Drug Addict Fatty, Radio Show-host Rush Limbaugh... Slanders Our Men In Uniform, Calling Them "Phony Soldiers!"

The US Troops in Iraq all wanna come home... They were lied to, completed every mission they were given going-in... Then Bush added a bunch of -- Iraqi-happiness-hugs-n-stuff -- impossible "missions," so OUR SOLDIERS would have to stay & occupy HELL, formerly Iraq, ... for Halliburton, or some Cheney-scheme.]

Rush "fat-ass-junkie" Limbaugh thinks if ANY U.S. TROOPS wanna come home -- like they were promised, before their "mission" was extended; and then extended, again, to the point where they don't have a clue anymore what they're doing there; -- then they're not real American Soldiers... [As if he has any clue about soldiering.]
SAYS FAT-ASS LIMBAUGH... "They're phony soldiers."

Rush Limbaugh faked an "anal cyst" on his butt, when The United States of America needed him to go to Vietnam, like so many others his age. He got his daddy to get him out of Service for A ZIT ON HIS ASS! That's a true story, from the fat pig heroin-addict who now feels he can JUDGE OUR TROOPS! It's so OFFENSIVE and BEYOND HYPOCRISY, that there's not even a word for it... For Rush Limbaugh's comments and conduct.

DNC Press Release:

Rush Limbaugh (said several times) on his radio show Wednesday that service members who support U.S. withdrawal from Iraq must be "phony soldiers..."

"Rush Limbaugh should immediately apologize to our brave men and women in uniform for undermining the sacrifices they make every day serving our country. Limbaugh's comments were un-American, have no place in the public discourse, and show just how far he'll go to defend President Bush's failed policy in Iraq. America's troops deserve better, and Limbaugh owes them an apology.

Rush Limbaugh Calls Service Members Who Advocate U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq "Phony Soldiers." In response to a caller, a veteran who supported ending the war, Limbaugh and another caller said soldiers who want to bring our troops home were "phony soldiers." The second caller said, "And what's really funny is they never talk to real soldiers. They pull these soldiers that come up out of the blue and spout tothe media." Limbaugh responded, "The phony soldiers."

Paid for and authorized by the
Democratic National Committee...

We are NOT Democrats, here at the Juncture, we are: "N.P.A." No Party Affiliation.

But we agreed whole-heartedly with the DNC's condemnation of Fatass Limbaugh; So we reprinted their press-release above. RANT: Rush Limbaugh, draft-dodger, junkie, hypocrite-extrordinaire; A man who has NO BUSINESS criticizing ANYBODY on the planet for ANYTHING... He should look in the mirror, then perhaps cut out his own tongue... For the goiod of the Nation, Herb.

HILLARY CLINTON...

The junior Senator from the influential State of New York... We at This Juncture hope she continues doing a fine job, AS SENATOR FROM NEW YORK...
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Some people find her UNATTRACTIVE...

'As a candidate... Imagine that! [?]
Nevertheless, she is apparently topping all the polls; And leading the field of Democrats in the (seemingly-endless, ultimately boring, and way-overly-debated) Democratic Presidential Primaries...

First Order of Business, for the Next President, Reverse Bush's EXECUTIVE ORDER which locked up PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS...

IT WAS THE FIRST THING GEORGE W. BUSH, THE SON, DID WHEN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HELPED HIM STEAL THE WHITE-HOUSE IN 2001.

HE DID IT, VIA EXECUTIVE ORDER, JUST IN TIME TO CONCEAL HIS DADDY'S INVOLVEMENT IN IRAN-CONTRA, ET. AL., AS PRESIDENT REAGAN'S V.P.; AS WELL AS HIS DADDY'S OWN PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS, FOLLOWING REAGAN...

LET'S ALL FIND OUT WHAT JUNIOR THOUGHT WAS SO URGENT & IMPORTANT TO CONCEAL FROM US; AND THE ARCHIVISTS & HISTORIANS... DAMNIT!!!

[Watch-out, "Tax Cuts," you're next, b!tch!!!]

Republican Spokesman Anne Coulter's Adam's Apple... A Security Risk?

[Internet Weekly... IWR - Satire]

Southwest Airlines today made conservative pundit Ann Coulter put a paper bag over her head to cover her offensive hooker style painted face and pulsating Adam's apple. "We had to do something. All the senior citizens and school children thought her Adam's apple was going to explode any minute as Coulter spewed her hate speech in her cell phone on the plane," said Southwest spokesperson...

Author/Attorney John Grisham... The Bush Administration: "BAD PEOPLE, w/ EVIL INTENTIONS"

Best-selling author of novels like "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief," John Grisham, told
The Des Moines Register:

(The Bush/Cheney) administration
is built around
"bad people with evil intent"
and contends President Bush played politics as thousands died in Iraq.

Grisham talked about this weekend's event during an interview Thursday to discuss his new book, "Playing for Pizza," a fictional account of a Davenport and University of Iowa football player trying to revive a fractured career in Italy.

"The war is an immoral abomination that we'll pay for for decades to come," Grisham said near the end of a 40-minute telephone interview with The Des Moines Register.

"We're paying for it now at the rate of 100 kids a month while Bush plays politics with it."
:::
Grisham said his differences with the current administration trace back to the beginning of its White House run.

"I've always thought that they were bad people with evil intent - and all that, it's playing out now," he said. "You can't hardly look at any aspect of the government in the seven years so far that's been run properly."
:::
Part of Grisham's motivation for getting involved in (politics), he said, is rooted in personal concerns about the current White House.

"I can't stand (George W. Bush's crony-administration) - and their incompetence is astounding," he said.

"I always thought you could at least depend on the Republican Party to maintain some semblance of fiscal responsibility. [Touche', John; -TJ]

"But they run up record deficits - taking care of billionaires that they want to take care of. Don't get me started on politics. I could go for a long time." -END-

John Grisham for President? Okay! 'VOTE, Herb.

REPUBLICANS ARE TRYING TO SWINDLE CALIFORNIA'S DEMOCRATIC ELECTORAL-VOTES, BEFORE 2008...

Right now it’s just a STUPID petition-drive on its way to becoming another STUPID (REPUBLICAN-SCHEME) ballot-initiative in California....

The Presidential Election Reform Act is the name of a devious proposal that Republican operatives have dreamed up to siphon off 20 or more of the 55 electoral votes that the Democrats would get if, as expected, they win California in 2008.

That’s a lot of electoral votes, the equivalent of winning the state of Ohio...
:::
The proposal would rewrite the rules for the distribution of electoral votes in California.

Under current law, all of California’s 55 electoral votes go to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote statewide. That “winner-take-all” system is the norm in the U.S.

Under the proposed change, electoral votes would be apportioned according to the winner of the popular vote in each of California’s Congressional districts. That would likely throw 20 or more electoral votes to the Republican candidate, even if the Democrat carries the state.

A sign of the bad faith in this proposal is the fact that there is no similar effort by the G.O.P. to apportion electoral votes by Congressional districts in, for example, Texas, a state with 34 electoral votes that is likely to go Republican next year...
:::
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and one of the nation’s pre-eminent constitutional scholars, believes the initiative is blatantly unconstitutional. “Entirely apart from the politics,” he said, “this clearly violates Article II of the Constitution, which very explicitly requires that the electors for president be selected ‘in such manner as the Legislature’ of the state directs.”

In Mr. Tribe’s view, the “one and only way” for California to change the manner in which its electoral votes are apportioned is through an act of the State Legislature (and NOT some hare-brained-voter ballot initiative).

Can't the Republican party win an election, without changing the rules to suit them, like the rest of the political parties... ?

El Presidente Es Muy Estupido... Hay Caramba!

President Bush is obviously drinking again. A lot! Obviously, a lot. Seems his handlers haven't learned to lock him in a room (no bottles!) for at least 36 hours before any public appearances, or interviews or comments.

BACK ON THE BOTTLE... CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT must've driven the president over the edge!
Get a load of this Bush-junior-gem:

I remind people that,
like when I’m with, Condi, I say she’s the Ph.D. and I’m the "C" student and just look at who’s the president and who’s the adviser...

He added, "Heh heh-heh!."
That's your President, folks. He represents the Country, and stuff...
[That's so... not-cool!]

He actually said that to someone. [Read it again.]
He sounds like a friggin' nine year-old...

George Bush Jr., "The New Saddam." Except Bush sucks, Saddam was a lot more COMPETENT...

[Macleans is a rag from Canada.]
Saddam could at least provide water, electricity, and women's rights to the country of Iraq. Using his secular "brutality," he scared the fanatics into "stability." He kept the borders secured. He protected the Iraqi Christians, and women -- who are now screwed. Or dead; or refugees.

Cheney & Bush broke everything, then hired their HICK and HACK buddies from Texas to rebuild it... They had no experience rebuilding third-world countries. EVERYTHING IN IRAQ IS BROKEN. The place is drowning in DISASTER (and sewage)... Heckuva job, "Drownie!"

Pope Benedict tells Condoleeza Rice to "GO TO HELL!"

Rice Denied Audience with Pope

Disagreements over foreign policy behind refusal. US Secretary of State requested meeting in August. Told that Benedict XVI was “on holiday”.

HE WAS NOT. "ON HOLIDAY..." This was
a Vatican "white-lie,"
approved by: God!

The latest request was made during the summer. The US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice indicated to the Vatican that she urgently needed to meet Benedict XVI. She was on her way back into the viper’s nest of the Middle East and it would have been no bad thing to meet her counterparts with the credentials of a papal audience. Ms Rice had hoped that the audience could be fixed for early August at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence, when Benedict XVI returned from Lorenzago in the Dolomites, but she was told the Pope was on holiday. She insisted but to no avail. Vatican diplomats were adamant and “Benedict XVI is on holiday” continued to be the official reply. [He was not "on holiday."]

SHE IS SO COMPLETELY F**KING INEFFECTUAL, IT'S...
Yeah that's right, IT'S "EMBARRASSING!"
Damnit, Herb.

"DISGUSTING" & "IRRESPONSIBLE" President George W. Bush Held a News Conference Today. He Whined & Complained & Blamed Everything On Others...

The KING OF HYPOCRISY complained about Democrats doing stuff, he ragged on MoveOn.org for the "Betray Us, or Petraeus?" advertisement.

He was quite UN-Presidential... It was the spoiled-brat always-got-his-way or got-daddy-to-bail-him-out CHILD at the podium today. Pathetic, and publicly embarrassing. Again! Congress should pass a law that Bush propaganda speeches, for the rest of his term, are prohibited from being broadcast.

He's STUPID yet thinks he can outwit the public [the world], and he's consistently DISHONEST, and unimaginably ILL-ADVISED; He shouldn't make any more speeches, shouldn't have any more news-conferences, and should not by-any-means travel abroad anymore...

It's EMBARRASSING!

DID DRUGS MAKE HIM STUPID? ...ALBERTO GONZALES, GEORGE BUSH'S INCOMPETENT LAWYER-FRIEND... "ADIOS, MUCHACHO!"

Bush's DISGRACED Attorney General & lazy Mexican (affirmative-action failure) lawyer Al Gonzales had a going-away party (today?) after RUINING the American legal-system and the Federal Courts... 'Hope we taxpayers didn't pay for friggin' refreshments or anything! Anyways...

LIVE & DIRECT, FROM THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE [No link--trust me]... And as ridiculed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show:
Transcript of Farewell Ceremony For (Bush's) Attorney General...
Alberto "Slowpoke" Gonzales:

"...(Alberto Gonzales,) History will capture all of the extraordinary records that you set in the area of drugs."

WELL, THERE YOU GO! ONE OF HIS COLLEAGUES @ THE D.O.J. REFERRING TO HIM AS SOME SORTA RECORD-SETTING STONER... IT EXPLAINS HIS APPEARANCES BEFORE CONGRESS WHERE HE LOOKED OKAY; BUT RESPONDED [OR NOT!] LIKE HE WAS IN A COMA, OR ON DRUGS, OR...SOMETHING...

What did you SAY ? ...EAT THIS, PUNK!

"DON'T TAZE' ME, BRO! ...I didn't do anything."

Freedom-of-speech -- Is so... 20th Century!

The Sleepless Rozerem Guy Has Cool Dreams...

A contemporary Abe Lincoln, and a talking Beaver w/ an attitude... [Throw in a young Jane Fonda (a la... Barbarella), and if I was that guy, I'd never get outta bed... Maybe?]
My favorite: The Scuba-Guy, in an antique diving- suit- helmet... He doesn't talk.
Here he's readin' the paper, while Abe and the Beaver bicker, as usual... Is this what "blogging" has come to?

That's "Rozerem." Ask your doctor, Herb.

PRESIDENT BUSH IS A COWARD

NO NEWS HERE, NO LINKS, JUST A RANT:This week PRESIDENT BUSH was HIDING BEHIND GENERAL PETRAEUS. Why? ...It's Bush's (Cheney's) policy.
Why does Bush hide behind the General? Because he's a Coward...

President Bush, all this year, has been HIDING BEHIND EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, rather than having the courage to just answer some questions, or testify under oath, or defend his policies (honestly), or otherwise face ANY KIND OF OVERSIGHT.

And what's with everyone, especially PRESIDENT BUSH, blaming Maliki, or the handpicked Iraqi government for not fixing their broken-country FASTER? That's like Bush HIDING BEHIND HIS VERY OWN PUPPET! [Or something.]
Maliki is supposed to solve the myriad of tribal, ethnic, and religious problems which have existed for thousands of years? It's a country chock-full of Hatfields and McCoys, and Clampitts. They hate eachother. And they're s'posed to sing "Kum-bay-ah" & prosper... [?] After Bush opened up their borders and let the riff-raff in, for four years; And after Bush allowed the Museums to BURN along with their ancient cultural history/identity; And after Bush BOMBED Iraq's infrastructure -- phone and powerlines, water, dams, highways, etc. -- and then INSISTED THAT BUSH/CHENEY'S INCOMPETENT, INEXPERIENCED CRONY FRIENDS REBUILD EVERYTHING... Well the Bush Crony reconstruction has been a TOTAL FAILURE -- they can't do anything right, and if they do someone'll blow-it-up a.s.a.p.; There's not even potable water, medicine, or electricity... SECURITY? Outside the Green Zone? NO WAY! Not for anybody...

"Political Reconciliation?"
Please! President Bush and the Republican Party can't reconcile anything, with anybody... Even with water and electricity and bridges... Okay, I'll check on the bridges. Bye, Herb.

NEWS OF THE DAY...

" Petraeus just completely undermined Bush's rationale for the escalation of the Iraq war... "" Senator John Warner asked a simple question --- and got a very telling and disturbing answer: "

Senator Warner: Are you able to say at this time if we continue what you have laid before the congress here,this strategy. do you feel that that is making America safer?

General Petraeus: Sir, I believe this is indeed the best course of action to achieve our objectives in Iraq.

Warner: Does that [staying in Iraq] make America safer?

General Petraeus: Sir I don't know actually.
I have not sat down and sorted in my own mind what i have focued on and what I have been riveted on is how to accomplish the mission of the multinational force Iraq....

DOH!!! ---- "Come in w/ the milk;" Herb!

The Sixth Anniversary of the Tragedy [9-11] Bush Exploited to Lead the Country Into Disaster [IRAQ]

SIX YEARS AGO, THIS MORNING...
WHERE WERE YOU?

God Forgive Our Incompetent Leaders [bush, cheney, rice, rumsfeld] --- as soon as they've been held to account - Here on Earth... Amen!

There was really only ONE PROBLEM with America's INTELLIGENCE before Nine-Eleven...

President George Dead-or-Alive Bush: "We're KICKIN' ASS in IRAQ!"

The President Embarrasses US again... In Australia: "KICK ASS, BEAVIS!"

Another Completely Insensitive, Inappropriate and Inaccurate Comment From Our Embarrassing,
Incompetent & Insane Leader...

RE: President Bush's ridiculous statement [To the Prime Minister(!), whilst in Australia, at the APEC Summit] that: The U.S. is "KICKING ASS" in Iraq...
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From AMERICAblog:
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey of Workers' World wasn't subtle in his commentary:
If "kicking ass" is creating a scenario whereby billions and billions of dollars (and Congress is today being presented with requests for more) of the US citizens' hard-earned wages are poured into a black hole of corruption (the Iraqi govenment, which dares not to venture beyond the refines of the Green Zone in Baghdad), if "kicking ass" is targeting civilian structures with military hardware, then George Bush proves that he indeed reunites the worst qualities of the cowboy clown-statesman the world feared back in 2000.

There was also a CNN article posted about Bush's mind-blowing statement, but the best part were the comments on that page. Who's the horse's ass now?
If "kicking ass" means thousands of innocent people are dying because of his greed, then we must be kicking ass.
Posted By Ace, Orange Count California : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm

I'm glad to hear that the President is so down to earth and can tell it like it is.
Posted By Jarred, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm

He's the president of the most powerful nation on Earth and he says, "We're kicking ass," like he's talking about a Texas high school football team.
Posted By Logan, Huntington, WV : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm

Another crude comment from a fool cowboy who causes other people to die, but who can't even prove he served his time in the military!
Posted By Ross, Manlius, NY : September 6, 2007 5:38 pm

Really? How many Troops have died in this senseless war again?
Posted By Becky, Euless, TX : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm

Whose ass? The American peoples'?
Posted By bvt, Elko, Nevada : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm

"We're kicking ass,", "Fantastic Freedom Institute" and "replenish ol' coffers". Can he get any more adolescent?
Posted By Arkay, Detrot, MI : September 6, 2007 5:41 pm

and people wonder why the US is not taken seriously in the world, when our 'leader' is making statements that sound like something out of a bad action movie. He's not the brightest guy.
Posted By John, Green Bay Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:44 pm

Very classy, Mr. President. We need less tough talking cowboy hyperbole and more reason and logic in your approach to this mess you have created.
Posted By Mark, Holmen, Wisconsin : September 6, 2007 5:45 pm

No, Mr. President. We are not "kicking ass" in Iraq. Only a moron would make a comment like this. I rest my point.
Posted By Josh Maloney, Oakland, CA : September 6, 2007 5:51 pm

Did we hear that right, George? "Kicking ass?"
Our men and women certainly have had successes, but your deceitful and toxic policies are to blame for the thousands of dead and wounded that were sent their because of your lies. And let's not forgot what you have done to Iraq and its citizens–hundreds of thousands dead and wounded, millions displaced, sectarian violence that is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. Childhoods robbed and lives forever altered because you like to "Kick Ass."

Kicking ass, indeed! What a misguided simpleton we have as president. My fingers won't allow me to even spell president (this one anyway) with a capital p. W, you are disgraceful.

Jim Arnold
Posted By Jim Arnold, Germantown, TN : September 6, 2007 5:51 pm

There's that cowboy we all love so much.

Kicking who's ass, exactly? The American taxpayer's ass?
Posted By Kris, Toronto : September 6, 2007 5:52 pm

Would like to say I am surprised … but I am not. This has to be the most foolish president in the history of the United States.
Posted By Hank, Palm Springs, CA : September 6, 2007 5:52 pm

woohoo Go Army, Airforce, Navy & Marines!
Posted By Badonkadonk, Houston, Texas : September 6, 2007 6:00 pm

President Bush is out of control and continues to be completely oblivious to the facts, i.e., the NIE report, the GAO report, reporters on the ground in Iraq, etc. At some point, he needs to be held accountable for his continued incompetence and refusal to be truthful with himself and the American people. His behavior is unacceptable.
Posted By john p breen, freeport, new york : September 6, 2007 6:09 pm

Well it looks like we won't have to wait for Gen. Petraeus' report since Bush has already announced "we're kicking ass".
Posted By Farrell, Houston, Tx : September 6, 2007 6:09 pm

Another completely insensitive, inappropriate and inaccurate comment from our incompetent and insane leader.

Were we kicking ass when some of our people shot up a bunch of Iraqi women, and children? Are we kicking ass when we torture prisoners? Are we kicking ass when the government we set up is half gone?

Someone should kick Bush's ass. If given the opportunity, I would be first in line.
Posted By Clint, Menlo Park, CA : September 6, 2007 6:10 pm
-END-
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Go CNN viewers! I'm afraid that is what THE WORLD thinks of YOUR whiny little brat, oversight-pussy, cowardly and dimw-itted "war president." [Yeah, mine too...] 'Not like frightened afraid, just a bit worried; You know?

Okay man, scared like a turtle, whatever. Congress should censure Bush for the frat-boy drunken cliche-babble in Australia; and then, maybe pass a law that Georgie's "grounded" for the rest of his term. No more traveling, no more representing the U.S.A., no more embarrassing us, no more speeches... Yadda. Yadda... yadda, Herb.

Bill Maher was on Hardball Tuesday

Bill Maher, Tuesday, was on msnbc's Hardball w/
Chris Matthews [pictured->]:

HERE'S THE TRANSCRIPT
[w/ Bush-clip intro]:

[-VIDEO CLIP-]
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: "I want to tell you this about the decision—about my decision about troop levels. Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results and the media."
[-END VIDEO CLIP-]
MATTHEWS: So he‘s selling the country on staying in Iraq until the end of his term, then planning on cleaning up financially—quote, “to replenish the ol‘ coffers.” In a moment, Bill Maher, host of HBO‘s “Real Time With Bill Maher,” will be joining us.
:::
MATTHEWS: (Y)ou can‘t make this stuff up.
Anyway, Bill Maher‘s back in action on HBO with “Real Time With Bill Maher.” And lucky for us, he‘s back on HARDBALL. Bill, thank you for joining us. It‘s rip (ph) and read (ph) time...
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: I mean, what do you make of this case in Senator Specter, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, is talking about the comeback of Larry Craig.
BILL MAHER, “REAL TIME”: Well, I‘m glad somebody is, Chris. You know, I mean, we‘ve all had layovers in airports, and there‘s just really very little to do. You know, the newsstand is closed, the Cinnabon is closed. You have three hours to kill. The flights get delayed. You‘re going to have some sex in the bathroom, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Well, it is interesting that the Republicans are planning their next convention next summer in Minneapolis. It is coming. They‘re coming back to the scene of the crime.
MAHER: It‘s also where the bridge fell down. I think this may be the one year the Democrats can pull out a victory. That to me is an omen, when the Republicans are in the one state where the bridge fell down and one of their senators gets caught in the men‘s room.
MATTHEWS: Let‘s take a look at a clip from HBO‘s “Real Time With Bill Maher.” You played a sound bite, thank you, of us watching Larry Craig talk about Bill Clinton back in—let‘s put it (INAUDIBLE) I like going in circles here. This is you watching us, us watching you watching us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHER: Look at what Larry Craig says and then look at the look on Chris Matthews‘s face when he gets done talking.
CRAIG: The Senate certainly can bring about a censure resolution, and it‘s a slap on the wrist. It‘s a, Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You‘re a naughty boy. The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy. I‘m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad naughty boy.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
MAHER: He‘s got everything but the Charles Nelson Reilly (DELETED) over there. You naughty bad boy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: How many syllables are there in “boy” when that guy says it? Isn‘t it amazing, the way he pronounces words, Larry Craig, “boy”? It‘s an amazing—I heard he went to some sort of elocution school.
Let me ask you about the serious business. The president, of course, has been beating the drum for this September report that‘s coming out next week from the Army, from Petraeus, after it gets written by the White House speech writers. And there he is this weekend, getting another photo op with the courageous troops and he‘s stopping by. What did you make of that, compared to the word we got this weekend that Bush is already planning a speaking tour to make what he calls a big chance to fill his coffers?
MAHER: Well, you know, when you have to make a secret trip to Iraq, I think probably your surge plan isn‘t really working. Is it working in the sense that we can stop violence in different pockets because we have a kick-ass army? Yes. Yes, they can do that. But this has always been about forming a government in Iraq and having an Iraqi army that could back up the will of that government. And that‘s not happening.
And by the way, he‘s on a base, a giant base that we took over from Saddam that apparently we‘re planning to keep. That is the problem of the bigger war. Can we win the battle of the surge in any one area? Yes. But what about the bigger wars, Iraq and the war on terror? It seems to me, if we all remember, why did bin Laden get so mad at us in the first place? It was because we had bases in Saudi Arabia, in the heart of the Arab world. We‘re just repeating that same mistake. We‘re not winning any bigger wars, we‘re winning a small battle.
MATTHEWS: But you know, let‘s give President Bush credit. He‘s a conservative, and one thing you and I agree, conservatives tend to be pretty good when it comes to tribe. They understand tribal tendencies, ethnic prejudices, you know? He doesn‘t seem to understand why the Islamic people in that part of the world would have a problem with us landing 150,000 troops over there and building a permanent base in their world. He doesn‘t seem to understand the instinct they have to get us—the tissue rejection that they‘d feel toward us. He doesn‘t get it, it seems.
MAHER: Right, Chris, because he‘s not a reader. He didn‘t think he had to learn anything about Iraq before he invaded it because he prayed about it, and people who pray about something, Chris, don‘t need to learn. They don‘t need to talk to experts or Arabs or prime ministers or ambassadors. They talk directly to Jesus. Case closed.
MATTHEWS: Well, I think you‘re trying to find a collaborator here with the president. Let me ask you about this odd interview he did. We‘re going to have the author, Robert Draper, on in a minute, Bill. But this book—it‘s an odd thing that he sat for these interviews. But here he is, while he‘s sending men and women to fight, and we‘ve lost—we‘re going to lose 4,000 people by the end of this war that he said wouldn‘t even happen and we were going to be greeted as liberators, and he‘s already talking about the bucks he‘s going to make on the lecture circuit.
It strikes me as something that, just politically, he shouldn‘t be talking about while we have gold star mothers out there and gold star mothers-to-be in the next year and three months, and more mothers having kids killed. And he‘s talking about how he‘s going to make money off his experiences as president?
MAHER: Right. Not to mention the Iraqis that have been killed—you know, the ones that he said that they should be grateful for what America brought them. Maybe that‘s why he has to make a secret trip. He doesn‘t want to get mobbed by fans over there. He has so many fans in Iraq. He‘s more popular there than he is here, Chris.
MATTHEWS: Well, let me ask you about the politics. Have you decided who you want to see as our next president, Bill?
MAHER: You know, I never really answer that question. I try to be coy about it because I do run a show where I try to have all the candidates on...
MATTHEWS: OK, let me try it this way. Who couldn‘t you stand as our next president?
MAHER: Oh, well, where do I begin?
MATTHEWS: OK, would you like Mike Gravel to be president? Mike Gravel—can you see him in the White House?
MAHER: Well, we had Mike Gravel on our show Friday night.
MATTHEWS: I know. That‘s why I‘m asking you, because you don‘t need him now. You‘ve had him.
MAHER: He‘s a straighter shooter than most of them. Who I couldn‘t stand to see in the White House is another person, excuse me, like the one we have now. And to me, that‘s Fred Thompson, that‘s Rudy Giuliani, that‘s anybody who keeps it way, way, way too simple for the complex times we‘re living in.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
MAHER: You know, what is it with Thompson? Why are they crazy about
him? He‘s another guy who gets up there and says, You know what? I got
the horse sense. I don‘t need to learn a heck of a lot. You know, they‘re
“Lazy like a fox” is the cover of “Newsweek” this week.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
MAHER: And he‘s another guy who says, I can kill or deport everybody who scares you. That‘s the kind of tough guy I am. But that‘s not the kind of world we live in. The bad guys don‘t have armies. You can‘t kill and deport everybody who scares us. You have to handle it in a little different way. Takes a little explaining to the American people, and that‘s what these guys don‘t want to do.
MATTHEWS: How do we find a person who—because we don‘t know what the questions are going to be, you and I don‘t know them. A year or two from now, president‘s going to be hit, whoever he is—or she is—is going to be hit with questions we can‘t even figure out what the questions are, let alone the answers. How do you find a person who has good judgment, who can sift through things as they come along, based upon history, based upon experience, based upon the best kind of intuition put together with the best kind of training? How do you find that person? Is there one running like that?
MAHER: Right. There‘s no sure formula because we live in a country where you never really can get a straight answer out of a politician, and that‘s something we have to take on ourselves because they have to pander. If you tell the truth to the people, the people can‘t take the truth and they won‘t elect you to anything. So you have to kind of read between the lines.
Look, you can kind of tell when someone is an intelligent person because they can string together a sentence. We showed on our show Friday night the Miss Teen South Carolina clip of her speaking about why...
MATTHEWS: I saw it. Oh, it‘s so sad.
MAHER: ... why “U.S. Americans” can‘t locate the United States on a map, and apparently, it‘s because there‘s a terrible map shortage in this country.
MATTHEWS: No, she apparently got about...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: somebody gave her five things to mention and put them in a sentence, like, use a sentence including the words, the Iraq, South Africa, the U.S. I mean, it was like she had five words, put them in a sentence. I didn‘t understand what she was talking about.
MAHER: But Chris, what‘s sad is that when we showed the clip of George Bush in the 2004 debates answering a question about Indian tribal sovereignty, he sounded exactly like her!
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: OK. Bill Maher, “Real Time,” everybody loves it, 11:00 o‘clock Friday nights on HBO. He says things, talks about things we don‘t dare to get near. A great show. Bill, thank you for joining us very much.
MAHER: Thank you, Chris. You‘ll be on it soon!
MATTHEWS: I can‘t wait. I am coming out there to be on. Thank you.
Coming up: picking Bush‘s brain. George W. tells of his plans after he leaves the White House. Wait until you hear how he‘s talking about how he‘s going to spend his time. Right after leaving, he‘s going to try to catch up to Clinton and Daddy when it comes to making money. [speaking on lecture-circuit?]
You‘re watching
HARDBALL, only
on MSNBC. -END-

You're really reading
THISJUNCTURE, only
on the INTERNET[s].

Betcha-forgot, Herb.

For latest on breaking SCANDALS... The Inimitable Josh Marshal & The TPM Media Empire

UPDATE, 9/6: Buzzflash translation,
of this CBS News story...

Buzzflash: "GOP to Larry Craig: Forget About a Mulligan on This One, Bud..."

And today, per Hardball and-the-rest ["guilty"], Craig is back to INTENDING TO RESIGN by month-end.
"Wha-a-uh-huh?" [Conflicted, much? Lar'?]
-END UPDATE-

The Republican National Committee released a statement today, confirming they still INTEND to throw Senator Craig under a bus if he doesn't resign...
This, after Craig said he changed his mind -- "Not resigning." He's gonna try to REVERSE his GUILTY PLEA -- No small task...

"GOP strategists and Craig's senate colleagues are investigating mind control techniques and sorcery to force Craig's departure before David Petraeus arrives in town."
--Josh Marshall--

A political media-powerhouse not yet corrupted by the politicians they cover... www.talkingpointsmemo.com

After 2008, Bush planning "FAILURE INSTITUTE," to be modeled on "Hoover Institute;" and HOUSED @ S.M.U.?

Yeah, housed on SMU campus near his future house in Dallas...

What's that?
Oh, sorry, it's gonna be called the "Freedom Institute," not the "FAILURE INSTITUTE..."
My bad... [FREE-DUMB?]

Friendly wager: A million pesos says, between now and January '09, Southern Methodist University -- in Texas -- rethinks any agreement(s) they may have signaled to Gee Dub or his agents about housing any

George W. Bush -
Iraq-occupation-history-as-(Dick &)I-saw-it Museum, Think Tank, or Hoover(ville) Institute-like group, association, or whatever...

One Million Authentic Mexican Pesos. Takers, please email.

Thank You, Herb.

UPDATE: Background, from NY Times:
[lost the link, so sorry.]
(Bush was interviewed for new book, by Draper)

First, Mr. Bush said, “I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers.” With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, “I don’t know what my dad gets — it’s more than 50-75” thousand dollars a speech, and “Clinton’s making a lot of money.”

Then he said, “We’ll have a nice place in Dallas,” where he will be running what he called “a fantastic Freedom Institute” promoting democracy around the world. But he added, “I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch.”

For now, though, Mr. Bush told the author, Robert Draper, in a later session, “I’m playing for October-November.” That is when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to help him achieve the central goal of his remaining time in office: “To get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence,” and, he said later, “stay longer.”
:::
He at times mused philosophically and introspectively, and at others spoke forcefully about his confidence in his own decisions.
:::
Mr. Bush as being keenly interested in what history will say about his term despite his frequent comments to the contrary; as being in a reflective mode as his time at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue dwindles; and, ultimately, as being at once sorrowful and optimistic — but virtually alone as commander in chief, and aware of it.
:::
“I can’t let my own worries — I try not to wear my worries on my sleeve; I don’t want to burden them with that.”

“Self-pity is the worst thing that can happen to a presidency,” Mr. Bush... saying he sought to avoid it. “This is a job where you can have a lot of self-pity.”

Mr. Bush seemed to indicate that he had his down moments at home, saying of his wife, Laura, “Back to the self-pity point — she reminds me that I decided to do this.”

And in apparent reference to the invasion of Iraq, he continued, “This group-think of ‘we all sat around and decided’ — there’s only one person that can decide, and that’s the president.“
:::
In response to Mr. Draper’s observance that Mr. Bush had nobody’s “shoulder to cry on,” the president said: “Of course I do, I’ve got God’s shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot.” In what Mr. Draper interpreted as a reference to war casualties, Mr. Bush added, “I’ll bet I’ve shed more tears than you can count as president.”

Yet Mr. Bush said his certainty that Iraq would turn around for the better was not for show. “You can’t fake it,” he told Mr. Draper in December.

Mr. Bush conveyed a level of sanguinity with his unpopularity. Mr. Draper recalled that in their last meeting, in May, Mr. Bush pointed outside to his dog, Barney, and said, “That guy who said if you want a friend in Washington get a dog, knew what he was talking about.”

He otherwise addressed his unpopularity as a tactical issue. For instance, in May he said that this fall it would be up to General Petraeus to convince the public that the Iraq strategy is working.

“I’ve been here too long,” Mr. Bush said, according to Mr. Draper. “Every time I start painting a rosy picture, it gets criticized and then it doesn’t make it on the news.”

But he said he saw his unpopularity as a natural result of his decision to pursue a strategy in which he believed. “I made a decision to lead,” he said, “One, it makes you unpopular; two, it makes people accuse you of unilateral arrogance, and that may be true. But the fundamental question is, is the world better off as a result of your leadership?”

Mr. Bush has often said that will be for historians decide, but he said during his sessions with Mr. Draper that they would have to consult administration documents to get to the bottom of some important questions.
Mr. Bush acknowledged one major failing of the early occupation of Iraq when he said of disbanding the Saddam Hussein-era military, “The policy was to keep the army intact; didn’t happen.”

But when Mr. Draper pointed out that Mr. Bush’s former Iraq administrator, L. Paul Bremer III, had gone ahead and forced the army’s dissolution and then asked Mr. Bush how he reacted to that, Mr. Bush said, “Yeah, I can’t remember, I’m sure I said, ‘This is the policy, what happened?’ ” But, he added, “Again, Hadley’s got notes on all of this stuff,” referring to Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser.

Mr. Bush said he believed that Mr. Hussein did not take his threats of war seriously, suggesting that the United Nations emboldened him by failing to follow up on an initial resolution demanding that Iraq disarm. He had sought a second measure containing an ultimatum that failure to comply would result in war.
“One interesting question historians are going to have to answer is: Would Saddam have behaved differently if he hadn’t gotten mixed signals between the first resolution and the failure of the second resolution?” Mr. Bush said. “I can’t answer that question. I was hopeful that diplomacy would work.”

It did not, but soon enough, somebody else will make the decisions on Iraq. And then, Mr. Bush said, he would still be pursuing his “freedom agenda” at his institute, modeled on Stanford’s Hoover Institution, where young democratic leaders from around the world would study.

"Freedom agenda?" And a "fantastic Freedom Institute?" Please! How freakin' DUMB. He's gonna keep makin' speeches telling the "history" of his Presidency AS-HE-SEES-IT... HOPEFULLY NOBODY WILL GO, IF HE DOES A THE LECTURE-CIRCUIT.

Another prediction, in the form of a wager: Bush's "ranch," which he mentions above, will be put on sale -- probably towards the end of his Residency -- so he can get a better price, selling it as "the president's ranch". 'Because we all know, it's just a "prop," in Bush's Reagan-imitation "presidency."

Happy Labor Day!

Has NOTHING to do with
pregnant women,
giving birth,
I'm told;

'Workin' for the man...
'Deserves a day.
'Damnit, Herb.

PS, I think that's a "Haiku," bona-fide!

G.O.P. Drowning in SCANDALS...

REGARDING THE LONG PARADE OF
RECENT REPUBLICAN SCANDALS...
“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” says a Republican strategist. (NY Times)
So what's the tally so far? Let's see, there's:

The Family-values / Hypocrite-
pervert contingent... Featuring:

1) Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), of course, and...
2) Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), with their sex scandals (the airport-restroom tryst & numerous hotel room trysts, respectively).

But then there's the much greater toll of just plain ol' corruption.

3) Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), and...
4) Rep. Don Young (R-AK), are under investigation for their ties to the oil company Veco (though that's just the tip of the iceberg for Young).

5) Reps. Tom Feeney (R-FL), and...
6) John Doolittle (R-CA), have found themselves the focus of a reinvigorated Abramoff investigation (though Abramoff is in prison, he's still busily cooperating).

7) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), had his house raided.

8) The FBI is investigating Rep. Gary Miller's (R-CA), land deals. And then there's

9) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), whose land deal with a businessman and campaign contributor became such a scandal that she finally just sold back the plot of land.

12) Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), and...
13) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), Both are facing ethics committee investigations for their calls last October to former U.S. attorney David Iglesias about his office's investigation of a state Democrat.)

10) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), is still apparently under federal investigation. And...
11) Rep. Ken Calvert's (R-CA), land deals are still winning scrutiny.

Numbers 1-11, above, are just from THIS YEAR!
Going back a little further, there's more...

12) Republican Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is in prison,
13) Ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) is in prison,
14) Ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) is also in prison.

15) Ex-Reps. Mark Foley [scandal] (R-FL),
16) Katherine Harris [scandal] (R-FL),
17) Tom DeLay [scandals] (R-TX),
18) Curt Weldon (R-PA), and
19) Ex-Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)...
All either lost or did not seek reelection.
Gone, away, to be forgotten... PLEASE!

Republican Senator from Idaho, Larry Craig, RESIGNS following public-restroom-sex-solicitation SCANDAL @ Minneapolis Airport...

NOBODY believed his lame denial(s)... The G.O.P. DISOWNED him... "Larry 'Greg'? ...WHO?"
The Senator resigned today in DISGRACE... With virtually NO SUPPORT from any Republican friends/allies. (Thirty years in Congress!) They treated the poor guy (lying bastard) like the plague! TPM says:

" It's always good to seek out the larger lesson behind a political scandal. So in this case, it seems to be, If you're a Republican and you want to misbehave sexually, make sure it's with a chick... "