Unpopular Everywhere

Bush is unpopular across the entire country

One of the most under-discussed and under-appreciated political facts is the depth and intensity of George Bush's unpopularity in this country. It isn't just that his approval ratings have fallen into the 30's again, although that is significant. More significant still is the fact that Americans disapprove of his performance in every region in the country, and in almost every state.

This 50-state polling chart compiled by USA Survey is quite telling. Bush's approval rating is above 50% in only 6 states in the entire country, and Texas is not one of them. In 40 out of 50 states -- 80% of the country -- more people disapprove of Bush than approve of him.

Most revealing is Bush's intense and pervasive unpopularity in Ohio, the state which swung the election in his favor. People in Ohio disapprove of Bush's performance by an amazingly lopsided margin of 37-60%. Apparently, they're not happy that they have no jobs, their kids have no health insurance, their neighbors have been stuck and are being killed in an increasingly unpopular, endless and senseless war in Iraq, and the President is surrounded by cronyism and corruption and thinks he has the power to break the law. But at least gay couples can't get married, so that's good.

While large numbers of Ohioans became convinced in 2004 that the all-consuming, paramount gay marriage issue compensated for all of the corruption and ineptitude of the Administration, it looks like they -- along with the rest of the country -- have changed their minds and have realized that this Presidency is a disaster for our country in every way that matters.

Is Bush's House of Cards Collapsing????

DETROIT -- The frauds and deceptions are unraveling every day and cascading truths are forcing the Busheviks to do more of what they do best: lie. We now have the first eyewitness account from a CIA officer confirming what the reality-based community has long known -- that President George W. Bush and company cherry-picked and distorted intelligence to make their phony case for war in Iraq.

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were not only aware that the identity of an undercover CIA operative was leaked, we now are learning they ordered the treasonous deed themselves. Oh, yes, another eyewitness account provides the testimony.

Bush lied through his teeth when he said he didn't even know corrupt former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In fact, Bush met with him personally about a dozen times at the White House, and at countless fund-raisers where Abramoff helped buy the favor-seeking crowd.

Bush forgets warnings of terrorist attacks and natural disasters, but he always remembers the big money people. Bush allowed Abramoff access to the White House and invited him to visit the Crawford ranch. Abramoff has the photos and e-mails to prove it.

Excellent piece, more at link.

Purposeful Genocide Deserves Impeachment

Even if there were no phony, illegal, staged wars going on,

Even if the president had never authorized deadly weaponized uranium to be used in our guns and tanks,

Even if there was no Patriot Act denying Americans their freedom,

Even if there was nothing that would lead us to believe that 9/11 was the inside job many scholars now believe it was,

Even if the president was not cutting education and other vital services citizens require,

Even if the U.S. was not outsourcing our jobs,

Even if the administration was not cutting the taxes of the ultra-wealthy,

Even if the Oval Office did not condone unthinkably cruel and inhumane torture,

Even if the president did not order illegal surveillance of its citizens,

Even if the White House did not lie about having ever met a certain notorious criminal lobbyist,

Even if the administration had no knowledge whatsoever of the Plame scandal,

Even if the president was not pushing for judges who want to return the U.S. to the time of the Dark Ages,

Even if the administration was doing an otherwise wonderful job,

On the basis of Katrina alone, this administration needs to be removed promptly.

They DID THIS to New Orleans. They can – and very well might – do this to other cities, too.

Every single American who knows what happened in New Orleans should be concerned about our families’ own personal wellbeing. For what happened was not mere negligence nor incompetence, but rather purposeful genocide among predominantly lower income Black Americans.

When are human lives seen as expendable? This is an outrage unto itself and a cause for serious concern, despite all other heinous crimes committed in the past five years by this administration. And this expendability of our citizens should be of paramount concern, because it has implications for the wellbeing of every single one of us.

This administration has declared war on America. It therefore needs to be removed using every means available – and as quickly as possible. Asking our members of Congress to “please” do this is not enough. Waiting for elections to change the tide is not enough.

We must reach not only the disenfranchised, the poor, the persons of color, but also every person of conscience in order to gather together to organize and throw this criminal regime in prison – with the keys thrown away.

We must vocalize our sheer outrage at what has happened with Katrina to hundreds of thousands of citizens who have lost everything due to the purposeful actions of those in the highest positions of power in our nation.

We must begin to make a big noise such as has not been heard previously in this nation’s history. We must each take personal responsibility to do all we can to awaken our neighbors, our families, our friends to these crimes that have been committed against the most vulnerable members of our society, quite on purpose.

We’ve got tremendous power on our side by virtue of sheer numbers, so we certainly can do this. But we must work hard in order to exercise our power and our strength. The only way this can happen is if each and every single citizen does his/ her part.

The criminals in the highest positions of government will continue to go on and on from one year to the next … until we, the citizens, stop them. And unfortunately not even one of us has the luxury of thinking that it is someone else’s place to worry about and deal with this. We can no longer pass the buck. Each and every single one of us has the duty, the responsibility to act.

In years past, we may have been able to let ourselves off the hook by thinking that if wrongdoing had been committed, then Congress will certainly take care of it. But we have seen, however, with both what happened with their crimes of 9/ 11 and with the phony justifications of military invasions into Afghanistan and Iraq, that Congress is not taking action against the administration – nor against its own complicity in these events.

All other actions aside, this administration fully and knowingly caused thousands of people to die with Katrina, and hundreds of thousands more lives were devastated.

There is no one else who can take these necessary actions against this administration for its crimes.

There is only you and me. (more at link)

Really, It Was an Honor and a Pleasure to be Shot by the Vice-President

The culture of sycophancy continues.

The Worst Vice-President Ever!

SCIENTIFIC PROOF CHENEY'S SHOOTING STORY A LIE
Harry Whittington Shooting Ballistics Tested, Cheney shot at Whittington from 15 feet not 90 as claimed

Why Is Bush "The Worst President Ever"?

Two words crystallize it fairly well:
Abu Ghraib.

Though of course there are so many more reasons.

I Guess I am a Stark Raving Liberal

from raving liberal Glenn Greenwald:

"conservatism" is now a term used to describe personal loyalty to the leader (just as "liberal" is used to describe disloyalty to that leader), and no longer refers to a set of beliefs about government.

In other words, this is why Bushism is increasingly becoming Nazi-ism.

Frightening.

The good thing is, these people are in the minority.

The bad thing is, they have all the power.

Do Bush Supporters Hate Their Country?

Sometimes the people who still fervently support George W. Bush seem just plain stupid, and other times it seems they must be dishonest and even malevolent, harboring a hatred for their country that allows them to support misguided ideas and private agendas over the public good. In more reasonable moods, I want to believe that the Bush supporters are just like me in simply wanting what is best for the country safety, security, fairness and a commitment to a government that observes the principles upon which our nation was founded. When I'm thinking that way, I assume we don't disagree on goals and objectives, just on the most effective way to achieve those goals and objectives.

It's hard to keep that thought, though, when the lies keep piling up higher and deeper, and when so much of the energy of Bush supporters goes into evading reality. Is it really possible for there to be an honest difference of opinion about the calamitous Bush decision to invade Iraq? No weapons of mass destruction there, as we were told there were. No link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein, as we were told there was, and as we continue to be urged to believe by deceptive administration rhetoric. Almost no likelihood that a stable democracy will be possible in an Iraq rent by ethnic feuds and anti-democratic traditions. Billions upon billions of dollars squandered in Iraq, and billions more stolen by corrupt U.S. contractors. Meanwhile, the Homeland Security entity Bush created has shown itself to be yet another huge government boondoggle, and utterly witless in responding to a national emergency. (snip)

Indeed. Heh.

Bush-Cheney's Governing Philosophy

We'll do whatever we can get away with.

Major issue related to this: they are running large deficits mostly financed by the Japanese and Chinese. Is this the right thing to do? NO, absolutely not! Is this something they should try to do something about? Yes! Will they? NO! Because it involves political pain, but they know they know they can get away with it.

Are they selling the country down the river?

ABSOLUTELY.

These are sick demented toddlers in charge of our country.

DAMN LIARS NEED TO BE JAILED

IT JUST NEVER ENDS:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 — In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.

But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department's headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency official, Marty Bahamonde, first heard of a major levee breach Monday morning. By late Monday afternoon, Mr. Bahamonde had hitched a ride on a Coast Guard helicopter over the breach at the 17th Street Canal to confirm the extensive flooding. He then telephoned his report to FEMA headquarters in Washington, which notified the Homeland Security Department.

Cheney Is a Criminal

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information

Shorter Wash Post

The illegal NSA spying is huge waste of time and gives few results.

(Well, of course it is, considering the war on terrorism is bogus.)

Why Am I Not Surprised?

"Cheney, Rumsfeld fought to impose wiretaps for foreign intelligence thirty years ago"

These psychopaths are refighting battles they lost thirty fucking years ago, from Vietnam to domestic spying to torture.

They seem to have some strange need to show the world what a big dick the US has.

If You Thought Iraq Was Getting Better--

it is not.

Guerrillas Kill 37 Iraqis wound 90; 5 GIs Killed
Muqtada Threatens "The Most Violent Response" to US Attack

Oh--- What Do Words Mean Anyway?

Administration backs off Bush's vow to reduce Mideast oil imports
By Kevin G. Hall
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said Wednesday that the president didn't mean it literally.

What the president meant, they said in a conference call with reporters, was that alternative fuels could displace an amount of oil imports equivalent to most of what America is expected to import from the Middle East in 2025.

But America still would import oil from the Middle East, because that's where the greatest oil supplies are.

I wonder if THIS had anything to do with it:

Diplomatically, Mr. Bush's ambitious call for the replacement of 75 percent of the United States' Mideast oil imports with ethanol and other energy sources by 2025 upset Saudi Arabia, the main American oil supplier in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he would have to ask Mr. Bush's office "what he exactly meant by that."