Still Crazy After All These Years

If there was any doubt, U.S. President George “WMD” Bush reminded the citizens of America and the world of that sad fact yesterday at his White House presser.

I was reading the transcript this morning, since I missed it yesterday with “Inside Track” duties and a swing by the antiwar protest at the Burlington, Vermont HQ of Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy - a Bush opponent and an Iraq War opponent.

Down in D.C. there have been no shortage of political explosions lately and one of the biggest in the last week has been Matthew Dowd’s departure from the Bush political-spinmeister team. Dowd was a key Bush strategist who helped get the worst president in U.S. history reelected in 2004. Thank you, Matthew.

We certainly have paid the price and continue to do so.

Asked about Dowd’s defection at his White House presser, Ol’ Georgy-Porgy‘s spin was to blame it all on the fact Mr. Dowd has a son in the military who will likely be heading to the Iraq war zone soon.

BUSH: “And so, on the one hand, I do fully understand the anguish people go through about this war.

“And it's not just Matthew. There's a lot of our citizens who are concerned about this war.

“But I also hope that people will take a sober look at the consequences of failure in Iraq.

“My main job is to protect the people. And I firmly believe that if we were to leave before the job is done the enemy would follow us here.

“And what makes Iraq different from previous struggles is that September the 11th showed that chaos in another part of the world and/or safe haven for killers, for radicals, affects the security of the United States.”

SAY WHAT, Mr. President?

Are you on drugs, sir? Or just unable to distinguish truth from reality?

Mr. President, it’s April 4, 2007 now and everyone (but you) knows that Iraq and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation have as much in common as Texas chili peppers and Vermont maple syrup!!!

And everyone also knows that, you, sir, George W. Bush, a Vietnam War draft-dodger, have completely and utterly failed to pursue, capture and bring to justice the man who has taken great pride in his responsibility for the 9/11 attacks on our beloved America - Osama bin Laden.

It’s been more than five years since those horrific Al Qaeda suicide jet-airliner attacks on New York and Washington.

And you, Mr. President, have failed to do your job.

Failed utterly!

Were this a parliamentary system, you would be long gone. Unfortunately, barring impeachment, we will have to continue with your pathetic "leadership" until January 2009.

Comments

[a former reader]

bye bye peter . . . for years you were the go-to guy that gave us unique insights into political goings-on, with some great humor to boot. You have lost your edge, you have lost your niche, and now you have lost me. Almost all of your posts these days are about Bush and national issues. I might as well just log on to Huffington or DD and read the same stuff, just written much better! You no longer give us the inside scoop on VT issues, and gosh darnit you just don't make me laugh anymore. Au revoir, mon ami.

[one_vermonter]

That former reader is selective in what s/he reads.

Peter has been doing a lot of writing about local statehouse news.

Perhaps "former reader" is just another right winger who hates to see Bush called out on his lies.

[montpelier28]

Parliamentary system - so cool - Call a new election - throw the bumbs out. Love it. Love to watch C-SPAN when they give ol' Tony the business. Still love to read Peter too (and Snarky - I'm a State Worker but love the piece he did on State Workers - certainly wasn't my office darn it.)And all my co-workers all upset that their salaries are now public. YOU WORK FOR THE PEOPLE - it's their money, they have the right to know.

[anonymous]

And I firmly believe that if we were to leave before the job is done the enemy would follow us here.

-- George W. Bush

Dear Mr. President,

9/11 already happened. The people who attacked us didn't need a breadcrumb trail to find us, so what makes you think, Mr. President, that they need help finding their way here again? They aren't lost puppies hoping to follow us home, they are evil humans, capable of finding the US on a map.

Mr. President, weren't the bad guys here for years before they pulled off 9/11? What makes you think the next group of loonies is not already here, laying low, learning to fly planes or whatever they need for their next evil scheme?

Perhaps they're just waiting until you've wiped out our military, so that we can't strike back effectively if they attack us again. Did you ever think of that, Mr. President? Perhaps the evil scum want our troops over there, getting killed, injured, demoralized, and weakened, so they will be less effective back here.

Perhaps, Mr. President, you are playing right into their hands.

[squeakywheel]

Snarky Boy on the state employees was not that funny. Actually seems like for as little work as he reports they do, he is doing doubly less. Blogging, going to protests, going to Red Sox events. I would guess Snarky is some trust fund brat whose closest brush with an actual paint brush is tuning into old episodes of The Happy Painter.

[GiveTexasBack]

"failed to pursue, capture and bring to justice the man who has taken great pride in his responsibility for the 9/11 attacks on our beloved America - Osama bin Laden."

If you call a grainy video released by the Pentagon of a hazy tea party "great pride", then I suppose you'd be right. However, whereas bin Laden happily took responsibility for every attack immediately after his attacks prior to 9/11, but was unusually quiet after 9/11, I'd say "great pride" is a bit of a stretch.

Nonetheless, the point is taken: Bush blew it at Tora Bora. He could have had his scapegoat within a month after 9/11, but we all know bin Laden was never the focus....

[RightWinged]

What is your problem with this statement:

“And what makes Iraq different from previous struggles is that September the 11th showed that chaos in another part of the world and/or safe haven for killers, for radicals, affects the security of the United States.”

?

Oh that's right, you liberals prefer to appeal to emotion, rather than thought and reason, based on history. His reference to 9/11 showing us that chaos in another part of the world affects our security is an indisputable fact (unless you're a "Truther", in which case I'd debunk you, but if you are a truther, you've devoted your life to living in fantasy landy anyway, so I'd be wasting my time). I don't think any logical person thinks that Iraq wouldn't be more chaotic if we picked up and left.

Again, Bush's point here is clear and completely accurate. He never said, nor implied, that the 9/11 attacks were related to Iraq. He made the case that chaotic conditions in other parts of the globe CAN LEAD TO situations like 9/11. Again, this is not in dispute.

(Quick, say something about Halliburton, that'll show me!)

[LeftWinged]

What is your problem with this statement:

“And what makes Iraq different from previous struggles is that September the 11th showed that chaos in another part of the world and/or safe haven for killers, for radicals, affects the security of the United States.”

The problem isn't the statement, the problem is the conclusion the President draws from it. To see what's wrong, you need to extend it to include the context of the Iraq occupation:

"So the chaos I've created in Iraq, while allowing the terrorists who attacked us to escape to safe-havens in Pakistan and elsewhere, will negatively affect the security of the United States for decades to come."

He has created exactly the conditions he says will make us less secure.

Instead of being an argument for the war, his own statement clearly explains why he should never have started it.