THE BUSH ARCHIVES
More: The Sad and
Dangerous Legacy of George W. Bush
"We are close to a tipping
point when millions of Americans will see that they have been deceived.
They--especially relatives and friends of the wounded and dead in
Iraq--will turn in fury on this president. Until now, many have told
themselves that a sacrifice was made for a worthwhile cause. Let
this man tremble for the day when they admit to themselves that the cause
was not worthwhile or necessary. The responsibility for Viet
Nam could be spread to Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.
The responsibility for this war is one man's--George W. Bush."
--Will C. Justice
"It's amazing that a willful, semi-literate
president has been able to rule by executive fiat, ignoring Congress, the
Courts, and the majority of Americans whenever it has suited him.
But what is astonishing is how easily he has been able to do it."
--Will C. Justice
BUSH DEMANDS THAT RUSSIA RECOGNIZE THE
BOUNDARIES OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF GEORGIA
"Has Bush forgotten that he ordered American troops to invade Iraq,
which happened to be a sovereign state? Further, because Bush has
undercut the authority of the United Nations, the bullies of the world are
free to do whatever they are strong enough to get away with. This is
Bush's legacy."
--Will C. Justice
COURTESY OF BUSH & CO.
"Aside from Big Oil and Texas, bad news covers the nation like a
protracted heat wave. The Russians are buying up our iconic houses,
the emirates are buying up our iconic buildings...Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac continue to founder--their shares are down more than 80 percent this
year. Together they own or guarantee almost half of this country's
home mortgages, a sum that comes to more than $5 trillion. Upwards
of 300 regional banks are in danger of complete collapse, putting a
further strain on the 75-year-0ld Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
which will have to step in to shore them up. In the skies a number
of major airlines are desperately trying to save fuel....Even gambling,
America's true national pastime, is off. Casino operator Wynn
Resorts announced that its Las Vegas business plunged about 70 percent in
the second quarter of this year...the market capitalization of Ford and
General Motors has dropped so sharply that it would take nine of each to
make one company with the value of Toyota. Yes, my friends, courtesy
of Bush & Co."
--Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair
Graydon Carter figured out George W. Bush a
long time ago, and continues to expose the horrors of his administration.
Don't miss his "Editor's Letter" each month in Vanity Fair.
BUSH: RUSSIA AND GEORGIA
For several dangerous hours, it looked like Bush would swagger into
WWIII. With American troops in Georgia, all that would have been
required to ignite a war was for some of them to be killed, even
accidentally.
The neo-conservative propaganda machine would have swung into big-time
action. Americans would have been told to rally round the flag and face
down those nasty Russians.
And who knows what our lunatic President might have done then?
Perhaps the unthinkable. He might have pushed the nuclear button.
Who would have dreamed that the Russians, who are
considered blunt, undiplomatic, and un-nuanced would prove to be more
prudent than Bush? But just about anybody would seem prudent,
diplomatic, and nuanced when compared to Bush.
--Will C. Justice
BUSH AND THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
"Why should a man of proven ineptitude in foreign affairs who is
leaving an eight-year legacy of decline--in our security, our economy, and
our stature in the world--be expected to help guide others in resolving so
complex and difficult an issue?
I believe that both the Israelis and Palestinians, and the world, for that
matter, would be better served in President Bush and his secretary of
state stayed home and left the Middle East to the next administration."
--David Kernis
OBAMA AND THE IRAQ TIMETABLE
For years, George W. Bush has refused to set a date for withdrawing
most American troops from Iraq. Now, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in
a stunning setback for President Bush, has agreed with the timetable of
Barrack Obama.
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Maliki was asked when most American troops will leave Iraq.
His reply: "As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right time frame for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."
The pain must have been palpable in the White House. Such ingratitude from a hand-picked puppet!
W can't have it both ways because he claims to
have created a "sovereign" nation and has promised to leave when the
people of Iraq want Americans to leave.
W has now begun to talk about "time horizons," but he's probably thinking
about another regime change. And who knows what McCain is thinking
or talking about? It's probably not printable.
"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate
with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will
persuade them they have been wrong all along...We have an obligation to
call this for what it is, the false comfort of appeasement, which has been
repeatedly discredited by history." --President George W. Bush,
Speech before the Israeli Knesset, May 15, 2008
Talkback: "It says a great deal about President
Bush's blank incomprehension of the whole concept of diplomacy that he
cannot tell the difference between dialogue and "appeasement." No
wonder the Bush administration's entire foreign policy has been a
failure....Without even attempting to understand the fears and
misconceptions that breed terrorism, how can we hope to combat it
effectively....?"--Louise T. Guinther
"'Appeasement 'refers not to the process of dialogue, but to the egregious
substantive outcome--the capitulation of Britain and France to Hitler's
demands. It is not a justification for refusing to talk with one's
enemies. The president's historical ignorance or disingenuousness
matches the abysmal character of his leadership." --John S. Koppel
"Probably no person in the world stood against appeasement more than
Winston Churchill. And it was also Churchill who famously
said, 'To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.'"
--Jim Kahan
WHITE HOUSE
PREDICTS THE NEXT PRESIDENT WILL INHERIT A $482 BILLION DEFICIT
THAT NUMBER DOES NOT REFLECT FULL WAR COSTS
When Bush took office, he predicted that
federal debt would shrink to just 8 percent of the gross domestic product
in 2009. He now estimates that it will amount to 40 percent.
"Bush has a blood lust to attack Iran, excited by the neocons who beat
the war drums louder and louder. If this reckless gambler
makes his move and uses his military toys to strike Iran, the entire
Middle East will break into flames. The Bush administration will no
longer be a disaster. It will become a catastrophe."
--Will C. Justice
"In less than a year, the Bush administration will strut out of office, leaving the country in roughly the same condition a toddler leaves a diaper. The report card on this White House will be a series of F's. An optional war that has cost the country dearly in lives and resources--F. Our reputation, military and economy in tatters--F Wall Street an unregulated disaster--F. Banks in crisis and airlines in bankruptcy--F. A national debt that is through the roof--F Oil at more than $113 a barrel--F. A tax system that favors the rich over the poor--F A generation of environmental predictions shot--F Five-year record low in consumer confidence and new lows in 'Are we headed in the right direction' polls--F. The loss of a great American city--F" --Graydon Carter
"History and George W. Bush: History will place the blame for Katrina in Bush's Oval Office, where the buck famously stops--not on the black mayor and the female governor who became his scapegoats. It was his regime that allowed levees to weaken, permitted incompetents to bungle, and delayed the military from deploying. A wise and resolute President would have cut through bureaucratic rules and sent in the helicopters." Will C. Justice
BUSH IN FANTASYLAND
"Israel will be celebrating the 120th anniversary as one of
the world's great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the
Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have
long dreamed of and deserved — a democratic state that is governed by law,
and respects human rights, and rejects terror. From Cairo to Riyadh to
Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies,
where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy and tourism
and trade."
--President Bush's prediction before the Knesset, May 15, 2008
Talkback: Mr. Bush gave no specifics about how this
unbelievable dream will be achieved. Reminds us of the hymn, "In The
Sweet Bye and Bye."
THE REIGN OF
ERROR
SEVEN CANNOTS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS IGNORED
by Will C. Justice
You cannot
succeed if you wage wars you cannot win.
Bush seems to believe he can wage preemptive war against any ruler
he happens to dislike, regardless of the cost or loss of human life.
You cannot
win wars without reliable intelligence.
American intelligence in the Middle East is limited and flawed,
compounded by occupying forces that understand neither the languages
nor the cultures. You must not kick down doors unless you know who
is behind them.
You cannot wage wars without raising
taxes.
The cost of the Iraq war is astronomical and has been passed along
to succeeding generations in the form of an enormous national debt.
No American President before Bush has dreamed of waging a war
without increasing taxes.
You cannot
expect puppet governments to be strong.
Bush’s puppet government is so weak that it dares not appear in
public outside the Green Zone. Even the Vichy government, Hitler’s
French collaborators, functioned in public.
You cannot
create democracy at the point of a gun.
Individual freedoms contract rather than expand during armed
conflict, and extremists drown out voices of reason.
You cannot
expect good government if you mock government.
Bush scorns the federal government while drawing a federal
paycheck. To create a good society, you must attract good people to
serve in it.
You cannot
always to depend on market forces.
The Bush administration has made a god of market forces, but market
forces do not have a brain or a heart. Sometimes market forces
help you, sometimes they do not. Sometimes you must intervene.
ROOM WITH A VIEW:
WHAT CAN BE SEEN FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
"Iraq is the convergence point for two of the greatest threats to
America in this new century: Al Qaeda and Iran." George W. Bush, The
White House, April 10, 2008
Talkback: Doesn't this man realize that
his policies created these threats?
Before the occupation of Iraq, Al Qaeda was barely present in Iraq; the
regime of Saddam Hussein was secular and Al Qaeda is Islamist.
And, by destroying Iraq, he removed the most dangerous rival of Iran.
FROM THE QUOTE OF THE WEEK ARCHIVES:
"According to Gallup, President Bush has the
highest disapproval rating ever recorded during 70 years of polling."
-Quoted in Paul Krugman, April 27, 2008
"With President Bush's clear knowledge and
support, some of the very highest officials in the land not only approved
the abuse of prisoners, but participated in the detailed planning of harsh
interrogations and helped to create a legal structure to shield from
justice those who followed the orders.
Mr. Bush told ABC News this month that he knew of these meetings and
approved of the result."
--The New York Times editorial, April 20, 2008
Talkback: The President owes apologies and
pardons to the low-ranking military people who were sentenced for prisoner
abuse at Abu Ghraib. They were taking orders that he approved.
"Her eccentricities were the result of a strong will
with no education to guide it: she latched on to foolish ideas because she
had no way of discriminating between sense and nonsense."
--Ken Follet's description of a female character in Night Over Water,
which is an apt description of George W. Bush
"Which is more objectionable: political cowardice masquerading as deference to military expertise, or compliant military followership masquerading as iconic martial leadership?" --Gregory D. Foster, who is a professor at the National Defense University
"Whichever one of them becomes president on
January 1, 2009, they will face a military force that cannot continue to
sustain 140,000 people deployed in Iraq and the 20 (thousand) odd or
25,000 people we have deployed in Afghanistan and our other
deployments."--Colin Powell, April 10, 2008
Talkback: Bush plans to hand off this bloody
mess to his successor and strut off the stage telling us that he never
wavered, never retreated.
"Some time ago, George W. Bush absolved himself of responsibility for his Iraq policy and its consequences by turning the war over to General David H. Petraeus." --Steve Coll
"The current demand for our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds
the sustainable supply, and limits our ability to provide ready forces for
other contingencies...Overall, our readiness is being consumed as fast as
we build it."
--General Richard A. Cody, Army Vice-Chief of Staff
AND THE BEAT GOES ON: BUSH VETOES BAN ON
WATERBOARDING
The President just vetoed a Congressional bill that explicitly
prohibits American intelligence agencies from using interrogation methods
like waterboarding.
Talkback: Bush claims this
legislation limits the unitary powers of the Presidency. What Bush
and his enablers really mean by "unitary power" is dictatorial power.
It should be clear to all that "unitary" power means the power of one.
The framers of the Constitution chose not to give unlimited power to one
individual.
Talkback: Let's watch to see if
Senator McCain votes to override this veto.
Talkback: Senator Jay
Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that he
had heard noting to suggest that the CIA, through coercive interrogation
methods, had obtained information to thwart a terrorist attack. "On
the other hand, I do know that coercive interrogations can lead detainees
to provide false information in order to make the interrogation stop."
"Conditions will enable us to return on success."
--George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, April
11, 2008
Talkback: This man does have a way with words,
doesn't he?
THE ONCE-MIGHTY DOLLAR SINKS WORLDWIDE
"Hit by a free fall with no end in sight, the once mighty U.S.
dollar is no longer just crashing on currency markets and making
life more expensive for American tourists and business people
abroad; its clout is evaporating worldwide as foreign businesses and
individuals turn to other currencies." (AP)
Talkback: Why does the dollar continues to fall? Bush's
silly notion that he could cut taxes and wage war at the same time.
No other President in history has even tried to break this
irrefutable law of macroeconomics The costs of this disastrous
war will be paid for years to come.
BUSH CLAIMS THE
RIGHT TO TORTURE PRISONERS--AGAIN!
The President is planning to veto a law that would require the
C.I.A and all the intelligence services to abide by the restrictions on
holding interrogating prisoners contained in the U.S. Army Field Manual.
The President says the Army rules
are too restrictive.
Talkback: Here is a verbatim
quote from the Army Field Manual: "Use of torture by U.S. personnel
would bring discredit upon the U.S. and its armed forces while undermining
domestic and international support for the war effort. It could also
place U.S. and allied personnel in enemy hands at grater risk of abuse."
AND THE BEAT GOES ON: TWELVE MORE
AMERICAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE PAST THREE DAYS (March 10,
11,12) TWELVE IN THREE DAYS!!
Talkback: Fox News won't give the above statistic much coverage because
Bush and his enablers want you to believe that everything is
hunky-dory since the Surge.
Actually, even before the recent spike in violence, there were 60 insurgent attacks a day(!) in January 2008, according to a federal government report released this week.
The Bush Administration and
Contaminated Beef
Just when you thought things couldn't get worse in this wretched
Bush administration, there's yet another scandal: "Government
inspectors responsible for examining slaughterhouse cattle for mad cow
disease and other ills are sometimes so short-staffed that they find
themselves peering down from catwalks at hundreds of animals at once...."
mad cow disease and other ills are sometimes so short-staffed that they
find themselves peering down from catwalks at hundreds of animals at
once...." More
The result: the biggest beef recall in history--143 million pounds from a
California meatpacker accused of sending sick cows to slaughter.
And
here's the kicker. Some of the contaminated beef may have been sent
to public schools.
Talkback: The President is
responsible for managing most departments of government. This has to
be laid on the President's desk. He's the CEO.
Talkback: The Bush administration, which
believes that cutting taxes is the solution to all society's problems, cut
funds for safety inspectors for mines. The result?
Horrible mine disasters. The Bush administration cut funds for air
controllers. The result? Overworked controllers. A
number of near misses and a major disaster when a plane took off on the
wrong runway. The Bush administration has cut funds for meat
inspectors. The result? Another disaster.
You Won't Hear
About This On Fox News
Mine Safety: (AP) "The federal agency that regulates the
nation's mining industry says that it has failed to issue penalties for
hundreds of citations issued since 2000. Preliminary data showed
that penalties had NOT been assessed against companies that received about
4,000 citations issued by the agency from January 2000 to July 2006, The
Sunday Gazette-Mail of Charleston reported...The agency recently
discovered the problem after it checked into whether a Kentucky coal
operator had been assessed a penalty after an accident in 2005 in which a
miner bled to death after not receiving proper first aid."
Talkback: "Gee, boss, I guess I must
have forgotten to send out several thousand of these. Silly me!"
Talkback:
This is a perfect example of the way what Republicans mean when
they talk about a "business-friendly" administration.
Talkback: Congress gets blamed
for virtually everything, and it should get blamed for a lot.
But remember that laws are administered the executive branch of
government. Congress passes bills and appropriates funds, but the
President is the CEO. This failure has to be laid on the President's
desk.
Republicans, with bizarre illogic, approve spending whatever is needed to
achieve "victory" in Iraq but oppose providing government aid for
needs at home.
George W. Bush vetoed the bill
that would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to
cover more of America’s 9 million uninsured children – despite majority
votes in the House and Senate to do just that.
Talkback:
Bush claims that expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program will
move the nation toward "federalizing" health care for all Americans.
Bush has no problem enthusiastically leading the nation to spend two
billion dollars every 10 days in Iraq, but he claims to be upset about providing health
care coverage for uninsured children here at home.
September 21, 2007
Talkback: The rich do not need
to worry about paying their medical bills. Bush thinks like a
rich man, and his party favors the rich. He cannot comprehend why a
working-class family, whose employers do not provide coverage, has a
problem paying premiums costing hundreds of dollars per month.
Bush doesn't understand how a few hundred dollars could be a big deal, and
his ideology keeps him from learning.
Talkback: Bush enablers never attack the Bush administration for the enormous cost of the Iraq war--about $2 billion every 10 days. It's only when government funds are used to help Americans that they get upset. So...if we could somehow say that the children who are covered by the State Children's Insurance Program are really Iraqis, or that this is a military expenditure, the problem would be solved. Then Bush enablers could use their venom on anyone unpatriotic enough to question a military expenditure. 10-23-2007
Mukasey On Waterboarding
"Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said on Wednesday (January 30,
2008) that while he would consider it torture if he underwent the harsh
CIA interrogation technique known as waterboarding, the practice was not
necessarily illegal, and he would not rule out its use in the
future....Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who had
initially championed Mr. Mukasey's nomination...appeared exasperated by
Mr. Mukasey's refusal to say whether waterboarding was torture and should
be outlawed...."I find it hard to understand how you personally, when
asked for advice, would not be able to say that something that's repugnant
should be outlawed. You say it's repugnant. I don't understand
how you can now say, Well, I have to ask a whole lot of other people."
(The NY Times, January 31, 2008)
Talkback: If Mr. Bush endorses someone
enthusiastically, you can be sure that there's something seriously wrong
with that person.
The Surge
According to the President, the talking heads
at Fox News, the neocons, and Senator John McCain, the Surge is working. American
casualties are down, sectarian violence is down, and war refugees are
returning to Baghdad.
Talkback: If everything's going well, this is an excellent time to declare victory, and start a major withdrawal of the troops.
Don't hold your breath. The Bush administration will find an excuse to keep American troops in Iraq from now until the Second Coming. If we're losing, we will hear that we need large numbers of troops to win. If we're winning, we need large numbers of troops to preserve our gains. It's heads I win, tails you lose. Actually either way, Americans lose--their lives.
And speaking
of Americans dying, if we're doing so well in Iraq, why do those little
boxes with the names of American men and women killed keep appearing
beside the success stories? 11-30-07