The Mighty Have Fallen

Jeb Bush finally quit the presidential race last night after failing to win the third contest in a row and never surging past fourth position.

When he announced he was running, I worried he had the best chance to beat Hillary, because of his name recognition and the vast amounts of cash he would have been able to raise. He was the one I had no doubt would win the nomination, and the one who really would have made it hard for Hillary because of the Bush v. Clinton perennial war.

Now Bush is done and if you care to read about how badly he ran his campaign, how many mistakes he made, and how many times he stumbled and misread the clues, here are some very good articles:

Errors and miscalculations ended Bush’s White House hopes: report.

Ding dong, the dynasty is dead: Say goodbye to Jeb and the Bush family.

The Party of Bush Yields, Warily, to a New Face: Donald Trump.

W's Most Lasting Legacy: ISIS

Oh I know, I can already hear the wingnuts screaming I'm just a brainwashed liberal, but the damning accusation comes from someone Bush himself put in charge and who was in a special position to know what he's talking about:

The former commander of U.S. special forces in Afghanistan and Iraq admitted that strategic blunders by the Bush administration had led to the rise of Islamic State militants. 

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told the German newspaper Der Spiegel that Americans allowed their anger of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to lead them into disastrous military policies that failed to address the root causes of terrorism — and actually helped create new and more brutal terrorists. 

The misunderstanding was so great that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who now heads ISIS, was freed in 2004 from a military prison after a U.S. military commission cleared him as harmless. 

“We were too dumb,” Flynn said. “We didn’t understand who we had there at that moment. When 9/11 occurred, all the emotions took over, and our response was, ‘Where did those bastards come from? Let’s go kill them. Let’s go get them.’ Instead of asking why they attacked us, we asked where they came from. Then we strategically marched in the wrong direction.” 

The U.S. invaded Iraq after administration officials — including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Colin Powell — presented false intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and alleged links to al-Qaeda. 

“It was huge error,” he continued. “As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state. The historic lesson is that it was a strategic failure to go into Iraq. History will not be and should not be kind with that decision.”

From Rawstory.

The Iraq war was an inevitability in Bush’s White House

Now that Curveball, America’s most valued Iraqi source prior to the war, has admitted that he lied in order to get rid of Saddam, more truth is coming to light:

Colin Powell's ex-chief of staff said Thursday the former Secretary of State was lied to and manipulated by Vice President Dick Cheney into justifying the US invasion of Iraq.

[…]

Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired Army Colonel who ran Powell's staff at the time, was asked by MSNBC's Cenk Uygur if he believes he and Powell were "flat-out lied to."

"I cannot come to any other conclusion," he responded, saying that some intelligence sources had warned Curveball may not be reliable. "I think there was some manipulation of the material and there was some outright lying."

[…]

But Wilkerson lamented that even if Curveball had not existed, "we still would have gone to war with Iraq because George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were absolutely intent to do so."

So there you have it.  Bush’s mind had already been made up, whether to avenge his father or ensure cheaper oil for the US, and the country was bound to go to war in spite of all the evidence of its uselessness, no matter the cost in treasure and lives.

W.

Oliver Stone’s third dabble in politics after JFK and Nixon saw him take on former President George W. Bush.  While not as enthralling as the first or captivating as the second, W. is quite fascinating and clearly damning of the Bush presidency.

The plot analyzes the handling of the Iraqi “threat” after the tragedy of September 11 by Bush and his team of advisors and cabinet members during W’s first term.  This is all interspersed with scenes from Bush’s past: the alcohol infused college years, the failings in the workplace, meeting his future wife Laura, finding his footing in politics, and following his religious calling.

W. straddles a fine line.  On the one hand, it tries to coldly show the audience that personal interests and politics constantly meddled in the interests of the State and influenced the administration’s policies.  On the other, it is a clear dramatization of the events that plunged the United States into one of its darkest periods, from which the country is still recovering.  As such it can sometimes feel contrived, but having lived through the Bush years, I also know that the many incredible things he says or does actually happened.

The art direction and costumes are good while the cinematography and editing work in sync to show us a man resentful of his famous and powerful father and his predilection for his younger brother Jeb.  George clearly suffered from a complex of inferiority that pushed him to prove himself.  Unfortunately for all of us, he obviously didn’t have the mettle to be President and, once in the Oval Office, it showed, with one wrong, deceiving, or misguided decisions after the next.

While some of the actors seem to barely play caricatures of their real counterparts (I’m looking at you Thandie Newton, Scott Glenn, Richard Dreyfuss, and Toby Jones), others do a fine job of channeling their characters, like Jeffrey Wright, Bruce McGill, James Cromwell, Ellen Burstyn, and Elizabeth Banks.  Fortunately, the best performance comes from the actor that matters most, the handsome Josh Brolin, who plays W. with panache and contentment and with the right amount of pretentiousness, naiveté, and swagger.

While not a great movie per se, it’s worth a look for the light it shines on the backroom deals that had the ultimate effect of threatening the worldwide leadership role  and image of the US and of soiling the Bush name, perhaps (hopefully) undermining Jeb Bush’s chances of running for the presidency for good.

Grade: 7

NO!

A billboard in Wyoming, Minnesota asked a simple question that has now been answered:

Link here.

“Investigate torture or face road to ‘tyranny’”

That’s what New York Representative Jerrold Nadler warned about in reference to the Obama administration’s refusal to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by the Bush administration in the aftermath of September 11, 2001:

A New York Democrat argued that failing to prosecute former Bush administration officials complicit in the use of torture would create a dangerous precedent and place America on a path to "tyranny."

In an interview with Raw Story, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) invoked a "supremacy of laws" when critiquing President Barack Obama’s decision to "look forward and not backwards" on his predecessor’s abuses of power.

"Those who misuse government power to break the law and subject people to improper pressure or torture ought to be prosecuted," said Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. "That’s why we have laws."

[…]

The Obama administration has declined to launch an investigation into illegal activities carried out during the Bush administration -- such as the practice of waterboarding, which is widely considered a form of torture, on terror suspects.

"If you don’t prosecute, or if you don’t investigate, then what you’re saying is government can do anything," Nadler argued. "And that’s a formula for tyranny. So I think it’s very important." As for looking forward and not backwards? "By that standard you’d never prosecute any crime."

White House officials and some analysts fear that a drawn-out investigation, which would be virulently fought by Republicans, would drain the capacity of Democrats to advance their domestic agenda.

Nadler argues that to sustain a democracy, it's vitally important to hold lawmakers accountable for their crimes – even more so than with private citizens. "People who break the law, ought to be held accountable," he said, "especially if they’re in government, because they have more power."

Wise words.  Alas, we’ll never see neither Bush nor Cheney prosecuted for their crimes, nor any of their minions.  A loss for the rule of law indeed.

The Failure of Bush's presidency

Raw Story reports on a Reuters piece on the many newspaper articles all over the world that virtually told Bush, with no measured words, "Good Riddance."

Some excerpts:

Editorial writers around the world have been taking their final printed whacks at George W. Bush, accusing the president of tarnishing America's standing with what many saw as arrogant and incompetent leadership.
[...]
"A weak leader, Bush was just overwhelmed in the job," said Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung under a headline: "The Failure". "He confused stubbornness with principles. America has become intolerant and it will take a long time to repair that damage."

Editorials hit out at Bush for two unfinished wars, for plunging the economy into recession, turning a budget surplus into a pile of debt, for his environment policies and tarnishing America's reputation with the Guantanamo Bay detention centre.
[...]
"Goodbye to the worst president ever," it declared. "Bush was an unmitigated disaster, failing on the big issues from the invasion of Iraq to global warming, Hurricane Katrina and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression."

"Bush leaves a country and an economy in tatters," wrote the Sunday Times in London. It said America's national debt and unemployment nearly doubled on his watch.

Britain's Daily Mail said he entered office with a budget surplus of $128 billion but exits with a $482 billion deficit.

"He leaves the world facing its biggest crisis since the Depression, the Middle East in flames and U.S. standing at an all-time low.
[...]
The Scottish Daily Record observed: "America is now hated in many parts of the world. Bush leaves a legacy of wars and the world economy in meltdown. He has been dismissed as a buffoon and a war-monger, a man who made the world a more dangerous place while sending it to the brink of economic collapse."
[...]
"He leaves as one of the least popular and most divisive presidents in American history. Bush has presided over the most catastrophic collapse in America's reputation since World War Two."

The Sydney Morning Herald complained about Bush's "singular lack of curiosity in international matters" in an editorial titled "Farewell to a flawed and unpopular commander-in-chief."
[...]
"It's hard to find a historian who won't say that Bush was the most catastrophic leader the U.S. has ever known," the French daily wrote. "One success: since Sept. 11, 2001, there was no attack on U.S. soil. But this sits alongside an interminable list of failures, starting with the war in Iraq."
[...]
Stern magazine said: "Bush led the world's most powerful nation to ruin. He lied to the world, tortured in the name of freedom and caused lasting damage to America's standing."
[...]
"Perhaps we could say that fate, which let the American people down first in Florida and then with the issue of the pretzel in the president's throat, ultimately helped them by making sure the president would spend half his time on vacation.

"Indeed, he would have caused twice the damage if he had been more active and focused."
[...]
In Poland, the Warsaw daily Dziennik lamented the worst part about Bush's presidency: "It was empty rhetoric."

WOW!

He's almost OUT!!

This is what my Bush-Over counter read a few seconds ago:

Bushisms

Just in time for his long awaited departure from Washington DC, here's a list of utterances from W that reminds us why this coming Tuesday, when Barack Obama takes up residence in the White House, is a good day for America and the world:

"They misunderestimated me,"
-- Bentonville, Arkansas, November 6, 2000

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again,"
-- Nashville, Tennessee, September 17, 2002

"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today ... He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me,"
-- Nashville, Tennessee, May 27, 2004

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office,"
-- to Israeli journalists in Washington in an interview published May 12, 2008.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,"
-- Washington, August 5, 2004

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times,"
-- Tokyo, February 18, 2002

"Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech,"
-- Washington April 16, 2008 to Pope Benedict XVI.

"I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office,"
-- Washington, June 26, 2008

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully,"
-- Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country,"
-- Poplar Bluff, Missouri, September 6, 2004

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-- Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test,"
-- Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001

More here, from Raw Story.

As the saying goes...

... a picture is worth a thousands words:

Delusional

Another great comic by Ben Sargent:

His End Is Near...

Just happened to see this milestone:


Only 6 months left of this loser's reign of terror. After that, hopefully, the first Obama presidency will start bringing stature back to the Office of the President in this country.

Let's just hope he doesn't start another war before he's gone, with Iran this time.

When the truth starts coming out...

Scott McClellan, former Bush White House Press Secretary, has a new book coming out. Apparently, what he has to say about his former boss and his administration's choices isn't all that flattering.

From Yahoo! News:

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that President Bush relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war, it has been reported.

The Bush White House made "a decision to turn away from candor and honesty when those qualities were most needed" — a time when the nation was on the brink of war, McClellan writes in the book entitled "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception."

The way Bush managed the Iraq issue "almost guaranteed that the use of force would become the only feasible option," the book contends, according to accounts Wednesday in The New York Times and Washington Post.

"In the permanent campaign era, it was all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president's advantage," McClellan writes.
[...]
McClellan called the Iraq war a "serious strategic blunder," a surprisingly harsh assessment from the man who was at that time the loyal public voice of the White House.

"The Iraq war was not necessary," he concludes.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict he's not going to get a Christmas card from Bush this year.

At any rate, thank you Scott for shedding some light on the truth, and mostly for not waiting until after the election cycle is over to tell us these things.

I think that's the gutsiest thing he did. Let's just hope people take note of what happened and remember it when they're in the voting booth this fall.

Former Iraqi Commander: "Bush Administration Grossly Incompetent"

More bad news and publicity for Bush and his cronies on their handling of the Iraq debacle, and from one of their former top men there, Ricardo Sanchez, a three-star general who commanded the US military in Iraq from 2003-2004.

From Rawstory:

In a new memoir set to be published May 6, the former commander of US forces in Iraq provides new intimate details of the goings-on at high levels of the Bush Administration in the first year of the Iraq war.

His sharp tongued conclusion: "Hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars were unnecessarily spent, and worse yet, too many of our most precious military resource, our American soldiers, were unnecessarily wounded, maimed, and killed as a result. In my mind, this action by the Bush administration amounts to gross incompetence and dereliction of duty."

Where is the outrage?!!

Another article on what he said about the Iraq war last fall and now:

Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded coalition forces in Iraq in 2003-04, made headlines last fall when he described the Iraq War as having been “catastrophically flawed” from the start and called it “a nightmare with no end in sight.”
[...]
Sanchez writes, “It was now crystal clear that a major success had to occur in Iraq before the presidential elections. Critical decisions affecting Iraq would be tied directly to ensuring the success of President Bush’s reelection campaign.”

In an interview on CNN, Sanchez noted that one very obvious effect of this need for a major success was that “we stopped the Fallujah attack because it would have a detrimental effect on the transfer of sovereignty. It would probably have collapsed.”

“Every American has to understand that wars are fought based on political objectives,” Sanchez explained. “What I describe in the book is that I’m fighting two different wars. I’m fighting the actual war on the ground, and I’m also fighting the war back in the United States, where the administration is attempting to get re-elected. … What I am faced with in the end is a situation where it is impossible for me to continue.”

Is that another nail in the coffin of Bush's legacy that I hear?

Sweet.

At the end of the day, even if in 50 or 100 years the Middle East is more civil and democratic, Bush took the path of whatever means to his end, and that's just wrong when the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are either lost or ruined in the process, no matter how much his neo-con friends tried to convince him of the contrary.

End of story.

The State of the Union according to Bush

This was just too good not to post:


This guy is just delusional. It's sad and hilarious at the same time.

He really has turned into Baghdad Bob.

Less then a year!

Wow!! I just took this snapshot of my blog's little gadget whose only purpose is to remind me that the reign of terror of the WORST president of the United States ever is less then a year from being over.


Yes!! A year from now there will only be the ghosts of Bush and Cheney in the White House, and hopefully the new occupants will work hard to restore America's image at home and abroad.

A Quote By:

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on President Bush while voicing his concerns over nominee for Attorney General Michael Mukasey:

"For the last six years it is clear that we have had a president that does not understand what the Constitution of the United States is about. What this president believes, essentially, is that he can do anything he wants, at any time, against anybody, in the name of fighting terrorism. And he happens to believe that the 'war on terrorism' is unending; it's going to go on indefinitely. And I think it is very important that we have an Attorney General who can explain the Constitution to a President who clearly does not understand it."

Will someone buy Bush a set of tin soldiers to play with?

I have this weird feeling that he didn't get to play soldier when he was a little boy, and so now he's making up for lost time, but since he's all grown up he needs to play with soldiers his size.

The problem is that he doesn't seem to realize that he's literally playing with people's lives here.

From a Raw Story article, this scary tidbit:

Last month, a national security source told The London Times that the Pentagon has "drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days."

According to the paper, a Washington source said the "temperature was rising" to launch an Iranian attack inside the Bush administration. This information comes on the heels of reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency last week that cited "significant cooperation" with Iran over its nuclear program, including the slowing of uranium enrichment.

The most recent report by the nuclear watchdog agency, however, said that Iran was three to eight years away from building a bomb.
[...]
ABC notes that there appear to be few targets such a weapon would be useful for in Iraq. It could be used on Taliban or Qaeda targets in Pakistan caves, though there'd be scant need for a stealth bomber.

"You'd use it on Natanz," John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org told ABC, referring to a site inside Iran. "And you'd use it on a stealth bomber because you want it to be a surprise. And you put in an emergency funding request because you want to bomb quickly."

"It's kind of strange," Pike said. "It sends a signal that you are preparing to bomb Iran, and if you were actually going to bomb Iran I wouldn't think you would want to announce it like that."

Is he really going to do this? Are the Democrats in Congress really going to let him get away with this?

No End in Sight

This is a documentary about the failure on the part of the Bush administration to plan for the aftermath of the Iraq invasion of 2003.

The director, Charles Ferguson, doesn't openly attack the several players responsible for the Iraq debacle, thereby avoiding the risk of coming off sounding like a liberal peacenik à la Michael Moore.

All Ferguson does is present the evidence he gathered, evidence available to any investigator, and then sits back and lets us draw our conclusions.

Needless to say, the evidence strongly condemns the Bush administration for misstep after misstep, blunder after blunder, all brought on by either lack of experience on the part of the political appointees put in charge or lack of influence on the part of those few experts who cared for Iraq's future and genuinely wanted to help the country rebuild after Saddam was overturned.

Over and over, I found myself just shaking my head in disbelief for the way things turned out, even though there weren't very many surprises, considering most of what is described in the documentary has already been reported on by the media at some point during the war.

At the end, you walk out of the theater totally incredulous at the thought that someone so powerful as the President of the United States invaded a foreign country without a good reason and didn't plan for the aftermath.

Bush is really a failure of gargantuan proportions and his presidency will most certainly be remember as the most infamous ever.

Don't miss this film. It's a must-see.

Grade: 9

Karl is out

Too bad he leaves without a pair of handcuffs on his wrists and heading to jail. I'd love to lock him up in the general population of a maximum security prison for a couple months...

Anyway, whatever the real reasons behind his departure, Bush sure will miss him and his guidance. He was, after all his brains, and look where he is now. I can't even imagine what's gonna happen to our Dear Leader now that he's on his own.

Here's a couple comics that clearly show the Bush-Rove relationship dynamics.

Tom Toles:


and Ben Sargent: