Bush On TARP: ‘Why Did I Sign On To This Proposal If I Don’t Understand What It Does?’

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/09/15/bush-tarp/
lolololol

On September 24, 2008, former President George Bush addressed the nation to explain the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that was being crafted by the administration, the Treasury Department, and Congress. "Under our proposal," Bush explained, "the federal government would put up to $700 billion taxpayer dollars on the line to purchase troubled assets that are clogging the financial system."

But former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer wrote in an upcoming book (excerpted by GQ) that, even hours before he gave an address promoting the TARP, Bush fundamentally misunderstood what the program was all about

voted in not once, but twice. forrest thru the trees, voters.

Bush Blasted Other Prominent Politicians While President

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/matt-latimer-book-bush-sl_n_286853.html
Of Obama, he said: "This is a dangerous world and this cat isn't remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you."

Now if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black (pun unintended).

Bush thought Hillary would be the Democratic nominee. "'Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk,' he once said (except he didn't say 'keister')," Latimer wrote.

But Bush was perhaps most critical of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin:

"I'm trying to remember if I've met her before. I'm sure I must have." His eyes twinkled, then he asked, "What is she, the governor of Guam?" [...]


"This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for," he said. "She hasn't spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let's wait and see how she looks five days out." It was a rare dose of reality in a White House that liked to believe every decision was great, every Republican was a genius, and McCain was the hope of the world because, well, because he chose to be a member of our party.

Closing The Book On The Bush Legacy

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/closing_the_book_on_the_bush_legacy.php
The annual Census Bureau report on income, poverty and access to health care "closes the books on the economic record of George W. Bush. It's not a record many Republicans are likely to point to with pride."

"On every major measurement, the Census Bureau report shows that the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without health insurance spiked. By contrast, the country's condition improved on each of those measures during Bill Clinton's two terms, often substantially."

Bush Spent More Than Obama - It Isn't About The Money, Is It?

Dear Friends,

Why did these Republicans NOT march on Washington last fall when Bush bailed out the Banks for Billions?

Because Bush isn't African-American!

Did you SEE any people of color in that crowd this afternoon?

700 Billion for Bush's first Bank Bailout:  He mortgaged our children and our children's children and no one marched!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-09-21-rescue-plan_N.htm

Catherine

The Gonzales Cantata

I don't recall...

Pastor Wants Obama To Die Of Brain Cancer: "Like Ted Kennedy"

H/T Nya

It takes all kinds...

Former first daughter Jenna Bush joins 'Today' Show

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/former-first-daughter-jenna-bush-joins-today/27099?nc
NEW YORK NBC's "Today" show has hired someone with White House experience as a new correspondent:

Former first daughter Jenna Bush Hager, a 27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education to television's top-rated morning news show, said Jim Bell, its executive producer.

The daughter of former President George W. Bush said she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when Bell contacted her.

"It wasn't something I'd always dreamed to do," she said. "But I think one of the most important things in life is to be open-minded and to be open-minded for change."

She'll essentially work two part-time jobs as a correspondent and in her school, where she will be a reading coordinator this year.

YES WE CAN! - The weak dollar is pushing energy prices higher - HOPE & CHANGE

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9ABTNOG2&show_article=1

LONDON (AP) - The effect of the weak dollar is again pushing oil prices higher in the face of little demand for energy and huge surpluses of crude.

On Friday, the dollar again fell against major currencies.

Since March, the dollar index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of foreign currencies like the euro, the Japanese yen, the pound and the Swiss franc, has fallen nearly 12 percent. In that same period, crude has jumped 81 percent.

Don't feel bad - Here is the Obama Kids Video!

Revisiting Ted Kennedy Speech Against the Iraq War

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2009/08/ted-kennedy-rip.html
democracyarsenal.org: Ted Kennedy RIP

In commemorating the extraordinary and complicated life of Ted Kennedy there has been significant focus on Kennedy's many accomplishments on domestic policy. But how about a few thoughts on his foreign policy acumen.

I had a chance today to read over the speech that Kennedy gave in September 2002 explaining his concerns about a possible war with Iraq. While Kennedy's speech occurred early in the Iraq debate and was focused more on finding a non-military solution to the security challenge posed by Saddam, his predictions about the consequences of war with Iraq are stunning in their prescience:

Just one year into the campaign against Al Qaeda, the Administration is shifting focus, resources, and energy to Iraq. The change in priority is coming before we have fully eliminated the threat from Al Qaeda, before we know whether Osama Bin Laden is dead or alive, and before we can be assured that the fragile post-Taliban government in Afghanistan will consolidate its authority.

No one disputes that America has lasting and important interests in the Persian Gulf, or that Iraq poses a significant challenge to U.S. interests. There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein's regime is a serious danger, that he is a tyrant, and that his pursuit of lethal weapons of mass destruction cannot be tolerated. He must be disarmed.

How can we best achieve this objective in a way that minimizes the risks to our country? How can we ignore the danger to our young men and women in uniform, to our ally Israel, to regional stability, the international community, and victory against terrorism?

There is clearly a threat from Iraq, and there is clearly a danger, but the Administration has not made a convincing case that we face such an imminent threat to our national security that a unilateral, pre-emptive American strike and an immediate war are necessary.

Nor has the Administration laid out the cost in blood and treasure of this operation.

With all the talk of war, the Administration has not explicitly acknowledged, let alone explained to the American people, the immense post-war commitment that will be required to create a stable Iraq.

The President's challenge to the United Nations requires a renewed effort to enforce the will of the international community to disarm Saddam. Resorting to war is not America's only or best course at this juncture. There are realistic alternatives between doing nothing and declaring unilateral or immediate war. War should be a last resort, not the first response. Let us follow that course, and the world will be with us – even if, in the end, we have to move to the ultimate sanction of armed conflict.

The Bush Administration says America can fight a war in Iraq without undermining our most pressing national security priority -- the war against Al Qaeda. But I believe it is inevitable that a war in Iraq without serious international support will weaken our effort to ensure that Al Qaeda terrorists can never, never, never threaten American lives again.

Of course, as it turned out, the Bush Administration ended up following Kennedy's recommendation to go to the United Nations and force Saddam to allow inspectors back in. And as we well know today the Bush Administration's unquenchable desire to invade and occupy Iraq could not be sated by mere UN inspections. And so the war came.

It is one of the great tragedies of American history that more people didn't listen to Ted Kennedy nearly seven years ago. Maybe if they had we would today only be commemorating his full life - and not also mourning the untimely loss of 2nd Lt. Joseph D. Fortin, 22, of St. Johnsbury, Vt . Second Lt. Fortin died three days ago from an IED attack in Hussaniyah, Iraq - the 4,334th casualty of the war in Iraq.

the result of an unholy marriage of an ignorant born-again president and a warmongering powerhungry vice president and his friends.

Bush White House politics linked to terror alerts

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090821/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_ridge_terror_alert
NO! They'd never try to manipulate the electorate by using the politics of fear, now would they?

This follows-up on yesterday's news tip posted by blackhornet.

Repost: Is Obama Tough Enough?

The Bush presidency was often characterized by liberals and Democrats as arrogant, abrasive, and uncaring.

In Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s neck of the woods, they call it “gangsta.”

Voters roundly rejected this style of leadership last fall. They decided America needed someone more conciliatory, compassionate, and thoughtful. So imagine my surprise when comedian Bill Maher suggested on his June 12 show that President Obama needs to be more like  . . .  get this  . . .  George W. Bush .

Maher criticized Obama for spending too much time in front of TV cameras and not enough time working to fix the nation’s problems.

“ Barack Obama needs to start putting it on the line in fights against the banks, the energy companies and the health care industry,” said Maher in a stinging commentary. “I never thought I’d say this, but actually what he needs in his personality is a little George Bush. He needs to stop worrying about being loved and bring out that smug, insufferable swagger...”

If Maher’s words weren’t surprising enough, the audience applauding their approval was definitely a reason to press pause.

Obama is still wildly popular. But even lost-in-the-wilderness Republicans — who recently stepped up their attacks against the president — recognize an opening when they see one.

Maher added that Bush might have had a lot of bad ideas, but he pushed them through, never mind Congress, the Constitution or the Geneva Conventions. “The point is [Bush] didn’t care if it made him unpopular...”

And neither should Obama.

Besides, a little bit of “gangsta” never hurt anybody.

On this day in 1964: South Africa banned from Olympic Games because of apartheid policies

Start:	Aug 18, '09
Location:	South Africa and USA

And the Republican National Convention in New Orleans selected Bush-Quayle for its presidential ticket in 1988.

Potatoe, ehrrr, potato.