Eight years ago, then Governor George W. Bush revealingly joked about his backers at the 2000 Al Smith Dinner.  "This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores," Bush said, adding, "Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."  With his own quip Saturday night that "$5 million" is his definition of rich," John McCain made no mistake that he is Bush's natural heir.

When: January 20, 2009

What: A twilight of relevancy

WTF: There’s no shortage of memorabilia celebrating Dubya’s final 24 hours of power, by which I mean someone of extreme prescience has trademarked the date itself. Well you can stop looking forward to the third Sunday of the first month right now, my friends, because that’s exactly when the worst shit comes to pass and hits the fan in the process and the resultant shit fallout seeps into your drinking water.

Crusty, curmudgeonly commentator Jack Cafferty of CNN has tossed a spanner in the works of the MSM. In his most recent commentary piece, McCain's many shortcomings as commander in chief are laid bare:

http://www.cnn.com/...

How do we get Jack to run for POTUS???  He definitely DOES NOT beat around the bush:

Read his commentary here:  

http://www.cnn.com/...

It's been quite a while since I crunched some political numbers, so I thought I'd check back in with a series of diaries.  Today, the latest edition of the Bush approval map.

Click to enlarge.

My, that's pretty!

Memo to Democrats:  this is an anvil for the falling Republicans.  Please use it.

On Friday August 15 the Bush administration sent Condoleezza Rice to meet with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili as a "show of U.S. support."  Yikes.  They sent Condi?  Talk about giving somebody the goodbye look.  If this were a Marty Scorsese movie, Saakashvili would have been sleeping with the fishes come Saturday morning.  You'd think Keystone Kondi would have lent sufficient slapstick to the Georgian situation, but no.  Adding to the antics, John McCain announced on Friday August 15 that he would send along as his personal representatives Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, the Bea Arthur and Betty White of neoconservatism.  Then, to cap things off, McCain himself dropped the atomic punchline: "In the twenty-first century, nations don't invade other nations."

You could hear irony clawing at its coffin lid.  

It is evident that John McCain will be the next president because Americans are too scared of the world and the things that they do not understand. Republicans have deceived the public into believing that the world is a dangerous place, and it can only be understood by them.

Maybe I missed something, there is a major conflict with Russia and a key US ally and Bush went on yet another vacation.

Am I the only one who has a problem with our president once again being missing during a time of a major emergency?

This is Republican leadership!

Bush whines about Congress going on vacation without dealing with the offshore drilling issue, then he not only does not end his vacation playing tourist in China for 5 days, but then decides to go on vacation as Russia marches across Georgia, and the Georgian President is begging for help.

So what does the press focus on? The blatant pandering of McCain rejecting all of his past political views to embrace the Bush platform and Religious Conservatives.

Where is the outrage!
Where is the press!
Where is BUSH!@

President Bush and his minions vowed to continue to pummel Russia with strong words and harsh rhetoric over that country's continued occupation of Georgia. "It worked against them Democratics down in Congress, so I reckon it'll work against ol' Putie," the President said to a confused group of scouts visiting the White House.

1915 - Hurricane strikes Galveston, TX (275 killed)

1988 - Republicans nominate George H. W. Bush for president

COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!

Quote:
"No kingdom has ever had as many deadly civil wars as the kingdom of Christ."
-- Montesquieu, 1721

From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity:

What was the outcome of the Saddleback "experiment" last night?  Was John McCain the "strong, decisive leader" America needs?  Was Barack Obama the "wandering, philosophical, 'not-so-sure' pretend leader" America must avoid?  What lessons do we take from last night?

Submitted for your reading enjoyment, it is titled "Mr. Bush, Please!" and you can fry an egg on it!

I will just post a couple snippets below. It's a two-page rant that is a blast to read.

I'm feeling so down these days. I get these brief, shooting stabs of hope, like little lightning strikes, and then I'm mired again in the rain.

The past eight years have shown me that (1) cheaters win, (2) the worst can happen, and (3) everything that was ever good about the United States is now in the past. Our president is a war criminal, responsible for thousands of deaths. He has trashed our economy to make his cronies rich, and broken the backs of the poor and the middle class.  His policies have worsened global warming to the point where it might be irreversible.  

And he's going to get away with it.  He's going to retire to somewhere other than his false front in Crawford, Texas and live a life of luxury while people like us write book after book about the evil he did.

I was driving this morning (something I rarely do) and just happened to have the radio on to the local Fox affiliate ("know thine enemy," etc.) as the announcement of the weekly presidential radio address was made. I decided with bemused anticipation to hear what silly nonsense about the economy or the Olympics would come out of Bush on a Saturday morning.  

I'm impressed that Bush can say this sort of thing with a straight face.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," the president said. "Only Russia can decide whether it will now put itself back on the path of responsible nations or continue to pursue a policy that promises only confrontation and isolation.

Bush certainly knows about acting as an irresponsible nation, pursuing policies that promise only confrontation and isolation.

Boy, it sure would be nice to have our moral authority back...

As Friday August 15 dissolves into Saturday August 16th, you will note a ground breaking change of policy at Daily Kos.  It is a startling reversal of policy. One is reminded of observing "glasnost" era Gorbachev's USSR.

Somehow it has become not only possible, but recommendable to suggest, without much convincing evidence that current US President George W Bush is "responsible for the Russian invasion" of Ossetia.

See a gnostic 's diary... or you couldn't have missed it anyway ?

http://www.dailykos.com/...

I support a gnostic's right to post his diary.
But consider this.

Normally considered barely competent, President '43 is portrayed as capable of remotely controlling the armed forces of a foreign state widely thought to be governed by Vladimir Putin and a ventriloquist dummy by the name of Medvedyev.  ( the y helps )

What does this embrace of unproven and unsubstantiated assaults on DKOS tradition mean ?
Jump below to consider the possibilites.

Recently a group that I belong to, made up of Americans, British, Dutch and Canadians got into a discussion of left and right leaning socialism.

While it was evident from the beginning which were Americans from their shouting matches over the benefits of electing Obama or McCain, there was several intelligent individuals who condemned America's left-socialism and claimed it was the cause of all our problems today.

Yet more "good news" about the nation's economy, as a report released today by the U.S. Labor Department showed a sharp jump in inflation: