F%@k the Intelligence!

Months before the Iraq invasion, President Bush apparently ignored a 2002 Oval Office briefing in which CIA director George Tenet provided the president with intelligence that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction, according to former Clinton advisor and Salon columnist Sidney Blumenthal.

Reporting in Salon, Blumenthal writes that according to his sources, two former CIA officers,"Bush dismissed as worthless this information from the Iraqi foreign minister, a member of Saddam's inner circle, although it turned out to be accurate in every detail. Tenet never brought it up again."

Blumenthal also adds that the intelligence from that day was left out of the National Intelligence Estimate of October 2002, which definitively stated that had WMD.

"The president had no interest in the intelligence," a CIA officer disclosed. "Bush didn't give a fuck about the intelligence. He had his mind made up."

  Raw Story

Well, almost. He did "give a fuck" about the intelligence. And he pronounced it "worthless". Worthless because it had negative value in promoting his intention to invade Iraq.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Outmatched

Democrats are apparently having second thoughts on the new powers they handed Gonzo just before they went on vacation. I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting they're only having those second thoughts because of the public outcry.

Aug. 18 — Broad new surveillance powers approved by Congress this month could allow the Bush administration to conduct spy operations that go well beyond wiretapping to include — without court approval — certain types of physical searches on American soil and the collection of Americans’ business records, Democratic Congressional officials and other experts said.[...]The dispute illustrates how lawmakers, in a frenetic, end-of-session scramble, passed legislation they may not have fully understood and may have given the administration more surveillance powers than it sought.

  NYT

In fact, if they were following their normal course, they didn't even read it. That's our Congress. It's a crying shame, but there's no surprise there.

Democratic leaders have said they plan to push for a revision of the legislation as soon as September. “It was a legislative over-reach, limited in time,” said one Congressional Democratic aide. “But Democrats feel like they can regroup.”

Where they get that belief is beyond me. They haven't been showing very well so far.

Though many Democratic leaders opposed the final version of the legislation, they did not work forcefully to block its passage, largely out of fear that they would be criticized by President Bush and Republican leaders during the August recess as being soft on terrorism.

Hand them the power, and they're still afraid of being criticized by the people the power was meant to be taken from, including the man who's credibility with the public is tanking into the toilet and from whom presidential candidates in his own party are distancing themselves. Infuckingcredible.

Yet Bush administration officials have already signaled that, in their view, the president retains his constitutional authority to do whatever it takes to protect the country, regardless of any action Congress takes.

[...]

At a tense meeting last week with lawyers from a range of private groups active in the wiretapping issue, senior Justice Department officials refused to commit the administration to adhering to the limits laid out in the new legislation and left open the possibility that the president could once again use what they have said in other instances is his constitutional authority to act outside the regulations set by Congress.

[...]

At the meeting, Bruce Fein, a Justice Department lawyer in the Reagan administration, along with other critics of the legislation, pressed Justice Department officials repeatedly for an assurance that the administration considered itself bound by the restrictions imposed by Congress. The Justice Department, led by Ken Wainstein, the assistant attorney general for national security, refused to do so, according to three participants in the meeting. That stance angered Mr. Fein and others. It sent the message, Mr. Fein said in an interview, that the new legislation, though it is already broadly worded, “is just advisory. The president can still do whatever he wants to do."

So, really, it doesn't make a whit's difference what legislation the Congress might pass. George will do as he pleases. Waste all the time you want passing laws. He's above them. And "impeachment is off the the table," according to Ms. Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

Well, why not? You can't impeach a king.

He Does Read, After All

We already know that George doesn't read much, or even pay much attention to what's read to him (Bin Laden Determined to Attack US, for example). Just what does the president read? Newspapers reporting on his fashion sense, apparently.

Last week, Marques Harper of the Austin American- Statesman wrote a short piece about the president's sartorial style on his Texas ranch, where Bush is spending a two-week vacation.

[...]

"The president has two distinct looks when he's in Texas: the ranch-hand man and the crisp appearance of a ranch owner. In recent months, with his sliding popularity, he's opted to look more like 'Walker, Texas Ranger' than a sweaty, tough ranch hand." In the piece, an image consultant offered that Bush needed to "step it up" to keep his "bravado image" on the ranch.

[...]

Harper received a phone call that morning from White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino, who, Harper told friends, said the president read the article and was unhappy about the way he was portrayed.

  WaPo

Here's the article reprinted in the Kansas City Star. It ends:

In his Western duds, Bush easily could model for Ralph Lauren. But if his popularity is still low through the end of his presidency, he could always try Wrangler.

What was the purpose of calling the style reporter and informing him of the president's displeasure? There's a joke here somewhere about the Emperor's New Clothes, but I can't think what it is.

And speaking of the presidential vacation...

The French first lady feigned a sore throat so she didn't have to attend the picnic with the Bushes.

And, in an article titled "The Vacationer-In-Chief", Capitol Hill Blue reports that, as of last week, George has been on vacation more than a year (418 days) in his less than six years as president.

Finally, for the curious:

As of December 1999, President Bill Clinton had spent only 152 days on holiday during his two terms, according to CBS News.[...] While we couldn't find the exact tally for Clinton's last year in office, it's reasonable to expect he didn't increase his vacation rate. And in barely three years in office, George W. Bush [had] already taken more vacation than Clinton did in seven years.

[...]

George Bush Sr. took all or part of 543 vacation days at Camp David and in Kennebunkport. Ronald Reagan spent 335 days at or en route to his Santa Barbara, California, ranch during his eight years in office. Of recent presidents, Jimmy Carter took the least days off -- only 79 days, which he usually spent at his home in Georgia. That's less than three weeks a year, which is closer to the average American's paid time off of 13 days per year.

  Yahoo

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who can't. --Mark Twain

Do the Words "Heat Stroke" Mean Anything To You?

I don't know who's more pathetic in this scenario - Bush or his staffers. Georgie setting people up with some machismo crap just because he's a pampered, mean-spirited bullying little prick (some day I'll tell you what I really think of him) is nothing new, but the fact that it could easily kill them, as it might in this case, is actually cruel. Despite Yahoo's misleading headline ("Bush leads aides on sweaty ranch run"), we don't have to worry about his heart - number one, he's not participating in the challenge, and number two, shriveled, black stones don't overheat.

Appropo of nothing....you have probably seen the picture of George picking his nose at a Rangers game before. I had never seen the video until today. Laura is sitting beside him at the same time wiping and picking at her nose, too. Check it out. Is there anybody who doesn't think they've just been snorting cocaine?

Gift Exchange

For a man rarely seen out of a sombre suit and tie, it could be seen as an inappropriate gift for Gordon Brown -- and even more so given the political sensitivities in Britain of the invasion of Iraq.

But US President George W. Bush gave Brown a present of a fur-trimmed leather bomber -- or aviator -- jacket when the prime minister visited him at his Camp David retreat, north of Washington, Sunday and Monday.

The brown jacket has a name tag with the prime minister's official title -- "Rt Hon (Right Honourable) Gordon Brown" -- on the left breast and a Camp David badge with the presidential seal on the other.

[...]

In return, Brown gave Bush a political biography, according to British broadcasters.

  Raw Story

You just know George thought he'd gotten the short end of that stick.

It is the exact same design worn by President Bush when he stood on an aircraft carrier 30 days into the Iraq war to declare "mission accomplished".

  Guardian

What's the message in this particular gift?

Brown rarely goes out in public in anything but a jacket and tie.

And friends last night predicted he would 'not be seen dead' in a bomber jacket, even one carrying the presidential seal and the "Rt Hon Gordon Brown" in gold on a patch, and trimmed with a fur collar.

Its value is likely to exceed the 140 pound limit on ministerial gifts, which means Brown must decide whether to buy it, or allow it to be put into storage.

  Big News Network

I guess we'll know where the "special relationship" stands if we ever see that jacket on Mr. Brown, eh?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Times Online

The Dick and The Bush - Stuck Together

As for Big Dick's assertion that he is exempt from oversight and reporting, the Chimperor is backing him up. (And so's their little pal Gonzo who shelved a request to look into the Dick's claims back in January. See my lengthier post on Cheney this morning to see where Gonzo fits into the Big Dick's schemes, evidence of why Bush will never fire the little piece of turd - he's Cheney's boy as much - and maybe more - as Dubya's. Ashcroft had a mind of his own, albeit a weird one. Gonzo isn't even writing his own opinions. At least some of them are coming from Cheney's office. The cartoons will have to start showing Cheney as the pupeteer with a marionette of George in one hand and Gonzo in the other.)

The White House said Friday that, like Vice President Dick Cheney's office, President Bush's office is not allowing an independent federal watchdog to oversee its handling of classified national security information.

An executive order that Bush issued in March 2003 — amending an existing order — requires all government agencies that are part of the executive branch to submit to oversight. Although it doesn't specifically say so, Bush's order was not meant to apply to the vice president's office or the president's office, a White House spokesman said.

  LA Times

With a straight face, no doubt.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

In Case of Emergency

Remember the post I recently published commenting about Bush's need for another trifecta?

With scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.

In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”

Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”

He laid this all out in a document entitled "National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51" and "Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20."

The White House released it on May 9.

[...]

It defines a “catastrophic emergency” as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government function.”

This could mean another 9/11, or another Katrina, or a major earthquake in California, I imagine, since it says it would include “localized acts of nature, accidents, and technological or attack-related emergencies.”

  Progressive

[He] gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”

And we know what he thinks of the Constitution.

Now you're feeling much better about the future, aren't you?

He's the Conductor Guy

Maybe he missed his calling. Dubya invited himself to conduct the orchestra in the middle of 'Stars and Stripes'. Apparently he did a good job, even if it was a bit presumptuous of him to walk up to the stage and ask the conductor to pass him the baton.

Canonfire says another King George did exactly the same thing.

Is it a side effect of syphilis?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

More BushSpeak

Shortly after Sept. 11, George W. Bush interrupted his inveighing against evildoers to crack a joke. Bush had repeatedly promised to run an overall budget surplus at least as large as the Social Security surplus, except in the event of recession, war or national emergency. "Lucky me," he remarked to Mitch Daniels, his budget director. "I hit the trifecta."

  Common Dreams article

Bush in Ohio, April 2007:

Nobody ought to ever hope to be a war President, or a presidency -- a President during war.

Well, you get the idea. "It just, poof!"

Bush's "speeches" seem to have gotten noticeably more incoherent lately. Have they quit giving him his meds, or have they just slowly started abandoning him to his own devices? Whoever was providing the prompting on his wire - has that person been removed? What are Karl and Dick up to?

Bubble Boy just doesn't know when to stay in the bubble within his bubble (the inner bubble) - but then, in the past, somebody's always bailed him out when he screws things up; perhaps he is conditioned to believe it will always happen.

This bit is just beyond my interpretive abilities:

It's an interesting war, isn't it, where asymmetrical warfare is -- and that means people being able to use suicide bombers -- not only, obviously, kills a lot of innocent people, like which happened yesterday in Iraq, but also helps define whether or not we're successful.

[...]

If the definition of success in Iraq or anywhere is no suicide bombers, we'll never be successful.

Does that mean that he realizes we have no chance at success in the "war against terror"? Because, the existence of suicide bombers somewhere would surely mean there was still terrorism, wouldn't it?

Think about that: if our definition is no more suiciders, you've just basically said to the suiciders, go ahead.

I'm trying to think about it. I just can't. I am incapable of understanding that. But I vote we preserve this man's brain for future scientific study, unless we're sure he isn't just syphilitic, in which case we probably already have enough specimen brains. Maybe it's my brain that's the problem, but it seems to me that if you allow for success to include some suicide bombing, then that's when you've said to the suicide bombers, go ahead.

Something else is "interesting" (and I really love this bit):

I like to remind people that my dad was a 18-year-old kid when he signed up to -- for the United States Navy in World War II, and went off to combat in a really bloody war. And yet, his son becomes the President, and one of his best friends in the international scene was the Prime Minister of Japan. Prime Minister Koizumi was a partner in peace. Isn't it interesting? I think there's a historical lesson there, that liberty has got the capacity to transform enemies to allies.

His father was just a kid who fought in the war, and yet his son became president. !! No mention at all that the father himself became president. Not even subliminal, that self-reference. Just slipped it in there, in a totally irrelevant context. The fact of the son becoming president has nothing to do with the "interesting" bit he is conveying about the Prime Minister of Japan becoming a "partner in peace" and best friend of Bush Sr. Is this guy all about himself, or what? (No mention of the son getting a pass on going into the really bloody war of Viet Nam due to his father's pulling strings, either.)

Iran wants to -- they've stated they'd like to have -- let me just say, we believe they would like to have a nuclear weapon.

I have to hand him some credit there for pulling back before he got off into that lie again. He did it again shortly, saying what he was describing is a real scenario, and immediately rephrasing it as "a real possibility for a scenario." Then again, I suppose it is only a matter of time before a new Office of Special Plans offers him cooked up evidence of the hints he's dropping. Worked before.

And then, again, since he said it a second time:

This is a nation that has said they want to have a nuclear -- or we believe wants to have a nuclear weapon.

The possibility exists that he's repeating the lie, knowing that even if he corrects it, the lie will be imprinted. But that's giving him credit for knowing what he's saying, and it's hard to make that judgment when you've got such overwhelming evidence against it.

He claims that he actually told Iraq's president that he, the President of Iraq, has an obligation to U.S. citizens to show people he's capable of moving Iraq toward reconciliation amongst conflicting factions. Yes, Iraq is obliged to satisfy us here.

But, if we were to leave before accomplishing that mission that we accomplished already...

[T]here would be a violence -- level of violence that would spill out beyond just the capital, could spill out beyond Iraq. And then you would have ancient feuds fueled by extremists and radicals competing for power -- radical Shia, radical extreme Sunnis, all competing for power. They would happen to share two enemies: one, the United States and Israel, for starters, and every other moderate person in the Middle East.

Where have you been George Van Winkle? From all accounts I've been reading, that's exactly what's happening - the competition for power amongst rivaling factors. And, aside from the fact that he has counted two enemies while listing many, to use one of George's favorite expressions, isn't it "interesting" that he refers to the United States and Israel as one?

By the way, just in case you didn't think the people in the audience are reading from cue cards provided by the White House, have a look at this question:

Mr. President, how would you respond to the rather mistaken idea that the war in Iraq is becoming a war in Vietnam?

His priceless answer was to enumerate some ways in which they are very different, and then to add, "There are some similarities, of course -- death is terrible." (And the other similarity: they're televised. Although I would debate that particular similarity, considering the televised reporting in Iraq is from embedded reporters. Not quite the same: in Viet Nam, the real war was televised.)

Anyway, this post has gotten way too long, so I'll finish with a question: What is it with this buffoon and the "I call it this - you can call it this or that or whatever" stuff? Is he doing musicals now? Tomato, tomahto, potato potahto. What?

I call it a global war against terror. You can call it a global war against extremists, a global war against radicals, a global war against people who want to hurt America; you can call it whatever you want.

[...]

I call it, reinforce, you can call it, surge, there's all kind of words for it.

You can read the "speech" - well, he calls it speech, you can call it a mindbender, garble, alcohol-induced blubbering; whatever you want - here. I certainly couldn't read it all. And there's another transcript of a later speech in Grand Rapids. A very quick perusal looks like they either put him back on his meds or gave him back the wire after that fiasco in Ohio.

You can check it out for yourself.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The Bush Dictionary

Via W3IAI from a recent Bushpeech:

“Diplomacy works when people sit down at the table and need something from you. That’s how diplomacy works.”

That would have come under "got you over a barrel" or "holding the purse strings" in my dictionary. But his is different. I understand that.

Bush also ascribes the phrase that all men are created equal, contained in our Declaration of Independence, to Abraham Lincoln. Of course, he considers the Constitution of the United States to be an obstacle to his own high ideals, so it's really no wonder he's a little fuzzy about the foundations of his country. (He only knows that it's "his", whether you agree to call him King or not. In fact, in his dictionary, president of the US is defined as the man who makes all the decisions - for the world, actually.)

Furthermore he has a "strong belief that freedom is universal" (unless he has already declared you an enemy noncombatant in the light of his fuzzy judgment).

You really should read the entire W3IAI post. You'll be amazed, even though you are thinking you cannot ever again be amazed at the astounding incomprehensibility of the Boy Who Would Be King.

“You can’t make your decisions, however, based on something that just changes; it just, poof.”

Take it up with the Pope, dude.

The Abortion Decision

Made by the Decider's activist court.

You know, I've been avoiding posting on this topic at all, but this statement of the King's just makes my head spin when I thought nothing else he actually would say - and, more to the point, get away with - could do that.

Dependable Renegade blogs it:

Today's decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America. [...] -G.W. Bush, 4/18/07

Well, thank goodness we got that Constitution out of our way.

My Last Word

Well, on the Virginia Tech killings, my last word. And it won't be to say anything about The Opportunist In Chief going to the school to preach, pray and have his picture taken. (How long did it take him to get to New Orleans when Katrina drowned thousands of U.S. citizens?)

Oh. I guess it will be to say that.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Golf Cart One

I wouldn't lie to you. Have a look.

...hey, do what you want. You will anyway....

In the age of irony

Roads were shut down Wednesday and residents living in nearby apartments between Dooley and Ruth Wall Roads were warned not to look out of their windows Wednesday. School busses from Grapevine-Colleyville ISD formed a perimeter around the site where President George W. Bush was scheduled to land. No one was going to get a glance of the president on his way to the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.

  Daily Texan article

And just why was Dumbnuts making that appearance? To receive the.....you can't make this shit up.....American Legislative Exchange Council's "highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award."

Freedom from public view, I guess.