Arrogant Swagger Now Sheepish Grin

[indigobusiness]

The arrogance that typified the Bush presidency has given way to sheepish grins. While Bush still does his best to puff himself up into a cowboy frenzy, the faces around him have a cowed and embarrassed look. Watching Rumsfeld grin like a delinquent schoolboy as he addressed the troops in Iraq was a chilling and telling spectacle. Wolfy testifying before the Senate committee, doing his "homina, homina, homina...well, OK Senator, I guess it was scandalous and an atrocity and we are evil bastards"--- was a poster-boy moment for the Bush legacy. Condi's shit-eating grin during her testimony was too sickening to discuss before breakfast. If Cheney could be found, he is probably smirking sideways. Perle couldn't grin with a feather up his ASS, BUT THAT'S JUST HIM. On and on....

Anybody that thinks this crew can't possibly be prosecuted has given up on justice.



edited for spelling

[Kahuna]

1. I've noticed that too. When you declare yourself God's personal tool..

to liberate the Iraqi people, and then the world finds out that you are oppressing the Iraqi people, albeit, not as bad as Saddam, you're kind of exposed as a phony and a li li li li li li li li LIAAAAR!!

[indigobusiness]

19. Are you...

John Lovitz?

[LittleApple81]

2. You mean Perle and not Pearl? I don't remember any Pearl directly

associated with the BFEE or bushco.
Sheepish grins...these guys wouldn't be embarrassed by murder. They are just scheming next step. That is why this Chalabi thingy has me worried.

[indigobusiness]

4. Thanks, I knew better

but it is early...is that a sufficient excuse?

I know what you mean, that's why it is so creepy to see all this backing and filling... and they ARE grinning sheepishly, I swear...haven't you noticed?

[H2O Man]

3. Yes!!!!

Oh, yes, you hit the nail on the head! One of the things that I find the most repulsive about bush is the way he tried to act like a tough guy. I think we all knew a jerk in jr. high school who did the same thing. You know, I boxed as a young man. I wasn't the toughest guy, but I won a couple hundred fights, lots of amateur titles, and was in a few magazines. I never worried about the guys who acted like bush ... because they were never tough. They always folded under a little pressure. It was the quiet guys I looked out for. They knew they were tough, and never had to run their mouths.

[indigobusiness]

5. Good point...

I've noticed the same thing. I learned at an early age that bullies were all sizzle and no steak and easily dealt with.

[Tina H]

6. There have been a couple of threads about the new Time mag cover

It shows in pictures so nicely what we are talking about on this thread with words.

Normally, I would be wary of a supposedly bipartisan magazine manipulating and exploiting images so shamelessly. However, because the media was so shameless in helping Bush manipulate and exploit war-related images in the 2002-2003 time period, I think Time's powerful cover collage is justified here. Payback is a (expletive deleted).

[indigobusiness]

7. I'd like to see the pics

I'll look for those threads.

[H2O Man]

8. TIME is a good magazine.

A little earlier on this thread, I wrote a few sentences on tough guys and the sport of boxing. Well, I think that every week, TIME has a few powerful body punches that are knocking the wind outta the bush administration. I agree with your comments on the mainstream media, but am pleased that TIME consistently delivers hard punches to the bush & cheney show.

[Tina H]

9. are you saying that Time is:

a good magazine because it is a bit biased toward progressive causes?

Or are you saying that Time is a good bipartisan magazine because it is equally critical of liberals and conservatives?

I am just asking because I haven't read Time in about 20 years and I am curious about it (but too lazy to read a decent sample of recent issues).

[Gin]

10. The TIME magazine cover gave the DEVIL his due! (horns)

gin

[Beam Me Up]

33. You mean LIKE THIS?>>>

(Edit to pic link)

[Gin]

34. Yep...doncha just love it?

gin

[H2O Man]

16. I like TIME

because it is, in my opinion, a pretty well-balanced magazine. There are articles by conservatives & republicans that I strongly disagree with. And there are articles by liberals & democrats that I often strongly agree with. While it does not have any serious contributions from those outside the republican-democrat point of view in its articles, the letters to the editor often have insightful bits from a much wider perspective.

[Tina H]

18. Thanks.

You sound like a good critical reader. If you have time to answer:

what is your favorite left wing mag?

what is your favorite RW (if you have one)?

[H2O Man]

21. Good questions.

I am not sure that I have any one favorite. I read a wide range of books, magazines, and newspapers that hopefully span a significant range of political and social thought. There are relatively small papers, such as "The Reporter" which is put out monthly by Opportunities for Broome (County, New York, in Binghamton) which contain quality articles. OFB also "hosts" AHSKWA, published by a Native American support group that advocates traditional positions on the ecology. I also enjoy reading books by Richard Nixon and by Patrick Buchanan. It doesn't mean that I agree with all that they say; but it is important to understand their view. I'm not likely to read things that are limited to obviously racist, sexist or similar hateful rantings. Closed minds, like closed rooms, rapidly become stuffy. Areas that I am admittedly weak in include economics. Many diverse theories make sense to me on paper, but don't hit the mark in practice, and I know that I do not have a firm grasp on why/why not.
Now, out of curiosity, what do you enjoy reading?

[Tina H]

23. Broome County, eh . . .

sounds like I will have to hit the old Binghamton University library. What high school memories that will bring back! Maybe I will go visit the Wendy's I used to work at (the one in the old Sugarman's Plaza -- you know the one!). On the other hand, I haven't tried that new Texas Roadhouse yet.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Let's see -- my fave's:

LW magazine: don't have a favorite, although I do try to use DU and the Tom Paine Commonsense blog as a sort of substitute.

RW magazine: Sobran's.

books: Catch 22, 1984, anything by George Bernard Shaw, Twain. All the typical stuff, really.

On edit: cinema: Kubrick

[H2O Man]

25. A small world, indeed!

I like BU for things such as the Chieftains, with Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul, and Rubin Carter. It's a nice place. Binghamton is rapidly becoming less pleasant at night, as there is an increase in violent crime, etc. But I like it a lot in the day. And, of course, Barnes & Noble is a short drive from BU.

[Tina H]

26. I don't get back too often, but

my parents are in Vestal still.

I was there back in the day's of Britt's and Sambo's and CoCo's and Ready Kilowatt and Present Company and the cow on the steakhouse (before he turned black!) and Taylor's Tiny Town and Skate Estate and Carol's and the V drive-in and Century House and ShopRite and Willow Point Elementary.

Crazy town. Looks like the Marchuskas are poised to become the new Kradjians.

I hear that Star Cleaners is the latest to go.

[H2O Man]

27. Years ago

I had a client I worked with who believed his wife was having an affair with a co-worker in the steakhouse. Thus, he drove his truck in an eastwardly direction on the Vestal Parkway, crossed through on-coming traffic, navigated the parking lot, and slammed into the building. Not, I should mention, a strategy likely to win back his wife's affection. More, even if it had, she could only have written him, and visited when not waitressing, at the facility he went to. I can never drive by there without thinking of that!

[CatWoman]

31. is this the cover you're talking about?

[indigobusiness]

11. The Price of Arrogance....msnbc spippet---man oh man

<snip>
The basic attitude taken by Rumsfeld, Cheney and their top aides has been "We're at war; all these niceties will have to wait." As a result, we have waged pre-emptive war unilaterally, spurned international cooperation, rejected United Nations participation, humiliated allies, discounted the need for local support in Iraq and incurred massive costs in blood and treasure. If the world is not to be trusted in these dangerous times, key agencies of the American government, like the State Department, are to be trusted even less. Congress is barely informed, even on issues on which its "advise and consent" are constitutionally mandated.

Leave process aside: the results are plain. On almost every issue involving postwar Iraq—troop strength, international support, the credibility of exiles, de-Baathification, handling Ayatollah Ali Sistani—Washington's assumptions and policies have been wrong. By now most have been reversed, often too late to have much effect. This strange combination of arrogance and incompetence has not only destroyed the hopes for a new Iraq. It has had the much broader effect of turning the United States into an international outlaw in the eyes of much of the world.

Whether he wins or loses in November, George W. Bush's legacy is now clear: the creation of a poisonous atmosphere of anti-Americanism around the globe. I'm sure he takes full responsibility.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4933882/

[exploited]

22. ... but * will still be proud - win or lose

"I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will."

—Bushit speaking about Saddam Hussein, Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2002
http://slate.msn.com/id/76886

[indigobusiness]

12. Time Cover

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1644354

[indigobusiness]

29. Devilish...

ain't he?

[indigobusiness]

38. x

[Cocoa]

13. don't forget the pathetic whine

"get off Rummy's back!"

[indigobusiness]

15. I don't intend to forget

anything......(but, thanks)


edited to include thanks (was a little strident)

[Bluebear]

30. I won't forget either!

nt

[indigobusiness]

35. Plastic turkey woulbe the perfect GOP mascot...

Just dawned on me.

The elephant is far too dignified an animal too suffer such degredation.

[robbedvoter]

14. Here's Mark Morford's take:

It is the eternal Bush conundrum. How to appear sort of blank faced and ignorant of the true atrocities your administration commits so as to avoid any sort of direct accountability, and yet still pretend to be a savvy, aware, tough-guy leader who gets things done and takes no bull and launches unprovoked wars on anything that stands in the way of his dad's portfolio. sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2004/05/21/notes052104.DTL

[indigobusiness]

17. thanks, here's a snip and hot link

Bush: Dumb Like A Bullet
Is Dubya both a bumbling simpleton *and* a shrewd manipulator who smirked at tortures in Iraq?

By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Friday, May 21, 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When last we left our sneering caped crusaders, Rummy had testified under oath that he didn't really know who ordered what at Abu "Tortures 'R' Us" Ghraib prison, and George "Wha Happun?" Bush was mumbling into his hand puppet about how he was utterly shocked and appalled and was blaming the whole thing on "a coupla bad apples" and gul-dangit, he warn't gunna stan' fer it.

And while he still loved Rumsfeld like a drunken frat brother and swore Rummy was doing a "superb job" and stood by him 'til death or impeachment they do part, something must be done and some heads were gonna roll and it would definitely be some sad pregnant trailer-park chick from West Virginia ha-ha snicker.

What a difference a couple weeks make. Now word is emerging like ugly greased lightning that not only did Rummy himself order the Abu Ghraib tortures, but it was also a long-standing super-secret plan based on ultra-vile (and morally repugnant) interrogation techniques already employed in Afghanistan.

<snip>

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2004/05/21/notes052104.DTL

[Texican]

20. Memories of Watergate

I am old enough to remember Tricky Dick and his two bit coverup of a cheap burglary. It was nothing compared to this, but it looked like he would get away with it. It went on for months and after a while it really looked like he would slip through it unscathed. When his house of cards collapsed it seemed to happen all at once. Let us never give up. People need to go to prison or the gallows for the crimes that have been committed. If an aging General from Argentina can be charged with war crimes after all of these years, then so can this crowd.

[pfitz59]

24. This crew all worked for Tricky Dick!

Their downfall as predictable.

[indigobusiness]

28. Same crowd

Same idiocy.

Where is the new Daniel Ellsberg? (sp?)

[indigobusiness]

32. Haven't heard G. Gordon Liddy lately...

...wonder what he has to say about this mess?

[spooked]

36. Some recent smirks at LSU

Scary, isn't it?

[indigobusiness]

37. "My nipples are standing at attention."