The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hump day, let’s see who’s humpin... besides David Vitter...

• Remember how everyone keeps talking about how more and more republicans are becoming more and more frustrated about Iraq? Those feelings aren’t going away anytime soon as a group of gop senators are looking to make proposals that would change the troops' missions from combat to counterterrorism, border protection and training of Iraqi security forces (And oddly enough - and by oddly enough I mean not a surprise considering the source - no mention of withdrawal... or timelines... or benchmarks... what's the point?)
• This should come as a surprise to NO ONE considering it’s the Bush(whacked) Administration… “President” Bush’s first Surgeon General Richard Carmona, appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and said that the administration muzzled him on various health issues (stem cell research being one of them), and said “Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried.” (Doesn’t surprise me in the least, just another example of Bush pushing his ideologies and ignoring the facts...)
• Because “President” Bush claimed executive privilege, Former White House aide Sara Taylor will refuse to testify today about any matters that fall under the privilege, but she has said that she’ll offer a response to any other questions that won’t breach White House confidentiality… (or at least won’t breach whatever Karl Rove told her not to breach…)
• As Sen. Obama echoes Sen. Clinton’s sentiments about the Iraq war vote, Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign is not going well as more of his staff has fled the sinking ship resigned. (For a man who was once the front-runner for the gop nod, the rate at which his campaign faltered is downright amazing, yet highly entertaining)
• As if you needed more evidence that this administration has a hatred for, well just about everyone, the White House has promised to veto a House bill that would have slashed “subsidies paid to college student-loan companies.” Naturally the legislation had been attacked by the “$85 billion student-loan industry,” but “championed by industry critics.” (Nice move Bush… screw the little guys once again…)
• And have we mentioned? That you can put away the Color-Coded Terror Alert System… it seems the DHS has a new warning system; Michael Chertoff’s gut. Speaking to the Chicago Tribune editorial board, he said; “I believe we are entering a period this summer of increased risk” and indicated that his remarks were based, in his words, on “a gut feeling”… along with recent Al Qaeda statements and intelligence he did not disclose. (Uh… I just hope he’s not relying on his gut to tell him what to do… though that would explain Bush’s decision to invade Iraq…)

Clap America! Or the ‘surge’ will die…

Guess whose mouth is running like a baby's ass after eating chili??

That’s right, every republicans favorite Independent, Joe Lieberman (I r-CT).


This time he’s talking from the safety of Bill Bennett’s arms radio show and, besides launching a thoroughly unprovoked attack on Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), taking shots at every Democrat Senator who has dared to use their own mind and called for an end to this unjust war.

Said Lieberman;

“You know, Harry Reid said a while ago that the war in Iraq is lost. It's wrong. It's not lost. In fact, I would say we're beginning to win it. We've turned the tide with the new strategy. And in fact, I cannot conceive of a circumstance in which American forces would lose the war in Iraq, on the ground in Iraq. If we lose it, it's gonna be lost here at home, in a different kind of war for public opinion and political support.”

So Joe… what color is the sky in your world?

So essentially what he’s saying is that the surge is working, the tide turning, there’s no end to what we can do in Iraq and if we do lose the war it’s because 70% of Americans aren’t clapping hard enough to save Tinkerbell the war…

Tell you what Joe… hows about you say that to the families of the 520 troops that have been killed since the surge began.


What. A. Tool.

The Tuesday 'BushWhack'ing

A slow day equals a short ‘Whack’ing...

• Remember how it was reported yesterday that the White House was looking into a withdrawal plan for Iraq? Well, that was wrong and they’d like you to forget all about it mmkay… on second thought…(Nickels worth of free advice to the Bush White House; make up your damn mind…)
• As republican support for the Iraq war crumbles, Senate Democratic leaders are trying to gather gop support aimed at forcing Bush to start withdrawing troops (Even with republicans against him, I don’t think Bush is going to stray from his coveted ‘surge’ strategy as he’s already shown time and again that the only opinions that matter to him are his and Cheney’s…)
• The fallout from “President” Bush’s executive privilege invocation continues… (and now it seems some republicans are upset with Bush’s strategy. Could someone tell me what happens when a president loses the support of his own party?)
• According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 62% of Americans believe that “the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.” This marks the first time that number has surpasses 60%… in that same poll, Bush’s approval rating hit a all-time Gallup low of 29%… (Sometimes the best snark is not saying anything at all and just allowing the facts to speak for themselves. This is one of those times…)
• Back in April of 2005, AG Alberto “Albatross” Gonzales was testifying to Congress about the Patriot Act, and Gonzales said, under oath, that “there has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse.” Apparently his memory is crap because six days earlier the FBI sent Gonzales a report, one of at least half a dozen, that showed “legal or procedural violations” committed by FBI agents… (Eventually Gonzoles is going to have to get the hint that he’s doing more harm to Bush’s administration and leave. No man can be that stupid, right? I mean besides Bush…)
• And have we mentioned? That the DC Madam released her phone records Monday evening, and it’s already “ensnared” one politician as Sen. David Vitter (r-LA) apologized last night for his name appearing on the records… (I doubt that this is going to have as big an impact as some think, but we shall see…)

Have executive privilege, will travel

As briefly mentioned this morning in the “Daily ‘BushWhack’ing,” executive privilege is once again the order of the day as “President” Bush has invoked executive privilege in an attmept to “defy Congress’s latest demand for information” and to prevent Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers from testifying before Congress regarding the dismissal of nine U.S. attorneys or, as I call it, Attorney Gate. (It’s worth noting that this is the third time Bush has invoked executive privilege, and the second time he’s done so regarding AttorneyGate… conservative readers trotting out number of times Clinton did this starts in five, four, three…)

Per AP;

“President Bush invoked executive privilege Monday to deny requests by Congress for testimony from former White House aides Sara Taylor and Harriet Miers. It offered once more to make the pair available for private, off-the-record interviews on any role the White House might have played in the firings of several U.S. attorneys.”

White House counsel Fred Fielding sent a letter to the heads of the House and Senate Judiciary panels that insisted that Bush was “acting in good faith and refused lawmakers’ demand that the president explain the basis for invoking the privilege.”

Sure he is...

The invoking of executive privilege drew a heated response from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI);

“ We are extremely disappointed with the White House letter. While we remain willing to negotiate with the White House, they adhere to their unacceptable all-or-nothing position, and now will not even seek to properly justify their privilege claims. Contrary what the White House may believe, it is the Congress and the Courts that will decide whether an invocation of Executive Privilege is valid, not the White House unilaterally…”

And this from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-CT);

“I have to wonder if the White House’s refusal to provide a detailed basis for this executive privilege claim has more to do with its inability to craft an effective one. […] The privilege claim on testimony by former aides won't necessarily prevent them from appearing under oath this week, as scheduled. Leahy said that he expected Taylor, Bush's former political director, to testify as scheduled before the Senate panel on Wednesday.”

Now what?

It’s almost certain that Congress will go to court to contest Bush’s invocation of executive privilege… what happens after that is anyone’s guess, though there are two possible reactions to this, one a ‘real world’ response and another that fits perfectly into the world of George W. Bush… meaning it’s a fantasy-based option that only conservative Bushies can believe in.

I talked to my future sister-in-law, an attorney, and asked her a little about executive privilege, and she said that there are two types of it; ‘presidential communications privilege’, and ‘deliberative process privilege’, each of them covering a different type of privilege.

The ‘presidential communications privilege’ is the stronger of the two and applies to… oddly enough… communications… more specifically, it applies to actual communications with the president that occurred during the decision-making process and that’s it. And in order to invoke this privilege, the “administration” will essentially have to admit that the president was personally involved in the decision-making regarding the firing of the U.S. Attorneys

Wait, what?

Bush will have to admit that he was personally involved in the decision-making process regarding the firing of the U.S. Attorneys… something he and the White House have constantly denied to this point…

Veeeeerrrry interesting...

The other privilege, ‘deliberative process privilege’, allows the governmen to withhold documents and other materials that would reveal “advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.”

That sounds a little more like the current situation… but it doesn’t allow as much blanket protection as the first one does.

And then there’s the fantasy… according to David Rivkin, a senior lawyer under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George “I’m not my son, please don’t confuse me with my son” Bush, the White House may be eager to go to court on this issue because Fielding believes he has a strong case and that Congress has a weak claim to demand internal documents and testimony from the executive branch because the president has the right to fire U.S. attorneys without input from lawmakers...

The long and short of it is thus; unless Congress is willing to avail itself of either of the two more direct remedies available, censuring or impeachment, we should expect a long court fight… and even then, no promise of any action...


Stay tuned...

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another week begins, what will the administration do to embarrass themselves this week??

• Here’s something to make you feel nice and safe and protected. It seems the White House's failure to fill various leadership posts at the Department of Homeland Security has created a “gaping hole” in U.S. preparedness for a terrorist threat or attack… (Better start stocking-up on duct tape now...)
• Defense Secretary Robert Gates postponed a trip to do his job help the White House prep a “progress report” (a term I’m using very, very loosely) for the Iraq war… a report that I am sure will be honest, straightforward and not at all politicized… uh, huh…
• Has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) finally found her balls strength???
• The Bush(whacked) Administration continues to thumb their noses at the law as they once again decide to ignore Congress’ calls for more information about AttorneyGate… (and they’ll continue to do so until someone calls them on it… and the nation is waiting….)
• Considering that the “last pillars of political support” among Senate republicans “is collapsing”, and the fact that the “Iraqi government is unlikely to meet any of the political and security goals or timelines President Bush set for it in January when he announced a major shift in U.S. policy”, there is much debate within the White House for “President” Bush to announce his intentions to begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from some high-casualty areas… (I’ll believe it when I see it… and even then I may not totally believe it…)
• And have we mentioned? That the White House Press Corps has some new digs as the briefing and press rooms are finished after an 11-month refurbishing… (Does anyone outside of those that work there care??? I doubt it, though I’m sure Danny Concanon would be thrilled…

Cheers: to a new Newsweek poll that shows Bush's approval at 26%... better watch out Dicky, Bushy is on your heels and knocking on your door...

Heckle: to still not having a clue. As my esteemed collegue pointed out earlier this week, at the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers.” Unbeknownst “even to many on his staff,” Bush has summoned “leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House” to discuss questions like, “Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?” Ah, George we hate to tell you but it is you, remember that poll we just talked about? The feelings run wide and deep around the planet.

Heckle: to taking abuse of power to a new level. For the first time in his presidency, Bush commuted a sentence without running requests through lawyers at the Justice Department, White House officials said. He also did not ask the chief prosecutor in the case, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, for his input, as routinely happens in cases routed through the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. And with this administrations track record this is a surprise to who?

Cheers: to the plurality of Americans finally seeing the damn light. Want proof? 69% of voting Americans “disapprove of “President” Bush commuting the 30-month prison sentence of ‘Scooter’ Libby… wow, there is hope for the country… thank God…

Cheers: to the plurality of Americans again as a recent poll by the American Research Group shows that 54% of American adults want the US House of Representatives to “begin impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney.” That includes 76% of Democrats, 17% of republicans, and 51% of Independents. Incidentaly, the same poll found 46% of voters in favor of doing the same thing to “President” Bush, including 69% of Democrats, 13% of Republicans, and 50% of independents… (The times, they are a’changing…)

Cheers: to at least doing something to challenge this abuse of power. The Washington Post reports House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers is “expected to move swiftly to conduct hearings on the commutation”, congressional sources said. We at TBWA applaud Rep. Conyers.

Heckle: to the sad fact that U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton believes that President Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison term may also wipe out his two-year probation. “Strictly interpreted, the statute authorizing probation indicates that supervised release ’should occur only after the defendant has already served a term of imprisonment,’” Walton wrote. We here at TBWA are not surprised at this turn…

Cheers: to finally growing a pair, as the U.S. this week publicly accused Iran of intervening in the Iraq conflict, claiming that its Revolutionary Guard played a role in an attack that killed five Americans and was using Lebanese militants to train Iraqi insurgents. And we are just calling them on this now?

Heckle: to a study that shows the economic American dream “that children would be more prosperous than their parents, is in question as perhaps never before.” Since 1973, “median family income has been essentially flat,” and men in their 30s “earn roughly $5,000 less than their father’s generation.” For those of us in our 30’s or early 40’s this is not a surprise at all.

Heckle: to the fact that President Bush equated the war in Iraq with the U.S. war for independence during a speech on Wednesday. Like those revolutionaries who ‘dropped their pitchforks and picked up their muskets to fight for liberty,’ Bush said, American soldiers were also fighting ‘a new and unprecedented war’ to protect U.S. freedom. I cannot even begin to express my shock at his comparison….clueless does not even touch the total ignorance of the shit that comes out of his mouth more and more.

Cheers: to the nearly half of the National Hurricane Center’s employees who urged the Bush administration to replace their boss. “The staff of the National Hurricane Center would like nothing more than to return its focus to its primary mission of protecting life and property from hazardous tropical weather,” they wrote, “and leave the political arena it now finds itself in.” As we have said before, when you start playing policitcs in the area of science no one wins…

Well folks it is getting hot here today in the midwest. Mind you not as hot as in the southwest, but hot none the less. Time to post and go for a dip in the pool!

Oh and least I forget, a very happy birthday to my collegue and co-writer, Kemp. Best friend and like minded politico, have a great day pal!

Be good, stay informed….later

An Excellent Question

Hat tip to a new a blogroller, Upper Left, for finding this truly excellent question from John Nichols of The Nation: “The question for Democratic voters is this: Do they want to replace Bush with someone who is acceptable to the same people who gave us Bush? Or do they want a real change?”

Before you answer, think about this; if the only measure is money, then the same lobbyists and interest groups that defined the Bush era will define the post-Bush era as well, regardless if the next president is a Democrat or a republican. If your goal is to truly end the Bush era of misdeed, miscalculation, cronyism and the like and to set a brand spanking new course, then grassroots Democrats must look beyond the money and toward the ideals and idea primary…

So… what’s your answer???

Generally Speaking

Well, well, well… another retired General has spoken out against Bush and his war… but this is not just another retired general… this is retired three-star General William Odom, who was also the Director of the NSA under… wait for it… President Ronald Reagan...

...

I’ll give a moment to allow any republicans reading this blog a moment to regain consciousness…
In an editorial/essay for Harvard University’s Nieman Watchdog, General Odom has called for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq…

You can read the entire essay HERE.

This isn’t new, as General Odom has spoken out against the war before (read his Nieman essay from August 3, 2005 HERE), but this time he’s gone one step further, this time he’s provided Congress with a 3-Step plan to persuade “President” Bush to end the war;

“… the first step should be to rally the public by providing an honest and candid definition of what "supporting the troops" really means and pointing out who is and who is not supporting our troops at war […]

The next step should be a flat refusal to appropriate money for to be used in Iraq for anything but withdrawal operations with a clear deadline for completion […]

The final step should be to put that president on notice that if ignores this legislative action and tries to extort Congress into providing funds by keeping U.S. forces in peril, impeachment proceeding will proceed in the House of Representatives. Such presidential behavior surely would constitute the "high crime" of squandering the lives of soldiers and Marines for his own personal interest.”

Daaaaaaaaaammmmnnnnn… that’s gotta hoit…

I think it would be safe to say that Odom’s essay is a derisive and searing article that seeks to make change…

And he doesn’t keep his scorn to Bush, but also the (so-far) inept Democratically-controlled Congress by rebuking them for allowing Bush to smack them down “into submission” with accusations that anyone who wants withdrawal doesn’t support the troops… hence his first point in General Odom’s plan.

It seems that on a daily basis more and more people are beginning to see that our military is, as Odom writes, “combat-exhausted to the point of losing effectiveness.”

Also, it seems more and more people are finally starting to realize that the person responsible for getting us into this war is not protecting the country with his actions, but doing the exact opposite.

Thinking about this, anyone with their own brain must agree with Odom about what action Congress should take if “The Decider” or whatever idiotic name he’s going by now remains obstinate:

They must take action… they must take decisive action.

Whether it be censuring, impeachment or resignation, something needs to be done.

(Personally, I don’t think that impeachment is the best option, merely for the fact that if Bush were impeached, then Cheney would be elevated to president… and we certainly don’t want that…)

Still… perhaps if more leaders like General Odom spoke out about the war, something could be done to actually end it…

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIF...

• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D R I-NY) is taking some of the attention away from Rudy Giuliani… and in the process is putting a “harsh light” onto him as well as people focus on the negatives of Rudy’s mayoral term in New York...
• Another one bites the dust… “President” Bush has lost another Iraq war ally, this time in the form of long-time republican Senator Pete Domenici (r-NM). Long a supporter of the Iraq quagmire war, yesterday Mr. Domenici reversed course and called for an “immediate change in US operations” that would result in a pullout by spring… (I wish I could say that this would change things, but we’ve already seen that Bush doesn’t give a rats ass about anyone’s opinion but his own… having said that, if enough republicans jump ship from the war, maybe Congress can actually ‘Check and Balance Bush’s ass so to speak…)
• After President Clinton and Sen Clinton opined about Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby, the White House criticized them and references them as hypocrites… (Uh, yeah… “Hi Kettle, this is the Pot… you’re black.”)
• Christopher Dodd (D-CT) is still in the presidential race... who knew...
• And have we mentioned? That there are problems at the National Hurricane Center? According to ABC News, close to half of the NHC’s employees have urged the Bush(whacked) administration to replace their boss… seems their current one is, surrprise – surprise, a BushCrony and has a tendency to let politics interfere with their jobs. Their letter stated: “The staff of the National Hurricane Center would like nothing more than to return its focus to its primary mission of protecting life and property from hazardous tropical weather, and leave the political arena it now finds itself in.” (Nice chutzpa there everyone, too bad its gonna fall on deaf ears…)

Benchmarks? What benchmarks?

Hat tip to Barbin at Daily Kos for pointing me to this tasty tidbit that I read shortly after hearing about yet another former Bush/Iraq war supporter abandoning the president, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), and calling for a withdrawal timeline…

Way back in January when “President” Bush announced his “surge” strategy (and I use that term very loosely), he said that one of the benchmarks (though he didn’t use that word) of success would be the time that the Iraqi government (I use that term very loosely) passed legislation regarding oil revenue sharing.

Said Bush: “To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis.”

Spiffy, huh?

Bush didn’t stop spewing this crap in January…

February: “They're in the process of finalizing a law that will allow for the sharing of all revenues among Iraq's peoples...making it clear to the Iraqi people that they have a stake in the future of their country by having a stake in the oil revenues.”

March: “As we help the Iraqis secure their capital, their leaders are also beginning to meet the benchmarks they have laid out for political reconciliation. Last month, Iraq's Council of Ministers approved a law that would share oil revenues among Iraqi people.”

Hmmmmmm…

April: “The Council of Ministers recently approved legislation that would provide a framework for an equitable sharing of oil resources…”

Okaaaaayyyyyy…

May: “The council of ministers has approved legislation that would provide a framework for equitable sharing of oil resources. We strongly believe...that a good oil bill will help unite the country.”

Wait a second, something’s amiss here…

June: “At home, most of the attention has focused on important pieces of legislation that the Iraqi Parliament must pass to foster political reconciliation -- including laws to share oil revenues...I speak to the Prime Minister and I speak to the Presidency Council quite often, and I remind them we expect the government to function, and to pass law.”

Did I just sense a change in tone there??? I think I did…

Two days ago, WH mouthpiece Tony “Rhymes with Blog” Snow announced that the “President”: “...had phone calls with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the three members...They do report that they have now transmitted to the council of representatives, their legislature, the oil law, and are hoping quite soon to have a related piece of legislation, one that has to deal with the distribution of oil and hydrocarbon revenues, before the legislature quite soon.”



Quite soon huh? Well, many not as 'quite soon’ lasted until yesterday when attempts to pass a key oil law were snarled once again by vast differences among Iraq's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, thereby delaying any debate about the issue even though PM al-Maliki had claimed a breakthrough.

And it wasn’t a minor glitch that stalled the legislation but rather a fatwa (religious edict) issued by a Sunni organization that said the bill was “religously forbidden.”

Oh, and the Kurds also objected...

As did the Shiites...

Yessirre… getting an oil revenue sharing law passed should be a cinch right?

And when it’s passed… the violence will end as well, right?



Right????

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

Hope you had a nice Independence Day, let’s get it on...

• For reasons passing my understanding, Sen. John Edwards’ haircut story just won’t go away...
• With the commuting of Scooter Libby’s prison term and his refusal to rule out a full pardon still fresh in people’s minds… “President” Bush visited an Army base yesterday and equated the war in Iraq with the US war for Independence… uh, okay… sure...
• The spin is starting to heat up between Senators Obama (D-IL) and Clinton (D-NY). A few days after Clinton unveiled her new slogan (thankfully it doesn’t involve Celine Dion) of “Ready for Change, Ready to Lead,” Obama said in a campaign swing through Iowa that “change can’t be just a slogan.” (This is where the campaign could get interesting… if Obama and Clinton start focusing their spin and rhetoric towards each other, one of the other candidates – Edwards, Richardson, et al – could sneak past them and take the lead. That’s one of many reasons that I think this presidential race is going to be one for the books…)
• Remember the big-ass US Embassy being built in Baghdad? Besides being over budget, there are now worries that it is being constructed in a manor that could best be described as shoddy… add to that the fact that US diplomats are growing “increasingly fearful” over their personal safety and you have the increasing possibility that the embassy may go largely un-inhabited.. but at least it cost a lot of money...
• And have we mentioned? That a new Rasmussen poll shows that George Washington continues to be the nation’s most popular president, with a staggering 94% of Americans viewing him favorably. The highest unfavorable rating for any president? That honorific belongs to Richard Nixon, with 60% of the respondents having an unfavroable opinion of him. But the more enjoyable news is that very, very close on Nixon’s heels for The Most Unpopular President is “President” Bush, with 59% of Americans having an unfavorable opinion of him. One has to think that Bush will eventually overtake Nixon as the most unpopular president… my bet is sometime next year he will jump the 60% threshhold… who’s with me?

July 4, 2007

No Daily 'BushWhack'ing, no snark*, no criticism... only a wish for all of you to have a happy and safe 4th of July!!!

* If we were handing out snark, we could possibly mention that the Democrats had the fundraising edge last quarter... or that the Democratic presidential candidates are invading Iowa... or that Bush is inexplicably NOT ruling out a full pardon for Scooter... and from ThinkProgress, here's something to gnaw on... close to 88.7% of Americans will partake in some kind of July 4th festivities today, will spend “more than $275 million on hamburgers and hot dogs,", while 61% will be waving American flags, 28% have Independence Day decorations (my wife probably accounts for 90% of those) and 45% have July Fourth garb "in their closets."

Break the law, do no time

As most of you probably know, and as I mentioned in this morning’s "'BushWhack'ing", “President” Bush commuted Scooter Libby’s sentence yesterday, meaning that he won’t have to serve any jail time for breaking the law.

So let me get this straight… he broke the law… but he won’t have to serve jail time…

That just makes me head hurt.

Oh, sure he’ll still have to pay the $250,000 fine… but I’m sure that the Libby Defense Fund (soon to be renamed the committee to re-elect Ronald Reagan Fred Thompson) can muster that without breaking a sweat.

So with “President” Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, he has essentially told the country and the world that he and his cronies are above the law and should suffer no repercussions from any of their actions.

Great lessons to be passing on, isn’t it?

And how about the American people? Well, back in March polls showed that Americans strongly opposed pardoning Libby by a 3 to 1 margin… and according to a poll taken last night by SurveyUSA, 60% of Americans say Bush should have left the judge’s prison sentence in place, with 68% of republicans and 80% Independents disagreeing with Bush’s decision.

But according to Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, who was on The Today Show this morning defending Bush’s decision, Americans who are “screaming and yelling” over the commutation are being “ridiculous.”

So one man decided that a criminal should not have to face the consequences of breaking the law.. and we’re the ones being ridiculous???
This from a man who still to this day believes that there are WMD’s in Iraq…

We’re not the ridiculous ones ya schmuck, you and this administration are… and a majority of the American people agree with me… and today editorial boards across the country are coming out against the communtation as well, with at least 13 major newspapers editorializing against Bush’s decision… and they highlight the national disapproval of of the commutation.

How about some examples…

New York Times: “Presidents have the power to grant clemency and pardons. But in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell.”

Washington Post: “We agree that a pardon would have been inappropriate and that the prison sentence of 30 months was excessive. But reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did — to probation and a large fine — is not defensible.”

Chicago Tribune: “But in nixing the prison term, Bush sent a terrible message to citizens and to government officials who are expected to serve the public with integrity. The way for a president to discourage the breaking of federal laws is by letting fairly rendered consequences play out, however uncomfortably for everyone involved.

And this one from the Dallas Morning News is my favorite: “Nearly a decade ago, a GOP-led House impeached President Bill Clinton for lying under oath and obstructing justice in a civil deposition. Yesterday, a Republican president commuted the sentence of former top White House staffer Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted of the same thing in a criminal investigation. Republicans are known for being tough on crime. Apparently there’s an exception when the criminal is a member of President Bush’s inner circle.”

Add to those above San Francisco Chronicle, Rocky Mountain News, Detroit Free Press, The Denver Post, New York Daily News, The Arizona Republic, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News, and the Seattle Post Intelligencer.*

And keep in mind that a good deal of these papers have incredibly conservative editorial boards.. .and they are coming out against the commutation…

January 20, 2009 cannot come soon enough.

*Tip o’ the hat to Editor & Publisher

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Let’s get this post commuted started...

• In case you were under a rock and hadn’t heard, Commander Cuckoo Bananas commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby Monday afternoon, hours after a judge had ruled that Libby wouldn’t be allowed to remain free during the appeal process. (The contempt for law that this administration and this president have is absolutely staggering, and I sincerely hope it comes back to seriously bite them on the ass someday…sooner rather than later…)
• The meetings between “President” Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin can best be described in one word; “frosty.” Seems US missile defense systems are the sticking point… (Wow… did we just time-travel back to the 1980’s???)
• BTW, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is pissed… but he’s doing a good job of hiding it with his professionalism. The Next Hurrah has this statement from Mr.Fitzgerald’s spokesperson; “We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative. We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as “excessive.” The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing. Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.” Keep it up Fitz, you have a lot of people behind you… and I suspect that number will increase as more people realize what Bush has done and what it could mean in the future…
• And have we mentioned? That Senator John McCain’s (r-AZ) campaign is in trouble. They raised a scant $11.2 million last quarter and had to layoff approximately 50 staff members. Most analysts say it was his support for the failed immigration-reform legislation, coupled with an intense distrust by many conservatives that hurt him most… let rumors of his campaign ending start in five, four, thr— there they are…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Let’s get it on...

• This explains it all. With a disastrous war, plunging approval numbers, the inability to pass any legislation and the continuing weakening of his status within his own party, “President” Bush is still “at ease.” (I know I can not be the only one who finds this troubling… right? He’s ‘at ease’ even though he got this country into an unnecessary war that’s claimed over 3500 American lives alone and can’t get any of his policies passed? What the hell is wrong with this man????)
• Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has jumped ahead in the money-raising race this quarter, raising $31 million.
• Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) isn’t going to let Bush or the White House hide behind ‘executive privilege’ or anything else, and now he’s saying that he will try to cite the White House for contempt if they don’t turn over documents related to AttorneyGate. (That’s all fine and good, but anyone reading this blog knows as well as Leahy does that that won’t do a damn thing. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, the president and this administration have already shown their derision for the law, so why would they let this bother/affect them?)
• News that’s sure to make everyone’s skin crawl: the Bush(whacked) Administration is most likely going to move-up its program for a “new-generation nuclear warhead” into the development stage within a year, with the goal of putting the program “on track before the end of its term in January 2009.” (Great… do you have YOUR bombshelter built?)
• And have we mentioned? That 77% of Americans believe the Iraq war is “going badly.” The new poll from CBS News shows that the 77% disapproval level is a new high and is up from the 66% it was at two months ago with “nearly half”, 47%, saying that the war is going “very badly.” (I’m almost certain that the 23% who think it’s going well are employees of the White House… that or they’re idiots… take your pick)