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In 2010 eighty-eight percent of voters felt that the national economy was in bad shape. Two years earlier, at the end of the Bush Administration, a record 92 percent of voters felt the economy was in dire straits. By November 2010, only 14% of voters felt their own family’s financial situation had improved since 2008. Twenty-nine percent of voters in 2010 reported that someone in their own household has lost a job in the last two years. Nearly two of three voters picked the economy as the single most important issue in their vote – and they voted 53-44 percent for Republicans for House. It was the first time since 1992, that economy voters favored Republicans. The Republicans were given a chance to address the economic problems. Instead of working to solve the problems, they have made them worse. When there was a real issue about whether the United States would fail to raise the debt ceiling and thereby default on our debts, the markets reacted and have not recovered. Remember when Michele Bachmann, a Republican leader at the time, advocated defaulting on our debt, which had already been incurred? Remember how the market responded even before the critical deadline had passed?
At the beginning of this year the President appointed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. That commission has been meeting since April 27, 2010, and this bipartisan commission has failed to propose a solution that could pass the Republican dominated Congress. Thus it seems that the Republicans are incapable of making a dent in the economic disaster that has come to define our world today. As the financial crisis in Europe becomes an increasingly real threat to the United States, stabilization of the American economy has taken on more importance and urgency. Certainly the importance of the economy in the 2012 election will be paramount. Americans are beginning to realize that the Republicans seem to be more focused on their own re-election than working toward solving the economic crisis facing the country. The Jobs Bill that was proposed by Obama, was not passed by the Senate because Republicans were afraid it would help Obama get re-elected. In other words, Republicans did not actually want the economy to improve, as better economic times might inspire re-election of President Obama. Thus the Republican Party wanted the economy to remain in bad shape, thinking that bad times would help them get reelected. Clearly personal political aspirations replaced the commitment of many Republicans to find solutions to America’s many economic problems. This trend was apparent when John McCain picked Sarah Palin, not because she was the most qualified, experienced, capable vice president, but because he thought she might be able to help him win the election. Now many Republicans seem to be following that same strategy. They would rather risk disaster in the country than do anything that might reflect positively on President Obama.
American voters may be slow to catch on, but after a year of a Republican-dominated Congress proving themselves to be unable or unwilling to improve the economic crisis in the country, we are fed up! The potential Republican candidates have proven …repeatedly….that they are not the solution for which we search. Republicans have rallied behind the womanizer who has established himself as the most ignorant politician about foreign policy ever to appear on the national stage.
Republicans continue to look for another candidate. For awhile there was that crazy woman who was at the top of the polls whose greatest accomplishment was taking in a lot of foster children.
Then there was the excitement surrounding the debate-challenged, racist, sexually diverse, part-time Governor, from Texas.
Now a man named “Newt” has become the most popular, in spite of his trifecta marriages and his distinction as the first speaker in history to resign after the House sanctioned him for ethics violations.
Thus, it is not surprising that the Democrats are now earning higher favorability ratings than their Republican counterparts, 40% to 30%. Perhaps this is not an indication that the Democrats are perceived as having all the answers, but instead they are at least looking for solutions. While looking for the solutions to the global economic crisis, the Democrats are not attempting to tell us who we can marry, what medical procedures and vaccinations we are required to have, or the identity of the supreme being to whom we should pray for a solution to the economic crisis. The nomination of Sarah Palin signaled the decline of the Republican Party. The rise in popularity of Bachmann, then Perry, then Cain, and now Newt, is tangible evidence that the decline of the Republican Party has reached catastrophic levels. With Sarah Palin’s help, the damage done may be irreversible.
The best part of this montage is that they are actual clips of Bush. Enjoy.
It’s been one week since we learned of the death of Osama bin Laden. Reflecting on what we have learned, I am reminded of the Clint Eastwood Movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
THE GOOD
President Obama isn’t perfect. No President is. However the location and killing of Osama bin Laden was something I thought impossible. When he said during the 2008 campaign that locating and killing Osama bin Laden should be our #1 national security issue, I agreed, but thought it was political rhetoric. I thought it would never happen. I was wrong. Consider the things that Barack Obama should receive credit for relating to this attack:
He prioritized the location of bin Laden as our #1 national security issue, and devoted the resources necessary to finding the terrorist who was responsible for the largest attack on the United States in my life time.
Having located bin Laden, President Obama was faced with the most difficult of decisions; what was the best way to attack the compound. The President chose the path of greatest risk, but also the greatest reward. He evaluated all plans presented to him and made sure he had the views of all involved. The spectrum of risk was moderate to massive. If he had opted to use a bomber strike it would have carried less risk for the loss of life for the members of the military directly involved in the strike. However the safe house was in a war zone where U.S. forces were already engaged. A bombing could result in a misfire, aircraft problems, the potential for widespread civilian casualties and difficulty identifying the remains of any victims.
Putting troops on the ground in Pakistan was by far the most dangerous option, both militarily and politically. Unless the mission was “clean and victorious” the mission could have had dire consequences on our relationship with Pakistan. By opting for a helicopter assault, Obama put soldiers in combat, putting their lives in great danger. To use soldiers in this way required exhaustive planning and training, which required significant amounts of time and increased the risk of a leak of the information about the mission. However a precision assault would be more likely to enable a definite identification of bin Laden, it would minimize the risk of civilian casualties, and would predictably increase the opportunity to gather a “treasure trove” of documents and intelligence.
The successful mission accomplished all three. Civilian casualties were limited to one woman in the compound caught in the crossfire, and one woman shot in the leg. No members of the military were injured. Osama bin Laden was killed. A treasure trove of information was confiscated.
Material seized has been called the “most valuable intelligence break ever.” It included: (1) One plan to recruit U.S. minorities to use in attacks on the U.S. (2) A strategic playbook of bin Laden’s plans. (3) Proposed attacks on water supplies, rail, air, subways, hotels and shopping centers (4) A plan to obtain international driving permits that would allow sleeper cells to qualify for government IDs so they could travel with ease(5) There was a strategy to attack Americans on major holidays and anniversaries. (6) A plot to attack passenger trains on Oakland Amtrack .
After the assault on the compound decisions were made to confirm through DNA testing that it was in fact bin Laden, to treat his body according to Muslim tradition for burial, and burial at sea so that there could be no shrine to the terrorist who was responsible for the death of so many Americans. In this way President Obama did everything in his power to limit the outrage of Al Queda and thus do our best to limit future terrorists attacks, while making a profound statement of the resolve of the United States to bring justice to the world’s most wanted terrorist.
THE BAD
George Bush’s handling of the attacks of 9-11 serves as a dramatic contrast to that of President Obama. In November of 2009 the Senate Foreign Relations Committee blamed the Bush Administration for failing to capture or kill bin Laden. The al Qaeda leader was cornered in the Tora Bora mountain region of Afghanistan in December of 2001. The CIA operative who led the pursuit of bin Laden at Tora Bora said in 2005 that he had requested up to 800 additional U.S. troop to cut off the al Qaeda leader’s escape route, but the request was denied. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee report indicated that :
“the situation in Afghanistan presented greater problems today because of the failure to nab bin Laden eight years ago.”
Senator Kerry explained at the time that:
“Our inability to finish the job in late 2001 has contributed to a conflict today that endangers not just our troops and those of our allies, but the stability of a volatile and vital region.”
For President Bush to fail to capture or kill bin Laden demonstrated a fundamental error in judgment, That error in judgment could have been viewed as a mistake, but might not have been viewed as a lack of commitment to the task of killing or capturing bin Laden. However the attitude of George Bush was unforgivable when he declared that he didn’t really care if we killed or captured bin Laden. Bush said that “I’m truly not that concerned about him.” Bush was BAD.
UGLY
Sarah Palin has no foreign policy experience, other than waving to Russia. In spite of Palin’s attempts to paint herself as the Commander in Chief of the Alaskan National Guard, the actual commander of the Alaska National Guard, Major General Craig Campbell, said:
“[Palin plays] no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard.”
In another interview Major Campbell said:
“The Alaskan governor is not in the site’s chain of command and has no authority over its operations.”
Whatever her responsibility while Governor, Palin quit, so she is no longer the commander of anything except the millions of dollars she has made from giving speeches disparaging President Obama.
Palin supported the war in Iraq. Obama did not. In fact Obama expressly said that the war in Iraq had become a distraction to catching bin Laden. Thus Palin’s position on catching bin Laden and supporting the war in Iraq was bad,… but was it ugly?
Palin has used the tragedy of 9-11 for political purposes, and to make money! She and Glenn Beck held a “rally” in Anchorage to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks, but because Palin was no longer Governor, she was able to charge people to attend the rally between $73.00 to $225.00 with the higher prices to include a “meet and greet” event. There was no suggestion or indication that the proceeds were going to be donated to the families of the victims of 9-11.
More importantly Palin said at this rally “it starts from the top. Those who kind of set the tone in our country that would lead us towards a complacency that is very, very, very, dangerous. I fear that is why we are seeing the patterns we’re seeing right now, especially over the last 20 months.” Palin’s comments at the rally were off the cuff, and only one sentence in her five minute address referenced the tragedy of nine years earlier on 9/11 – never mentioning the towers, or the Pentagon or Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, or the loss of life, or the political fallout of the event here and around the world. Instead we were treated to a hodge-podge of buzzwords and rambling sentences.
After the successful assault on the bin Laden compound and killing of Osama bin Laden, Palin praised former President George Bush “for having made the right calls to set up this victory” but omitting Obama’s name. She probably didn’t know about Tora Bora. That happened in 2001 when Palin was still mayor of Wasilla, and she was concerned with building the hockey center on property the city didn’t own. . She probably didn’t know about Bush’s comments about not being concerned about bin Laden, as he made those remarks in August of 2006 when Palin was focused on her campaign for Governor.
Given Palin’s criticism of Obama in the past it was not surprising that she was unable to give him credit for his leadership. The really ugly part of Palin’s response to the killing of Osama bin Laden was her total disrespect for President Obama, suggesting he was “pussyfooting around.” She advocated to production of the gruesome photos of bin Laden’s disfigured body which would have only enraged al Qaeda. Days before the attack, Palin had the temerity to suggest that the President had been out fooling around, playing golf and worrying about campaigning.
The wisdom of Obama’s refusal to produce the picture of bin Laden’s body is now apparent. The “soldiers of Islam have confirmed bin Laden’s death, so production of such a picture would have accomplished nothing further towards confirming the death. However it might have resulted in even more antagonism of the terrorists who might be willing to give their lives to kill more Americans. They have vowed retaliation, saying:
“ Soon — with help from Allah — their (American’s) happiness will turn into sorrow, and their blood will be mixed with their tears,”
… al Qaeda will “continue on the path of jihad, the path walked upon by our leaders … without hesitation or reluctance.”
“We will not deviate from that or change until Allah judges between us and between our enemy with truth. Indeed, He is the best of all judges. Nothing will harm us after that, until we see either victory and success and conquest and empowerment, or we die trying.”
“The soldiers of Islam, groups and individuals, will continue planning without tiredness or boredom, and without despair or surrender, and without weakness or stagnancy, until they cause the disaster that makes children look like the elderly!”
Palin’s total lack of respect for our Commander in Chief demonstrates that she, like John McCain, is more committed to political ambition than the safety and security of the country. Through her disparaging remarks of President Obama, at a time when other Americans feel a sense of pride for his and our achievement in bringing bin Laden to justice, the reality of Sarah Palin’s true motivations is crystal clear. She is not committed to securing domestic tranquility, she is committed to creating fear and terror. She is not committed to honoring the members of the military, but to using them for her own political gain. She is ugly.
Webster’s Dictionary needs to add one illustration to the next edition. Next to the word “liar” they should have this picture:
Palin lies about everything. She lies about hunting. She lies about speaking fees. She lies on national television. Steve Schmidt confirmed that she lies, even about Todd’s membership in the Alaskan Independent Party. She even lies about things that may not be in the best interest of Alaskans, but in her interest politically.
She lied about the findings in the Trooper Gate matter, saying :
“I’m very, very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.”
–Sarah Palin, , October 11, 2008.
The Branchflower report concluded that Palin “knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired.” It adds that she and her husband Todd attempted “to get Trooper Wooten fired for personal family related reasons.” Subordinates were placed in the situation where they had to choose whether to “please a superior or run the risk of facing that superior’s displeasure,” a clear conflict of interest.
She distinguished herself by receiving the award for telling the “biggest lie of the year” for 2009 for fabricating the existence of “death panels.”
In spite of the many outrageous lies Palin has told, she has exceeded even my expectations. Sarah Palin, speaking of the killing of Osama bin Laden, thanked George Bush for “having made the right calls to set up this victory.”
At a time when the entire country is celebrating the death of the world’s most wanted terrorist, and for the first time in several years, the country is united in celebration of American’s accomplishment, Palin is unable to simply say “thank you “ to our President. Rush Limbaugh said “thank you” to our Commander in Chief, Barack Obama. Glenn Beck said that Obama…”did create the condition to allow Osama bin Laden to be killed, and he deserves respect for that and our thanks.”
If Palin had simply been unable to thank President Obama, we wouldn’t have been surprised. However to credit George Bush for setting up this victory is offensive. It is unforgivable. Remember George Bush’s statements about bin Laden:
“The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.”
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/01
“I want justice…There’s an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive,’”
- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI
“…Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he’s maybe in control of a cave. He’s on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we’re going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that’s what’s happening. He’s on the run, if he’s running at all. So we don’t know whether he’s in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open — we just don’t know….”
- Bush, in remarks in a Press Availablity with the Press Travel Pool,
The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on
official White House site
“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.”
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
“I am truly not that concerned about him.”
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden’s whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
George Bush is the President who took us to war in Iraq by justifying it as an effort to find WMDs. When WMDs were not found, Bush explained that:
On October 29, 2003, George Bush declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq.
Seven years later we are still involved in Iraq. Consider the “cost” of that war:
Soldiers killed 4,444
Soldiers Seriously Wounded 32,051
U.S. SPENDING IN IRAQ-$900 Billion dollars
Lost & Unaccounted for in Iraq – $9 billion of US taxpayers’ money and $549.7 milion in spare parts shipped in 2004 to US contractors. Also, per ABC News, 190,000 guns, including 110,000 AK-47 rifles.
Missing – $1 billion in tractor trailers, tank recovery vehicles, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other equipment and services provided to the Iraqi security forces. (Per CBS News on Dec 6, 2007.)
Mismanaged & Wasted in Iraq – $10 billion, per Feb 2007 Congressional hearings
Halliburton Overcharges Classified by the Pentagon as Unreasonable and Unsupported – $1.4 billion
Amount paid to KBR, a former Halliburton division, to supply U.S. military in Iraq with food, fuel, housing and other items – $20 billion
Cost of deploying one U.S. soldier for one year in Iraq – $390,000 (Congressional Research Service)
TROOPS IN IRAQ
Troops in Iraq – Total 47,000 U.S. troops. All other nations have withdrawn their troops.
For Sarah Palin to give credit to George Bush for the mission directed by Barack Obama that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden is outrageous! She should never be forgiven by even her most ardent supporters for this lie. She is a plague on this country.
Enjoy!
George was supposed to speak at the White House Correspondents’ dinner but had a surprise when Laura interrupts him and make fun of George! Enjoy!
You will laugh so hard you’ll cry! Happy Friday! Malia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SnxNnJYziMY
Given the post today regarding a letter, this will make your evening! Enjoy! Malia
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/21ce182c72/obama-s-g-20-roundup?rel=player&playlist=271561
Some people in the United States have been willing to forgive and forget about Bush’s use of torture, and the admission of it in his new book. However the Swiss are not as forgiving. Because of threats of protests, and even the potential arrest of our former President, Bush has cancelled his scheduled appearance in Switzerland. http://www.islandcrisis.net/2011/02/bush-cancels-swiss-visit-amid-threats-of-protest-arrest/
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