American Politics during the Bush Presidency

[Bacchus9]

If you actually knew Sidney as well as I do, you would be laughing at your own stupidity in making that comment, B9.

When you're too close to something Hunt you can't see the forest for the trees.

[Bacchus9]

As somebody whose hometown was actually attacked on that day, I remember not only the black smoke rising over everything.

When somebody tries to kill me and my countrymen or make us convert to Fundamentalist Islam as part of a Worldwide Caliphate under the control of Muslim imams, it's not "perfectly planned hysteria." It's called war.

Somebody from Argentina, of all places, should think twice before writing about how bad America's economy is. 60 years ago Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. How does it compare now? Perhaps yet another multi-billion dollar handout / rescue plan from the United States coming soon? Maybe that will get Argentina back into the Top 50! (Don't worry, Argentina is still ahead of Paraguay. A little.)

Hunt, the smoke looked more grey to me that day. Maybe it was just where I was standing.

I think Andres meant the "perfectly planned hysteria" that came after you'd been killed and converted to Fundamentalist Islam as part of a Worldwide Caliphate under the control of Muslim Imams. You know after Bush declared victory on that ship the Navy floated off the California beaches for him so he'd look good.

How very Republican of you to try to belittle Andres for speaking about the obvious state of the US economy. Nothing to say about his mother or sister? Come on man, don't hold back, you're a Republican.

[Hunt99]

I think you've got a dog in this hunt and it's called racism. What do you think Syd?

If you actually knew Sidney as well as I do, you would be laughing at your own stupidity in making that comment, B9.

[Bacchus9]

From personal experience and observing other young Black men in GA, I must suspect that Obomba (sic) was ''given'' much of the same treatment and privileges and treatment all through his schooling!---Not impressed, Sid

Sydney, old sport, Good to see you posting your own thoughts instead of someone else's. So all this venom about Obama comes through your own personal experience with black people in Georgia of all places and your suspicion that Obama might of been given special privileges because he was black. Not knowledge mind you but "suspect". I think you've got a dog in this hunt and it's called racism. What do you think Syd?

[Bacchus9]

Hi HairBalderman,

I disagree completely, and I believe that history will show that George Bush did what had to be done without regard to it's immediate popularity. For example, Bush knew that for our own defense we needed to take the fight to Al Queda by invading a country directly in the middle of their hornet's nest, effectively sticking a finger right up their ass.

Of course, you can't acknowledge that your strategy was to use another country as a battleground in your own war, so you disguise it as a liberation. The net effect is that you create a magnet for the rabid dogs, luring them into fighting our army on foreign soil, thus keeping them occupied and deflecting their attention from attacking our homeland.

Bush knew that the invasion that was needed to cover the real strategy would prove to be politically unpopular, but he did it because it need to be done. Of course, there's nothing to be ashamed about having liberated 36 million people from the subjugation of a homicidal maniac, and for having brought democracy to a country and a region, but it will take 10 to 20 years before people understand that it was the correct thing to do.

Thanks,

Jackson

I'm sure there is or will be shortly a 7 Step Program for recovering Republicans. One of the steps has to be Overcoming Denial. This ranks right up there with Elvis sightings, believing in Santa Claus and accounts of Martian Invasion sightings on page 8 of the New York Post. George Bush, Secret Man of Vision. ROTFL if it wasn't so tragic. The 650,000 plus Iraqi who died since the US invasion would be clapping their hands too if they weren't dead from being "liberated".

[Hunt99]

"10 years from now, when all the dust from the Iraq ad Afghan wars be settled, it will be painfully clear that the US wouldn't be neither safer or unsafer from a terrorist point of view than at 2001."

As somebody whose hometown was actually attacked on that day, I remember not only the black smoke rising over everything, but also that everyone agreed that it was only a matter of days/weeks/months until the enemy would make similar spectacular attacks.

It has been no coincidence that there have been no further attacks in the US. It is only because the US government, led by the man the left hates so much, has worked tirelessly to destroy terrorists where ever they are. Harry S Truman was also hated by many small-minded people when he left office in 1953; his "popularity ratings" were similar to the current President. How has history treated HST?

blah blah blah "will have amassed huge profits thanks to that perfectly planned hysteria"

When somebody tries to kill me and my countrymen or make us convert to Fundamentalist Islam as part of a Worldwide Caliphate under the control of Muslim imams, it's not "perfectly planned hysteria." It's called war.

Finally, I'm afraid that the 8-year Bush tenure in power has become such a financial failure for public accounts (commercial and budgetary) that only by chance the US will return to the January 2000 figures.

Somebody from Argentina, of all places, should think twice before writing about how bad America's economy is. 60 years ago Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. How does it compare now? Perhaps yet another multi-billion dollar handout/rescue plan from the United States coming soon? Maybe that will get Argentina back into the Top 50! (Don't worry, Argentina is still ahead of Paraguay. A little. )

[Hunt99]

"Unlike Senator Obama, my admiration, respect and deep gratitude for America's veterans is something more than a convenient campaign pledge."

Except of course when it comes to voting yes on a bill that would allow them to build a better life after their service to our country. I will show my gratitude by making it harder for them to get an education thereby limiting their options and continuing to serve?

Oh yes and don't forget extending enlistments. I am so grateful to them for their service that we will extend their term of service beyond what they contracted for, can't you see we love these fine young men and women and their hillbilly armor.

McCain's reason for originally supporting a competing bill was simple, and based on the idea of an all-volunteer military: If you make it very lucrative for a soldier to leave the service, he will. The military needs to keep some of its enlistees to form the basis for a permanent standing force. A proper balance has to be struck between appropriate educational benefits and a professional army. Reasonable men can disagree on this, as Senators Webb and McCain did, and without partisan rancor much to the credit of those two men. I find it unfortunate that the Obama campaign needed to turn this into a ludicrous personal attack on the only man in the race who has ever truly fought for me.

And as for that contract business, every contract I ever signed (along with all my peers) has language in it that means I am in it for the duration if the needs of the service demand it. Enlisting in the military is not the same thing as signing on to be an independent contractor for a business.

[El Perro]

In many ways, these Liberal Dreamers are so similar----oratorical skills, youth, attractive wife, the best schools, ''great'' new ideas, etc. And most importantly, incredible BULLSHIT! I / we, the youth of the time, were totally ''enraptured'' with JFK. But with much with study and listening to many older wiser, experienced men of the day, I began to realize my earlier, youthful foolishness. And I voted against JFK. But JFK was elected. He became one of the worst Presidents of our lifetimes. How short are our memories? Now, comes Obomba (sic) with many, many, many more deficiencies than JFK, and the people are so excited with his oratorical skills and BULLSHIT! God, help us if he is elected! ---------Depressed Sid

Don't fret "Depressed Sid"! My guess is that Obama is pretty much part of the "machine" as anybody else. It is impossible to get elected if one is not. While he won't be as beholding to to some of the same special interests as the Bushies, he will still have to answer to others. Changes will be moderate in nature and not earth shattering. For all the talk about how "liberal" he is, his background is one of pragmatism and compromise. I would be satisfied if he got rid of the designated hitter rule, loosened up the travel restrictions to Cuba and had Scalia quarrentined. Anything else would be gravy.

[Andres]

Hi HairBalderman,

I disagree completely, and I believe that history will show that George Bush did what had to be done without regard to it's immediate popularity. For example, Bush knew that for our own defense we needed to take the fight to Al Queda by invading a country directly in the middle of their hornet's nest, effectively sticking a finger right up their ass.

Of course, you can't acknowledge that your strategy was to use another country as a battleground in your own war, so you disguise it as a liberation. The net effect is that you create a magnet for the rabid dogs, seducing them into fighting our army on foreign soil, thus deflecting their attention from attacking our homeland.

Bush knew that the invasion that was needed to cover the strategy would prove to be politically unpopular, but he did it because it need to be done.

Thanks,

Jackson

Jackson,

By making people believe that terrorism could be fought by conventional military means, neocons succeed into approving huge military budgets for defense sector companies, which in turn contribute to political campaigns and pay salaries of retired politicians who become defense sector lobbyists.

Meanwhile, the "we live in a dangerous World" hysteria, along with strong support from mainstream media, help approve laws that limit civil rights and privacy and neutralize opposition to current military policies.

Both things help to convince people that you can destroy Al Qaeda by sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, but anyone who takes 1 or 2 hours to honestly research about this issue from different sources learns quickly that terrorism can only be fought using intelligence and police forces, not by military means.

9-11 could have been prevented simply by setting International security standards to American airports. I remember having greeted 2 friends at Logan airport a few months before 9-11 right at the plane's gate (he same airport where 2 of the involved 4 planes took off on 9-11) Too easy to get to the plane without strict checking, something I had never seen before at Ezeiza or Barajas, for instance.

10 years from now, when all the dust from the Iraq ad Afghan wars be settled, it will be painfully clear that the US wouldn't be neither safer or unsafer from a terrorist point of view than at 2001. What will be certain is that Boeing, General Dynamics and the such, and above all the financial groups that own many of them (such as the Carlyle Group) will have amassed huge profits thanks to that perfectly planned hysteria, profits comming from public expenditures that will not have been invested in education and health, two areas in which the US has a lot of room for improvement (and the baby boomer retirement wave is just around the corner, something that will severely impact health costs)

All of the above assuming that the US will at least succeed into controlling Iraq and Afghanistan, something I'm very doubtful it will happen taking into account the state of things and how they evolved (stall in Iraq and degrading situation in Afg, not to mention the incapability of facing Russia against Georgia, another clear example of how amateurish is the Bush admin into playing the International geopolitics chess even after 8 year experience in power)

Finally, I'm afraid that the 8-year Bush tenure in power has become such a financial failure for public accounts (commercial and budgetary) that only by chance the US will return to the January 2000 figures.

Time will say what will be the Bush Jr contribution to US advancement. I believe that history will be very harsh with him and the neocons.

Thanks,

Andres

[Jackson]

With all due respect, Jackson, my post suggests nothing about Bush running for president. It does, however, suggest what an awful mess he has made of our country. And, yes, I do squarely place the blame for this on his shoulders and the shoulders of the cabal he brought to the executive branch of our government. It goes way beyond Republican indifference for those who can't "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". It goes to the core of what it means to be American. You know what I'm talking about - those little things like the US Constitution, small ideas like personal freedom, and the notion that we the people in order to form a perfect union are the ones who govern our country. So keep waving the Stars and Stripes in Buenos Aires, Jackson, while we who actually live in the United States of America have to deal with the subtle fascism that has crept into the landscape on a daily basis, thanks in a very large way to GW Bush and eight years of the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.

Hi HairBalderman,

I disagree completely, and I believe that history will show that George Bush did what had to be done without regard to it's immediate popularity. For example, Bush knew that for our own defense we needed to take the fight to Al Queda by invading a country directly in the middle of their hornet's nest, effectively sticking a finger right up their ass.

Of course, you can't acknowledge that your strategy was to use another country as a battleground in your own war, so you disguise it as a liberation. The net effect is that you create a magnet for the rabid dogs, luring them into fighting our army on foreign soil, thus keeping them occupied and deflecting their attention from attacking our homeland.

Bush knew that the invasion that was needed to cover the real strategy would prove to be politically unpopular, but he did it because it need to be done. Of course, there's nothing to be ashamed about having liberated 36 million people from the subjugation of a homicidal maniac, and for having brought democracy to a country and a region, but it will take 10 to 20 years before people understand that it was the correct thing to do.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Gato Hunter]

Oh yeah, having his drunken slutty daughters come to Buenos Aires.

And she got her purse stolen in San Telmo under Secret Service protection while she was having lunch.

Karma is a female dog.

[HairBalderman]

I understand that this news will be somewhat of a disappointment to some members, but here it is:

George Bush is not running for President.

Thanks,

Jackson

With all due respect, Jackson, my post suggests nothing about Bush running for president. It does, however, suggest what an awful mess he has made of our country. And, yes, I do squarely place the blame for this on his shoulders and the shoulders of the cabal he brought to the executive branch of our government. It goes way beyond Republican indifference for those who can't "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". It goes to the core of what it means to be American. You know what I'm talking about - those little things like the US Constitution, small ideas like personal freedom, and the notion that we the people in order to form a perfect union are the ones who govern our country. So keep waving the Stars and Stripes in Buenos Aires, Jackson, while we who actually live in the United States of America have to deal with the subtle fascism that has crept into the landscape on a daily basis, thanks in a very large way to GW Bush and eight years of the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY.

[Dickhead]

As Bush gets ready to leave office, I think it's important we consider his many accomplishments:

1) Creating the stupidest war since the Spanish-American War.
2) Running the economy into the toilet.
3) Increasing unemployment to mid-term record levels.
4) Eroding basic civil and privacy rights.
5) Running the dollar into the toilet.
6) Lying, weaseling, evading responsibility, and also did I mention weaseling?

I forget what else. Oh yeah, having his drunken slutty daughters come to Buenos Aires.

But that's just the bad stuff. On the positive side he, umm, he umm,

Help me out here.

"Vote Obama: Half Honky, All Donkey"

[El Perro]

Very true but his clone is!

McCain must know how healthy George Bush's colon is because he has had his head up Bush's ass constantly since last year:-) hehe.

Suerte.

Stowe

AND, he didn't suck Jerry Falwell's dick, but he WOULD have.

[Stowe]

I understand that this news will be somewhat of a disappointment to some members, but here it is:

George Bush is not running for President.

Thanks,

Jackson

Very true but his clone is!

McCain must know how healthy George Bush's colon is because he has had his head up Bush's ass constantly since last year:-) hehe.

Suerte.

Stowe