In only eight days, if I wake up, turn on the radio and hear the president is having a press conference, I won’t have to turn the radio off.
Been a long eight years. Is there anyone left who cares one whit what George W. Bush has to say about anything?
Not what he says but what he does. Whether or not Cheney finally convinces him to bomb, bomb, bomb Iran or the Republican criminals he helps escape justice with pardons.
Just hearing that fake Texas accent, the sound of the word “nucular”, the constant mentions of “tererists” and “9/11” to justify any and all actions makes my skin crawl.
They lie so often they don’t even KNOW they are lying anymore. When they believe their own propaganda is that the end of civilization as we know it?
The rest of the world can now go back to respecting the US. Anywhere else they thought we were nuts to have an idiot like Bush in charge.
I caught snippets of the President’s (Bush) press converence. He was asked if he felt he made a mistake. A long rambling answer ensued. Among his points:
Iraq War – The ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner. Bush felt it sent the wrong message. He completely ignores the questions about whether we should have gone to war there in the first place, the complete absence of any credible post-invasion plan, the results of ignoring multiple generals about the force levels required or the allied support necessary. Instead, to him, it was a “message” problem. He’s viewing it as a public relations problem, not a real one.
Katrina – “Maybe I should have landed Air Force One in New Orleans, but that would have diverted police and other resources that were busy on mission” (my paraphrase from memorny). Again, he’s thinking that his big problem wasn’t the deconstruction of FEMA immediately after his election (neo-con philosophy that FEMA’s only legitimate function is to outsource and award contracts to private industry), and effectively de-funding FEMA post 9/11 in it’s subordination to Homeland Security Dept., or his selection of a totally incompetent party flunkie. Instead, he thinks it was just a public relations problem.
Social Security – He thinks he made a mistake in trying to push for Social Security privatization shortly after his re-election, because legislatures are “risk-averse”. He thinks he should have made it a center-piece of his re-election campaign. You would have thought after eight years I wouldn’t continue to be surprised by how out-of-touch this guy was. Just a few minutes before, he repeated that the economic collapse was “a bunch of guys on Wall Street went on a drinking binge, and we are left with the hangover”. And yet he still thinks that in 2005 we should have handed over to these same Wall Street guys our last safety net in our old age????? To him, the only mistake is in the tactics to get the plan implemented, not whether he should have been trying to do it in the first place.
That’s about all I could stand, I turned off the radio after that. My doctor says I should avoid things which make my blood pressure level get too high.
Does anyone else notice a trend with John’s posts? Even though we live in a city run by a Democrat, within a county run by a Democrat, within a congressional district run by a Democrat, within a state run by a Democrat, he is always bitching about Republicans. Never anything positive about his party. Just bitch, bitch, bitch about the party that isn’t in power.
I think of all the posters on HA, John is the most predictable and boring. He also gets the least comments.
The only time I’m interested in hearing Dubya say anything is his statement just before the judge sentences him.
@4: You mean Jon? Who lives in Clark County, which is largely not run by Democrats?
And guess what? I live in a city run by a Democrat, Greg Nickels, and he’s a corrupt, arrogant disaster. In other words, all the qualities of most (not all) Republican office holders.
The best mindset for these last few days of the shrub era is to imagine it as the final act of the movie.
Even Bush’s critics will have to admit that as theatre, his performance may rank with Burton’s performance in Hamlet or .. perhaps more aptly … Olivier in Macbeth.
The pathos of failure, the small man behind the opulent podium, the ghost of Obama and his Dad wafting overhead, all play off the the self delusion to remind me of both Aeschylus and Willie Lohman.
Yet this is not merely a modern version of Sophocles. The playwrite has offered us a touch of comedy too with the funny accent and image of the failed counter hero retiring to a faux white house in Dallas.
Compare this great performance with Frank Langella’s work in Frost/Nixon! Bush’s portrayal of the shrub has more veracity and complexity than scowly Frank’s effort to be Nixon. Where the Langella movie leave us with tis denouement neatly tied off, The Bush performance leaves us with wonder about the life to follow. Will his wife leave him? Will he let his physical appearance go as he returns to drink? An image of a post movie sequel, perhaps located in a dingy New Orleans brothel, with Bush confessing to his for-the-night companion is too precious not to imagine.
Can an Oscar be in the future?
I’m glad bush is going. I won’t cringe every time I hear the president speak and leap to change the channel.
Honestly, how did that man convince 45% of the population to vote for him, given the way he talks?
# 6: Entertaining. I think you have a future as a film critic.
But I’ve never seen any actor who could convincingly play Nixon. You see the actor’s performance, and you wonder how anyone could have voted for such an obviously evil man. But Nixon could actually be quite a charmer in person, and even his TV personna was superior to that of Johnson, Humphry, McGovern, Muskie – all his opponants, save Kennedy.
Nixon took away from the 1960 election the lesson that in the age of television, image is all-important. This principle probably hit it’s zeneth with Ronald Reagan as President. Reagan hit his mark, delivered his lines convincingly, and left to others (the “stage managers” and “directors”) the job of putting it all together.
I heard only a little snipped while driving to work, but that included “Terr’ists”, “Hamas”, “Hezbolla” and “al Queda” in one sentence.
I, for one, will feel considerably safer once that miserable fool no longer has access to the “big red switch”.
@7 It’s pathetic to imagine that if there were no two term limit on the presidential office, he would have gotten as many, or more votes than McCain did last Nov. 4th.
Did you catch his remark stating that the dimunition of America’s reputation around the globe was only among the ‘elites’.
6 I’ve only seen the trailers for “Frost/Nixon” but it sounds more than anything else like Frank Langella pretending to be Richard Nixon. It’ll probably give a better impression to those who weren’t already grown up during Watergate and haven’t heard the tapes, or watched the actual interviews. The thing is, Nixon himself sounded perfectly natural being Nixon, and I don’t think anyone else could ever do that. To hear the genuine article calmly and without hesitation tell Frost that he thought his biggest mistake was “not being a good enough butcher” is truly unique and more disgusting than anything Stephen King, William Blatty, Wes Craven or Ridley Scott could ever dream up.
In other related news, the departures from the sinking ship have accelerated….
Sen. Voinovich of Ohio has announded that he won’t run again when his term expires in 2010. He had pushed for a bailout of the auto industry, and publically castigated those of his own party who refused to go along. But as the economic downturn intensifies in the rust-belt, Ohio is turning increasingly blue and his re-election was looking doubtful. Voinovich was between the horns of a delima: If he opposed the bailout he doomed any re-election chances, if he supports it against his Republican colleagues he guarantees they won’t support him in the election either. Unfortunately, one of the problems with our system is that whenever their is a sea-change of political fortunes, it’s the more moderate ones who are the first to go.
He’s the fourth Republican Senator so far to announce he won’t run again when his term expires in 2010. He joins Kit Bond of Missouri, Martinez of Florida, and Brownback of Kansas.
Which means that if things go well for the Democrats over the next couple of years, then they have a pretty good chance of picking up another three seats in the Senate, at least. If the Senate Republicans try to repeat last year’s performance and obstruct meaningful economic packages, and if the Democrats call them on it and publicize their efforts, then we might pick up even some of the incumbent seats.
@4 “he is always bitching about Republicans”
That’s not surprising considering how much there is to bitch about. Given the constant lying, ceaseless corruption, and mind-boggling incompetence of Republicans, not to mention the disastrous outcomes of their wrongheaded policies, one commenter and one lifetime aren’t enough to bitch about it all.
@13
That’s fine. It just reminds me of some white guy living in Idaho bitching about blacks, that’s all.
Troll @ 14: Republicans can choose to be Republicans, or choose not to be Republicans. Since they are always mouthing off about the need for others to accept “personal responsibility” for their own decisions, you would think that they could at least take responsibility for being Republicans.
More evidence that the GOP is utterly and completely in every possible way irrelevant. But we do owe Curious George one thank you for being so fucking bad that even his own party rejected him.
His reign of terror over America is almost over. America will once again be able to hold their heads high. And the right, having been bent over hard on Nov 4 will be told just how totally fucking stupid they really are.
Speaking of stupid – I guess they’ll have to reprint the new Oval Office letterhead. No longer will it read – “From the Desk of Stupid!”
@4: Bush is annoying to listen to no matter what party he’s from.
Come to think of it, if Bush really wanted to help the Republican cause, he would join the Democratic party and do to us what he’s been doing to the Republicans for 8 years.
Wouldn’t that be terrifying?
The Washington Post has a partial obituary for the Bush administration:
Source: Economy made few gains in Bush years
Of course, six months from now the wingnuts here will be claiming that everything was roses up to now, that the Bush rescession actually didn’t appear until Obama took office, and Republicans running for office in 2010 will claim that they have “the answer” to all who have suffered during the rescession… “less regulation!!!!”
@15
I keep on reading on this blog how Republicans aren’t a factor anymore. Conservatism is dead. We’re living in a new Democratic era, etc. Republicans are no more.
You just wouldn’t know it by reading HA.
I found this on Economic Populist Forum website
It’s an interesting take on outsourcing and “free” trade.
You cannot say the corporation or the shareholders get to pocket and spend that $126. That $126 was saved and not created. There is a short term boost to corporate profits, due to less spending, but eventually there will be an equivalent drop in sales from the $126 that was not created and and cannot be spent.
I think you could tie much of the current recession to the outsource the US corporations has been doing.
Where is my logic wrong?
I don’t think of Conservatism as being dead, I think of the progressives as keeping Conservatism at bay, like in the movies, where the heroes have to constantly keep the zombies from getting into the the house.
It feels like we have to play “Wack-a-Mole” as Conservatism finds new ways to manifest and ruin the country.
And I’m sure Conservatives feel the same way about progressive ideals. “If we could just get to a pay-as-you-go, flat tax, religious society, we would have a utopia.”
19 They’ll start doing that in earnest in a while. Right now, it would appear that the “fair-and-balanced” echo chamber is ringing with claims that the depression of the 1930’s was entirely Roosevelt’s fault.
We’ll be able to hold our head high once we’ve dug ourselves out from under the manure. That’s going to take a while.
America at present is like a patient that’s just undergone surgery for brain cancer. The chemotherapy’s yet to come.
rhp
The Langella Nixon misses for one simple reason .. Nixon, like Jesus, Siddartha, Moses, Ghandi, Stalin and Hitler … all these folks have nlw become mythical. Whether good gods or bad, these foks are now out of the realm of the mere human.
Playing a deity as if he or she were a mere mortal is a dreadful mistake. The theatrical issue is whether Bush will become a myth or merely a sadly failed human?
Bush reminds me of other failed humans. The grandest of these may be Caligula. Vonvinced he was a living Deity, Caligula led a horse into the forum and got others to worship that horse. Is it hard to imagine Bush as Caligula? Probably yes, Bush’s evil side will likely be remembered as his amanuensis, Chaney. Bush hiumself may be more like Aaron Burr.
Someday, a future playwrite will certainly have to try to bring reality to this sad man. My hope would be that this would be done in the genre of a Greek geroic revival! Imagine Bush, his empire fading, friends denying him, going to the elder ruler and confessing of his failed life. Imagine the chorus, dressed in churchly robes and led by Rick Warren, singing of lost glory and human hybris! All the while,the great Gods, Jefferson, Churchill, and FDR look down from on high, silent in their eloquence.
I am not sure there is a contemporary actor who would be willing and able to play the part. Sean Penn has the talent bit could he be this tragic? Josh Brolen’s recent performances, playing both Bush and Milk’s nemesis, suggest he could do it, but … sadly .. Brolen is all to believable as Bush.
@23 “the “fair-and-balanced” echo chamber is ringing with claims that the depression of the 1930’s was entirely Roosevelt’s fault.”
Perhaps they’re just laying the groundwork as they fear Obama might turn out to be this generation’s FDR. They already blame this mess on Dems. It may well be delusional, but what else have they got?
Josh Brolin did a pretty good job of playing Bush the man. Who knows what sort of task will face the poor schmuck who gets hired to portray Bush the myth 30 years from now.
Oh, wait a minute. They’ll probably do it with a CGI animation, won’t they?
26 Now, talk about portraying a legend….Obama’s expected to do an Oscar-worthy job of playing the part in real life, with nobody to holler “cut!” and do a retake if it isn’t going well.
Roosevelt was a smart guy, but he (and the country) also had a bit or two of luck along the way. Things could have conceivably turned out a hell of a lot worse than they did in the 1930’s…and we’re going to need not only leadership, but hard work by everyone and plenty of help from God, luck, the Great Spaghetti Monster or the All-Knowing Spirit of Banana Peel Avoidance.
artfart
Maybe the oder Bush can be playerd by the older version of Elmer Fudd?
President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.
Take that you right wing assholes! And there’s NOT ONE FUCKING THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! We bent you over on Nov 4 and this is just ONE of the first things you’ll have to swallow. Open wide bitches and get ready for more!
Apparently the press wasn’t too interested in what he had to say either, nor in acknowledging his departure from the press conference.
@30
President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to issue an executive order his first week in office — and perhaps his first day — to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, according to two presidential transition team advisers.
are you daft? he said today he’s not , as reported by the ap?
manoftruth, will you and the rest of you lying wingnut psychos please quit fucking me?
I am seriously getting tired of you sick bastards fucking me over and over again!
Can’t you just fined a chicken to fuck or something?
@ 32 Even me, a simple innocent goat who has been sexually abused over and over again by the same republican trolls, can read a fucking AP article!
@34
ok, this is what i have in my hands, boston herald, dated today. the title, “obama backs off campaign promises”. he said closing gimto could be more of a challenge than he anticipated. they are “people intent on blowing us up”.
so i suppose you could connect the two. he’ll issue the order, but what will the details be.
I can only surmise, me an innocent goat sexually abuse by republican trolls, that fucking goats causes said trolls to go completely blind and stupid. Especially stupid.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....guantanamo
Is there anyone left who cares one whit what George W. Bush has to say about anything?
Only if he’s answering the question “Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk with us now?”
@37
Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk with us now?”
yeah, anytime i thought of the name vince foster, i always wondered why clinton wasnt being asked that question also?
Well Jon will have a hard time blaming Bernie Madoff on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
And Jon will have a hard time blaming Citibank on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
And Jon will have a hard time blaming Mayor Sheila Dixon on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
Now remember, Puddy, it was some guy named Allen that started this – not me!
Looks like AMERICA blamed our current problems on the idiot in chief – GW Bush. And nothing the right can do about it now. A black man – a Democrat – will be in the White House with an increased majority in both Houses. AMERICA said GW Bush is guilty. The GOP even ran from the fool. AMERICA REJECTED the GOP. And we bent the GOP over for good measure. We know Bush is a criminal and we know the country thinks he’s a fool. So anyone who supports Bush now, deserves the same level of disrespect. We’re laughing at you right wing idiots! You’re a laughing stock. You got beat like a drum. Live with it. Believe it. Own it. It is your future. It’s all you can hope for – more of the same. You have been R E J E C T E D!
Yes Steve it was a libtard name Alan. You kept it going.
StillBentOver: As soon as Obama takes office watch the librul MSM reports. The recession won’t be so bad. The stories will be tamer. The stories will be more upbeat.
The “Messiah” has arrived. It will be all goodness and light.
See if Puddy isn’t prescient again!
And Jon will have a hard time blaming Mexican drug violence on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
And Jon will have a hard time blaming Seattle Pee-In-Your-Eye failings on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
And Jon will have a hard time blaming Somali Pirates on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
And Jon will have a hard time blaming the fool on GWB. But I know he’ll try.
@44 “You kept it going”
No, I escalated it, took it to a new level.
Puddy is busy defending Bush – great job Puddy. Way to defend the worst president in American history.
We are just starting to see how bad Bush has been – and his pathetic last press conference confgirmed his lack of awareness and simple-minded approach.
He has ruined the economy, spent billions without any tranparency or record, polticized the Justice department and made a mockery of the the rest of the government. The list of cronies, crooks, no-bid contracts, torture, illegal wiretapping, unneccassary war, plain incopetence (Katrina) goes on and on. He has ruined the reputation of the US. After 9/11, we had the world on our side and he managed to alienate even our allies in two short years.
His popularity is under 30% as he leaves office and the economy is in the worst shape since the great depression.
We don’t need to blame the irrelevant things you mention on Bush – Bush is responsible for plenty of bad things already. Wake up and smell the important things in life.
Hey, even the Republican Party rejected Bush in the last election. It’s candidate was the only guy they could claim was a “reformer” within his own party – even though they had ostracized him previously, and had resisted any meaningful reforms. He even had to pick a V.P. who called herself a “reformer”, who’s slight qualifications only accentuated the lack of credible candidates with the American people.
In effect, the only hope the Republican party had of winning an election after eight years of George W. Bush was to run against their own President, and their own party, and hope voters would buy the snake-oil. They didn’t. The Democrats won.
Funny nevercorrectnottobright: I’ve been to Europe recently. Soon as I open my mouth you know I ain’t anything but American. I didn’t get that impression at all. In fact most peeps I met thought Bush eliminating terrarisks was a great thing. They know it was not a US Conservative who killed Theo Van Gogh. They know Sarkozy knows Obama is naive.
But you keep reading them leftist pinhead sites. You are doing libruls proud.
@53: Arguing with Puddy is like taking candy from a baby – you got nothing Puddy and I have facts….your sorry little opinion of going to europe…versus actual surveys….geee, who should we believe?
Link: http://pewglobal.org/reports/d.....portID=263
In Japan, where I was on business last summer, there was a lot of anger at the U.S. Japanese banks had invested in U.S. financial paper on the understanding it was backed by mortgages and regulated by the U.S. government. Now those banks are in deep trouble as their assets are worthless, and the Japanese are wondering why they should suffer because the U.S. government didn’t do it’s job.
Last week I had dinner with some guys from Japan, and I asked them if those views had changed. They said it had only gotten worse as the U.S. economy had deteriorated. He said there is a push in Japan by angry Japanese taxpayers for the government to seize U.S. assets to pay for the bad paper from the U.S. We agreed that it would probably never come to that, but the fact that it’s a groundswell of opinion which is being voiced – an uncommon occurance in Japan – was unsettling.
During the Bush years, the mood in Japan has changed – they feel they need to seperate themselves from U.S. foreign policy and military strategy. They are afraid of being dragged into a war against their will due to U.S. mistakes and mis-calculations.
Today I’m in L.A. for business meetings, several business people from other nations will be attending. If I get the chance, I will try to get their view.