President Bush Wednesday promised that U.S. naval forces would deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Georgia before his administration had received approval from Turkey, which controls naval access to the Black Sea, or the Pentagon had planned a seaborne operation, U.S. officials said Thursday.

As of late Thursday, Ankara, a NATO ally, hadn’t cleared any U.S. naval vessels to steam to Georgia through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the narrow straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, the officials said. Under the 1936 Montreaux Convention, countries must notify Turkey before sending warships through the straits.

Pentagon officials told McClatchy that they were increasingly dubious that any U.S. Navy vessels would join the aid operation, in large part because the U.S.-based hospital ships likely to go, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, would take weeks to arrive.

“The president was writing checks to the Georgians without knowing what he had in the bank,” said a senior administration official.

More at McClatchy

As usual, Bush makes an ass of himself when let out and about. What a disgrace he is. Here he is with Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Beach Volleyball team. Treanor must be off her rocker. She offers to allow the idiot to slap her on the ass…..and he slaps her. Atleast he didn’t give her an ass slap……he slapped her back. But what fucking moron would offer to let the president slap her ass? I don’t need to ask what president would take her up on it……we already know the answer. Geezzzz………

(Graphic by Tengrain. Thanks to Blue Gal for spreading the word again this year.)

Last year, in “8-6-01: A Date That Should Live in Infamy,” I opened by writing:

While the Bush administration rattles sabers once again and insists on more unchecked surveillance power and fewer civil rights for Americans, and Democrats seem set to capitulate for no good reason, it’s worth taking stock of the Bush administration’s actual record on terrorism.

Boy, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose and all that. But let’s look at what we knew and some new developments.
Read more »

If anyone in the Bush administration steps in front of a microphone and open their mouths, you just KNOW the bullshit is about to pour forth! On Bush’s approval of the Army’s request to execute a soldier [Pvt. Ronald Gray] convicted of rape and murder:

“While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander-in-chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. (emphasis mine)

You would know how funny and how outrageous a comment that was if you really knew just how “Shallow And Callous” Bush has been in his past. I think such things gives the man a hard-on.

Just and warranted

Impeachment is just and warranted too. But, thanks to a pack of spineless democrats, (who, if you asked me, should be horse-whipped all the way back to their home states), have taken impeachment off the table.

Kinda funny really… One one side of the aisle, we have a bunch of whiny-assed crybabies, pissing and moaning to have everything their way. On the other side of the aisle are a bunch of babies too weak to even lift their heads. What a fucked country this is.

From Jim Lobe at IPS:

Two of Washington’s most prominent foreign policy greybeards praised Saturday’s direct participation in multinational talks with Iran by a senior U.S. diplomat but called on the administration of President George W. Bush to drop his demands that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment programme as a precondition for broader negotiations.

Ret. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, who served as national security adviser under Republican presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush, and Zbigniew Brzezinski, who held the same post under Democratic President Jimmy Carter, urged Bush to go further by offering immediate rewards to Tehran in exchange for such a freeze.

And both men warned that repeated U.S. threats to use military force against Iran were counter-productive and strengthened hard-line forces in the regime led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They said an actual military attack — whether by the U.S. or by Israel — would likely be disastrous for U.S. interests in the region.

Read more »

Israel makes arrests in alleged plot against Bush

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush.

Israel’s Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush’s delegation.

The suspect then posted queries on Web sites frequented by al Qaeda operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.

Hey, she got one right!

Pelosi calls Bush ‘a total failure’

President Bush has been a “total failure” in everything from the economy to the war to energy policy, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. [...]

“You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject,” Pelosi replied. She then tsk-tsked Bush for “challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again.”

Speaking of Pelosi… Impeachment is back on the table! Well, sort of. A little, maybe. Read John Cole’s post, “All Preordained“, to get a better understanding of what’s going on.

What happened? For months, even years now, the Bush administration has been touting war with Iran. You couldn’t open a paper without seeing a hint of it. Now they’re going for diplomacy? I guess it finally dawned on them, with so many military resources being used up in Iraq and Afghanistan, that there’s not much left over to send into Iran.

U.S. to establish presence in Tehran: report

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will announce in the next month that it plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years, a British newspaper said on Thursday.

In a front-page report, the Guardian said Washington would open a U.S. interests section in the Iranian capital, halfway towards opening an embassy. [...]

“The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.” [...]

On Sunday, President Amhmoud Ahmadinejad suggested Iran would consider any proposal by the United States for a U.S. interests section in the Islamic Republic, should one be forthcoming.

For all the posturing and pro-war idiocy coming out of Washington for so long now, Ahmadinejad is being quite reasonable.

Bush claims privilege to withhold CIA leak records

WASHINGTON - President Bush invoked executive privilege to keep Congress from seeing the FBI report of an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney and other records related to the administration’s leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity in 2003.

The president’s decision drew a sharp protest Wednesday from Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of House Oversight Committee, which had subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey to turn over the documents.

“This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person,” the California Democrat said. “If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?”

Waxman left little doubt he would soon move for a committee vote to hold Mukasey in contempt of Congress.

Bush is doing a heckuva job making Nixon look like an honorable politician.

UPDATE:

Congressional Democrats want to shed light on the precise roles, if any, that Bush, Cheney and their aides may have played in the leak.

State Department official Richard Armitage first revealed Plame’s identity as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak, who used former presidential counselor Karl Rove as a confirming source for a 2003 article.

Isn’t outing a CIA operative considered high treason? And isn’t the prescribed sentencing for high treason the death penalty?

Reminds me of an episode of M*A*S*H, where the doctors ran out of morphine and had to convince patients that the sugar pills they were taking were just as strong and effective as morphine. If I remember correctly, about half reacted as though they had taken morphine.

Bush: Troubled financial system is basically sound

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday the nation’s troubled financial system is “basically sound” and urged lawmakers to quickly enact legislation to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also called on the Democratic-run Congress to follow his example and lift a ban on offshore drilling to help increase domestic oil production.

“I readily concede it won’t produce a barrel of oil tomorrow, but it will reverse the psychology,” Bush told a White House news conference — his first since late April.

Bush also states, “I don’t think government ought to be involved in bailing out companies.” I find this an odd statement coming from him, seeing as how he and his fellow republicans have done everything they possibly can for the benefit of corporations. (Think telecom immunity… think big oil… for God’s sakes, think HALIBURTON!)

As far as burning down the last forests, clear-cutting the last grouping of trees, making pristine land uninhabitable even by man… LET THEM HAVE IT!

They’re going to get it anyways. Spoiled, three-year-old, crybabies usually get what the fuck they want. Having fifty-million dollars in the bank just isn’t enough. They have to have more!

Just as the religious crowd won’t stop needling and needling until they have complete control of your personal life, the wealthy and power crazed won’t be happy until every single dollar is in their pocket and all natural resources are drained of their treasures. And until we elect a government for the people, we might as well raise our hands and surrender.

Bush to lift executive ban on offshore drilling

WASHINGTON - In another push to deal with soaring gas prices, President Bush on Monday will lift an executive ban on offshore drilling that h[a]s stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well.

The president plans to officially lift the ban and then explain his actions in a Rose Garden statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said. [...]

But Perino said Bush no longer wants to wait. She pinned blame on the leaders of the Democratic Congress, noting that no action has been taken on this issue.

“They haven’t even held a single hearing,” Perino said. “So we are going to move forward, and hopefully that will spur action by the Congress.”

Asked if Bush’s action alone will lead to more oil drilling, Perino said, “In terms of allowing more exploration to go forward? No, it does not.”

PS: Would someone please shove an oil derrick up Dana Perino’s ASS already.

Pentagon: Bush tells Israel that if Tehran negotiations break down, he’s prepared to approve a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran

Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.

“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.

President Bush is a real bastard for trying to pin this crappy economy on anyone other than himself and his fellow republicans. He’s a real bastard for lying to the public that drilling for oil in “pristine lands” would help Americans caught up in the current “downturn”. He’s a real bastard because he knows the only thing that would come from this would be more wealth for his already extremely rich republican friends. Experts have said that if those lands were opened up to drilling right now, it would be years before we’d see any relief at the pump. And even then, very little.
But, no worries. The only people he could possibly convince are those that already believe democrats are guilty of all evils that plague them anyway. Intelligent people know better.

Bush, Democrats bicker over soaring energy prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Saturday tried to pin the blame on Congress for soaring energy prices and said lawmakers need to lift long-standing restrictions on drilling for oil in pristine lands and offshore tracts believed to hold huge reserves of fuel.

“It’s time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens,” the president said. “Every extra dollar that American families spend because of high gas prices is one less dollar they can use to put food on the table or send a child to college. The American people deserve better.”

I think I first read about this interview in Dan Froomkin’s column back when it occurred, but Crooks and Liars posted the video. It’s really quite remarkable:

I think my favorite part might be when Bush stops speaking, Coleman says something, and then he testily gives another round of “Let me finish!”

Several aspects are striking. It’s refreshing to see the sadly rare sight of someone just not buying the bullshit Bush is selling. Bush acts as if Coleman is being rude, when his own behavior is brusque, and his answers are themselves insulting, because they are so simplistic, misleading, non-responsive or flatly false. I think Bush actually believes much of the crap he’s shilling here. But it’s interesting that he’s positively indignant that anyone could possibly view things differently – and that he would have to converse with them. His bubble has always been pretty strong, exactly as he and his handlers have wanted. Most of all, this interview shows a Bush who simply cannot believe that someone would dare ask him to speak as an adult to adults about important matters.
Read more »

What a God damn shame. Men and women who died to bring us the freedoms we take for granted just got the middle finger. How disappointed our Founding Fathers would be with us today.

What got signed today was a “Get out of Jail Free” card written specifically for all of the lawbreaking Bush cronies, by a spineless and ball-less House and Senate, who couldn’t care less than a flying fuck for our Constitution if they tried.

What we’ve witnessed during this whole FISA uproar clearly falls into the category of treason. And everyone involved in it’s passage should be made to swing for it.

Bush signs bill overhauling eavesdropping rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush signed a bill Thursday that overhauls rules about government eavesdropping and grants immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the U.S. spy on Americans in suspected terrorism cases.

He called it “landmark legislation that is vital to the security of our people.”