following the same logic as Bush and his administration; namely flawed logic. I don’t want to say anything more about the agency; lest I be hauled away in a white windowless van…). Though the news did lead to a nice…

Applaud: to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) for calling on Attorney General Mike Mukasey to investigate CIA officials that destroyed the above mentioned videotapes. (You go Dick!)

Applaud: to military families that have seen this administration for what it is. According to a new Bloomberg/LA Times poll, 37% of military-family members “approve of the job Bush is doing as president. Add to that that a paltry 36% of active-duty military, veterans, and their families believe “it was worth going to war in Iraq.” That number was 64% in 2004. To read more, visit our newest blogroll link; VetVoice, who as a LOT more

Heckle: to incessant whining. Former Bush counselor Dan Bartlett, in an interview with the Texas Monthly, that the White House press corps is too “critical” of Bush, saying; “I think White House correspondents have been tagged, unfairly, with not being tough enough on the administration and President Bush in the run-up to the war. If you go back and look, they asked all the right questions. The problem is, they’re acting now like they have to be five times more critical, and I think they’ve gone overboard.” (It’s either that or it could be the President’s complete disregard of the people… the Constitution… the law… take your pick…)

Applaud: to knowing that the instability of Mount Rushmore won’t permit any more carvings. Why are we applauding that? Because a former republican congressman from New York wants Ronald Reagan carved into Mount Rushmore… (I just threw up in my mouth a little) Fred Eckert has been busy trying to create an image of what the landmark would look like if Reagan’s face were carved into it. And now you can see the result online at… at… at…. I’m sorry, I can’t link to the site, I just can’t… my ethics won’t allow it. Just be thankful that Mount Rushmore can’t have any more carvings on it, otherwise we’d be screwed…

Heckle: to seemingly making it up as you go. The Defense Department, along with top military officials that includes Gen. Petraeus, are looking to show progress in Iraq by citing the numbers of Iraqi Security Force units that are deemed “independent.” All fine and good, but a report by the GAO says that it’s “unclear” how the Pentagon and its officials have reached those conclusions… (Um, my guess is a Magic 8 Ball…)

Applaud: to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – been a long time since I’ve been able to applaud her – for forging ahead with a $21 billion tax package that includes repealing of tax breaks for major oil companies. Heckle within to Bush who has, naturally, promised to breakout his veto crayon again. (Again, some signs of balls from the Democrats in Congress… let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come)

Heckle: to Fox “News”. Monday afternoon, the Bush(whacked) administration released a new NIE report that revealed Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Naturally, and rightfully so, the story was featured prominently that night on all three network newscasts… and ignored by Fox “News”, with 3 out of 4 Fox primetime shows ignoring the report… (This doesn’t surprise me. With all media undermining everyone else, Fox “News” is one of the worst offenders and heaven forbid they report on something that goes against their let’s-start-a-war-with-Iran-conservative-drumbeating…)

Applaud: to yet another resignation within the Bush(whacked) Administration. This time it’s State Department IG Howard Krongard, who has been under scrutiny, for a long time really, over his handling, or lack thereof, of investigations into State Department contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan… (at this rate, the head at State is going to be intern Lisa… then again, maybe not)

Heckle: to something we all knew… like every other department that doesn’t have anything to do with Iraq, the FDA is grossly underfunded and understaffed and, in essence, putting U.S. consumers at risk in terms of food and drug safety… (Granted, this isn’t new, the CPSC is in the same boat. The only difference is that the head of the FDA wants more money and the head of the CPSC doesn’t. What more can be said, we still have a little over a year left of this administration…)

This week’s conservative tool of the week is a 2=fer. The first one is none other than the man himself, Vice President Dick “President” Cheney. Earlier this week the heart-pounding veep gave an interview with Politico in which he said that he is “confident” Iraq will eventually be in a “good” enough place that the administration will be able to look back and say, “That was the right decision. It was a sound decision going into Iraq.” When will that time be you ask, well, according to Cheney it will be January 2009… coincidentally enough the month that this administration leaves office. (Uh-huh…/i>) Cheney went on to say that by the middle of January 2009, it will be clear that “we have in fact achieved our objective in terms of having a self-governing Iraq that’s capable for the most part of defending themselves, a democracy in the heart of the Middle East, a nation that will be a positive force in influencing the world around it in the future.” (Um… okay. Granted, time will tell and I suppose anything is possible… but from what I’ve seen and heard from others outside the MSM, a year is nowhere near enough time for all of these things to happen, so stay tuned…)

The second conservative tool of the week is former Arkansas governor and current gop presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. First it was revealed this week that he pushed for the release of a convicted rapist, Wayne Dumond, even though he was warned that the convict would strike again… which he did shortly after being released. Add to that the fact that he didn’t know one damn thing about the NIE. Do we really want another brain-challenged president in the White House? Have we learned nothing from the current commander-in-chief???

Friday, December 07, 2007

It continues...

As I’ve written twice already this week, “President” Bush said he was never informed by the intelligence community that Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003… many people, myself included, thought that that was highly unlikely…

Turns out we were right…

From CNN;

“President Bush was told in August that Iran’s nuclear weapons program ‘may be suspended,’ the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday.”


Sensing that the cat was out of the bag, the White House issued a statement that said McConnell told Bush “the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran’s covert nuclear program.”

Soooooo…. Bush knew that Iran “may have suspended” its nuclear weapons program and, because of that, the intelligence community was “changing its assessment” or Iran… but that didn’t stop Bush from spouting his war-drum chants of “World War III” or of “nuclear holocaust” because nobody told him specifically to stop…

Since when does a President need to be told to stop something???

The Friday Presidential ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIF… only a few weeks until the first primary of the season and the candidates are getting, shall we say, edgy...

December 7, 1941


Let us never forget...

Thursday, December 06, 2007

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Here we go again...

  • Finally reacting to the mortgage crisis here in the states, Congress and the White House have worked out a deal, which “President” Bush will announce later today, that will keep interest rates constant for five years for financially troubled homeowners. (Let’s hope it works, or this crisis will spiral further out of control…)
  • “President” Bush was told back in August that Iran’s nuclear programmay be suspended”, a direct contradiction to what Bush said earlier this week. (And this should surprise us how? This is a pattern that this administration has followed since they took office; using twisted logic, lying and subterfuge to get what they want… did anyone really think that this leopard would change its stripes just because their term is ending? Hah!)
  • It’s been kept pretty quiet, but have you heard that Mitt Romney’s giving a speech today where he will tackle his faith and its place in politics? (It’ so hard to express sarcasm in the written form… the speech should be interesting and will do one of two things; boost his numbers with conservative evangelicals, or sink his numbers with conservative evangelicals; stay tuned.)
  • Mirroring his rise in Iowa, Barack Obama is gaining steam in New Hampshire as Hillary Clinton sees her lead shrink… and keep an eye on Edwards… and… Ron Paul, seriously???
  • Blue Dog Democrats are causing havoc in both houses of Congress right now…
  • Echoes of Willie Horton as Mike Huckabee is seeing his quick rise in the polls being threatened by a man named Wayne DuMond, a convicted rapist that was freed due to strong support by then Arkansas governor Huckabee. After his release, DeMond promptly raped and killed another woman.
  • And have we mentioned? That a former republican congressman from New York wants Ronald Reagan carved into Mount Rushmore? It’s true; Fred Eckert has been busy trying to create an image of what the landmark would look like if Reagan’s face were carved into it. And now you can see the result online at… at… at…. I’m sorry, I can’t link to the site, I just can’t… my ethics won’t allow it… (Wow… who needs coffee when you have horrifying things like this??? At least we know it won’t happen as the stability, or lack thereof, of Mount Rushmore won’t permit any more carvings… thank God!)

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

He still doesn’t get it...

Yesterday I wrote about the incredible lack of logic displayed by Bush regarding the NIE report that says Iran stopped working on their nuclear weapons program in 2003.

Yesterday I hoped that someone, anyone, in his administration, his cabinet, his house, would tell him the facts.

Didn’t happen.

This morning “President” Bush was in Nebraska and said;

“It is clear from the latest NIE that the Iranian government has more to explain about its nuclear intentions and past actions.”
Huh?

No George, the latest NIE does NOT mean that the Iranian government has more to explain… it DOES mean that your administration has more to explain on who knew what, what they knew and when they knew it.

Less than two months ago, Bush famously elicited images of another World War when he said;
“… if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. And I take this very -- I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously.”

Of course that’s all fine and good… Iran having a nuclear weapon would be bad… but with the revelations about the NIE coming out… did Bush already know that Iran had suspended their nuclear weapons program in 2003 when he said that?And if he did, does saying what he said and banging the war-drums merit censuring or, at the most, impeachment?

And before you trolls jump up and down on me about a witch hunt, it’s not just Liberals and Democrats that are getting fed-up with Bush’s (choose one) logic and/or lack of intelligence.

Joe Scarborough had Pat Buchanan (via telephone) on MSNBC this morning to discuss the recent NIE revelations about Iran as well as Bush's sad and pathetic performance yesterday when he said he didn't find out about it until just now.

It’s safe to say that Joe and Pat are dubious about that concept, with Buchanan even suggesting that Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) needs to get back to DC and hold hearings about who knew what, and when. Buchanan also called on Biden to bring Condi Rice and Stephen Hadley before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and ask them if they knew about the NIE report, and if they had ever told Bush, and if either of those two knew about this report, and didn't tell Bush about it, they should be fired immediately…

And Buchanan wasn't the only one firing off at Bush as Scarborough said;
"We are left with only two options here. Either the President of the United States is lying to the American people about what happened during that meeting, or the President of the United States is stupid."
It seems that Joe Scarborough and Buchanan (who are no where close to Liberal about anything) has had it with this administration.

There seems to be a shift evolving with the release of the NIE… people who usually would support the president, no matter what, are realizing that he may be as off-the-chart as many of us have already said…

Stay tuned…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

We’re digging out from snow here in Chicago-land...

  • Apparently “PresidentBush and Iranian President Ahmadinejad use the same kind of logic (a term I use loosely). Today Ahmadinejad called the NIE report that downgraded Iran as a nuclear threat a “declaration of victory” for the Iranian nuclear program. (What. A. Tool. Talk about stirring up a hornet’s nest. Instead of keeping his mouth shut – hard task for him – he has to spout off and get everyone riled up again… and trust me, Bush will use this to up his war-rhetoric. Sigh…)
  • As an attorney, John Edwards knows when to use someone else’s problems to his advantage… and right now he’s using the Clinton-Obama spat to do just that. Will it work? Stay tuned…
  • Speaking of presidential candidates; republican candidate Mitt Romney has fired the landscaping company that does work around his house because they employ illegal immigrants. (Uh-huh… um, Mitt…)
  • WaPo political headline; ‘Nonprofits Become a Force in Primaries’. Crack reporting there guys…
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is forging ahead with a $21 billion tax package that includes repealing of tax breaks for major oil companies… naturally, Bush has promised a veto (it IS going after oil companies after all) but Pelosi is committed to getting it done. (Again, signs of balls from the Democrats in Congress… let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come…)
  • And have we mentioned? That former Arkansas Gov., and gop presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee has not heard of the recently released NIE? It’s true; The Politico’s David Paul Kuhn asked Huckabee what he thought of the new NIE, Huckabee’s response? He hasn’t heard of it. We’re talking about a PRESIDENTIAL candidate, who is lobbying to be in charge of this country, and despite the report being constantly in the news this week – the man has not heard of it… at all… come on now people, do we really want another person like this in the White House????

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Here we go again...

“President” Bush held his first presser in seven weeks this morning in order to not only admonish Congress for not seeing things the way he does (few people who walk upright do).

But the press corps would have none of that nonsense and turned the conference into a chat about the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago in 2003.

Most people (clarifier: most people with a working brain) would look upon that news as severely undermining the Bush(whacked) Administration's argument that Iran poses an imminent peril to the world and that ignoring the threat could lead to World War III… remember, I said people with a working brain.

Mr. Bush begs to differ, saying this morning;

“Look, Iran was dangerous. Iran is dangerous. And Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”
Um… okay… by that logic, wouldn’t a physics grad student armed with the internet also be “dangerous”??

The Bush(whacked) Administration also claims that it has new, “secret” information about Iran's weapons program, and that that information differs from the public NIE that was just released, and… and… why does all of this sound familiar?

.....

Oh, right… Iraq… WMD’s… right… must have blocked that out of my mind. Speaking of blocking things out… one has to wonder when Bush became aware of the NIE’s contents. Well, according to the man himself, he was “made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was Mike McConnell came in and said, we have some new information. He didn't tell me what the information was; he did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze...And it wasn't until last week that I was briefed on the NIE that is now public.”

Huh… so let me get this straight… a few months ago, someone said something about some new information about the number one threat to the world, and they didn't tell the leader of the free world what that information was…

Wow… that seems highly unlikely, doesn’t it?

Thankfully, there are apparently still some members of the press that use their brains, and one of them seemed as perplexed as I;
REPORTER: Mr. President, thank you. Just to follow, I understand what you're saying about when you were informed about the NIE. Are you saying at no point while the rhetoric was escalating, as "World War III" was making it into conversation, at no point nobody from your intelligence team or your administration was saying, maybe you want to back it down a little bit?
THE PRESIDENT: No, nobody ever told me that.
Wait a minute… let’s see what National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley had to say yesterday about the NIE;
“One, when the President was told that we had some additional information, he was basically told: stand down; needs to be evaluated; we'll come to you and tell you what we think it means. So this was basically -- as we said, this is information that came in the last few months, and the intelligence community spent a lot time to get on top of it.”

Now I’m confused… Hadley says Bush was told, Bush says he wasn’t told… but maybe he was, and he just forgot…

Honestly, how does this man walk upright?

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

As we gird for a possible winter storm here in Chicagoland, here’s today’s Daily Whacking…

  • Happy Hanukkah to all of TBWA’s Jewish friends, mazel tov!
  • Iran said today that the Bush administration must “pay the price” for what it called “lies” concerning Tehran's nuclear program… (this should end well. Anyone know the number to Bombshelters-R-Us?)
  • According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, republican presidential candidateJohn McCain is the man to lead America.” (Um… okay... and the fact that he’s down in most polls is a good barometer of that, right?)
  • “President” Bush is having a presser right now. He’s “pressuring” congress on spending and funding the Iraq war… he also just said that the NIE released yesterday regarding Iran is a “warning signal”… a warning signal to what exactly???
  • It was only a matter of time… With his rise in the polls, Mike Huckabee is no longer flying under the radar and his past policies are coming under intense scrutiny… drastic drop in the polls in four, three, two…
  • Sen. Clinton’s mud-slinging at Sen. Obama that he’s wanted to be president since Kindergarten is not having the effect her campaign thought it would. (My opinion; whomever it was in her campaign that thought this was a good strategy needs to be fired on the spot. Even the most un-knowing political novice could have seen that this was a bad idea and totally irrelevant to anything going on today. Dumb. Ass.)
  • And have we mentioned? That a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that terrorism and ‘social issues’ aren’t deciding factors for a majority of voters anymore? Contrary to the 2004 election that saw those issues as a driving force in the presidential race, the primary issues are now the economy and healthcare, with 52% of Americans saying those are the most important issues to them in choosing a president, compared with 34% who cite terrorism and social and moral issues as the driving factor. On the surface that seems to favor the Democrats, but only time will tell what this means for the 2008 election. As always, stay tuned…

Monday, December 03, 2007

Desperately seeking... desperation??

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is getting desperate.

Her lead is shrinking and signs are pointing to a Dean-esque like breakdown in her campaign… and one need only look at her campaign’s latest salvo against Barack Obama as evidence.

First they tried to use Obama's donations to other Democrats as a campaign issue (Norman Hsu seen hiding in the corner, pot heard calling kettle black) but since that didn’t work, the campaign decided to delve earlier into his life… and found something… something from his VERY early years that contradicts his recent overtures that he hasn’t always planned on running for president.

In Boston last week, Senator Obama said: "I'm not running to fulfill some long held plans or because I think it's open to me." Well, that got the Hillary Camp all aflutter, from HillaryHub.com;

“Senator Obama’s comment today is fundamentally at odds with what his teachers, family, classmates and staff have said about his plans to run for president. Senator Obama’s campaign rhetoric is getting in the way of his reality.”


Um… okay, what was the dastardly thing Obama said… let’s go to Obama’s Harvard Law School classmate Christine Spurell for that; “It was clear to me from the day I met him that he was thinking about politics.”

He was… thinking about politics… um, ok… what else you got Clinton camp? What’s that you said, 15 years ago, Sen. Obama told his brother-in-law he might someday think about running for president?

Ooooookayyyyy… he said he would maybe run for office… possibly even President.

Wow, that’s fascinating isn’t it? Is that all you got? It isn’t? What’s that you say? You say the Obama-plan was put into effect long before law school?

Kindergarten to be precise, that’s when Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President'

(An essay? In Kindergarten?)

He repeated this evil plan years later, third grade to be exact, when he wrote another essay entitled “I Want To Be a President.”

Well, that’s it then… we can’t vote for him… after all, he didn’t remember that he wrote essays before he was ten about his desire to become president…he didn’t remember that a law school classmate often thought that Obama would get into politics… he didn’t remember that he once told his brother-in-law that he might run for office someday…

This is what is being considered big news from Clinton’s campaign now…attempts to connect essays and conversation remembrances to reasons Obama shouldn’t win the nomination?

Christ, everyone wanted to be president in Kindergarten… it was that or a professional baseball player, ballerina or actor…

But Obama’s desire to be a president as early as five is enough fodder for the Clinton camp to attack.

Let’s get something straight, I am neither a Clinton fan nor an Obama fan (I have not yet made up my mind about the candidates, and won’t until closer to primary day… regardless of what comes out of the Twin Ego States) but this move is both sad, pathetic… and childish…

Obama’s camp isn’t allowing the inane arguments deter them, in fact they’re using them to their advantage. Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded to the charges with some humor, saying;
“I'm sure tomorrow they'll attack him for being a flip-flopper because he told his second grade teacher he wanted to be an astronaut.”


Clinton’s campaign needs to reign themselves in, or they could destroy their chances as quickly as one poorly-timed yell could…