Election 2004

bush’s flip flops

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The Center for American Progress is keeping track of bushflops and I think this is a fine public service.
It will be a better one if they do not resort to bushian distortions. For instance, number 2 on their list today is Iraq Funding:

2. Iraq Funding
BUSH SPOKESMAN DENIES NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE REST OF 2004…”We don’t anticipate requesting anything additional for [Iraq for] the balance of this year.” [White House Budget Director Joshua Bolten, 7/29/03]
�BUSH REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR IRAQ FOR 2004 �I am requesting that Congress establish a $25 billion contingency reserve fund for the coming fiscal year to meet all commitments to our troops.� [President Bush, Statement by President, 5/5/04]
Seems like a flip flop until you look closely.
Bolton is talking about either calendar or fiscal year 2003 and when asked about 2004 said that he did not know what the requirements would be. The bush request quoted above is for fiscal year 2005 which begins October 2004.
There are many good examples of bush flops and no need to use faulty ones.
Via Tim Dunlop.

bush’s nader

This entry was posted in bush Constitution Election 2004 kerry Libertarianism US History on by

On Friday Michael Medved spent part of his radio program bashing libertarians or, in his words, loosertarians. I say part because I listened to only 15-20 minutes. He may well have spent the entire show on this subject. Does anyone know if other talk jocks have taken up libertarian bashing now that there has been so much discussion about bush possibly loosing the libertarian vote?
Medved’s attack, at least while I was listening, was primarily ad hominem and without substance.
I found it particularly interesting that Medved, a lawyer, found it important to put down one of the Libertarian candidates because this candidate was teaching an 8 hour class on the U.S. constitution in conjunction with the Libertarian convention. This suggested to me that Medved perhaps does not consider the consitution important or important for the president to understand.
g w bush has sworn to uphold the constitution but can you imagine him teaching a class on the constitution? Even one as short as 8 hours?
Just to be fair and balanced: while kerry’s presentation may be smoother then w’s it is not at all clear that either Yale grad could teach this short course.

Iraq Occupation to End!

This entry was posted in bush Election 2004 Iraq US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism World Affairs on by

This administration works very hard to get their preferred spin on what they consider to be their issues. And now, as noted by the NPR folks after the speech both bush in the speech and other administration officials over the last several weeks have been acknowledging that the liberators have now become the occupiers.
What the NPR folks did not comment on is that we now know when the occupation will end! bush told us:

The first of these steps will occur next month, when our coalition will transfer full sovereignty to a government of Iraqi citizens who will prepare the way for national elections. On June 30th, the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist, and will not be replaced. The occupation will end, and Iraqis will govern their own affairs. (emphasis added)

There you have it. But, he then goes on to say that US troops will remain in Iraq.
It all seems to be games with words and for this administration that means it is all about politics and relection and suggests the following:
First, and likely the bush expectation, is that starting on July 1 the bush election campaign administration will tell us that our troops are the invited guests of the new puppet oversight authority (it is hard to call something not created by the Iraqis a government). Nothing meaningful will have changed but the administration will try to sell the ongoing occupation as not owned by bush and hope that the American people will not see through the semantic shenanigans.
The second scenario is that the new oversight authority tells the occupiers to get out(and do not think that the puppets will make this decision on their own). This could happen as an alternative to the first scenario or as a follow on.
Rove and company will be waving their wet fingers in the wind to decide when the second option will play best with the largest chunk of likely voters. They will trade their hard core war supporters for a victory in November if necessary…and all under the guise of they told us to leave.
We now know the reason the administration has been so focused on June 30. They believe that they will be able to deflect criticsim and blame for staying in Iraq, departing Iraq, killing civilians by saying that all they do is at the request of the Iraqi interim authority.
The main plan bush gave the American people was one to cover his tracks.

Tonight”s Speech

This entry was posted in bush cheney Conscription Election 2004 Iraq US Foreign Policy War on Terrorism on by

I wonder how bush will explain this in his talk tonight. Somehow it just doesn’t seem like stay the course will suffice.
Jack K at Ruminate This rightfully argues that if it hasn’t been happening then this should be happening:

…people way deep down into the Pentagon chain of command would be having the experience of having to explain to the Commander in Chief, without benefit of squaring stories or prior practice, just how the hell it is…
that this happened.
If this is in fact the wedding party it appears to be there is, of course, no acceptable excuse for the attack.

Send Them to Jail Now

This entry was posted in bush Election 2004 Iraq War on Terrorism World Affairs on by

After reading this in the NYT Mark Kleiman says:

What makes me sick is that some of the CIA officers may get hung out to dry, but there’s no probability whatever that the lawyers safe in their Washington offices who approved all this garbage — in your name and mine — will ever be called to account.
There’s a simple principle that applies here. No human being, or small group, is fit to be trusted with absolute and unreviewed power over another human being.

Yet more reasons why waiting for an election may be waiting too long.