I fear that the silence of the Dems in Congress on Iran will lead to a build-up in Bush's approval rating (as Rove undoubtedly planned) as Bu$hCo and the media lemmings distort and mis-state the information about Iran.
Bush has been knocked to one knee in the fight, but his coaches are preparing to slip drugs to the media and bypass the Congress to do a preemptive attack/war just in time for the elections. They kidney punch and hit below the belt, (and probably have weighted gloves as well), so hang tight to your seats for the final rounds. The Democrats as contenders plan no offense and can't do defense as well. It may be a no-contest fight called early for Bush in rout like 2004.
Politicians have always done the expedient thing for their own careers. I don't believe that it's ever been any different.
The only poll that has ever counted is the poll on election day. All others, politicians are able to dismiss and discount. Unless and until Americans are willing to get off our asses, take to the streets, and fight for this democracy, we get the government we deserve. I remember back in the days of Nixon and the Viet Nam war protests and just when the tide finally turned - when 250,000 Americans descended on Washington. When protestors numbers grew that big back then, Nixon began to flee Washington (and everywhere else) when the protest marchers came to town. It had the feel of Cindy Sheehan showing up in Crawford.
If we want to see accountability by our representatives to Congress, we have to do more than answer pollsters. We have to make noise where it counts - in their faces. We have to show up wherever Bush and Cheney, and all of them go to speak and raise money.
Bush is coming to California at the end of the week. Where are you going to be this weekend?
Posted by Maven at April 19, 2006 01:31 AMYes Bush has been publicly critized but all the public opinion aside if the voting machines are not fixed he will win once more. The elections are what is the problem, and no one is working to fix it, Why can we not demand and get a clean election where the head of elections is not also a head of reelection commity or head of a political party? Dibolt is the elephant in the room and no one is rasing hell about the coruption that is consuming our rights.
Posted by Dennis Tucker at April 19, 2006 03:36 AMMaven, I agree, but I am told the day of protest marches are over. Americans have grown to fat and complacent. Reading a poll about the discontent of Americans is not the same as seeing this same discontent on hundreds of thousands of actual American faces.
Posted by Judith at April 19, 2006 03:47 AMDennis Tucker is right on! Regardless of the polls, the Bush junta controls the voting process through gerrymandering and machine tampering. Does anyone seriously think that Max Cleland lost the Senate race in 2000 after being ahead by a large margin in the polls? I'm afraid we've seen the last of the fair elections in most of this country.
Posted by Cookie Monster at April 19, 2006 04:10 AMThe decider-in-chief: A drunk with power
By DOUG THOMPSON
I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of George W. Bush's titles.
He likes to call himself the commander-in-chief, a hypocritical stance since he did everything in his and his daddy's power to avoid going to war during the Vietnam era. Perhaps coward-in-chief would be more appropriate.
He also loves to call himself a "war time president," another blatant use of fantasy since the only war he manages is the one he created himself based on lies and fabricated rationale.
Now he's got a new, self-indulgent title.
"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best,"
Decider-in-chief? A key statement to the arrogance that is George W. Bush. "I decide what is best".
For Bush the game has always been about power. Absolute power. Dictatorial power.
This is the American President who said: "it would be much easier if this was a dictatorship, as long as I get to be the dictator." At the time some people thought he was joking. Those who know him knew he wasn't.
"Of all the Presidents I've served or observed, George W. Bush is the least receptive to the opinion of others," says political scientist George Harleigh, who served in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations. "He has no interest in what others think and he doesn't listen to the advice of experts or professionals."
In 1999, while completing a profile of Harris County, Texas, Judge Robert Eckels, I interviewed a number of Texas political observers. Republican and Democrat alike agreed that then Gov. George W. Bush was stubborn, arrogant and used to having his own way.
"He's an asshole," said Tom Delaney, who worked on Bush's second gubernatorial campaign. "He can smile at you while cutting off your balls."
Dr. Justin Frank, a prominent George Washington University psychiatrist and author of the book, Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President, says Bush has a cruel, sadistic streak that goes back to his childhood when a young George gleefully bragged about dissecting cats, cutting them open while they were still alive.
The boy who tortured cats, Dr. Frank says, grew up into an alcohol-abusing bully who strikes out at anyone who opposes him. All one has to do is confront the President and the bully emerges.
"To actually directly confront him in a clear way, to bring him out, so you would really see the bully, and you would also see the fear," he says.
Dr. Frank also believes Bush, an alcoholic who brags that he gave up booze without help from groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, may be drinking again.
"Two questions that the press seems particularly determined to ignore have hung silently in the air since before Bush took office," Dr. Frank says. "Is he still drinking? And if not, is he impaired by all the years he did spend drinking? Both questions need to be addressed in any serious assessment of his psychological state."
Bush demonstrates many of the traits of a drinker who has relapsed: An inability to focus, moments where he goes "blank" and can't respond, incoherent sentences and flashes of anger when challenged.
"The pattern of blame and denial, which recovering alcoholics work so hard to break, seems to be ingrained in the alcoholic personality. It's rarely limited to his or her drinking," Dr. Frank says. "The habit of placing blame and denying responsibility is so prevalent in George W. Bush's personal history that it is apparently triggered by even the mildest threat."
So it's no surprise that the self-declared "decider-in-chief" is an arrogant hothead who probably sneaks a drink or two during the day. He's a paranoid, fear-mongering bully who openly abuses power and, thanks to the gullible American voting public, he can, and will continue to, abuse that power.
A drunk: That's the title George W. Bush deserves most. He is a drunk even if he doesn't get blasted on booze. He's drunk with power and that's the most dangerous kind of drunk. When a drunk who gets high on power sits in the White House, the rest of us wake up with the hangover.
Gawd, Judith, you are bitter! The only drunks around here are the Americans who permit this abomination to remain in the White House.
Posted by Mal Feasance at April 19, 2006 04:50 AMDOUG THOMPSON/Judith is right. But is is worse. I believe Bush is now believes that the only reason his plans are failing in Iraq is because of Iran. Take care of Iran and Iraq will fall in line. I think this belief consistant with this: "The pattern of blame and denial, which recovering alcoholics work so hard to break, seems to be ingrained in the alcoholic personality. It's rarely limited to his or her drinking," Dr. Frank says. "The habit of placing blame and denying responsibility is so prevalent in George W. Bush's personal history that it is apparently triggered by even the mildest threat."
Posted by kurt at April 19, 2006 05:14 AMthis is what a Democrat with a spine sounds like
Posted by ann at April 19, 2006 05:53 AMROFLMAO!!! Bush even lost Texas?
Man, why doesn't this dolt just resihn and get it over with?
Posted by Christopher at April 19, 2006 05:55 AM"Gawd, Judith, you are bitter!"
Mal, bitter yes. I am also frustrated and angry that some days I think my head will explode. Other days I just say "fuck it, who cares." Another word would be depressed. I use to KNOW that I could make a difference. Now I am not so sure. I can't even believe in my vote being counted.
Yes, my bitterness is also at those who voted for and support those in power. I had a conversation with my neighbor yesterday who believes we should bomb Iran "before they bomb us." What in the hell has happened to the people of this Country? It's like some dumb pill has been put in the drinking water.
Posted by Judith at April 19, 2006 05:58 AMWill we have an Election? Marshall law (Iran war)
Posted by goose1 at April 19, 2006 06:18 AMFrom another comment section: "Perhaps they (Democrats) do believe that given Bush's debacle and dismal public support in Iraq, they may not have to do or say anything just yet."
MisterOpus1, I would like to believe that. However, just when are they going to say something? When the Decider-in-Chief decides to bomb Iran? When the elections are called off and martial law is declared? When the fascists start knocking on our doors? When it is too late? Just when do they plan to become the opposition party and speak out? Good question.
Posted by Judith at April 19, 2006 06:41 AM
Steve, the talking pumkinhead pundits have been including Arizona among the iffy, did you leave us out for a reason? There is a good chance JD Hayworth is going down to a very popular dem. ex-mayor of Tempe, Harry Mitchell, to help regain the congress. With no hope for us, I fear mass suicides in the new Cardinal stadium.
Judith, didn't Bush stop drinking via a 12 step religious program, while Laura held his hand, after giving him an ultimatum?
Posted by TIKI AL at April 19, 2006 06:48 AMJudith, didn't Bush stop drinking via a 12 step religious program, while Laura held his hand, after giving him an ultimatum?
I believe he went cold turkey, with no 12 step program of any kind. That's why people refer to him as a "dry drunk."
Posted by ann at April 19, 2006 06:52 AMI hadn't heard about the cat-torturing past of Nero Jr--is that really true? Where did he make these statements? Torturing animals is one of the highest correlators with psychopathic behavior and mental illness.
If true, how exactly could this not have become known in either of Nero's presidential campaigns? One would think that even the voters of Texas would've been concerned about that little animal-torturer fact.
Posted by euzoius at April 19, 2006 07:04 AMBush's new handle reminds me of an episode of Star Trek, where Captain Boston Legal lands on a planet with brainwashed zombies in togas, doing the unquestioned bidding of a false prophet called the "decider" who lived inside of a rock bubble.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 19, 2006 07:08 AMDoes it really matter how unpopular Republican candidates or Bush are come the '06 elections? Gerrymandering, exclusion of eligible voters from the polls and Diebold will assure electoral success for the Right regardless of the actual vote tally. Should those factors fail SCOTUS can be depended on to step in and declare a Republican the winner.
Posted by steve duncan at April 19, 2006 07:36 AMDissecting a live kitty is getting into Jeffrey Dahlmer territory. If true, this should have been used in the campaign, as it speaks directly to character.
It is not a leap to picture Frist and Bush "getting off" on doing this scatrifice thing togeather.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 19, 2006 07:39 AMHow does someone firmly holding atheism as one of their guiding philosophies utilize a 12 step program to stop drinking? Are they doomed to dry drunk status for not going through the steps? Can they never truly free themselves from the grip of alcohol due to their lack of belief in a supreme diety? Religious people sicken me when they assert belief in their god, or any god, are needed to properly stop drinking. FU.
Posted by steve duncan at April 19, 2006 07:44 AMHow does someone firmly holding atheism as one of their guiding philosophies utilize a 12 step program to stop drinking?
There's actually a non-religious 12 step program for alcoholics.
Posted by ann at April 19, 2006 08:07 AMsteve, you are right, and don't crib death victims go to hell? Guilty little bastards.
Ann, you are right, Bush says he quit by reading the Bible, and having long talks with Billy Graham. Would that qualify as Texas 2-step program?
Posted by TIKI AL at April 19, 2006 08:16 AMIt was Dr. Fri$ten$tein who used to dissect cats he'd 'adopted' from the pound prior to becoming Majority Leader of the Senate.
King George used to play Frog Baseball (nedd I describe it?) when he was a kid.
Either way, he's still a psychopath - and so's George.
Posted by pessimist at April 19, 2006 08:45 AMFrom dissecting live frogs with a baseball bat, to president of the United States? Makes sense to me.
Posted by TIKI AL at April 19, 2006 10:29 AMDoes it really matter how unpopular Republican candidates or Bush are come the '06 elections? Gerrymandering, exclusion of eligible voters from the polls and Diebold will assure electoral success for the Right regardless of the actual vote tally. Should those factors fail SCOTUS can be depended on to step in and declare a Republican the winner.
Posted by steve duncan at April 19, 2006 07:36 AM
Duncan, Sad as hell, but oh, so fucking true.
Posted by oppressmenot at April 19, 2006 10:38 AMFour words: They count the votes
Posted by JillK. at April 19, 2006 01:38 PM