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host · 04-18-2008, 07:48 AM

I think I have it "figured out"....the US has been "had"....snookered....taken for a ride. Are there more distrurbing reports than these, even possible? How do we prevent it from happening again, because it appears that there is a concerted effort to extend most of it (sans the pertpetual "vacation mode"), for a "third" term?

Quote:

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/13/...ney-brilliant/

<div class="ie"><h2><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/13/matalin-cheney-brilliant/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Matalin: ‘This Brilliant Man’ — Dick Cheney — ‘Has Changed The Nature Of’ The Vice Presidency">Matalin: ‘This Brilliant Man’ — Dick Cheney — ‘Has Changed The Nature Of’ The Vice Presidency</a></h2>
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 Filed Under: <a href="#"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org?tag=Politics" rel="tag" title="View all posts tagged Politics">Politics</a> </a>
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By <a href="/author/Faiz">Faiz</a> on Apr 13th, 2008 at 1:26 pm </div>
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<h2 class="title"><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/13/matalin-cheney-brilliant/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to 'Matalin: ‘This Brilliant Man’ — Dick Cheney — ‘Has Changed The Nature Of’ The Vice Presidency'">Matalin: ‘This Brilliant Man’ — Dick Cheney — ‘Has Changed The Nature Of’ The Vice Presidency</a><a class="storyexpander" id="exlink1-19090">»</a></h2>
In the span of 30 seconds on this morning’s Meet the Press, former Cheney adviser Mary Matalin offered a series of <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/13/mary-matalin-cheney-is-brilliant-and-people-are-sick-of-bush-bashing-stuff/">bewildering, eye-opening statements</a> in defense of the Bush administration.
Asked who John McCain should pick as Vice President, Matalin offered that the candidate must have “good cred on having experience across the board.” She argued:
<blockquote>Dick Cheney has changed the nature of that office. This brilliant man has made that office completely relevant.</blockquote>
Indeed, Cheney — who has argued that his office is not “<a href="http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?id=1371">an entity within the executive branch</a>” — has <a href="http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cheney/">changed the nature of the office</a> in many destructive ways, operating in secrecy and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/19/cheney-poll-iraq/">callously disregarding</a> the views of the American public.
Host Tim Russert then asked whether Condoleezza Rice would make a suitable Vice President. Matalin said:
<blockquote>You know, people don’t know about Dr. Rice is that she weighed in on every domestic issue before the President.</blockquote>
Recall, Rice was the <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/ricebio.html">National Security Adviser</a> to Bush in his first term before becoming Secretary of State. Despite having a <a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/Condoleezza_Rice.htm">very thin record</a> on domestic policy issues, she was apparently one of Bush’s key domestic policy advisers, too. 
When Russert noted that the selection of Rice would signify a “third Bush term,” Matalin responded, “People are sick of this Bush-bashing stuff.” In fact, as a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/11/bushs-approval-rating-at-all-time-low-of-28-percent/">recent Gallup poll</a> shows, people are simply sick of Bush. Watch Matalin’s comments:
<center><object width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dHBMzOfKcYs"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dHBMzOfKcYs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="240"> </embed> </object></center>

The background:

The support is down to 28 percent, but has enough "clout" remaining to put together a contender labeled "McBush", in response to the continuity of policy positions so similar to the failed ones still being implemented by president Bush. Huge fiscal shortfalls and grinding, endless occupation of Iraq:

Quote:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/news-des...-to-worse.html
President Bush's Poll Numbers Are Going From Bad to Worse
April 11, 2008 04:34 PM ET | Kenneth T. Walsh | Permanent Link

President Bush is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch. But there's no escape from bad news in the ratings department.

The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll finds that only 28 percent of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing, a new low. He was at 30 percent last month. The pollsters said one big reason is deepening voter dissatisfaction with the economy, which is in a serious downturn.....

Quote:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/34030.html
Jonathan Landay GAO: Bush lacks strategy to wipe out bin Laden sanctuary
By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 email | print tool nameclose
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WASHINGTON — The Bush administration doesn't have a comprehensive strategy for eliminating Osama bin Laden's sanctuary in Pakistan's tribal region and preventing the region from being used for launching terrorist attacks on the United States, the investigative arm of Congress said Thursday.

President Bush and his senior lieutenants frequently claim that eradicating the threat that bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network poses to United States and its allies is their top national-security priority.

But in a scathing report, the Government Accountability Office said there was no plan that "includes all elements of national power — diplomatic, military, intelligence, development assistance, economic and law enforcement support — called for by the various national-security strategies and Congress."

Al Qaida established its sanctuary in Pakistan's tribal region when bin Laden and his followers fled Afghanistan after the 2001 U.S.-led intervention.

"No comprehensive strategy for meeting U.S. national-security goals" in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas has been developed even though the administration's counter-terrorism policy, congressional legislation and the mission of the National Counter-Terrorism Center mandate such an approach, the report says.

It says that the Bush administration has relied primarily on the Pakistani military to address the threat to American national security.

About 96 percent of some $5.8 billion that the United States provided to Pakistan from 2002 to 2007 to address the problem in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and adjoining districts has gone to reimbursing the Pakistani military for the costs of its operations, according to the report.

But Pakistan, which deployed 120,000 troops and paramilitary forces in the rugged Massachusetts-size region, has failed to eliminate al Qaida and allied militants based there even though it's killed and captured hundreds of extremists while losing about 1,400 of its own forces.

"It is appalling that there is still no comprehensive, interagency strategy concerning this critical region, and this lack of foresight is harming U.S. national security," said Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, which requested the report.

ON THE WEB

The GAO report: http://hcfa.house.gov/110/GAO041708.pdf

Last summer's GAO report on Iraq....white house "reluctance" to share it, triggered a leaking of it:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/pdf/200...%20report2.pdf

Quote:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...pinion/columns

The Vacation President By Dan Froomkin Special to washingtonpost.com Tuesday, March 4, 2008; 1:02 PM President Bush famously, if unjustifiably, casts himself as Ronald Reagan's disciple. But in at least one way, he has surpassed his master.According to the meticulous records kept by CBS Radio White House correspondent Mark Knoller, Bush on Monday lodged his 879th day spent in whole or in part at Camp David or his sprawling estate in Crawford, Tex.By comparison, the 40th president only -- only! -- spent all or part of 866 days at Camp David or his ranch in California during his eight years in office, according to the Reagan Library. (By my count, Bush actually beat Reagan's mark on Dec. 30, during his Christmas vacation in Crawford.)This, of course, is not the noblest of records to break. Reagan was frequently derided for his laid-back, hands-off approach to his job. He even poked fun of himself at the 1987 Gridiron Dinner: "It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"And, of course, Bush still has almost a year to go. His will almost certainly be a record for the ages.Bush's current tally represents a little more than a third of his presidency. And that's not counting the 39 days that Knoller says he spent in whole or in part at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Me. All in all, Knoller says, Bush has made 134 separate visits to Camp David, 70 to Crawford and 10 to Kennebunkport in a little over seven years.Knoller didn't set out to be the chronicler of Bush's indolence. In fact, in our e-mail correspondence, he shied away from calling Bush's time away "vacation." Says Knoller: "I agree that he can never really be 'on vacation' - since the job is always with him."Knoller explains that he started collecting presidential travel data during the early days of the Clinton presidency. "I though it would be helpful to my radio reports to say how often he visited certain key states. So I started logging those visits. Then time 'on vacation'. . . . Then pardons, vetoes, addresses to the nation, rounds of golf, commencement speeches, foreign trips, news conferences, etc, etc."I liked having these little information nuggets that were not readily available elsewhere."Bush's aides go to great pains to point out that even during his frequent getaways from the office, he continues to do some, if not a lot, of work. He receives daily national security briefings, signs documents and sometimes holds teleconferences. An invitation to hang out with Bush at Camp David or Crawford is seen as a reward for friendly foreign leaders.But at some key points in his administration, Bush has been on vacation. For instance, he spent a month in Crawford shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when critics say he should have been more attentive to warning signs

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<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A15957-2001Aug29&notFound=true" target="">Mike Allen</a> wrote in The Washington Post in August of 2001, as Bush's first long Crawford vacation wrapped up: "The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic." Of course, no one knew at the time that Bush had, during the first week of that vacation, waved off the now-famous memo specifically for the president titled " <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2285-2004Apr10?language=printer" target="">Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US</a>." According to author <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=gV3m6sYhnrsC&pg=PA2&dq=%22+covered+your+ass%22+suskind&ei=eHTNR5PYAqHeyATtxIHkAw&sig=j9X0bhAIixgatP0xDb_IySF6cZk" target="">Ron Suskind</a>, Bush heard his CIA briefer out -- then told him, "All right. You've covered your ass, now."The very next day, as <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A2676-2004Apr10&notFound=true" target="">Dana Milbank and Mike Allen</a> wrote in The Post in April 2004, Bush ran into reporters while playing golf at a nearby country club and "seemed carefree as he spoke about the books he was reading, the work he was doing on his nearby ranch, his love of hot-weather jogging, his golf game and his 55th birthday."<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/washington/06bush.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="">Sheryl Gay Stolberg</a> wrote in the New York Times in August 2006 that Bush was actually cutting short his time in Crawford that summer for symbolic purposes. "Last August . . . began with highly publicized protests by [Cindy] Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, and ended with the image of the president on vacation while New Orleans drowned, an image that helped start his slide in popularity."Nevertheless, he was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/08/08/BL2006080800490.html" target="">on vacation</a> as Israel dropped bombs on Lebanon later that month.<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/mason/5042364.html" target="">Julie Mason</a> noted in the Houston Chronicle this past August that Bush was fast approaching Reagan's record. She wrote: "The 1,600-acre ranch has proved a durable haven for Bush, who often disappears into its varied landscapes for days or weeks at a time without public appearances. He has an attractive stone house, shaded swimming pool, miles of rugged bike trails and law enforcement at every entry point keeping people out."In my May 8, 2006, column, " <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/05/08/BL2006050800788.html" target="">Would Bush Rather Be Fishing</a>?", I wondered if Bush doesn't really enjoy his day job. A few days earlier, when asked by a German tabloid to name the most wonderful moment of his presidency, Bush said it came while he was on vacation, fishing on his private lake.