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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 3:58:54 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

Those numbers of US soldiers killed do show how the very serious risks of an Iraq invasion were discounted by the Bush Administration.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 4:40:59 PM
From: paret	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 93284

Awkward Associated Press attack on Bush Written by Jennifer Loven (wife of a former Clinton political appointee) The AP is a joke. _______________________________________________________________ AP: Of All Gas Consumers, Bush May Be Most AP on Yahoo ^ \| 8/24/05 \| Jennifer Loven - AP WASHINGTON - Getting President Bush from here to there consumes an enormous amount of fuel, whether he's aboard Air Force One, riding in a helicopter or on the ground in a heavily armored limousine. The bill gets steeper every day as the White House is rocked by the same energy prices as regular drivers. Taxpayers still foot the bill. Almost every vehicle Bush uses is custom-made to add security and communications capabilities, and the heavier weight of these guzzlers further drives up gas and jet fuel costs. The White House declines to discuss travel costs related to the presidential entourage, and did not respond to a request for the overall effect of higher fuel prices on its budget. It is not Bush's choice to be ferried around in a less than fuel-efficient manner. Those arrangements are dictated by tradition and the Secret Service, whose mission is to protect him. But Bush is one of the nation's most-traveled presidents. He has visited 46 countries, some of them several times, during his presidency. He has been to all states except Vermont and Rhode Island. So far this year, he has made 73 domestic and foreign trips, including crisscrossing the country on a 60-day, 60-city tour to promote his Social Security plan. He was on the road Wednesday, speaking to a military audience in Idaho, before returning to his Texas ranch to resume his summer vacation. About the only vehicle Bush has much say in is the 2001 white Ford F250 pickup he keeps on his ranch. At the nationwide gasoline average of $2.61 a gallon, it would cost at least $75 to fill the Ford's tank. The 1999 four-wheel-drive model gets 13 miles per gallon in the city, 17 on the highway, according to an Energy Department Web site, fueleconomy.gov. But much as he seems to relish any chance to get behind the wheel, Bush actually drives the pickup very little, confined as he is to only occasional visits to his ranch and to remaining on its 1,600 acres when he's driving himself. Elsewhere, whether in Washington, Des Moines or Tbilisi, Bush is driven in a large motorcade. The typical presidential caravan has well over a dozen vehicles, including Bush's limousine and an identical limo put in as a decoy. The motorcade generally doesn't cruise placidly at fuel-efficient speeds, but rather hurries along its route as fast as possible. It also often idles outside while Bush is at an event, burning up fuel but ready to depart at a moment's notice. The president's limos alone consume lots of gas. Starting with his inaugural in January, Bush began tooling around in new 2006 Cadillac DTS limos. The full-sized luxury sedan version, available to the general public, has an 18-gallon tank that would cost about $47 to fill at that $2.61-a-gallon rate. (White House vehicles are fueled at a special, dedicated facility and the price paid per gallon there is not released.) Cadillac spokesman Kevin Smith said the Cadillac DTS sedan gets 18 mpg in the city, 27 on the highway. The vehicle Bush uses is a much different animal — with different gas mileage. An outside company customizes the DTS for presidential use by "stretching" it to limo length, adding bulletproof glass, heavy armor and other bells and whistles — all making it significantly heavier and less fuel-efficient, Smith said. The same thing for the Chevrolet Suburbans that are sometimes used as limo substitutes. The mass-marketed 2005 K1500 Suburban would cost nearly $81 to fill up with its large 31-gallon tank. It gets 15 mpg in the city, 19 on the highway, according to fueleconomy.gov. But it's not clear exactly which trim model of Suburban Bush uses, and his are custom-fitted with extra gear that would reduce the gas mileage. In the air, Bush most often flies on a Boeing 747-200B laden with, among other things, an anti-missile system. Like gas for cars, fuel costs for the largest plane in the Air Force One fleet have gone up dramatically — from $3,974 an hour in fiscal 2004 to $6,029 per hour now, according to the Air Force. John Armbrust, publisher of Jet Fuel Report, said Air Force One is no different from its commercial counterparts in that respect. "It's an expensive proposition to fly these planes, whether its Air Force One or a regular 747," he said. Reducing his appearances outside the White House and making other gestures toward fuel conservation could help cut down on costs. But some suggest that could do more harm for national morale and Bush's image than good for the financial bottom line. Remember Jimmy Carter donning a sweater and asking Americans facing an energy crisis to turn down their thermostats? Or giving the speech about the nation's "crisis of confidence" that led to his permanent association with "malaise?" Carter's critics turned both utterances into emblems that contributed to his political undoing.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 4:42:25 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 93284

Notice the VILENESS of the FIRST SENTENCE of the Associated Press’ Jennifer Loven---Who is married to a Bill Clinton staffer. Bush Starts Planning Second Term Yahoo ^ \| 11/4/03 \| Jennifer Loven WASHINGTON - His second term secured, President Bush (news - web sites) is reaching out and asking the 55 million people who voted to oust him from office to get behind the ambitious agenda he's laid out for the next four years. The work of making good on a raft of tough-to-keep campaign promises begins Thursday, when Bush sits down with his Cabinet for their first such meeting since Aug. 2. In a quietly jubilant victory speech Wednesday that came a full 21 hours after the polls closed, Bush outlined the goals he plans to start work on immediately and pursue in the next four years, a period he termed "a season of hope." He pledged to keep up the fight against terrorism, press for stable democracies in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), simplify the tax code, allow younger workers to invest some of their Social Security (news - web sites) withholdings in the stock market, continue to raise accountability standards in public schools and "uphold our deepest values and family and faith." Other items include reforms to the nation's intelligence community, halving the record $413 billion deficit, expanding health care coverage, a constitutional ban on gay marriage and moving "this goodhearted nation toward a culture of life." "Reaching these goals will require the broad support of Americans," Bush said as he asked Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites)'s disappointed supporters to back him — even though many of his proposals are anathema to those who opposed his re-election. "I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust," he said. "When we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness of America." Bush also has pledged a full-court press with Congress, where a continued GOP lock on both houses makes getting his wishes granted easier, but not guaranteed for a lame-duck president. The disputed 2000 election left Bush without a mandate, but he governed as if he had one. The White House made clear Wednesday that it believes that mandate did not elude Bush this time, when he became the first presidential candidate since 1988 to win a majority of the popular vote, 51 percent. "President Bush ran forthrightly on a clear agenda for this nation's future, and the nation responded by giving him a mandate," Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) said, introducing Bush. Even before the election, aides started work on a new budget, and the administration is preparing to ask Congress for up to $75 billion more to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and operations against terrorism. The figure indicates the wars' costs, particularly to battle the intensified Iraqi insurgency, are far exceeding expectations laid out early this year. Another sticky item could be a Supreme Court appointment, with Chief Justice William Rehnquist (news - web sites), 80, suffering from thyroid cancer. Time and energy also will be consumed dealing with the inevitable rash of Cabinet departures, likely to include at least Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites), Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Secretary Tommy Thompson. Still, Bush is sure to spend the remaining days of his first term and much of his second dealing primarily with the same issues that have dominated the last three years — the anti-terror battle, the war in Iraq and the economy. In Iraq, where more than 1,100 American soldiers have died and a violent insurgency continues, Bush must seek to fulfill his pledge to turn the country into a model democracy for the Arab world and bring U.S. troops home. He campaigned on a claim of superior ability to lead there, but without describing precisely how he would accomplish either goal. But first, some time for rest after a grueling, bitter campaign. After the Cabinet meeting, Bush was headed to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland for a long weekend.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 4:43:36 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 93284

Associated Press "news" story on debate is raw anti-Bush propaganda (Jennifer Loven ) Economy, Terror Frame Bush-Kerry Debate (AP / Jennifer Loven Alert -Bias Level Alpha) Associated Press ^ \| 10-08-04 \| JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer ST. LOUIS - A lackluster unemployment report, troubling terrorism developments and fresh questions about President Bush's rationale for invading Iraq frame the second face-to-face encounter Friday night between Bush and John Kerry. Only the debate's moderator and the 15 to 20 people chosen to ask questions know what topics will be raised during the town-hall session at Washington University. Kerry has momentum from polls showing he gained from his performance in the first debate while Bush goes in on the defensive. The president watched tapes from the first debate as aides sought to avoid a repeat of the scowls that contributed to negative reaction to his appearance. "I don't think the American people are going to choose a president on the basis of facial expressions," senior Bush adviser Karen Hughes told CBS's "The Early Show" on Friday. "But as the president joked the other day, hearing that litany of misrepresentations from Sen. Kerry did kind of make him want to make a face, and I think he'll be conscious of that tonight." Kerry, criticized as times for what some call a stiff and aloof manner, will try to build on favorable impressions from the debate in Miami. The Massachusetts senator holds a slight lead nationally over Bush in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Thursday, reversing Bush's advantage from mid-September. "He just he needs to do tonight what he did a week ago," Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri told "American Morning" on CNN, "let people know who he is, his plan for America, his fresh start for Iraq, what he wants to do to get this economy invigorated, his energy plan, his environmental plans. He's going to do all that tonight." Although voters cite Iraq as a major concern, the economy consistently ranks at the top. The unemployment report — the last to be released before Election Day — provides fresh fodder for the campaigns. Unemployment held steady at 5.4 percent but job creation was lower than expected. Bush cast the addition of 96,000 jobs as proof his tax cuts have bolstered the jobs market and the economy overall while Kerry pointed out that the country has lost jobs overall under the Bush administration, a first since the Depression. On the day the report came out, Bush's campaign unveiled an advertisement for national cable networks that touts "nearly 2 million jobs in just over a year," resulting in "nearly 2 million more people back working," and "nearly 2 million more people with wages." Kerry called the number "disappointing" and contended that even the jobs that have been created under Bush pay less and offer fewer benefits than those that have been lost. "The president does not seem to understand how many middle-class families are being squeezed by falling incomes and spiraling health care, tuition and energy costs," he said in a statement. Hard sparring over Iraq on the eve of the debate offered a preview of the discussion to come. A final report from the chief U.S. weapons hunter in Iraq concluded that Saddam Hussein had no stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons, had no programs to make either them or nuclear bombs, and had little ability — or immediate plans — to revive those programs. The findings contradicted Bush's main rationale for going to war, and Kerry charged the commander in chief with purposely exaggerating the evidence used to justify the war. He also ridiculed the administration for shifting now to another explanation. "You don't make up or find reasons to go to war after the fact," Kerry said Thursday in Colorado. Bush not only insisted that going to war was right, but he turned the tables to say Kerry was the one not being candid. Dredging up remarks by the Massachusetts senator from two years ago on the threat Saddam and his purported weapons posed, Bush said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin: "He's claiming I misled America about weapons when he, himself, cited the very same intelligence about Saddam weapons programs as the reason he voted to go to war. ... Just who's the one trying to mislead the American people?" Kerry's campaign accused Bush of altering Kerry's statement to suit his own political purposes and omitting from those remarks Kerry's caution against rushing to war. Terrorists struck again Thursday night in a series of coordinated bomb attacks that killed scores of tourists at an Egyptian resort. [Associated Prress will NOT say that Jews-Israelis were killed. And will not say muslims did the killing.] Both men arrived in St. Louis on Thursday night, with no public appearances scheduled before the nationally televised debate. The town-hall format, with both candidates perched on stools but prohibited by lengthy rules from approaching one another, is more casual than the first debate. Kerry was headed to a rally in St. Louis after the debate; Bush was doing the same in nearby Ballwin, Mo. Their third and final debate is Oct. 13 in Tempe, Ariz., and will focus on economic and domestic policy.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 5:59:24 PM
From: sea_biscuit	Respond to of 93284

No, I post the numbers to hammer into your stupid heads what a mess that LYING COWARD Dumbya has created.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 11:00:46 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 93284

Jennifer Loven, Democratic Operative September 25, 2004 powerlineblog.com Jennifer Loven, the AP reporter who wrote the absurd "President Bush Twists Kerry's Words on Iraq" story dissected below, has a history of writing hit pieces on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. Such as this July 2003 outrage, a "news story" titled "White House can't make the questions go away". Here is how Ms. Loven begins her "news story" on the famous "sixteen words" controversy: The White House defense of President Bush's now-disavowed claim that Iraq was seeking uranium in Africa has evolved over the last two weeks: blame others, stonewall, bury questions in irrelevant information and, above all, hope it will go away. So far, none has worked. Now, that's not a bad beginning for a DNC press release. But for a wire service news report, it's ridiculous. Ms. Loven continues: The flap started on July 6, when an envoy sent by the CIA to Africa last year to investigate the uranium claim contended that the Bush administration ignored his findings. In a New York Times op-ed article, Joseph Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to Gabon, said it was highly doubtful that any transaction took place. We know now, because of the Senate Intelligence Committee report, that Joe Wilson lied about what happened in Niger. Wilson was assigned to the Niger investigation at the urging of his wife, Valerie Plame. The Committee's report says that Wilson went to Niger and was told by that country's former Prime Minister that Iraq had, indeed, tried to buy yellowcake uranium there. Note the Wilson lie that Loven repeats in her AP article: "it was highly doubtful that any transaction took place." Right. But, of course, that wasn't what Bush said in his State of the Union address. He said: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." And Wilson's report to the CIA confirmed that Saddam had "sought," but not obtained, uranium in Africa, specifically Niger. Such nuance, needless to say, is completely beyond Ms. Loven. Her interest is in slandering Republicans, period. She continues: That changed with Wilson's statements. Democrats in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail demanded an investigation into whether Bush purposedly exaggerated intelligence. With its press staff unable to quell the controversy, the White House brought in Secretary of State Colin Powell, Rice, the president himself and even, later, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. But, after two weeks, a White House usually adept at controlling stories by dismissing questions and waiting them out has had no luck. The key questions -- asked over and over -- were not changing: -Who knew what when -- especially the president? -Why was it so important to include the statement in the speech? -Who was responsible for putting it in? -Why has the president refused to take responsibility for uttering it? Only the White House's explanations shifted -- often contradicting itself in the process. Ms. Loven's animus against the Bush administration helps to explain why a complete non-story, Bush's sixteen words, which, as we have argued, were almost certainly true, turned into a mini-"scandal" that ended only when Joe Wilson was exposed as a liar. But the facts don't matter to Ms. Loven and the Associated Press. What matters, to them, is electing a Democrat as President.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (41588)	8/24/2005 11:02:26 PM
From: paret	Respond to of 93284

AP reporter Jennifer Loven goes back … to the future rathergate.com Associated Press reporter Jennifer Loven either got a ride from Marty McFly or got her own flux capacitor up to 88 mph to file this story on President Bush’s speech, about three hours before it is scheduled to start. (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin). Check out the third paragraph for a chuckle: FORT BRAGG, N.C. — President Bush on Tuesday appealed for the nation’s patience for “difficult and dangerous” work ahead in Iraq, hoping a backdrop of U.S. troops and a reminder of Iraq’s revived sovereignty would help him reclaim control of an issue that has eroded his popularity. In an evening address at an Army base that has 9,300 troops in Iraq, Bush was acknowledging the toll of the 27-month-old war. At the same time, he aimed to persuade skeptical Americans that his strategy for victory needed only time — not any changes — to be successful. “Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real,” Bush said, according to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House [blogger’s emphasis]. “It is worth it.” While Loven makes it look like she attended, she recycles excerpts released in advance. Interesting. The late Douglas Adams touched on the mind-scrambling aspects of time travel’s effect on the mother tongue in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. A bodyguard tells a time-hopping performer as he prepares to go to a concert more than 500,000 years ago, “Ah, come on, it’s going to have been great.” Loven’s prose handles the oddities of time travel with the greatest of ease. But methinks Loven tipped back one too many Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters. If you’re curious about Loven and her background, and her tendency to craft DNC press releases into “news,” check out these old Powerline entries. UPDATE: For the record, many reporters, myself included, “pre-write” portions of stories by stating backgrounds and other obviousness to save time, and we fill in the blanks later or re-write if something radically different happened. But the whole damned thing? No. Never. With this crazy past-tense reporting of the future, one must wonder if Loven is even at Fort Bragg.