I Don't Like You Either

Department of Valedictions: Lefty Bloggers Reflect on W

Did you know that Bush is still president?  It's true.  BUT NOT FOR VERY MUCH LONGER.

Bloggenfreude at Agitprop mourns W's passing.  "We will never see his like again."

As a lefty blogger, I will miss him. Sure he’s a dangerous sociopath, a pathological liar, and a national embarrassment.  But he’s also The Decider, The Commander Guy, and Commander Codpiece.  Think about that as January 20, 2009 approaches....

The photographic tributes are particularly choice.  We recommend clicking.

Zbiggy Calls Out Joe Scarborough on Mideast Policy: "You Have Such a Stunningly Superficial Knowledge of What Went On That It's Almost Embarrassing to Listen to You"

Brzezinski sorts out "Morning Joe" Scarborough, former Florida Congressman.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

FYI, From Wikipedia:

On October 10, 2007 Brzezinski along with other influential signatories sent a letter to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice titled 'Failure Risks Devastating Consequences'. The letter was partly an advice and a warning of the failure of an upcoming  US sponsored Middle East conference scheduled for Nov 2007 between Israelis and Palestinians. The letter also suggested to engage in "a genuine dialogue with Hamas" than to isolate it further.

Department of Viral Videos: 'Some Say the World Will End in Fire'---An Animation of an Asteroid Crashing into Earth

Via.  At least it appears we'll go out to Pink Floyd.

Department of ValeDICKtions: Dick Cheney---Going Out with a Growl, Not a Whimper

We're all caught up in holiday activities at the moment, but who could resist all these cherishable Cheney moments?  Certainly not us.   It's just the right time for the Anti-Claus!

As Jon Stewart has so rightly said, we don't know Dick.  Yes, he's still douchebag wrapped in an enigma and dipped in a  mystery! And---in the immortal words of the Turtles, c. 1960-something---the more we see, the more we see there is to see! 

So it seems Dick Cheney, Man of Mystery, had quite the little gabfest on Fox News:

WALLACE: Did you tell Senator Leahy, “bleep yourself”?

CHENEY: I did.

WALLACE: Any qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment?

CHENEY: No, I thought he merited it at the time.... (Think Progress)

Dept of Valedictions: It's Herbert Hoover Time! or, Even Dick Cheney is Sometimes Right

Via HuffPost:

Senate Republicans' dramatic revolt against a White House-backed auto industry rescue plan is fraught with political risk.

Bill Ayers on "Hardball"

Here's "the washed-up old terrorist," as McCain called him, speaking for himself but also with strange prescience.  Highlights:

Asked about his reaction to Palin's "palling around with terrorists remark, Ayers said: "I thought it was outrageous and profoundly dishonest, and I chose not to react to it at the time."

Ayers added, "I was on a board with President-Elect Obama, we did live in the same neighborhood, but the dishonesty of the narrative is that if you can place two people in the same room or prove that they took a bus downtown together, that they're somehow responsible for one anothers politics, policies, outlook, and behavior, and that seems to me to be patently absurd."

Tweety concluded that  "Ayers is a changed man." Uh, as Jason Linkins said, make of that what you will.

Dept of Valedictions: Bush and the Plutocrats ("There Goes the Neighborhood")

As Bush prepares to move into his exclusive new neighborhood his neighbors are worried that his presence might disrupt their Way of Life.  Those neighbors include "former presidential candidate Ross Perot and Mark Cuban, the billionaire businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner" and some guy next door who just installed a "trout-filled lake" on his property.  (Raw Story)

Will Bush turn their American dream into a Bush administration-style nightmare?

The Economic Crisis: A Tragedy for Those Who Feel

At The Left Coaster, Paradox has put up a post arguing that it's time for a little less detachment about the impending Depression [see The Agonist] and a little more thought about the damage that's already been done, and being done, and the suffering that's already started.

Snark O' the Day: Christmas Comes Early for the Constitution (The Talking Dog)

Yes, now that Bush doesn't need them anymore, the Supremes will finally take a look at the limits on the executive's powers in what The Talking Dog calls "the second most important case of our lives."

Peggy Noonan: "At Least Bush Kept Us Safe" (A Wall Street Christmas Carol)

Peggy Noonan hasn't seen any sign yet of this "recession" thing everyone keeps banging on about---her corner of the world looks pretty comfy and business-as-usual and full of affluent Christmas shoppers to her---and she and her ilk are feeling a bit nervous because now that Bush is going, some menace or threat might saw off the branch on which their designed-by-Hermes silk cocoons are suspended and crush their way of life under its collective heel.  

Why Do the Wingnuts Rage?

Roy Edroso has a theory:

As they're big on displacement, whenever some atrocity occurs wingers accuse liberals of showing insufficient outrage. It's not so much a policy prescription as an accusation of psychological unfitness because, though we agree that we would rather kill terrorists than let them kill us, we don't express it in blood-curdling howls...

Needful Diversions: Remembering Odetta Holmes

One great musician, gone from us on Tuesday.  

Snark O' the Day: Hey! Bush Said He Was Sorry!

From Jurassicpork at Brilliant at Breakfast (Don't Say He's a Sociopath):

On ABC tonight, George W. Bush said he was "sorry" that Americans are losing their jobs and watching their 401(k) plans get fiendishly rear-ended into the next 12 dimensions thanks to the throbbing fiscal phallus of Friedman and Laffey, free marketeers to whose semen- and feces-slathered altar knelt Harvard MBA George "Fuck Everyone Including the Shareholders" Bush like a love-lorn acolyte.

Dept of Valedictions (Sep. 2005): Jon Stewart Looks at the Bush Administration at the Time of Katrina

Come; let us ride the Wayback Pony & consider together this EPIC FAIL.

Hurricane Katrina

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Dept of Valedictions: Bush Reflects on Intelligence Failure & For Once We Agree

A further nugget of fool's gold from the Charlie Gibson interview.

The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said, you know ... the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. It wasn't just people in my administration, and um ... You know, that's not a do-over, but I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.

And so say all of us.

Dept of Valedictions: Bloggers on Bush on Bush

As DaveNoon says,  "I suppose everyone has a punch-the-wall-with-your-face moment in this interview."    The transcript is here.

The Rude Pundit nailed perfectly its most remarkable aspect.

Ride the Wayback Pony: More Nixon Tapes! (Snark O' the Day)

Remember back in the day when we only got to hear the tapes with the expletives deleted? 

But we always knew there would be more and now they're here!  For the best round-up of Nixonian quotables for the aspiring Republican pol, see Amygdala. The thing about Nixon you have to like---if, that is, you subsequently lived through Reagan and Bush---is that he didn't bother to conceal his ruthlessness or cynicism under a genial mask or a crimp-browed chimp-like smirk of good-natured puzzlement. 

Ride the Wayback Pony: Bush Being Briefed on the Potential Collapse of the New Orleans Levee (Daily Show 4-7-2006)

Remembering W as he was when it was his world and we just lived in it. 

Hurricane Katrina - Tape Delay

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Dept of Valedictions: When They Fight Reality, Reality Always Wins; or Why Conservatism and Bush have Failed

Pondering the relief expressed by military officials that Bush is finally on his way out, Dave at Orcinus reflects:

There's no better way to lose a war than to have your on-the-ground decisions be forced through an ideological prism. And it was obvious even to outsiders that this was how Bush was conducting the Iraq war -- indeed, it was the decisive factor behind the very decision to invade in the first place...

Dept of Valedictions: Bush is Still in Office for 50 Days, So Let's Watch His Cover of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" Again

Further Unsettling Thoughts on the Black Friday Trampling Death at Wal-Mart

Jon Swift and our co-bloggers have already weighed in.

At Barking Rabbits, Zeppo considers the incident.

The mob mentality is a really funny thing. You see it at political rallies and old Universal horror films where the townsfolk are whipped up into a frenzy and storm the castle with pitchforks and torches. But shopping? This is especially indefensible when you stop to think that the same items are going to be available for the next month. Yes, you might save a few bucks, but is that really worth all this?....

Oh, Zeppo.  Can you say "$600 plasma screen TV's"?  How about "Doorbuster Specials"?

Dept of Hollow Laughter: Bush Receives "International Medal of PEACE" for His Tireless Efforts & Unprecedented Contribution in the Fight Against AIDS

Yes, that's what I said:  "Bush Receives "International Medal of PEACE" for His Tireless Efforts & Unprecedented Contribution in the Fight Against AIDS."

What?  It's true, I tell you.

Wingnuts in a Nutshell: Bill Kristol Solves Global Jihadism

Jihad's True Face

Nutshell version:  "Only patriotism, endless global warfare, racial profiling, and punishing the innocent along with the guilty, can save us from global jihad."

Though probably you will prefer TBogg's "shorter":

Walk Him Out in the Morning Dew: Bill O'Reilly's Valuable Opinion on Homeless Vets

From Scott at World O' Crap:

Bill O’Reilly, as you may recall, doesn’t believe that any homeless veterans exist in this country as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Now this may seem to contradict observable reality, but you have to remember, this is Bill’s opinion, which is worth millions of dollars a year to FoxNews, thus making it one of the finest opinions that money can buy. 

Jon Swift: Why Bush Should Pardon the Wal-Mart Shoppers

Our co-blog Buck Naked Politics rounded up blogger commentary on the trampling/stampeding death one Wal-Mart employee as a result of over-enthusiastic Wal-Mart shoppers here.  Mr. Swift has a somewhat different take.  Like William Kristol, who urged Bush to pardon wiretappers and torturers (see our nutshell summary), Mr. Swift would like to see Bush pardon the Wal-Mart shoppers and---following Kristol's lead---award the offenders the Medal of Freedom.

Walk Her Out in the Morning Dew This Morning: Peggy Noonan Looks for Signs of the Depression

The reason we started this blog is that when we read something like this ourselves, we can't think of anything to say. As Roy Edroso says:

It's like that scene in Post Office where Bukowski's finally had enough of that co-worker who's always muttering insults, and wheels on him only to realize that the guy is lost in a private fog and has no awareness of him or anything else around him. It takes a lot of the fight out of you.

Medusa in Furs, or GOP Calendar Girls: Loathly Hags in a Monthly Roster of Infamy

by Teh Nutroots | I haven't had the stomach to deal with this visual roster of conservative females, so offensive to decency and reason it actually burns. 

Turkeygate Part 2 (I Can't Believe I'm Defending Sarah Palin)

by Blue Stockings | I can't stand Sarah Palin, but the squeamishness over Turkeygate doesn't sit well with me.   I said why here, but IOZ says it better.  Thanksgiving Day seems like the right time to make this point.

Snark O' the Day: Jon Swift Advises Us to Celebrate Thanksgiving Before Barack Abolishes It

by Mr. J.Q. Public | Swift's Thanksgiving Day post is an unusually savage one.  But there is a reason for that. 

Thanksgiving celebrates the day that Pilgrims and Indians sat down to eat together before the gay secularist Indians divided this country and tried to foist their atheism and savage decadent culture on the God-fearing pilgrims.

You & Your Health: Write a "Dear John" Letter to the Insurance Industry

by Teh Puppet Mistress | Via Politics After 50, this link to a site where you can tell them what you think of them.  You can write your own letter or use theirs.

But hers is awesome.  "I just had a certain bone to pick, so I picked it," she says modestly.  It's good all the way through, but here are my favorite bits: