Inside the late August mind of one George W. Bush

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Well well well, and don't we have some winners here:

Mr. Bush also acknowledged for the first time that he made a "miscalculation of what the conditions would be'' in postwar Iraq. But he insisted that the 17-month-long insurgency that has upended the administration's plans for the country was the unintended by-product of a "swift victory'' against Saddam Hussein's military, which fled and then disappeared into the cities, enabling them to mount a rebellion against the American forces far faster than Mr. Bush and his aides had anticipated.

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On environmental issues, Mr. Bush appeared unfamiliar with an administration report delivered to Congress on Wednesday that indicated that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases were the only likely explanation for global warming over the last three decades. Previously, Mr. Bush and other officials had emphasized uncertainties in understanding the causes and consequences of global warming.

The new report was signed by Mr. Bush's secretaries of energy and commerce and his science adviser. Asked why the administration had changed its position on what causes global warming, Mr. Bush replied, "Ah, we did? I don't think so."

Scott McClellan, Mr. Bush's press secretary, said later that the administration was not changing its position on global warming and that Mr. Bush continued to be guided by continuing research at the National Academy of Sciences.

Well done.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 August 2004 11:41 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, but people love him cuz he's a straight shooter. with integrity. and they agree with him on many moral issues. (all statements i heard from bush supporters on the radio yesterday.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 27 August 2004 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm sure about fifty people have asked this on here already but why's kerry still pro-war again? i figured it was cos voters are traditionally squeamish about voting for a dovish democrat as a 'wartime president', but surely he's not going to capture many of those votes anyway? or will the few that he *does* convince still outweigh the amount of votes he'll lose from the anti-war crowd (almost nil, presumably, minus maybe a couple of wishy washy naderites). or was it so the bush campaign can't use the old 'saddam hussein is a terrible madman and the world is safer without him but john kerry wants to have 1000 of his babies" argument? whatever the case, with just about every pro-war supporter now backpeddaling, i don't see how it could hurt kerry all that much to out and out condemn the war.

― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 27 August 2004 11:59 (twenty-one years ago)

he just goes on and on about how inept bush has been in waging war.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 27 August 2004 12:09 (twenty-one years ago)

you can start by recognizing that pro- and anti-war are not the only positions available, that you have misdescribed kerry's, and that he is not taking a position inconsistent with any previous position

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 12:11 (twenty-one years ago)

mitch check this article:

http://www.slate.com/id/2105434/

― g--ff (gcannon), Friday, 27 August 2004 12:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Kerry's strategy was to neutralize Bush on Iraq and terrorism by sticking pretty close to Bush's positions on these issues, so that he can compete on the typically more advantageous Democratic terrain of domestic policy. So far though he doesn't seem to have been able to execute this very well.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 27 August 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm choking on my own rage

― lukey (Lukey G), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I hate everything.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Kerry's position

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:10 (twenty-one years ago)

"But he insisted that the 17-month-long insurgency that has upended the administration's plans for the country was the unintended by-product of a 'swift victory' against Saddam Hussein's military..."

so, uh, anybody else as confused by the "logic" of this as I am?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Bush was expecting all the bad guys to just gather in a field somewhere so we could drop a bomb on them.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

he's effectively admitting that the administration was duped - Saddam ceded the perimeter of Baghdad and sucked us into sustained low-intensity conflict hoping we'd lose the public image war

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

(i never said he was being inconsistent gabbneb)(i'm reading those slate articles now)

― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 27 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

so, uh, anybody else as confused by the "logic" of this as I am?

Really, all I would ask for now, win or lose, is that someone makes him choke on his "Bring it on" bullshit. And if that meant physically choke on a piece of paper with that statement stuffed down his throat...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 August 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

be careful, Ned! But yeah, I would hope Kerry pounces on that during the debates.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 14:44 (twenty-one years ago)

this election is becoming such bad news... and over just a few days, it seems...

― Jimmy Mod, Man About Towne (ModJ), Friday, 27 August 2004 14:46 (twenty-one years ago)

bush is now leading in polls in midwestern "swing" states. why?

― amateur!!st, Friday, 27 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

because polls don't mean anything.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

that's an oblique answer

― amateur!!st, Friday, 27 August 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

okay, well I just don't think anyone should pay that much attention to them. A slight variation in the opinions of a group of 1000 random people doesn't really hold a lot of water with me. I'll wait to see what happens Election Day, thank you.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

There's a lot of noise in polling, so I wouldn't sweat the ups and downs to much so long as the movements are within the margin of error. And even then, one big change in one poll probably doesn't reflect the aggregate picture anyway.

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the fact that "1,000 random people" somewhere in the u.s. have their heads that far up their asses is greatly sadening to me.
xpost

― dyson (dyson), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

no, only it's only like 50-something percent with a margin of error plus/minus 4 points or something of 1000 random people.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

with their heads up their asses, I mean.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Interesting fact about polling that I did not know until recently: they disregard the responses of anyone who ahs never voted before, even if they are currently registered. This seems like a huge bias, especially since "mobilizing voters" is *the* Democratic campaign strategy this year.

― Harold Media (kenan), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

What I'm curious about is, has anyone here been polled on this election? Have you picked up the phone and found Zogby or NBC News on the other end?

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:21 (twenty-one years ago)

They don't poll people in San Francisco.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex, they should call you and you should disguise your voice a thousand times.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

BTW I love that the CBS poll reports an erosion of support for Kerry among veterans (while not mentioning that their veterans polling group is like 165 people.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

They don't poll people in Chicago, either. Nor in New York, I'm guessing. Nor in anywhere except stauchly MOR places like Ohio or Florida.

― Harold Media (kenan), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Or in Jackson or Birmingham or Houston either, to be fair.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

True dat.

― Harold Media (kenan), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

The relentless focus of the media on the so-called battleground states has got to make some people in the states that have already ostensibly been 'decided' feel like their votes really don't count this time. If voters in presumably fixed states stay home because they imagine the fight is only happening in the 16 swing states, that seems like has the potential to cause some considerable turbulence in the results.

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, i've heard one person say "i'm in new york, we're going democratic anyway, so i could just not vote as a protest."

― Maria (Maria), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Well there are other things to vote for in November besides the president these dopes should be voting for.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

It could create turbulence, but that's still unlikely. If you live in Texas and don't want to vote Republican (for president, anyhoo), you may as well write in Mickey Mouse. Or vote for Nader, like I did. What the hell?

But of course if every eligible voter voted... well, we'd be a totally different country.

― Harold Media (kenan), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, we'd probably be even worse off.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

When do people send off their postal ballots?

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"The president is treating the nation like a battered housewife."

-Rep. Charles Rangel, (D)-NY

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Treatig it the way a shelter would, or treating it the way Stanley Kowalski would? I can't make sense of that comment...

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

ya neither can i.

― dyson (dyson), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

er, i imagine it's like, "c'mon, hon, you've got to forgive me, i'll never do it again, i love you honey, oh here are some flowers, oh i need you so bad, i'll never do it again SMACK

― amateur!!st, Friday, 27 August 2004 15:44 (twenty-one years ago)

would like to see the context in which the quote was made, yeah.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

He said it on CNN a second ago, and he followed up by saying it's because when you ask voters, "Why don't you leave this guy after what he's done to you," the voters say, "Oh, it's okay, he doesn't mean it. At least he's a straight-shooter and when he comes up with a plan, he sticks to it."

Maybe he should've said that the nation is treating the president like a battering husband.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:49 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah that would really play with voters!

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:55 (twenty-one years ago)

If you live in Texas and don't want to vote Republican (for president, anyhoo), you may as well write in Mickey Mouse.

It was reported today in the NYT that Texas is now less than 50% non-hispanic white. The only reason it's a red state is voter registration (citizenship?). There's something we (Texans, especially) can do about that.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

gabbneb not all non-whites vote Democrat.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

GWB is Colin and the voters are Christie.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

gabbneb not all non-whites vote Democrat.

but 85-90% of blacks and 60-70% of hispanics do. and not all whites vote Republican. Democrats have carried Houston and the Eastern border counties in Presidential elections, and are consistently strong in West Texas, which is electorally pretty much part of New Mexico.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno about those percentages for Hispanic voters, esp. for Texas. But yeah, increasing registration would tend to help the Democrats, it usually does.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I just figured out that it's late August right now. I thought "late August mind" meant that GWB was getting older and more revered.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

bush is now leading in polls in midwestern "swing" states. why?

This is just a sloshing effect, because for three weeks the media reporting on the campaign has been totally focused on the Swift Boat Veterans attacks - to the blind exclusion of all else. It drove Iraq news into the background while Najaf burned, which did Bush a lot of good right there.

While the attack ads probably cost $4 million or so, the free media coverage has been worth many times that (making them a bargain) and also legitimized the attacks by moving the debate into a 'legitimate' arena. As for the demands that Bush repudiate the ads, Rove played that one like a fiddle. All in all, another home run for the politics of sleaze.

― Aimless The Unlogged, Friday, 27 August 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, they're certainly helping Bush in the horserace. but the fundamentals still look good - Bush has recently hit 40% approval and 60% wrong-track numbers. he's in big trouble.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

or, while Kerry has dipped as low as 44 in some national horserace polls, Bush still can't get above 48 (though he may well after the convention). Kerry has been above 50 recently. He has more room to breathe.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 27 August 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

The whole swift boat thing has served its purpose now and will now fade away into Willie Horton land. It gave Bush's numbers a small boost, but mostly it cleaned his slate in the media by keeping the focus off of hard news and off his weaknesses and filling the public mind with trivia.

Soon the media will turn to the convention as the 'next big story' and the public will dutifully dump the swift boat debate out of its head. As a result the public mind will be fallow, open ground to plant little seeds of convention propaganda into.

The more false issues and red herrings Bush and Rove can use to arrouse a media furor, the foggier the public will be about the real issues: the Iraq war, the shit economy, the ballooning deficit, Osama still at large, and the health care system incredibly broken. Be ready for an endless stream of crapulence spewing from the Republican bunker, much like the swift boat thing. They know their stuff. They really do.

― Aimless The Unlogged, Friday, 27 August 2004 17:01 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/01/AR2007070101356.html?hpid=topnews

― gabbneb, Monday, 2 July 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

"He asked me, 'Do you think our unpopularity abroad is a result of my personality?' And he laughed," Stelzer recalled. "I said, 'In part.' And he laughed again."

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 July 2007 15:59 (eighteen years ago)

the post is so shameless

by the third paragraph, bush has been called "resolute" and "unflinching"; he has "endured" a political collapse; he "asks questions" and "is looking for answers"

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:02 (eighteen years ago)

I read the thread title as "Inside the august mind of..."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:02 (eighteen years ago)

but so it goes in the nation's erstwhile political tribune, whose stenographers have apparently decided that reporting what people say and do is beneath them - they'd much rather speculate about politicians' motives; they'd rather write grand psychological novels

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:04 (eighteen years ago)

Well yeah.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:04 (eighteen years ago)

wait it's not august yet

― kingfish, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:07 (eighteen years ago)

For fun, check out Gore Vidal on the subject of the WaPo

― kingfish, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:08 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bush_maybe_u_s_military_just_not

― El Tomboto, Monday, 2 July 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

Has it already been mentioned here that Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence today?

― Sparkle Motion, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 00:53 (eighteen years ago)

Mentioned on the Libby thread.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

As it were.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 00:59 (eighteen years ago)

thanks. I'll head over there then.

― Sparkle Motion, Tuesday, 3 July 2007 01:10 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/awkward_moment.jpg

― I f'd up the word rear (Z S), Saturday, 4 April 2009 01:32 (seventeen years ago)

(°.°)

(°_°)

\_(°__°‚)_/

― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Saturday, 4 April 2009 01:35 (seventeen years ago)

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