By Bushfatigue, January 15 at 9:10 am #

We saw Bush at his delusional worst—and this man lead our country for 8 years?—no wonder we’ve been devastated.  What moronic self-absorption.
On our standing, haven’t his aides shared any of the polls that show how despised our country has become, almost everywhere?  Is he really that dishonest or uninformed?
Why don’t reporters or interviewers have the wit or courage to challenge him?  Why has he been allowed to repeatedly claim, without challenge, that he “had” to go into Iraq because Hussein “wouldn’t let the inspectors in”?  If his advisors had actually kept him in the dark on this, they should be tried for treason—
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w is the product of the neocon think tanks, those organizations that popped up in the nixon error to come up with ways to get conservative/neocon control of all branches of our government and bring as much of america over to their way of thinking. Since the nixon era and that is a good long time to read, study and research how to gain this control of power, these treasonous traitors to the republic of the USA have worked hard and their handiwork is everywhere to see and hear. And I am talking about reading and using ideas from Orwell’s ‘1984’, milton friedman’s disastrous economic theories of the ‘unfettered’ markets, HOW TO CONTROL THE MEDIA(which came down to ignoring the anti-trust laws that were created to prevent the owership of a particular ‘persuasion’ of ideology of something as important as our source of information) by consolidating ownership by 4 or 5 neoconservative owners that control how information is ‘managed’ now and also Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ to a lesser degree(Read ‘Brave New World Revisited’ for what I mean here).
I consider this the utmost of priorities to set back to right by breaking these monopolies where there are real journalists reporting and keeping tabs on such an easily subverted thing as what our government has become. There should not have to be a real source of information that is relegated to internet web sites and books that not all people have or pay attention to. I am talking about real journalists that appear on the mainstream media just as regularly as, say, fox does with its nonjournalist punditry. But, still with the strangle hold that people like rupert murdoch has on his idea of what information the people in this country gets, real news will still be hard to come by on those easily accessed tv and radio channels according to ‘their’ terms. And you can thank that sorry piece of fecal matter reagan for excellerating the subversion of our media by killing the fairness doctrine which stopped the right of hearing opposing viewpoints and creating that totally illegal claptrap called ‘commerical free speech’ that gave corporations the rights of what were originally for the citizens, which the ‘elite’ had already been gradually gaining control of decades ago.

Bush could have cared less about Africa when he came to office, and was reliably of the “they get what they deserve” branch of the Republican party when it came to aids.

It was a heavy push from his evangelical base, in particular, ironically, Rick Warren and his group, that set him on the path to the one decent thing he accomplished in office.

We saw Bush at his delusional worst—and this man lead our country for 8 years?—no wonder we’ve been devastated.  What moronic self-absorption.

On our standing, haven’t his aides shared any of the polls that show how despised our country has become, almost everywhere?  Is he really that dishonest or uninformed? 

Why don’t reporters or interviewers have the wit or courage to challenge him?  Why has he been allowed to repeatedly claim, without challenge, that he “had” to go into Iraq because Hussein “wouldn’t let the inspectors in”?  If his advisors had actually kept him in the dark on this, they should be tried for treason—

Just more mindless untruthful talking points trying to pave the way for Jeb.  This is why the Bush administration needs to be investigated and everyone needs a good strong whiff of all the crap that will be exposed.

I can only hope that during the Obama inaugural, when the departing idiot-in-chief walks down the stage to take his seat, the millions who are present to witness history collectively raise their shoes as a symbol of the utter rejection of that moron.

Hey, ThnkUBush, 
  You missed a ThankYou - namely, you forgot to thank W for ignoring the repeated warnings before 9/11 that Al Qaeda intended to “crash airliners into public buildings”. In particular W was so intent on Sadam Hussein he blew off the specific warnings that came from various agencies in the US and abroad during August 2001.  Ironically that same intelligence came from all the same sources he now says he relied upon for so-called concrete evidence of WMD. And ironically you could have skipped a bunch of your current ThankYou’s if he had taken the August warnings seriously. 
  But you didn’t miss your dose of the administration’s kool-aid did you?  How ARE things over there at “the home” ?

I am disappointed to find a normally reliable columnist like Robinson joining the Washington mainstream consensus by calling for an “investigation” of the crimes of Bush and his minions.

When a robber robs a bank, we don’t call for an “investigation” to get at the truth of how the robber robbed the bank. If the investigation-grand jur-indictment-trial-punishment process is good enough for petty thiefs, why are the powers-that-be so terrified at applying the rule of law to our leaders?

If Obama does not authorize criminal investigations of Bush’s deeds, Obama will have squandered his historic opportunity to strengthen the moral backbone of the nation and renew the country’s commitment to the rule of law.

We just had an election: I don’t know about you, but I voted for courage, not cowardice.

BOYCOTT “ole BSs” farewell speech!!!!!Shut off your T.V when his “farewell speechifying” comes on…

STRIKE a blow to his immense ego by letting him [and HIS media]know how unimportant whatever it has he thinks? and has to say!...

Each of us is a COMMITTEE OF ONE…

JUST SAY “NO”!!! to any/everything concerning “ole bullshit”....

SHOW HIM we do not care!!!
SHOW HIM he is IRRELEVANT!!!

You’re right, Eugene. It’s very important to convene an investigation of the Bush administration. We can start by investigating some of the administration’s “incredible and deadly” lies that John Dean discusses on the Findlaw site:

“. . . in the run-up to the war in Iraq, the White House was worried about the stance of Republican Majority Leader Richard Armey of Texas, who had deep concerns about going to war with Saddam Hussein. According to the Post, Armey met with Cheney for a highly classified, one-on-on briefing . . .

During this meeting, the Post reports, Cheney turned Armey around on the war issue. Cheney did so by telling the House Majority Leader that he was giving him information that the Administration could not tell the public—namely (according to Armey), that Iraq had the “‘ability to miniaturize weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear,’ which had been ‘substantially refined since the first Gulf War,’ and would soon result in ‘packages that could be moved even by ground personnel.’ In addition, Cheney linked that threat to Saddam’s alleged personal ties to al Qaeda, explaining that ‘we now know they have the ability to develop these weapons in a very portable fashion, and they have a delivery system in their relationship with organizations such as al Qaeda.’”

The Post story continues, “Armey has asked: “Did Dick Cheney ... purposely tell me things he knew to be untrue?” His answer: “I seriously feel that may be the case…Had I known or believed then what I believe now, I would have publicly opposed [the war] resolution right to the bitter end, and I believe I might have stopped it from happening.”

In short, it was this lie that sealed the nation’s fate, and sent us to war in Iraq. By lying to such an influential figure in Congress, Cheney not only may have changed the course of history, but also corrupted the separation of powers with their inherent checks and balances.

Cheney’s monumental dishonesty, the news of which has been buried under the current meltdown of the nation’s economy. . .  can be viewed not only as a great immorality and violation of the criminal code, but also and more fundamentally as the significant breach of his oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution that it is.”

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20080919.html

Thank you President Bush for your part in capturing or killing over 2/3 of the men and woman responsible for planning and carry out the Sept. 11 attacks. Thank you for forcing Usama bin Laden, Dr. Zawahiri and Mullah Omar into a state of effectual disconnect from operational control. Thank you for your part in severing numerous global terrorist network banking and financing venues. Thank you most of all for any part you played in preventing another such attack. I know the credit goes to thousands in the armed forces, the intelligence community and local, state and federal law enforcment. But water boarding Khalid Mohammad, is and will be,  recognised for killing and capturing numerous high level opperatives and disrupting attacks already in the operational pipeline. For that too I thank you immensely.

Thank you for focusing as you did on global narco-terrorism which had proven to be one of the most effective vehicles in acquiring moniess to train Ansar Al-Islam, Asbat al -Ansar and the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.

Thank you for you unabashed and unapologetic belief that ridding the world of Saddam Hussein was of the highest priority after 9/11. Taking the lesson of what’s possible for a relatively small number of people to accomplish when murder is the goal was solid reasoning on your part. You displayed in short order that you understood some of our most ardent and dangerous enemies.

Thank you for signing the Patriot Act after it’s passing overwhelmingly in the House and Senate. Thank you for continually following the Patriot Act after the democratically controled Congress re-autherized the Act in 2006 and again in 2007. Thank you for informing party leaders on government progress every step of the way. You helped to display that it was a group effort amongst almost 100 Senators and several hundred House Members.

Thank you for being one of a handful of world leaders who say what they mean and mean what they say.  I didn’t always agree with you but, it seems a rare quality at times.

Thank you for being the most forceful voice amongst a small number who kept the pressure on the United Nations when it came to Sudan. You were the very first to respond with humanitarian aid and never hesitated to engage other African nations to get invloved. Your White House has been a true leader in the area.

Thank you for the Millennium Challenge Mr. President. You, and the many good men and woman around you, have quit literally saved millions of lives.

Part 2
3) The plans and implementation of the Iraq “War.”
Nothing that was concerned with this illegal and immoral use of “war power,” was a success. Everything
about this conflict was and is a complete disaster, the planning for this conflict was done by people who
never saw battle and discounted the advice of the very people who could have gotten us in and out, like
a fart in a mitten. Gen. Shinseki, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, and others in the command structure of the military, stated without reservation that the number of troops needed for the successful completion of this task, was way more than
the civilian authorities predicted. Leading us into the quagmire that we are now embroiled in.
Last but not least, for the list can run into book length, 4) The total and complete meltdown of the economy of the world, especially the Untied State.
Starting with Ronald Reagan, and continuing through the successive presidents, including William Jefferson Blythe Clinton, under the laissez-faire regime of the shrub and his neo-conservative pundits and friends, especially those in his “kitchen cabinet,” America has now become a third world country. We are now facing economic ruin, as never before seen in the history of the US, because of the lack of oversight and regulation that was instituted by the “Great Communicator,” and then followed by the successive presidents.  Duhhhhhbya, only hastened this process by allowing the banking sector of our economy, total leeway in making decisions. And this without any oversight, by either the Legislative Branch or Judicial Branch of our governmental structure.  We are now one of the largest debtor nations in the world, we, the people,
are in the fix for trillions of dollars that can never be repaid, and will cause the economic collapse of the “free market capitalist system.”
Nowhere can we the people borrow enough money to repay all the loans and bonds that have been taken out to prosecute an illegal and immoral war, secure
our nations borders, leave an environment that is better than what we inherited, and for toppers, we are now faced with the possibility of economic war,
with countries that we cannot possibly win against.
All this against the backdrop of history, yes, history will decide whether this administration was the worst or near worst in the history of the US.
The shrub says, “I am taking the long view, I will leave it to the future historians to decide whether
I was a good president or not.”  This is the most laughable and maniacal thing that has ever come from
the mouth of the shrub. His war crimes, the crimes against humanity, and the shredding of the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution in prosecuting the “war on terror,”  in a perfect world would be prosecuted
by a tribunal of International Justices.  Yet in the space of less than 10 days, G.W. Bush will pardon all the actors in this farce of an administration.
There will be no one to prosecute! Pardons all around
everyone! Get your pardons here!

There are many things that I can take umbrage with that
have happened during the administration of the shrub and Darth Vader!
Certain things stand out in my mind, as time goes on they only increase in intensity and number:
1) 9/11. During the aftermath of this disaster, the world was squarely behind the United States. Pursuing the terrorists that supposedly caused this, was something that the people of the world looked upon as a
necessary and needful thing. Yet Duhhhhhhhhbya, squandered the goodwill of the world’s population by engaging in an illegal and immoral conflict, that has
only now begun to be the quagmire that people predicted and the people of the world disagreed with,
Iraq.
2) Abu-Ghraib. Here was a prime example of policy and
the implementation of that policy, gone wrong. Every
person, from G.W. Bush on down, knew that the conditions of the prison were abominable and atrocious. That there was a complete lack of oversight that caused deaths and mental illnesses to become the norm for people that were incarcerated at this hellish and abominable place.

Considering the Bush Administration’s obsession with secrecy, I imagine the George W Bush Presidential Library will probably be a departure from American traditions as well.  Since anything and everything always got the old ”executive privilege” stamp, we know it won’t be open to the public - only Bush will be allowed to enter the library. 

Of course, Bush may be planning to open a special wing for the public and fill it with his signing statements.  There is certainly enough of these to fill a room.  And it could be the library staff will provide daily “water boarding” demonstrations for the public and weekly lectures on how to break long standing laws like the Presidential Records and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Acts.

“ole bullshit” has NEVER considered any other views BUT HIS OWN and he is so STUPID AND UNEDUCATED as to think his views are RELEVANT….Hopefully he will fall off his horse and break his neck as he rides off into the texas sun…....

It’s going to take years to recver from because that is the Republicans m/o now. They have blown up the deficit so that no new public funding can take place for the american taxpayer. Only our money being funneled into existing programs and the military industrial/oil lobbyists to get them re-elected is the name on their game. Oh and Wall street executives as well.

Jimminy just to get the economy rolling again and people working we need to borrow another trillion or so, that if the deficit hadn’t been run up on PURPOSE would not have been any issue. So much for laizei-fare Republicanism and a false debt economy. The eight years were a total wash, especially the free money given at Americans’ expense and a false war.  What a false administration.

To ThnkUBush:
Yes Kabul fell .... but is currently surrounded by more powerful tribesmen, Taliban, and Al Qaeda sympathizers than before - and the poppy crop exceeds any in history.    (only 82 US military ? Did you forget the thousands of air sorties, pilots, naval vessels, sailors, airmen, cruise missiles, and materiel?)
Yes Bush had a clear head re: Katrina - that’s why he chose to attend a fund-raiser instead of a fly-over of New Orleans.  He had other fish to fry.
  (“Brownie” did a heck of a job.)
Yes W ignored the Kyoto agreement and has since implanted hundreds of anti-environment moles in our government bureaucracy to continue to block or obfuscate improvements for the distant future.  (Fortunately for W he will not be around when global warming chokes the poulation. Current estimates suggest W revised over 100 times the enviro-regulations and procedures Clinton did in his last days.)
Yes you voted for W twice -  which makes you even more at fault than W himself. 
And he DID leave behind a Vietnam-like war, a clone of the Great Depression, a military under terrific stress, deficits that may take generations to catch up with.
He did NOT ignore dogma, hate or bigotry - he institutionalized it. 
And one would hope that the Europeans and others remain whining about problems they see - W surely turned a blind eye to everything that contradicted his foolhardy plans.
W and Faux Snooze and Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan are on a mission to say that Abu Graib was the work of un-trained minions and waterboarding is not torture and that ANYbody can be trained to resist “enhanced interrogation”.  Of course they never endured such themselves - one can be objective from outside.

Maybe after all it’s just,  “Fair and Balanced” to thank Bush.  Even Archie Bunker yearned for the return of Hoover.

One thing’s for sure—this sorry excuse for a president is surely leaving something resembling the Augean stables to Mr. Obama; and where are the two rivers to divert through the stables to cleanse them? And the Herculean strength needed to do it?

I am SO glad I’m not the president-elect! I wouldn’t wish his predicament on anyone.

ThnkUBush, January 13 at 5:21 am #

If memory serves you are the one who opined that Bush would attack Iran before leaving office. You were certain of it. Well, you were certainly wrong.
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By how much?  VP Cheney was pushing for an attack on Iran. So, it seems, were the Right Wing of the Israeli Cabinet.  All the signs and rhetoric that led to the illegal and unnecessary attack on Iraq were there.  The transfer of Supreme Commander in the region went from land (Army) to sea (Navy) because that would be how an air attack would be mounted.  How much did Iran back down?  How much did Iran’s congratulations to Obama bring us back from the brink.

The fact that we didn’t attack Iran doesn’t mean we didn’t come close, too close.  Happily, late in his administration, Bush has listened less to Darth Cheney than before.  Perhaps even Dumbya figured out that Cheney is ALWAYS wrong.

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If memory serves you are the one who opined that Bush would not leave office and would impose martial law and take over Washington. Wrong again!
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Wait! We still have a week to go.  Still, I am more and more hopeful every day that I AM wrong. Again, let us not forget that in 2004 Cheney (him again!) actually proposed postponing the election.  Even during the Civil War, WWI and WWII elections weren’t postponed. So…why postpone it in 2004?

A President who advocated regal, dictatorial powers cannot be trusted to turn over power when the time comes.  Again, perhaps, Cheney’s waning influence and his dad’s resurging influence may have helped.  Then, too, this last year has been particularly tough on Bush (not that I care—it’s of his own making) and I think he’s ready to be done with it.  He may even, in his heart of hearts, recognize that he is totally incompetent and unsuited to the job.  This last, the financial crisis, is mostly the result of all of his 8 years of irresponsible policies.

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Your views appears very narrow indeed. Hate Bush at every turn and call him every name, and accuse him every crime, known to man.

No matter how many times you have proven yourself wrong you keep repeating the the mantra like a programed robot. Seems very narrow indeed.
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Could be you are right—but take a gander at his truly demented final press conference! He lies about the recession (“I came into office with a recession”) Nope, it began in March—two months later.  (“We rescued 30,000 from the rooftops in New Orleans. Don’t tell me we were unprepared.”) Oops…Standard Coast Guard plans, not FEMA, not the WH—and there were no plans or actions for what to do with them after they were rescued.  30,000 people are STILL living in temp. housing years later.

I give Bush credit for 3 things: 1)He WARNED the GOP that their hard-assed immigrant views that he opposed would cost them Hispanic voters and was right. 2)He did more to help AIDS in Africa than any of his predecessors. 3)He just declared the Mariana Trench a protected area.

That’s not enough to rescue the man who trashed our civil liberties, our economy, our ability to respond to natural disasters, our reputation abroad, and got us into this quagmire of Iraq for no damn good reason.

Bush in my book is the epitome of evil. The fact that he’s leaving office without being tried for crimes against humanity will always be one of the darkest pages in American history. Here are some facts:

1. He stole two elections.
2. It’s under his watch and most likely because of him or by his order that the 9/11 attack took place nine months into his presidency.
3. He is responsible for two evil and destructive wars half way around the world; wars of aggression and imperial designs based on lies and weapons of mass deception.
4. For eight long years he continued to be a serial liar, warmongering and fear-mongering to violate basic human rights.
5. As a result of his evil more than a million people died in the Iraq and Afghan wars, so he has a lot of blood on his hands.
6. He leaves the country totally broke and financially ruined, as a result of promoting a culture of greed and robbery by the rich 1% against the majority of common Americans.
7. He leaves America morally corrupt, becoming the laughing stock of the world and turning the majority of the world into enemies.

One can write books about the atrocities and bloodshed committed at the altar of this evil one. Since Hitler no one has committed crimes against humanity as he did. And if he is not tried for his crimes, I wish that he dies a violent and tragic death like the deaths he brought to so many humans in America and the world!

It’s almost funny to see in print someone referring to the use of illegal imprisonment, torture, and political assassination as a departure from “american” values and traditions.

I put forth the proposition that they these despicable actions have been, and continue to be “business as usual” for the good ‘ol USA.

When you think about the attrocities committed by men wrapped in the american flag, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion other than we are some of the most cruel people in human history. Let me submit some examples:

The organized slaughter of the indigenous people of america. (by some esimates, over 18 million people)

Slavery, and our willingness to defend it by making war.

The murder of countless millions of innocents from the Phillipines, to southeast Asia, to Central and south America from the 1890’s to now in politically motivated conflicts as a means to america’s business ends.

Manzanar

Medical experimentation on blacks, and retarded people in places like Alabama, and Oak Ridge Tenn.

The second atom bomb

The organized government oppression of the civil rights movement.

The unconditional support of military juntas throughout world, just because they are friendly to US business interests.

Our proliferation of the weapons of war throughout the second and third world.

Countless political assassinations perpetrated by the american intelligence services.

The suspension of civil liberties(done to roaring applause)

And these few examples are just among the ones that we KNOW ABOUT. Yessiree, we americans are a cruel bunch! But humans have been slaughtering each other for centuries, so why should americans be held to a different standard? Oh, that’s right, we were supposed to be the “shining beacon” for the world to follow. An example for all future nations to follow.

So what kind of example does it set when we tie people down and pour water down their throats? Do the ends always justify the means? Torquamada thought so. But that was only for God.

Thank you President Bush for all you’ve done to prevent another attack on the United States. Thank you for the brilliant way Kabul fell with only 82 U.S. Troops on the ground in Afghanistan. Thank you, immensely, for the absolutely brilliant decision to remove Saddam Hussein. Those moves alone will assure your high ranking in history.

Thank you for keeping a clear head after Hurricane Katrina. Thank you for keeping with the House and Senate in denying the deeply flawed Kyoto agreement. Thank you for all you did to make Social Security an issue in Washington.

Thank you, Sir. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing almost everything contrary to the opinions on TruthDig. I feel GREAT for having voted for you twice!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you’ve done.

Inherit The Wind,

You say you take the long view?

If memory serves you are the one who opined that Bush would attack Iran before leaving office. You were certain of it. Well, you were certainly wrong.

If memory serves you are the one who opined that Bush would not leave office and would impose martial law and take over Washington. Wrong again!

Your views appears very narrow indeed. Hate Bush at every turn and call him every name, and accuse him every crime, known to man.

No matter how many times you have proven yourself wrong you keep repeating the the mantra like a programed robot. Seems very narrow indeed.

—-

Thank you President Bush for all you’ve done. Thank you for ignoring the short sighted view rooted in dogma, hate and bigotry. History will indeed judge you well.

The most stunning remark of the President was this: “we were disappointed that we did not find Weapons of mass Destruction in Iraq”. A sane person could have said: “we were relieved when we found no WMD’s in Iraq because there was not threat to us after all but that could not be known beforehand”.

With regards to “prosecutions” of lawbreakers, our coward-in-chief Obama has already capitulated. He wants to look forward leaving a great stench (not made by him of course) behind his back which will not go away but he already argues that it’s not important given the state of our economy. I have a suggestion for Mr. CinC: he should look forward and order the release all prisoners who are in jail for possession of marijuana or hard drugs and order that no new arrests be made. That will save a gigantic amount of expenditure for all States.

I take the long view of history: George W. Bush will be remembered and regarded as the most destructive President by far in our history.  Even such luminaries of incompetence and destruction like John Tyler, James Buchanan, US Grant, Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan seems “not so bad” or even “metzo-metzo” when compared to this delusional @$$#0le.  Considering “Old Buck” fiddled while the nation ripped itself apart leading to the Civil War, it shows just what a monster President Disaster has been.

OK, he was good on immigration and AIDS in Africa. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I hope the George W. Bush story is NOT over.  Notice that Obama is distancing himself from investigations…but he’s saying NOTHING about Congress calling for special investigators.  Bush cannot pardon himself—and anyone he pardons cannot legally refuse to testify! (so he needs to be VERY careful whom he pardons….)

To me, the Dubya story will properly end with Bush spending the rest of his life in prison for his crimes against humanity.

By July, we will come to feel that 2009 will be one of the most upbeat years in our history, as what used to be the news media begins to get behind America and report on all the mysteriously wonderful things that are suddenly taking place.

All the campaign talk of the Great Depression, a Vietnam-like war, and our shredded Constitution will now thankfully subside as the Obama administration assumes office and solves problems with conciliation, dialogue, and multilateral wisdom, rather than shrillness, unilateralism, preemption, and my-way-or-the-highway dogmatism. We will hear that, by historical levels, unemployment is still not that bad, that GDP growth is not historically all that low, and that deficits, inflation, interest rates, and housing starts are all within manageable parameters. “Depression” will transmogrify into “recession” which in turn by July will be a “downturn” and by year next an “upswing” on its way to boom times.

Indeed, almost supernaturally crises will be solved with the departure of the hated Bush: no more flooding streets from cracked water mains that were a result of a President’s neglect of infrastructure, and no more spontaneous crashes of Mississippi River bridges due to diversions of critical federal aid from cash-strapped states to Iraq. And when the temperatures rise or drop, the wind howls, the clouds burst forth or go away, the snow melts or piles up, it will be, well, nature that caused the havoc, not the current occupant of the White House who failed to sign Kyoto.

As we watch the innocent die from natural mayhem, it will be due to the breakdown of local responders who now suddenly kill people, not federal inaction — except perhaps for an occasional few Bush federal holdovers that have not yet been rooted out. Human nature, of course, now will be seen more culpable, more selfish, as in needlessly resisting wise and caring federal interventions, rather than being inherently noble but shunned by an uncaring Washington. Yes, when dikes collapse and planes collide on crowded runways, it will be due to a cruel and unpredictable nature, or intrinsic design flaws, or improper local use and maintenance, or the past President’s nefarious legacy, not current government policies. (But if you still must bash the government, it will be wise to do it in 1950s style of inattentive state and local officials, prone to regional and tribal prejudices, blocking the infinite wisdom of a caring federal government.)

Some military action abroad could be necessary — and necessarily reported on as measured and reluctant, rather than cowboyish and gratuitous. European whining will be a result of miscommunications or the Euros’ unfair caricatures of Americans, not Bush’s alienation of allies. If radical Islam strikes, it will be, well, radical again and sometimes even dangerous, not a figment of neocon pipe dreams. If an administration official quits, goes on 60 Minutes, and writes a nasty tell-all book about Obama’s insensitivity and his government’s directionless ennui, he will be a heretic, a whiner, a turncoat, not a truth teller or brave maverick who blew the whistle in need of a bestseller hyped from NPR to the New York Times. We will come again to hate the filibuster, obstructionist Congressional policies, and the occasional loud-mouthed Senator who voices slurs against our nation in unpatriotic fashion.

Eugene Robinson is, as usual, on the mark.  But I take issue with one phrase in his assessment.  The horrors of Abu Ghraib were not the result of “lax training and supervision.”  They were policy crafted at the highest levels of authority—deliberate and premeditated war crimes, for which the Bush administration is (by the President’s and Vice President’s own admission) directly responsible.  I, too, “understand Obama’s reluctance to conduct criminal investigations of the Bush years.”  But unless this is done, our very survival as a nation is threatened.  Only uncompromising pursuit of the truth can enable us to guard against such grave violation of the rule of law ever happening again.  Anything swept under the rug—especially that impressive and expensive new shag rug with a presidential seal that now graces the Oval Office—will fester.  As a nation, we have only begun to face up to the trauma our Constitution and national psyche have suffered.

This was a pitiful diatribe from a piss poor excuse for a human. It is 49 minutes of the most god awful crap from the most god awful president this country has ever had to endure. Where was Helen Thomas? And calling him president is making a far stretch of the whole thing. One thing, his comment about not being able to just put on a straw hat and sit around should be interesting because other than his terrorist buddies from his administration or those in saudi arabia, or other ruthless dictators, who would want him to see him much less be seen or photographed with him?
He still deserves full prosecution and penalties of law no matter how much obama says to hold our breath.
Hmmm, maybe the reopening of the investigation into 911 will bring forth good results.