Discussion group question

By January 2009, when the next president takes the oath of office, George W. Bush will be a relatively-young 62. This week's topic is: what in the world will Bush do once his presidency is officially over?

Among modern presidents, Bush, after his second term, will be young and healthy, and will have any number of options. He seems unlikely to write extensively on public policy (Nixon), or pursue international humanitarian and diplomatic missions (Carter and Clinton). Given Bush's standing and unique "talents," the teaching/speaking/Davos route seems out of the question. And he'll be too young to just golf and encourage well-wishers to watch his drives.
He's likely to enjoy the ranch, but there's only so much brush-clearing a healthy 62-year-old former president can do. So, what will Bush do with his time? What would a man with few curiosities and a tendency to avoid hard work want to do?

Source: The Carpetbagger

Another add your caption photo

A Happy Liberal Thanksgiving to you all

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You are a Social Liberal (86% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Irked by a reporter who told him he seemed to be "off his game" at a Beijing public appearance, President George W. Bush sought to make a hasty exit from a news conference but was thwarted by locked doors.

I had a dream last night that

Bush's poll numbers are going down faster than Pamela Lee in a home movie!

Hmmmm. Very Interesting

Who's the Class Act?

With any luck, maybe the entire administration will slink away into the night...

Avoiding detection at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
By DOUG THOMPSON Nov 11, 2005, 02:28

Wary White House aides, under constant scrutiny from a paranoid Bush administration hell bent on stopping leaks, have turned to a technique used by drug dealers and criminals to avoid detection – prepaid, disposable cell phones.

The phones, which can be purchased for as little as $30 each from discount stores, offer prepaid minutes and can be discarded when the time is used up. They require no contract or sign-up and are difficult to trace.

“It’s about the only way we can ensure any privacy,” one bitter White House staffer told me this week. “Our office and home calls are monitored along with our normal cell phones.”
Enterprising White House staffers have pooled their resources and use third parties to purchase the phones in bulk from retailers like WalMart in small towns outside the National Capital Region. When one phone’s minutes are used up, they toss the handset and activate a new one.
Drug dealers and organized gangs use such phones to avoid wiretaps and call monitoring by law enforcement agencies. That White House aides have turned to the same techniques indicates just how tense life in the West Wing has become.

“Every time a new story emerges in the press, everyone here comes under suspicion,” says one aide. “We spend most of our time covering our asses instead of tending to the nation’s business.”
White House sources tell us that even senior aides like embattled Presidential advisor Karl Rove uses the prepaid phones to avoid having certain calls show up on call logs or other records that might be subpoenaed.

“You do what you can to avoid leaving a paper trail,” says one aide.
Other techniques employed by administration officials to avoid detection include:
--Free email accounts through services like Hotmail, Lycos, Yahoo and Gmail. Staff members create multiple accounts and create new ones often.

--Increased use of cash instead of credit or debit cards. “Gas receipts can show where you’ve been. When you pay cash there’s less of a trail to follow,” says one staff member.
--Use of cars belonging to friends or increased use of public transportation like the Washington metro system because “it’s easier to get lost in a crowd.”

“I know this all sounds like a dime store novel but that’s the depth we’ve all sunk to around here,” says an aide who has worked in previous administrations as well as on the current White House staff.

One female staffer says working at the White House has gone from “the most exciting time of my life to a daily hell. You’re always being watched, always under suspicion, always second-guessed. I hate it now. I just want it to be over.”

© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue

Thanks to Chuck at Bu$hmerika for this one!

KARL ROVE, grandson of Karl Heinz Roverer, the builder of the Birchenau Death Camp in NAZI GERMANY, had this to say about U.S. politics:

"As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing"He, along with george W. bush, grandson of Prescott bush, who was a partner with three NAZI executives in 1942 and had his assets seized by the U.S. government under the "Trading with the Enemy Act" for running two NAZI front organizations- FINANCING AND ARMING ADOLF HITLER'S ARMY to help them fight U.S. forces, IS NOW "RUNNING" (RUINING) OUR ONCE GREAT NATION!!!

I love these create your own captions pics!

Dear Diary:

This year I opted not to run for a third term on my local Town Council, as I don't feel one person can make a real difference at that level. So, to get more involved on the County/State level, I went to Election Inspector School and "fanagled" an appointment on the County Democratic Committee. I will be working the polls tomorrow at our local Community House from 5 AM until they close at 9 PM and as long as it takes thereafter for the results to be read. I am really excited!

Yesterday, a friend and I helped Bethany Schumann, Amsterdam 3rd ward Supervisor, with her reelection by stuffing campaign literature in doors along Guy Park Avenue. Bethany is a young attorney who worked for Paul Tonko (NYS Assemblyman) for a time and, if elected, this will be her second term. She is dynamite! But, those hills and the steps up to those porches were steeper than I thought. After a couple of hours in the unseasonably hot Autumn sun, I thought I would faint. But, Brian had some warm water in the trunk of his car and the the Pain Away oil I brought worked very well on my bad knee. I was so tired when I got home, that I didn't get my eBay auctions on. I was in bed by 8 PM. But, when I got up this morning, I felt swell!

I am so excited to be involved in politics on this level and I think I can make a real difference. For those of you not involved, this is what politics is all about! Getting to know your candidates, helping out, donating time. So far, I have walked miles up steep inclines with campaign literature, evaded barking dogs and rabid Republicans, and will be working the polls tomorrow for some 16 plus hours at less than minimum wage. It's not the glamorous side of politics, but it is fulfilling nonetheless, especially if I can make a difference.

Off to pack my (overnight?) bag with pretzels and chop some veggies so that when I get up at 4 AM tomorrow, I can shower, dress and walk thru the dark streets to the polling place. Did I say 4 AM? And, my damn knee is still killing me. Hey, but Bethany invited me to her party tomorrow nite after the results are in! That would be great! Yeah, but it's 25 miles away and I have to be to work by 7:30 the next morning. And, after sitting around all day and night, I'm sure I'll have to ice that knee again.

Politics. Making a difference. Hey, wasn't I already doing that by running for an elected position on the Town Council? Jaline thought so. I should have listened to her. It really was a hell of a lot easier than this. Yeah, well, live and learn.

Hmmm, maybe next year - Village Board?????

"66% of Americans now believe that George Bush is doing a poor job as President.

The remaining 34% believe Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church."

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Bush's Increasing Mental Lapses and Temper Tantrums Worry White House Aides

An uncivil war rages inside the walls of the West Wing of the White House, a bitter, acrimonious war driven by a failed agenda, destroyed credibility, dwindling public support and a President who lapses into Alzheimer-like periods of incoherent babbling.

On one side are the dwindling numbers of die-hard loyalists to President George W. Bush, those who support his actions and decisions without question and remain committed to both Bush and scandal-scarred political advisor Karl Rove.

On the other side are the increasing numbers of those who say Rove must go and who worry about the President's declining mental state and his ability to restore credibility with Congress, our foreign allies and the American people.

The war erupted into full-blown shout fests at Camp David this past weekend where decorum broke down in staff meetings and longtime aides threatened to quit unless Rove goes. Insiders say Chief of Staff Andrew Card now leads the anti-Rove legions and has told Bush that he wants out of the high-pressure job.

White House staff members say the White House is “like a wartime bunker” where shell-shocked aides hide from those who disagree with their actions and office pools speculate on how long certain senior aides will last.

Bush, whose obscenity-laced temper tantrums increase with each new setback and scandal, abruptly ended one Camp David meeting by telling everyone in the room to “go fuck yourselves” before he stalked out of the room.

Senior aides describe Bush as increasingly “edgy” or “nervous” or “unfocused.” They say the President goes from apparent coherent thought one moment to aimless rambles about political enemies and those who are “out to get me.”

“It’s worse than the days when Ronald Reagan’s Alzheimer’s began setting in,” one longtime GOP operative told me privately this week. “You don’t know if he’s going to be coherent from one moment to the next. What scares me is if he lapses into one of those fogs during a public appearance.”

Aides say Bush, who has always had trouble focusing during times of stress, is increasingly distant during meetings, often staring off into space during discussions on the nation’s security and other issues.

Card has responded to the crisis by cutting back on the number of staff members with direct access to the President and jumping in to answer questions when Bush’s mind wanders.

“Some people say Karl Rove is ‘Bush’s brain,’” says one increasingly-concerned West Winger. “Well Andy has become the President’s voice. He’s there to speak when the President seems unable to find form an answer.”

Bush’s mental state is a hot topic on Internet blogs and has increased since this web site disclosed last year that the White House physician had placed the President on anti-depressant medication – a story the administration never denied. Others, including prominent psychiatrists like Dr. Justin Frank of George Washington University, wonder if Bush, an admitted heavy drinker who claims he quit without any professional help, is hitting the bottle again.

An increasing number of mainstream media outlets, including Newsweek, The Washington Post and the New York Daily News recently confirmed our earlier reports about Bush’s temper tantrums.

“Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it,” the Daily News reported. “Lately, however, some junior staffers also have faced the boss’s wrath.”

“This is not some manager at McDonald’s chewing out the help," a source with close ties to the White House told the paper. “This is the president of the United States, and it’s not a pleasant sight.”

Bush loyalists claim the President can survive his current spate of political troubles and emerge stronger than ever but an increasing number of White House aides express increasing doubt. Some even go so far as to speculate if the President’s deteriorating mental condition can survive another three years in office.

“The President has lost his focus, his ability to govern and the trust of the American people,” says one longtime GOP operative. “Those are things that are difficult to recapture when you’re on top of your game and this President has taken one too many blows to the head.”

My take? The guy is a time bomb. The "other" America didn't want him, either. And, as the world turns, so does the worm.

Scott McClellan Explodes Over Bush Question At Press Conference

(Washington, D.C.) It was a routine afternoon White House press conference. But somewhere between a question on why the Bush administration was urging the satirical newspaper The Onion to refrain from using The Presidential Seal and another on the President's approval rating sinking to the point where it could only be viewed as positive if it was a golf score, Press Secretary Scott McClellan's head exploded.
ABC news veteran Cokie Roberts was shocked. "That vein in his right temple had been twitching since the beginning of the whole Plame business, but I never knew it would blow. Look at this?" Roberts pulled McClellan's tie from her hair. "Man, his melon went up like an I.E.D."

The press conference was a study in normalcy up to the point of cranial detonation said CNN White House correspondent John King. "After every fifth Cheney/Plame question, he'd mop the sweat from his brow. Every one on President Bush's belief in intelligent design, he'd swig from his bottle of Pepto-Bismol. Then, he was just about to put the bottle to his lips and, well, he never made it."

The exact question that triggered the explosion has been narrowed down to two. Will the President declare The Onion staff enemy combatants under The Patriot Act if they persist in using the Presidential Seal? Or it could have been an allusion to Senate hopeful Al Franken's comment on The Late Show with David Letterman. Since George H.W. Bush, former head of the C.I.A., said that anyone leaking C.I.A. information is guilty of treason, if Dick Cheney is found at fault, will he be executed as a traitor or just declared an enemy combatant, and will he and The Onion staff share the same cell?

Members of the Press Corp remain mute on who dealt the fatal question. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, one correspondent said: "None of us really wants to take credit for blowing up the White House Press Secretary because it pretty much would mean that we'd have to turn in our press credentials."

Calls to the White House were met with a taped message. "You have reached the White House. We'd like to answer your questions, but our Press Secretary's head just exploded. Thank you."

BLESS YOU, HARRY!

And, why did he do this?

For more than two years, Senate Democrats have pressed Republicans to address the misuse of intelligence. At every turn, Republicans have blocked efforts to investigate how intelligence was used in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Below details the long record established by Democrats to investigate this matter.

March 14, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Director Mueller requesting an investigation into the origin of the Niger documents.

May 23, 2003 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller sent a letter to the CIA and State Department Inspectors General to review issues related to the Niger documents.

June 2, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller issued a press release endorsing a statement made of the previous weekend by Senator Warner calling for a joint SSCI/SASC investigation.

June 4, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller issued a press release saying he would push for an investigation. Senator Roberts issued a press release saying calls for an investigation are premature.

June 10, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Senator Roberts asking for an investigation.

June 11, 2003 – All Committee Democrats signed a letter to Senator Roberts asking for a meeting of the Committee to discuss the question of authorizing an inquiry into the intelligence that formed the basis for going to war.

June 11, 2003 – Senator Roberts issued a press release saying this is routine committee oversight, and that criticism of the intelligence community is unwarranted. Senator Rockefeller issued a press release calling the ongoing review inadequate.

June 20, 2003 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller issued a joint press release laying out the scope of the inquiry.

August 13, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Senator Roberts making 14 points about the investigation, asking to expand the inquiry to address the “use of intelligence by policy makers” and asking for several other actions.

September 9, 2003 – After press reports quoting Senator Roberts as saying the investigation was almost over, Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Senator Roberts urging him not to rush to complete the investigation prematurely. October 29, 2003 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller sent a letter to Director Tenet expressing in strong terms that he should provide documents that have been requested and make individuals available.

October 30, 2003 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller sent letters to Secretaries Rumsfeld and Powell, and National Security Advisor Rice expressing in strong terms that they should provide documents that have been requested and make individuals available.

October 31, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Director Tenet asking for documents related to the interaction between intelligence and policy makers, including the documents from the Vice President’s office related to the Powell speech.

November 2, 2003 – Senator Roberts made statements during a joint television appearance with Senator Rockefeller claiming that the White house would provide all documents they jointly requested.

December 5, 2003 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to National Security Advisor Rice asking for her help getting documents and access to individuals.

January 22, 2004 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Director Tenet asking for compliance with the Oct. 31 request for documents.

February 12, 2004 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller issued a joint press release announcing the Committee’s unanimous approval of the expansion of the Iraq review, to include use of intelligence in the form of public statements, and listing other aspects of what became Phase II.

March 23, 2004 – Senator Rockefeller sent yet another letter to Director Tenet asking for compliance with the Oct. 31 request for documents.

June 17, 2004 – Senators Roberts and Rockefeller joint press release announcing the unanimous approval of the report.

July 16, 2004 – Committee Democrats sent a letter to Bush asking for the one page summary of the NIE prepared for Bush. The Committee staff had been allowed to review it but could not take notes and the Committee was never given a copy.

February 3, 2005 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Senator Roberts outlining Committee priorities for the coming year and encouraging completion of Phase II.

August 5, 2005 – Senator Rockefeller sent a letter to Senator Roberts expressing concern over the lack of progress on Phase II and calling for a draft to be presented to the Committee at a business meeting in September.

September 29, 2005 – All Committee Democrats joined in additional views to the annual Intelligence Authorization Bill criticizing the lack of progress on Phase II.