Friday, October 27, 2006

Bush On The Stump

Dubbya Campaigning In Iowa: This campaign only ends after the voters have had a chance to speak. No doubt in my mind, with your help, Dave Lamberti will be the next United States congressman. Dave and I believe a lot of things. We believe that you ought to keep more of your own money. We believe in family values. We believe values are important. And we believe marriage is a fundamental institution of civilization.

Only problem is, the candidate's name is Jeff.

Contempt For Competence III

Bush Balks at Criteria for FEMA Director: President Bush reserved the right to ignore key changes in Congress's overhaul of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- including a requirement to appoint someone with experience handling disasters as the agency's head -- in setting aside dozens of provisions contained in a major homeland security spending bill this week.

That's right, folks...George Dubbya Bush appears to have learned nothing whatsoever from the Katrina Debacle. He's used one of his infamous "signing statements" to tell us that he's free to ignore a requirement in the FEMA overhaul bill that requires that the person heading the Federal Emergency Management Agency actually know something about emergency management.

The Dear Leader jealously guards his prerogative to put unqualified political hacks into vital positions where the lives of Americans hang in the balance. And if Congress won't approve said hack...well there's always the recess appointment process!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

George Dubbya Bush and Flannery O'Connor

Dubbya Bush, talking about Iraq in the National Review Online:

“If we can’t win, I’ll pull us out,” the president said.” “If I didn’t think it was noble and just and we can win, we’re gone. I can’t — I’m not going to keep those kids in there and have to deal with their loved ones.

You know, every time I hear the "new, reasonable" quotes from Bush--you know the "we never said 'stay the course', "we're setting benchmarks," etc. I think of a line from Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find":

"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

Bush might have been a better President, if he'd been facing the possibility of losing his rubber-stamp majority in Congress every day of his life.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

STAY THE COURSE?

Stay the Course?
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Bush: He Was For "Stay the Course" Before He Was Against It.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Contempt For Competence, Redux

Say you're a former mining executive. Your mines have had accident rates of twice the national average. What job will be perfect for you?

Well, according to the Bush Administration you're perfectly suited to be head of the
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).

So perfectly suited, in fact that when the Senate refused to confirm Richard Stickler (the fellow mentioned above), Dubbya used a recess appointment to put him in the job anyway, despite opposition from the United Mine Workers, the AFL-CIO, and the families of miners killed in the Sago Mine disaster.

But hey, what do they know? They're just the ones whose lives are on the line.

Contempt for Competence: It's the Dubbya Way of Doing Business.

Monday, October 23, 2006

I Don't Know Whether to Laugh or Cry


So I'll just say "thanks" to Sean Chercover for his unexpected and generous gift of the DISAPPEARING CIVIL LIBERTIES MUG: "Drink your decaf in this dazzling mug and watch your civil liberties disappear! Simply pour in your coffee or any hot beverage and watch the painstaking work of the founding fathers vanish before your eyes!"

It works as advertised.

I was privileged enough, by the way, to get a sneak peak a while back at Sean's upcoming debut, Big City, Bad Blood, and it's the real deal. Check it out.