Kerfuffle

Remember when Republicans and their media pals blamed the stock market on President Obama's policies? Good thing we have Tivo!

Now that the stock market has cracked 9000 for the first time since January, and is up about 2000 points since Obama took office, I'm waiting for our Republican leaders, pundits and media hangers-on to credit the President with this economic rebound.

Memory needing a refresh?  Let's go to the video from Jed at DKTV...

What's that sound?  Crickets perhaps.  I'd like to think a lot of things make the market go up and down.  But since the geniuses who were in power when the economy tanked saw fit to blame the new guy for what the market did as soon as he was in office, is it not fair that they also credit him with the rebound?

Ah, the politics of the Party of No.

North Korea decides 56-year armistice no longer binding over US inclusion of South Korea in naval initiative; Reminds world ailing dictator Kim Jong-il is indeed batshit crazy

Uh oh.  More fall-out from the failed foreign policy of the Cheney/Bush administration.  

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea, facing international sanction for this week's nuclear test, threatened on Wednesday to attack the South after Seoul joined a U.S.-led initiative to check vessels suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction.

A North Korean army spokesman also said the country was no longer bound by the armistice signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War because Washington had ignored its responsibility as a signatory by drawing South Korea into its naval initiative.

Before George W. Bush got his mitts on things, North Korea was more or less a contained, though fucked up, dictatorship.  Now, they're an unstable, got-nothing-to-lose, fucked up dictatorship with an ailing yet trigger-happy dictator.  Yet another flaming bag of diplomatic poop left at the White House front door by the worst president ever as he left town. 

I'm sure Darth Cheney will find a way to tag the Obama administration for whatever happens... unless it's a peaceful and legal resolution.  Then, of course it will be god's will or some crap like that.

Time for Rush to go after Nancy Reagan for (gasp!) praising President Obama'a lifting of the ban on embryonic stem cell research

OOOOOOOOOOOhh!  Rush has got to be so mad at the Widow Reagan for this...

Under fire from congressional Republicans for lifting restrictions on stem cell research, President Barack Obama got a powerful endorsement for his move Monday from Nancy Reagan, the former president’s wife.

“I’m very grateful that President Obama has lifted the restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research,” she wrote in a statement released shortly after Obama reversed the Bush administration limits. “These new rules will now make it possible for scientists to move forward. I urge researchers to make use of the opportunities that are available to them and to do all they can to fulfill the promise that stem cell research offers."
:::
Her statement also illustrates how support for the research crosses party lines, even though many in the anti-abortion movement strongly oppose the research on moral and ethical grounds.

[via Politico]

I can't believe she would side with science and research, and go against the head of the Republican party.  Good thing Mrs. Reagan still has Secret Service protection, since I hear Rush packs a mean slap.

How nice it was to see a high level of intellect restored to the Presidency last night

Like him or not, you have to agree that President Obama is everything President Bush the latter was not in terms of intellectual prowess.  Our new president delivered a speech that was inspiring, hopeful and grounded in fact.  The level of intellectual honesty was plainly evident. 

One stark contrast could be seen in how President Obama chose not to wallow in applause lines.  While he tallied maybe 60 applause breaks, he stepped on many by continuing to speak.  He didn't just stand there with a smirky look on his face basking in adulation from the faithful.  I'd say that is partly because President Obama is not the egotist Bush was, and also that Obama truly felt what he was saying whereas Bush was just reading what they gave him.

Also refreshing was hearing the English language spoken with skill in both use and pronunciation.  Some may thing that's not a big deal.  But it is a big deal, as this is the face of the United States to the world.  Given that most thinking people of the world loathed U.S. policy under George W. Bush, the fact that he spoke with all of the skill of an uneducated rube certainly did him -- and the United States -- no favors. A comparison of Obama to his most recent predesessor is like comparing Macallen 18 single malt scotch to a case of Milwaukee's Best... the light version.

President Obama should probably send Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal a nice bottle of wine or something.  The stark contrast between President Obama's oratory skills and Governor Jindal's completely disconnected talking points and Kenneth the NBC Page delivery only served to remind people how lucky we are to have Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Are you still here, Mr. Preznit? Please. Just go. Go away.

At this time tomorrow, we'll finally be rid of the man who so totally f***ed up the United States of America.  Good f***ing riddance.

Don't let that thing hit you on the ass on your way out, fool.

How many times did our outgoing President appear to be a complete idiot? Too many to count, but the Late Show has a nice highlight reel.

Yes, this man served as President of the United States of America.  Really.



Thanks, again, Republicans. 

Don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out: A look back at the Worst Presidency Ever

Sure, Keith Olberman's a little biased against George W. Bush.  So are most all decent, thinking people.  I mean, c'mon.  Look what he and his comrades have done to the the United States of America.  Sad but true. 

From MSNBC via FDL...

Jeez, what a schmuck.  Tuesday can't come soon enough.

Letterman reminds us why comedians the world over will miss George W. Bush

Honestly, what an asshat this man is. 

I still find it breathtaking that (a) the Supreme Court elected him the first time, (b) a comatose near majority elected him a second time, and (c) some 19% of US citizens will actually miss him when he is out of office.  Lordy, this country is full of a lot of stupid people.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister -- the one the US installed -- calls Bush an "utter failure." Can we finally admit we lost that battle for hearts and minds?

If our own hand picked Iraqi leadership knows and says publicly that we (the United States, led by George W. Bush) totally fucked things up, maybe it's time for the wingnuttery to finally admit it.  Uh huh, right.

From Reuters...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Former U.S.-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has denounced the policies of President George W. Bush as an "utter failure" that gave rise to the sectarian venom that ravaged his country.
...
Allawi ruled Iraq for almost a year after U.S. occupation officials handed power to him in 2004 as prime minister of an interim government. He was selected by a council hand-picked by Washington after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

"Yes, Bush's policies failed utterly," said Allawi, describing the U.S. administration that once backed him. "Utter failure. Failure of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, including fighting terrorism and economic policy."

"His insistence on names like 'democracy' and 'open elections', without giving attention to political stability, was a big mistake. It cast shadows on Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Egypt, and I believe this will be remembered in history as President Bush's policy," he said.
[emphasis mine]

And yet a quarter of the population of the US still thinks President Bush has done a heck of a job.  C'mon, people.  This guy is an idiot who set back the United States of America decades in terms of global respect, impact and effectiveness.  Oh, yeah, and he drove the economy into a deep and muddy ditch in the process.

Nice work, Mr. Preznit.

The George W. Bush Presidential Liberry-Bookmobile

This has been floating around, I'm sure, but it was new to me.  And, interestingly, it seems rather accurate in terms of what that "president" is due.  Should hold all his coloring books and his PS2.

[lifted from Blue Tidal Wave, with scant apologies to the original artist]