Friday, December 08, 2006

Someone must tell Bush we elected him.

* atlas juggs on the isg via holden:
"Someone must tell Bush we elected him. If we are to respect the new change in leadership in the Congress than the same respect must be afforded Bush as he was elected twice. Elected on his platform, not a promise of leftist retreat and surrender to the jihad."
emph in original.

* lakoff Via FDL (for Noise):
"Perhaps the biggest irony of the Bush-is-incompetent frame is that these "failures" — Iraq, Katrina and the budget deficit — have been successes in terms of advancing the conservative agenda.

One of the goals of Conservatives is to keep people from relying on the federal government. Under Bush, FEMA was reorganized to no longer be a first responder in major natural disasters, but to provide support for local agencies. This led to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina. Now citizens, as well as local and state governments, have become distrustful of the federal government's capacity to help ordinary citizens. Though Bush's popularity may have suffered, enhancing the perception of federal government as inept turned out to be a conservative victory.

Conservatives also strive to get rid of protective agencies and social programs. The deficit Bush created through irresponsible tax cuts and a costly war in Iraq will require drastic budget cuts to remedy. Those cuts, conservatives know, won't come from military spending, particularly when they raise the constant specter of war. Instead, the cuts will be from what Conservatives have begun to call "non-military, discretionary spending;" that is, the programs that contribute to the common good like the FDA, EPA, FCC, FEMA, OSHA and the NLRB. Yet another success for the conservative agenda. Both Iraq and Katrina have enriched the coffers of the conservative corporate elite, thus further advancing the conservative agenda.

Halliburton, Lockhead Martin and US oil companies have enjoyed huge profit margins in the last six years. Taking Iraq's oil production off-line in the face of rising international demand meant prices would rise, making the oil inventories of Exxon and other firms that much more valuable, leading to record profits. The destruction wrought by Katrina and Iraq meant billions in reconstruction contracts. The war in Iraq (and the war in Afghanistan) meant billions in military equipment contracts. Was there any doubt where those contracts would go? Chalk up another success for Bush's conservative agenda.

Bush also used Katrina as an opportunity to suspend the environmental and labor protection laws that Conservatives despise so much. In the wake of Katrina, environmental standards for oil refineries were temporarily suspended to increase production. Labor laws are being thwarted to drive down the cost of reconstruction efforts. So, amidst these "disasters," Conservatives win again.

Where most Americans see failure in Iraq — George Miller recently called Iraq a "blunder of historic proportions" — conservative militarists are seeing many successes. Conservatives stress the importance of our military — our national pride and worth is expressed through its power and influence. Permanent bases are being constructed as planned in Iraq, and America has shown the rest of the world that we can and will preemptively strike with little provocation. They succeeded in a mobilization of our military forces based on ideological pretenses to impact foreign policy. The war has struck fear in other nations with a hostile show of American power. The conservatives have succeeded in strengthening what they perceive to be the locus of the national interest — military power."
* Ron has a new gig at Raw! Kickin Back with Ron Raw Sunday. Good luck bud.

* nyt:
"Leading Senate Democrats put the Bush administration on notice Wednesday that they intended to press for a fuller accounting on a wide range of counterterrorism programs, including wiretapping, data-mining operations and the interrogation and treatment of detainees.
[]
In addition, several senators criticized the pace of the F.B.I. investigation into the anthrax attacks of October 2001, which are unsolved, and the bureau’s unwillingness to brief members of Congress fully about where the investigation stands."

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where do you get these bizarre ideas?

lukery said...

which ones?

Anonymous said...

Hi, Luke! I don't know what Anon is referring to (after all, you did provide links to sources) but I would like to respond to this one:

atlas juggs on the isg via holden:

"Someone must tell Bush we elected him. If we are to respect the new change in leadership in the Congress than the same respect must be afforded Bush as he was elected twice. Elected on his platform, not a promise of leftist retreat and surrender to the jihad."


I don't know where this atlas jugged individual got his info, but nobody needs to tell 'Bush he was elected . . . twice' because he was not elected even once. Just my small quibble.

I say the new Congress should give KGB every scrap of respect he has earned.

That shouldn't take long . . .

Track said...

Indeed, the policy failures and alleged incompetence have helped the plutocracy consolidate more wealth and power.

IMO, it's not ironic...it is intentional. Because the corporate media and think tanks have learned from the work of people like Lakoff, much of the public has accepted (via propaganda) the notion of shared values in regards to nationalism and patriotism.

When Bush Sr. cries about Jeb's election loss in '94, equating Jeb with Christ-like qualities because he didn't steal the election, it suggests the political class has a different value system than Joe Public.

BTW, I admit I used the class war frame. :)

Anonymous said...

Damned straight, it's intentional!

Anonymous said...

LeeB: atlas juggs is this totally clueless lawng gyeland asswipe 'woman' (and i use the word loosely) who's all the rage of the PJs media bu$hCo lovers. she does vids of herself (including the sopranos-style long nails and the plastic surgery-assisted phoney tits cleavage) in all her 'posts' or vlogs or whatever-the-fuck she thinks they are.

sometimes, in my particularly fucked up fantasising moments, i picture me beating the living crap out of her. (and of course, i'd win---she's fuckin' clueless). AND she has a 'thing' for John Bolton. *pukes* which deserves a huge smack across her face, sending her flying across the room, AFAIC.

lukery said...

what rimone says, as always.

Noise - i disagree that the repugs learnt from people 'like lakoff' - 'their side' is a gazillion miles ahead of us on that front. the repugs owe more to frank luntz than prolly even karl rove.

Track said...

You are right about Luntz.

"The Democrat party."

No Congressional oversight sure makes the incompetence rationale more effective.

Anonymous said...

Agreed, he wasn't elected. Rather (s)elected...

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Rimone. Now I remember who she is. . . and just how certifiable! If you do go take her on, lemme know. I'll buy a ticket to that!!

Luke and Noise: If memory serves, I don't think 'Democrat Party' is a Luntz confection. I could be mistaken, but I believe that one came from Newt in that famous memo of his instructing the rest of the thugs on using words and phrases to manipulate the public discourse. Somewhere around here I have a copy of it. I think. (But it is difficult to keep the rethuglican 'rats' straight.) At the moment, however, I'm enjoying watching them scurry off their sinking ship! ;-)

Which, now that I'm reminded of it, today marks the end of the 109th Congress. If that isn't a good reason to open the champagne I've been saving, I don't know what is!!

lukery said...

enjoy the champagne LeeB.

the king is dead, long live the king.

Anonymous said...

LeeB: Thanks, Rimone. Now I remember who she is. . . and just how certifiable! If you do go take her on, lemme know. I'll buy a ticket to that!!

jesus, if only! and no buying of anything, i'd do it for free...stupid bitch she is. i've actually only seen her in action accidentally, when clicking on a link wherever, w/o checking to which site it goes. each time i ended up at hers, i was like horrified, complete w/the dropping jaw but w/my ire rising inside as my knuckles turned white, itching to throttle her.

lukery said...

be calm, my friend.

Anonymous said...

valiums are my friend. and i've been calmer than calm for months now (apart from the run-up to the last election, the night of which, i was popping them like crazy). now i'm nearly content, actually (w/o taking Vs, yay).

lukery said...

yay to self-sufficiency

nice work, babe

Anonymous said...

*preens* this is this is me, actually. :-)

watch, it won't last---it never does. :-(

lol

lukery said...

enjoy it rimone.

perhaps it might become a habit :-)

Anonymous said...

um...i ain't good w/habits. they become addicting and when they're done, i can't handle the disappointment. i'm just enjoying this shit while it lasts, knowing it /will/ end eventually (glass half empty, as you know).

Anonymous said...

who said anything about 'functioning'? lol