On Thursday evening, George Bush pre-empted important television to try to shore up his support with his kool-aide drinking minion base. It’s clear that his Republican overlords are scared of rapidly declining poll numbers–they don’t want Georgie’s misfortunes to be tied around their necks, lest they lose some of their power in next year’s congressional elections.
::flip::
The media has been complicit in the brainwashing of average Americans, shilling for the White House by floating their lies under the cover of “anonymous officials”. The Katrina Disasters (the flood and the bungled response) have jolted some reporters into action, finally asking pointed questions and refusing to be met with non-answers. The Bullshit Meters have finally started to peak and it looks like the editorial boards are sick of dealing with it:
From tomorrow’s Washington Post:
[snip]
There is nothing certain about the success he hopes to demonstrate. The rebuilding at Ground Zero in New York has taken four years, and although the work in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast will begin almost immediately, the scope of the reconstruction virtually guarantees debates and delays that could sap public patience. Already there are signs of a brewing battle between business and government elites and organizers working with those displaced over whose voices will be heard in shaping the reconstruction.
Second-term slumps hit every reelected president, but often they come later than this one. Bush has little time to waste to rejuvenate his governing capacity, given the reality that lame-duck status awaits him in the not-too-distant future. But just as it will take time to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, it may take many months for Bush to rebound from what now troubles his presidency. Given the added burdens of Iraq and the economy, the president’s road to recovery “will be longer and more difficult,” said Ross K. Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University.
What a waste of a presidential term. Here we are, less than a year from George’s second inauguration (insert GERD attack here), and his followers are already experiencing buyers’ remorse. Forgive me for having zero sympathy for their ire. Voting matters. If they would’ve been paying attention during the campaign, they would’ve seen this train wreck advancing toward us.
More response on Bush’s sermon, from the New York Times:
The president forthrightly linked the failures in response to the storm to a vulnerability to a terrorist attack and said he wanted to know “all the facts” about what had gone wrong.
Mr. Bush called for unity in tackling the problems. But with only a camera before him, and New Orleans silent around him, he could draw no strength or self-assurance from the cheers of a united nation, as he did when he addressed a joint session of Congress nine days after the Sept. 11 attacks. Not only did his own stagecraft leave him alone in the spotlight, but whatever good will flowed to him across the aisle in those moments after the terrorist attacks is long gone, a victim of a polarized political culture that he did not create but to which he has often contributed.
For Mr. Bush, this was a moment for the country to turn away from what he and his aides have dismissively labeled “the blame game” toward a hopeful vision of a rebuilt Gulf Coast and a smarter government. But it is not yet clear that his performance will stanch the political wounds he has suffered or ensure that he can avoid being hobbled through his second term, not just by what he lost in the faltering response to Hurricane Katrina but by the rising death toll in Iraq, sky-high energy prices and worrisome deficits.
“Performance” is correct. The only reason this speech was scheduled was because he is tanking in the polls. It had nothing to do with Georgie owning up to the government’s failure to protect its people. His model of leadership has failed and as a result, countless Americans have died. He is unfit for office, the charade is over, it’s time for this great country to say ‘No More Bullshit’!
Will you join the revolution?
from my humble blog.
The BS never stops – what a crappy statement while the Repubs refuse an independent inquiry.
is if he’s telling the truth. Either a) he knows and is a liar, or b) he doesn’t know and is incompetent. Both show that he is a failed leader (which we already knew, but his loyal followers have yet to grasp fully). I think it’s a mix of both. Can you believe there are 40 months left in his term? blech
40 months – excuse me while I slit my throat.
Seriously though, there’s so much crap flying out of DC on a daily basis that looking at in terms of 40 more months is just too overwhelming.
so many cleansees were able to successfully defy America and refused to perish.
I think Washington was quite sincerely taken by surprise to find so many people not only alive, but ambulatory by the end of the week.
Damage control – not for the people, not for the country, not for the environment…but for his poll numbers.
I listened a little at work last night….and then slammed the off button (poor radio!).
Back to local politics and paying attention to races throughout the country that can be turned from red to blue – with liberals not just dino’s.
Great diary M.E.
off and on. I found the thread here at BooTrib to be much more entertaining, so for my blood pressure’s sake I focused on the hilarious comments by everyone here rather than Shrubzilla.
…Not..I was lucky enough to have dozed off on the couch and missed the whole damn thing..much better for my blood pressure anyway. And the few clips I’ve seen today he looks like some noneck guy-a parody of himself. Forget what he said as it’s just coverhisass bullshit..complete with the whole phony lights on staging.
Has he ever had a ‘real’ moment that wasn’t staged? (unless we count that first debate where he was so unprepared it was embarrassing-now that was the ‘real deal’ of bush)
Brian Williams reported this fresh source of outrage:
Yeah, like perhaps our government is run by a gang of cruel f*cks!
(It’s my day off from not calling people names).
The media’s long-time focus on one man is just obscene. “Thousands Die in Katrina: Will Bush Survive?” “Tsunami Aid Tardy: Bush’s Poll Numbers Decline.” “Terrorists Strike Twin Towers: Brings Out Best in Bush.” Give me a fucking break! (Not you, ManE, the media.) This media obsession with one man’s political temperature is sick, sick, sick. So “Katrina has added an enormous new burden to a presidency already bending. . .”? Who fucking cares. How about the enormous new burden on the millions of people this has effected. Screw him and ANY effect it has on him.
My goodness, I guess I had a rant coming on!
But believe it or not my rant is actually connected to your diary. If the media had actually concentrated on what his minions have been doing to this country for the past five years, instead of on his poll numbers, more people might have been aware earlier that he was putting this country in incredible danger.
Okay, I’m done. Good diary, ManE.
as long as we can keep the failed leadership meme focused on all the wingnuts in D.C. (there are plenty), and throw them out so they can’t destroy what’s left of the country. Bush doesn’t have another election looming for him, so it will be interesting to see the tension grow between the White House and the Republican congress-critters.
sure you check out Deviltower’s diary regarding Bush’s sermon and the police state ShrubCo is likely to perpetuate.
Thanks for the link to DT’s diary. We need to remain vigilant as BushCo moves us closer to fascism.
I have this mental image of Dubya on a pair of skies, flying down the slope, a terrified expression in his face as the avalanche gains on him.
It makes me smile.
as opposed to his smirky game-face? I hope you’re right Limelite, here’s hoping that the rest of the Bushistas tumble down the cliff with him.
It will take time to restore chaos and order…
— G. W. Bush, speaking to reporters about the situation in Iraq, April 13, 2003