Sunday, August 27, 2006

Bush: Not incompetent.

* oldschool in teh comments:
"Kathleen Reardon recently opined that 'the Prez is truly stupid' was a political ploy, with Rovian overtones. i.e. that it would a) give Repub's running in 2006 a way to distance themselves from the White House, and b) to land a pre-emptive blow against impeachment (you really want to impeach him just because he's dumb?). The ridiculous push-back of the Prez/scholar/voracious-reader meme seems to indicate otherwise.

For this one time, I hope Ms. Reardon is wrong. One might well question the mental acuity of anyone who's just now noticing the Prez's spectacular dimness, but I'm not in the mood to argue at the moment.

Welcome back(?) to reality, children.

And Ms. Reardon, if you're reading - Sshhhhh.... "
interesting point. kathleen actually suggested that the 'idiot' thing was a trial ballon. it's odd that there are competing trial ballons - the idiot thing, and the 'i can read!' one. let's hope that's the best that they've got. it aint much.

* profmarcus in the comments:
"i wish to hell we could squash once and for all the idea of the bush administration being incompetent... yes, bush is a sock puppet for the dark powers that stand behind him, and yes, he is barely able to rub two brain cells together to utter an articulate thought or a complete sentence, but, when you consider that bushco has accomplished virtually EVERYTHING they set out to do, i simply must give credit where credit is due...

their agenda - accumulate unlimited power whether legitimately or through extra-constitutional, extra-legal means; through fear, manipulate the u.s. and a large part of the world population into forsaking civil liberties and - in the u.s. - most of the fundamentals on which the nation was founded; divert massive sums of money into their own pockets through war profiteering; continue to foster global chaos, conflict, and war, thus keeping the u.s. dominance in weapons sales intact; lobotomize any implied or explicit social contract, leaving everyone to fend for themselves regardless of circumstance; and establishing rigid social controls, again through fear, but also through an unholy alliance with religious extremists - is a success story unparalleled in modern times... it was achieved through a 30-year strategy, and not only succeeded in taking over the republican party but a big chunk of the democratic party, and, i suppose, one could say, the ruling parties in the uk and australia as well... that's NOT incompetence... they have NEVER been committed to stability OR peace OR fighting terror OR a healthy economy OR anything else that makes for a sane and functioning world..."
* LeeB adds:
"These people are criminals. Extremely brazen, in-broad-daylight, highly-competent criminals. And as for the empty suit put in place to facilitate the schemes, he does not get off the hook on a plea of stupidity. He is perfectly content to aid and abet the plans of this political organized crime family, which means he is just as culpable as any of the rest of them."
Both good points. The egadministration only looks incompetent if you presume that they are actually trying to govern.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The egadministration only looks incompetent if you presume that they are actually trying to govern."

BIIIINNNNNGO!

Anonymous said...

let's hope that's the best that they've got. it aint much.

they never had much to begin w/. just an idiot britney-obsessed country on which they so successfully capitalised. oh, and Diebold.

but guess what? we're still idiots. but now the idiots are hurting at the gas pumps et al., and more and more are related to the dead and injured soldiers thanks to Iraq plus more are leaving corporate media to get their news over the series o' tubes, i mean 'the internets.'

there might be hope yet *cue 'Keep Hope Alive' by Crystal Method*

lukery said...

how many 'idiots' do we need till we win?

Anonymous said...

"Kathleen Reardon recently opined that 'the Prez is truly stupid' was a political ploy, with Rovian overtones."

Ahhh, but it is NOT just a political ploy - he is incompetent, if not truly stupid! That attribute is why he gets to play president on TV (Cheney, who is not stupid or incompetent is president off-screen).

That's why Rove is an evil genius - Rove always seems to use weaknesses as strengths and strengths as weaknesses. So Rove is using a real attribute of Chimpy as a political ploy to save their ass later. This distinction is important because you will be banging your head against the wall trying to convince the world that Chimpy really isn't stupid or incompetent.

Incompetence is their last buffer from going to the Hague, by making all this appear unintentional.


- Jiminy Cricket

lukery said...

jiminy cricket - good point. it worked for reagan.

Anonymous said...

Jiminy Cricket: Incompetence is their last buffer from going to the Hague, by making all this appear unintentional.

i'm so hoping cooler and more intelligent heads prevail at the Hague, when the time comes.

ASAP, please!

lukery said...

can you imagine the folks at the Hague actually listening to the stupid nonsense that these people spout?

Mr Hague: Yes, yes, i know that you say that you were only following orders, but ummmm, a) we've got documented written and video evidence that you were giving the orders and
b) 'just following orders' doesnt work for us anyway.

What else have you got?

Anonymous said...

Rimone! You're so polite!!
She sez, "ASAP, please!
LOL

and, Luke . . . This much merriment at this hour means I'll probably be wide awake for the rest of the night just in giddy anticipation.

Can't you just see it: THIS is the occasion that will bring the locals out dancing in the streets.

lukery said...

lol - the 'throwing flowers' thing is brilliant. i'm thinking of a campaign for november :-)

Anonymous said...

" . . . 'purposefully incompetent' . . . "

Indeed.

Tonight while listening to AAR, a caller speaking about the "incompetence" of the Katrina response described his belief that it all began with purposely cutting the funding to the Army Corps of Engineers to undermine their ability to repair/rebuild the NOLA levees. He went on to say, "then all they had to do was sit back and wait for nature to take its course" so they could move on in, seize the land, permanently force the poorer residents out so they (good rethuglican real estate developers) could take it over and change the city to a rich folks playground with spendy highrise condos, casinos, etc., etc., and a nifty political switch from blue voters to red.

I find this kind of *grass roots* caller a beacon of light . . . a clue about what kind of thoughts are gaining ground out among the "we the people" folks. I also believe he is exactly correct. It fits with bu$h ignoring the drowning poor left in the city all those days AND it explains the demonizing of Mayor Ray Nagin.

To borrow a *rule* from TV marketing viewer feedback, if one person goes to the trouble to pick up the phone and call a talk show to state this opinion, s/he represents 800 others who feel the same way but don't call. I have no idea if that holds true in this forum, but I have a sneaky feeling it is probably close to what's real. Frank Rich is also being OUT LOUD about calling foul on the purposeful inaction of the bu$histas.

Over the weekend somebody pointed out that Nagin was astonishingly successful in how he cleared the city. They said he got 80% of the people to leave before the storm hit. They also said that similar statistics from places like Miami and the Florida Keys were more like 50% to 60%. Also not publicized very much is the billions appropriated or otherwise promised to Louisiana and New Orleans, but to date, NOLA has received just $125M. Now, some of these "appropriations" have remained just promises; but a great deal of money has simply disappeared into the pockets of no-bid contract holders.

60 Minutes did a very critical piece featuring Mayor Nagin and the lack of progress in restoring and rebuilding, plus the increasing murder rate in the inner city but failed to include in their story the fact that Nagin is trying to pull his city back together on 25% of the city's budget of one year ago. They also failed to mention the lack of funding to do all the work that remains stalled in that city.

It all makes me ill . . . except when it gives me encouragement.

Anonymous said...

LeeB: To borrow a *rule* from TV marketing viewer feedback, if one person goes to the trouble to pick up the phone and call a talk show to state this opinion, s/he represents 800 others who feel the same way but don't call.

when i worked in various publishing houses (including magazines), the rule of thumb was 'for every one person who actually writes in, there are another hundred who don't.'

don't know if that still stands but it made a lot of sense at the time.

i'm thinking that on the internets, it's more like for every person who comments/posts, there are like thousands and thousands who nod their heads in agreement but who don't commment.

Anonymous said...

OOOooooh, I like your numbers, Rimone, much, much better than mine. :-)

And after the decision in San Diego County, and the uproar that may ensue in light of the Zogby polling done by attorney Paul Lehto showing that 92% of ALL respondents want transparency in elections, I REALLY like your numbers.

This entire bunch of crap is making my head hurt, big time.

Dammit.

lukery said...

thnx rimone and LeeB.

i'm not sure what to make of nagin and the related spin.

re the Toobz - i probably read at least 100 posts every day - and *never* post a comment (except when i feel smart enough to post here)

btw - who are the 8% of nutcases who answer 'no' to that zogby question?