Politiks As Usual: In The News 7/11/11

Obama, GOP Plan Another Day Of Deficit-Reduction Talks

Plouffe Plays Down The Economy, Romney Says Get Rid Of Him

Ban On Affirmative Action In Michigan Struck Down

Cisco Vendor Fired For Writing Book Against Same-Sex Marriage

Tim Pawlenty: Bachmann's Congressional Accomplishments Are "Nonexistent"

Hollywood Celebrities Perform Fake PSA Encouraging Casual Sex Facebook Status

NY Archbishop Warns: 'Next Step Will Be Another Redefinition To Justify Multiple Partners..."

Politics vs. Reality

Sarah Palin On Cover Of Newsweek: 'I Can Win'

Angry Tea Party Stirring Up GOP Revolt 


The Great Madness Of 2004-2010

Eric Holder Has Egg On His Face, CIA Exonerated For Alleged Torture "Crimes"

Surely, the 80% of the country that doesn't view themselves as "liberals" can recall how Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, with clear symptoms of Bush Derangement Syndrome, went out of his way to inquire into allegations of torture against the CIA during the Bush administration. Well, after a two-year investigation the Justice Dept. just announced that a special prosecutor appointed by Holder found no criminal wrongdoing by the CIA's handling of some 100 terrorists. This news not only leaves sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome again looking stupid, but a legitimate call for Holder to resign:

After reopening Justice Department investigations into use of CIA enhanced interrogation, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. admitted that he had not read the memos of his own department’s lawyers explaining why no criminal laws had been violated.

Now, John Dunham, the assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut assigned by Holder to re-investigate the cases, has concluded that the lawyers who closed the case were correct, and no criminal charges are warranted.

The re-investigation subjected former CIA officers to the chilling prospect of going to jail. As seven former CIA directors who served under Republicans and Democrats have said publicly, the probe sent a message to CIA officers that if they take risks in defense of their country, they may suffer consequences.

“If criminal investigations closed by career prosecutors during one administration can so easily be reopened at the direction of political appointees in the next, declinations of prosecution will be rendered meaningless,” the former directors wrote to President Barack Obama.

Such actions create “an atmosphere of continuous jeopardy,” they wrote.
As former Director of Central Intelligence Jim Woolsey, who signed the letter, told me, “For the attorney general to reopen those in the way that he has, says very clearly to CIA officers that, even if your boss tells you to do something and shows you that he has Justice Department support, and even if you’re investigated and cleared, it’s not over.”

This is not the first time Holder has embarrassed himself while pursuing a clearly partisan political agenda:

• Holder said he opposed Arizona’s illegal immigration legislation but had not read the new law.
• Holder decided to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in U.S. District Court in New York without asking the police or the FBI whether that would jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers. In the face of bipartisan congressional opposition, he later had to back down.
• Holder testified that he believes the CIA’s enhanced interrogation methods such as waterboarding constitute “torture,” but he said he had not read classified reports that describe what those techniques entail.

If Alberto Gonzales, President George W. Bush’s attorney general, had engaged in such amateurish conduct, the press would have run him out of town. Indeed, it pounced on him over lesser fumbling, and he had to resign.

Chris Matthews Blames Egypt Riots on George W. Bush and Iraq War

Good to see with Crazy Keith gone Chrissy-poo is picking up the BDS slack over at MSNBC:

It's a metaphysical certitude that whenever anything happens in the Middle East, the media will quickly blame former President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.


Not missing the opportunity to do so, Chris Matthews began the 5PM installment of "Hardball" Friday connecting the riots in Egypt to a man that has been out of office for two years


CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Trouble on the Nile.


Let`s play HARDBALL.


Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews in Washington.


Leading off tonight: Unrest in Egypt. Proving the Iraq war wasn`t needed, these protests in Egypt, as well as in Yemen and Tunisia, are all aimed at dictators supported by the U.S. The demonstrations have not yet turned anti-American, but they could. These are the events the Bush administration hoped to encourage by lying about weapons of mass destruction and invading Iraq. A live report from Richard Engel at the scene coming up. And we`ll stay on this story throughout the hour as events warrant.


Riots and a potential revolution in Egypt prove the Iraq war wasn't needed?


How does one come to that conclusion? Who on Matthews' staff decided that the perfect way to lead off Friday's program was by linking the unrest in Egypt to Bush and Iraq?


Didn't these folks learn anything from their rush to judgment over this month's shootings in Tucson?


This seems especially important as Matthews' guest through much of the program - NBC's Richard Engel reporting from Cairo - didn't say anything about these riots being in any way related to Iraq, anti-Americanism, or Bush.


From what Engel could tell, this is all about the high poverty and unemployment rates in Egypt along with continued disgust with the corruption of the government.


Matthews himself said, "The demonstrations have not yet turned anti-American."

Nancy Pelosi Says Dems Lost House Because Of . . . George W. Bush

Bush Derangement Syndrome never ends. But let's hope the idiots are still blaming Bush come 2012 because clearly they still don't get it.

MSNBC Liberal Tool Norah O'Donnell: Bush's Book Is Popular Because He Was So Hated

Newsbusters.com:

Would you buy someone's memoir all because you hated the person?


That's the reason a Salon political writer gave MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell Friday for why George W. Bush's book is selling better than Bill Clinton's:

So Bush's unpopularity is the reason his book is so successful--yeah, that makes sense.

Michael Moore To Democrats: “You Can’t Keep Blaming [Bush]” For National Woes

Mediaite.com:

One of the Old Guard has begun to change his tune: Michael Moore is calling for a moratorium on blaming President Bush. Well, sort of. On last night’s Real Time, Moore told his co-panelists and host Bill Maher that blaming the Bush administration for America’s problems will not make them go away, nor, two years later, is it a valuable excuse.


Debating the pitfalls of the Clinton administration (which Maher argued turned the Democrats into “a second corporatist party” during Clinton’s second term), Moore made the point that he strongly believed a similar turn during Obama’s possible second term would be extremely destructive to the party. In response, Rep. Joe Sestak, who was on the panel, mentioned the damage done under the Bush administration. Moore refused to accept that as a sufficient excuse for the delay in progress:


“No one’s forgetting the fact that this frat boy totally destroyed this country economically, our standing around the world– we all get that. But it’s two years later, and you can’t keep blaming the people who created the mess. Yes, we’ll never stop being pissed at Bush for what he did. But right now we’ve got to fix this, and you guys– the Democrats and Obama– have to be the ones that do it. If you do it– if you actually get in there and do it– you’ll have everybody behind you all the way.”


Hearing as staunch a detractor of the Bush administration sound the horn for moving on from the first eight years of the century is a new development on the left, and perhaps in part due to passing the halfway point of the midterm elections. It will be interesting to see how many public figures on the left adopt Moore’s suggestions.

Shocker.

Liberals Still Suffering From Bush Derangement Syndrome

Two years after he left office and the nuts have only gotten nuttier, they just can't help themselves.

Source

Joe Biden Bets Democrats Will Keep Both House And Senate In November

NYTimes.com:

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. urged Democrats on Friday to shake away their pessimism about the midterm elections, declaring: “The reports of the death of the Democratic Party have been greatly exaggerated.”


Mr. Biden reprised the famous quotation from Mark Twain as he sought to rally the spirits of party leaders gathering here at the summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee.

With 75 days remaining in an election campaign that will determine whether Republicans will win control of Congress or Democrats will hold their majority, the vice president touted the strength of the Democratic Party, speaking in Union Station with the Mississippi River less than a mile away.

“On Nov. 3, the day after the election, there will be a Democratic majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate,” Mr. Biden said. “If it weren’t illegal, I’d make book on it.”

The vice president acknowledged the challenging political environment facing the party, but he argued that he and President Obama inherited a shrinking economy when they took office 19 months ago.


“Before we turned on our computers in the West Wing, we inherited an economy that was shrinking seven percent,” Mr. Biden said. “Before I lowered my hand on that cold day, we had lost 740,000 jobs that month.”

They're really banking on "Blame Bush" for a 3rd straight election, the only question is whether or not the American voters will actually be dumb enough to buy it again.

Obama To Blame Bush For Everything Before November Elections

CNN.com:

President Obama, moving into campaign mode ahead of the midterm elections, has added new, sharper language to his stump speech – twice this week invoking the name of his predecessor.


Obama frequently criticizes Republican policies on the economy – that is certainly nothing new. But the latest wrinkle in Obama's rhetoric is that until now, he has avoided referring to former President Bush by name. That changed this week.


Thursday marked the second time in a week that Obama has mentioned Bush. During a fundraiser in Chicago for Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, Obama said Republicans are "betting on amnesia" as trying to make the economy an issue in fall races around the country.


"They haven't come out with a single solitary idea that is different from policies that held sway for eight years before Democrats took over, not a single policy difference that's discernible from George W. Bush. Not one," he told the crowd at the Palmer House Hilton on Chicago.


Before about 400 donors, Obama said, "they're betting that you just forgot about the eight years that they were in charge of Washington. They're betting that you didn't notice that the recession started under their watch and the deficit started under their watch".


The comments were similar to remarks the President delivered at a party fundraiser in Atlanta Monday. In that speech he also referred to GOP efforts to "extend Bush tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires."

So Barry wants everyone to forget whose been in charge of Congress and whose been President for the last 19 months. Too bad because judging from his weak approval ratings (as well as Congress'), America is no longer buying into "Blame Bush".

Dan Lungren: "Democrats Must Be Behind In The Polls Because They Are Pulling Up George W. Bush"

"Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The polls show the democrats are in trouble because every time that happens social security is pulled out of the back pocket. Republicans are going to destroy social security. This party is the only party that saves social security.


"Democrats must be behind in the polls because they are pulling up George W. Bush. I have looked all over the campus, I can't find him. I went down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He left!


"Maybe you folks didn't notice. President Obama is there. What a real shame it is that current democrats are running away from the democratic party of J.F.K.


"He told us, forget about class warfare. A rising tide lifts all boats.


"Maybe you ought to listen to some of those on your side who didn't talk about fear but talked about hope."

Jeb Bush Hits Back At Obama's Bush Derangement Syndrome

NYDailyNews.com:

Call it brotherly love.

Former Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush is telling President Obama to stop picking on his brother.

Calling the President’s behavior childish, Bush told The New York Times on Wednesday that he’s sick of Obama blaming George W. Bush for weak oversight of the oil industry, in addition to current economic and budgetary turmoil.

“It’s kind of like a kid coming to school saying, ‘The dog ate my homework,’” Bush said of the President. 

“It’s childish. This is what children do until they mature. They don’t accept responsibility.”

Bush then said the President isn’t a 21st-century leader and described him as “Hubert Humphrey on steroids.”

Of course, what's sad here is that brother Jeb does a better job at sticking up for the former President's policies than his own wife and daughter have since he left office.

Bill O'Reilly And Brit Hume On Blaming Bush

Nancy Pelosi Still Blames George W. Bush For . . . Everything

Mediaite.com:

This morning on MSNBC, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke to Chuck Todd about the historic oil spill, Carly Fiorina, and of course, blaming the Bush administration. In fact, she blamed the fundamentals of the financial crisis on the 43rd president.

Interestingly, when Todd first began asking, “Why do Democrats keep blamin’ the Bush administration,” Pelosi interrupted and said, “I haven’t even heard that.” Really, Madam Speaker? Todd then asked her when Americans would get tired of hearing the country’s problems blamed on George W. Bush.

“When do you feel like that runs out with the public?” Todd asked.

Pelosi replied:

“Well, it burns out when the problems go away. And here’s what the president inherited. He inherited–a deficit, when this president inherited from the Clinton administration four budgets that were either in surplus or in balance. And he turned it into a massive deficit.”

Paul McCartney Slams George W. Bush's Intelligence, Silent On Marrying Heather Mills Without Pre-nup

Ha ha. Another liberal elitist takes a shot at the intelligence of former President Bush and like 'comedian' Russell Brand before him, this celebrity is a foreigner who had the nerve to insult Bush on American soil, in front of Obama no less: 

Meet Paul McCartney: political flashpoint. McCartney performed for President Obama, the first family and a number of other stars at the White House last night as part of a show celebrating his winning the Gershwin Prize. After the show — and apparently after the President had left the room — McCartney thanked the audience and noted how nice it was to receive the award from the Library of Congress, and “in fact, after the last eight years it’s great to have a president who knows what a library is.” Snap! Cue look of amazement on Jerry Seinfeld’s face and loud cheers from the room.

The remark, meanwhile, struck Joe Scarborough as “completely unnecessary”: “That guy’s been my idol, you know what, I don’t have many idols, just sing your damn song.”

Funny too that McCartney would take the time to slam Bush when he himself never even went to college (Bush graduated from Yale). Then too wasn't it the mega-rich McCartney who recently went against friend's advice and married (and 3 years later divorced) a woman, Heather Mills, he barely knew without signing a pre-nup:

Last week, after months of rumors, Paul and Heather Mills McCartney finally showed their hands—and declared war. McCartney, 64, reportedly filed divorce papers that, according to a source, cite the former model's "unreasonable behavior" for the split. (British tabs went further, saying she was "argumentative" and "rude to the staff.") Meanwhile, Heather, 38, has no plans to go quietly. "She will file her own counterclaims in Britain and America," her rep tells Scoop. (The ex-Beatle owns property in Long Island, Los Angeles and Arizona, says a source.) The singer has an estimated $1.6 billion fortune, and there's no prenup. "[With] Heather announcing she is prepared to fight," a source close to McCartney says, "things are just going to get uglier." Still, McCartney seems to be moving on: For the first time since their May split, he has been spotted without his wedding ring.

Thanks to McCartney's carelessness with his wealth, Mills would walk away with 24.3M (euro). But yeah, Bush is the idiot.

Liberal CBS Blames George W. Bush For Tipper And Al Gore Separation

NewsBusters.org:

Is there anything a journalist cannot or will not twist to bring the topic back to how life would be so much better if only not for that awful George W. Bush? On Tuesday's CBS Evening News, with the help of the Washington Post's Sally Quinn, Sharyl Attkisson managed to blame news, that Al and Tipper Gore are separating, on how they never got over being denied the presidency despite winning the popular vote in 2000. If only Bush hadn't taken it from them.

Attkisson recalled “it's been ten years since that oddly public passionate kiss at the Democratic convention. That was followed by Gore winning the popular vote for President but losing the electoral vote. Family friend Sally Quinn says that may have done the marriage irreparable harm.” 

Viewers then head from Quinn, who's married former Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and is now titular overseer of the paper's “On Faith” blog: “He obviously suffered a lot and still is suffering. He'll never get over that and neither will she.”

Yeah, look at how closer Bill and Hillary got after they won the presidency...Bush Derangement Syndrome, it never ends.

Bush-Hating, Anti-U.S. Matt Damon Film "Green Zone" Bombs At Box Office

TIME.com:

In Team America: World Police, the first Hollywood-financed movie inspired by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its attendant political controversy, South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone dispatched a squad of U.S. guerrillas — all in marionette form — to take down an Axis of Evil dictator and, in the process, slaughter the real villains of the piece: a bunch of self-important celebrities who had publicly opposed the U.S. policy. One of these stars is Matt Damon, who is portrayed as such an idiot that all his dialogue consists of is his grinning stupidly while saying, "Matt Damon!" The puppet Damon ends up dead, his head snapped by a Team America hero.

The real Matt Damon didn't fare much better as the star of the new Green Zone: he went looking for the truth about Iraq's WMDs, and got blown up by the IED of public indifference. The box-office curse of movies about the U.S. Mess-o-potamian escapade remained unbroken, as Damon became the latest star — after George Clooney, Jamie Foxx, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, not to mention the South Park guys — whose attempt to address the blood and blunders in our Mideast wars tanked with the mass audience.

Green Zone, reteaming Damon with Paul Greengrass, his director in the last two, very popular Jason Bourne films, earned just $14.5 million in its first three days at North American theaters, according to early studio estimates. That's way below industry predictions (in the low- to middle-$20 millions) and less than a quarter of the $62 million amassed this weekend by the defending champ, Alice in Wonderland, which has leapt like a White Rabbit past the $200 million mark in just 10 days. The Tim Burton–Johnny Depp effort is also a war movie, at least partly, but with the Red Queen and the White Queen, not Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush, as the executive adversaries.

No surprise, the premise of "Green Zone" is a liberal fantasy, where U.S. government conspiracy is the source of world problems. Wonder if Damon would have the balls to take the movie over to Iraq to show our troops and yunno, do a meet-and-greet? Probably not. Any film that roots for US soldiers to die is not only despicable, but a sad testament to Damon's ultra-liberal views.

DOJ Report On Bush Torture Memos: No Misconduct

NRP.org:

Bush administration lawyers did not violate legal ethics rules when they wrote memos authorizing harsh interrogations for terrorism detainees, the Justice Department said Friday, releasing the long-awaited results of its investigation into the memos.

The report focuses on three men who worked at Justice under President Bush: John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steven Bradbury. All three worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, crafting the standards for interrogating high-value terrorism detainees.

According to the cover letter accompanying the report, the investigation originally found professional misconduct by Yoo and Bybee. But the career official in charge of overseeing the office of professional responsibility overruled that finding.

Now the report says the men "exercised poor judgment." That means the men will not face disbarment or criminal punishment.

The final report is hundreds of pages long and includes extensive e-mails between the Justice Department, the White House and the CIA.

As one congressional staffer said, "If the torture memos were the movie, this report is the making of."

In other words, get over your Bush Derangement Syndrome.

New York Daily News Uses John Murtha's Death To Smear President Bush

Tho they employ the arrogant, Bush-hating, liberal elitist and Keith Olbermann-wannabee Mike Lupica, I had a lot of respect for the New York Daily News before this. Then again, with all the power the narcissistic Lupica has at the NYDN, I wouldn't be surprised if he was in charge of the News online department now too.

H/T Gateway Pundit

Obama's State of the Union Speech: "Stay the Course and Blame Bush"

First, Virginia Governor Bob McConnell's response to Barry was terrific and to the point in calling for lesser government and showing that the GOP isn't the "Party of No" that the Left would like you to believe it is.

Secondly, the irony that Hillary Clinton was picked as the designated as the Cabinet member in absence (in case all hell breaks out), just struck me as well.....weird.

Lastly, Barry delivered a SOTU that was way too long (no surprise there considering how much man loves to hear himself talk), listless and full of "stay the course" rhetoric that clearly shows this guy still doesn't get it. Then too, Barry had the nerve to diss the Supreme Court to their faces (Justice Alito's response was priceless), promise to repeal a "don't ask, don't tell" law that our military leaders oppose, took below-the-belt shots at the GOP and once again blamed President Bush for all the evils in the world, yunno the ones he "inherited". Typical. Thank goodness, come this November, Americans will have the opportunity to show that they've had enough of Barry's pompous dog-n-pony act.

Liberal Sportswriter Mike Lupica Still Blames Dick Cheney For Everything Wrong With Planet

Hate to give this loon any more attention than half-baked ego already gets from the NY Daily News, but considering it's my local paper and this Lupica's political columns (which are nothing but idiot rants drenched in Bush Derangement Syndrome) gets Page 6 features every Monday, sometimes you're just left with no choice but to call out the sheer lunacy:

As usual it starts with a has-been like Dick Cheney acting as if that war is some party issue, as if the country is somehow more vulnerable to fanatics because Democrats have the White House and the Congress, as if all those who hate America and want to kill Americans see this tremendous opening to do that because Barack Obama is in charge now.

The idea is dumber than that television show about the Jersey Shore.

Still there was Cheney - who once was able to hide almost as well as Osama Bin Laden - out in front after a failed attempt to blow up a Northwest airplane on its way into Detroit on Christmas Day, like he wanted to be the first Obama hater to take his swings.

Only Cheney looks at a near tragedy on Christmas and sees opportunity. When he does, he doesn't just sound like some old crank in the park. He sounds like a bum.

But then partisan attacks like this are the real national pastime now in American politics, why we seem unable to get out of our own way even on the big things, why the constant war of words between the left and the right can somehow trivialize the most crucial issues of a world that becomes less safe by the day.

So Dick Cheney, who finished his second term as VP just last year, is now a "has-been"?!? Funny how that works. With that kind of logic, what's Al Gore then? Of course we know that Gore, last a VP some 9 years ago, can still go around the world, use his influence as a former-VP to get on cable news networks and continue milking billions from yahoos with deep pockets for his self-righteous global warming scam (that he still refuses to debate anyone about), but Dick Cheney, a private citizen now, is supposed to STFU about the war on terror? Double standards much, Mike? But then when you're talking about Lupica, you're talking about an egocentric, far-Left loon whose been taking snide shots at conservatives and the Right for years now. I've seen Lupica in person, the guy is literally...short, so it wouldn't surprise if he suffered from some kind of Napoleon-complex (on top of his obvious BDS) too. But really, if you're going to be a Bush/Cheney-hater (even in 2010), and you're going to write a column complaining about partisan politics, at least have the balls to admit that you've been nothing but way beyond partisan yourself. In other words the same theatrics you now pretend to hate, you've been contributing to yourself for years now. Hypocrite much, Mike?