Ever-So-Satisfying
The joys of watching Dear Leader W stammer & whimperingly rage, at both his most stupid & arrogant, and that it's been the one successful arrow in his political quiver since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks makes this bitchslapping ever-so-satisfying
And even better, the GOP doesn't see the problems it's walking right into either, which would make it so ironic if they now foolishly try and play the "National Security" card in the elections later this year
This absolutely could not be playing out any worse for President Jr
Forget the Dems-although give them the obvious credit for seizing on this opportunity and running with it as quickly as possible-the damage to Dear Leader is coming from his formerly iron-clad loyal retinue of the rest of the National GOP Leadership and the
Wingnuttia Extremeis fringe base
From here & there, hither & yon, and pay close attention to one minor fact we learned about only hours earlier today-And to make this a big Double Bonus of a post, we'll be playing yet another fun-filled edition of
"Laugh....Or...Bitchslap?"
with not just one, but TWO media dealings with Dear Leader W & the White House Press Corps, so most of President Jr's reactions won't be covered with the first media roundup here
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In undoubtedly one of the best Headlnes today, one that doesn't parlay an image of strength, just the ames stupid stubbornness one gets from a balky jackass
White House Says Bush Played No Role in Port DealThe White House said today that President Bush had not been aware of the pending takeover by a state-owned company in Dubai of port terminal operations in several American cities, but that the deal had been thoroughly reviewed by a dozen or more federal agencies.....As soon as Mr. Bush became aware of the growing furor, Mr. McClellan said, he interviewed all Cabinet officials whose departments had to review the transaction. "And each and every one expressed that they were comfortable with this transaction going forward," Mr. McClellan said.That's right, the Dear Leader apparently hadn't learned most of the details of this deal until AFTER he'd made his foolish Veto threat
Such strong leadership undoubtedly scattered his political opponents to the political winds, correct?
Uh, well, maybe not so much when you're polling under 40%, and this is LESS than a month after any supposed bounce Dear Leader W received for his Annual Mass Re-education Lesson For The Worried Serfdom Populace Folks-AKA State Of The Union
The White House was taken by surprise when Mr. Frist and Mr. Hastert joined Democratic leaders in Congress and other prominent Republicans, including Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. George E. Pataki of New York, in calling for the government to stop the deal from closing next week as scheduled."We have not received the necessary assurances regarding security concerns," Mr. Bloomberg wrote in a letter to the president on Tuesday evening. He said he was joining New York's two Democratic senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, in calling for a 45-day investigation of the deal under a federal law that governs the review of foreign investments. In fact, it appears that Terri Schiavo Video Diagnostician ExtraOrdinaire Bill Frist has decided that pandering to the GOP's
Wingnuttia Extremis base is more important than sucking up-yet again-to Dear Leader W, and the quicker the better
Mr. Frist gave the White House only an hour's notice before breaking ranks and saying that "the decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold." He said that if a delay did not occur, he would "plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."Truly, nothing says "Successful White House Campiagn" in Frist's future more than giving the Dear Leader & his Retinue no more than an hours notice before doing that popular DC dance, the "Throw 'Em Under The Bus Boogie"
And the business interests whose agenda can usually be successfully brokered by Dear Leader W were completely taken aback as well, stunned that Dear Leader's usually persuasive arguments of "Because I Said So" bore seemingly no weight in this upcoming humiliating defeat for President jr
The opposition to the deal brought expressions of befuddlement from shipping industry and port experts. The shipping business, they said, went global more than a decade ago, and foreign-based firms already control more than 30 percent of the port terminals in the United States. They include APL Limited, which is controlled by the government of Singapore and operates terminals in Los Angeles; Oakland, Calif.; Dutch Harbor, Alaska; and Seattle....."This kind of reaction is totally illogical," said Philip Damas, research director at Drewry Shipping Consultants of London. "The location of the headquarters of a company in the age of globalism is irrelevant."Yes, it is totally illogical to expect that anyone with the Royal Retinue apparently pays any attention to their jobs or responsibilities in the least-as we'll see with the next link
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This next bit is going to be slightly out of chronological order
Republicans Split With Bush on PortsIn a bid to defuse the controversy, Bush has instructed aides to brief members of Congress on Dubai Ports World, its operations and the intelligence community's findings that the firm poses no risk to national security. The briefings began yesterday.See, turns out that Dear Leader W isn't the only one in his Administration who had no idea about any aspect of this deal before the firestorm it generated
A senior White House official, who discussed internal strategy under the condition of anonymity, said Bush realizes that Republicans are dug in and that he may have to compromise. "We are sensitive to the fact that people have taken firm positions," the official said. But that effort was complicated by the disclosure that Bush and Treasury Secretary John W. Snow were unaware until this week about the purchase agreement and the administration's approval of the transaction last month.The punchline here is truly astonishing, especially in that this deal was supposed too have been overseen by Treasury Sect John Snow
Snow, whose department chairs the secretive executive branch panel that reviewed the proposed sale, told reporters in Torrington, Conn., that "I learned of this transaction probably the same way as members of the Senate did, by reading it in the newspapers."(Insert Appropriate Palm-Smack To Forehead "CLONK!!!" Sound Effect Here, along with mandatory "D'OH!!!")
Doesn't anybody in this Administration EVER know what the hell is going on in the White House, The Congress & The Senate, seeing as how, you know, the GOP controls ALL 3 branches listed?
Good God, is Karl Rove REALLY this brain-dead politically now?
Even better, with as widespread opposition as this deal has engendered, how Does Dear Leader react, how does he show his munificence, what reasonable compromise does he offer?
Well, NONE actually, he just says that maybe he should have consulted Congress earlier
One day after threatening to veto any attempt by Congress to scuttle the controversial $6.8 billion deal, Bush sounded a more conciliatory tone by saying lawmakers should have been given more details about a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates purchasing some terminal operations in Baltimore and five other U.S. cities.Notice, he's NOT propsing to hold up the sale, nope, it's STILL a done deal, but he thinks maybe he should have given The House & Senate a Heads Up before the final vote
And his own party is getting pushed by their constituents, the ones Dear Leader W's been so successful in pandering to when it came to blathering about how the GOP is stronger on National Security than any of it's rapidly growing number of critics
But congressional Republicans renewed their vow to prevent the sale from being finalized next month and warned Bush, sometimes in taunting terms, that an overwhelming majority of lawmakers will oppose the sale on national security grounds. "Dear Mr President: In regards to selling American ports to the United Arab Emirates, not just NO but HELL NO!" Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) wrote to Bush in a one-sentence letter......Republican lawmakers have been flooded with phone calls and letters from constituents encouraging them to fight Bush over the port deal, even at the expense of GOP unity on combating terrorism -- possibly their best political issue. As a result, Bush and Republicans are divided over a national security issue as never before and bracing for a possible showdown that could force Bush to either delay the sale or veto a Republican bill against it, according to congressional and White House officials.....House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) said political pressure from constituents is driving the debate. Lawmakers, he said, are "responding to incredible local political pressure."And even another current GOP Pariah is able to give Dear Leader W a bit of a face-saving smackaround as well
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DeLay joins chorus opposing ports contractU.S. Rep. Tom DeLay warned Wednesday that President Bush is making a "huge mistake" defending a deal for a Middle Eastern company to manage American ports.Calling it a serious national security issue, the Sugar Land Republican and former majority leader said the Bush administration's approval of the arrangement is "pretty outrageous" and predicted the decision would be overturned by Congress.Undoubtedly DeLay is happy to throw some of his ethical-woes stress onto someone DeLay probably feels has been pampered all his life, whereas DeLay thinks he actually earned his way to all that graft he was used to with no outside help or influence either
But in this one instance, DeLay's got the bad news that Dear Leader hasn't yet experienced too often in his political career
Absolute & total defeat, with a much harder time & craftier effort to re-energize his base than he needed with the Alito nomination to replace the disastrous Meirs Supreme Court Nomination
"When it's a matter of national security, the president will be overturned," DeLay told an audience of Houston real estate executives at a campaign stop. "We will overturn it within the next few weeks."The writing is on the wall for this Port deal, the question is how much damage will Dear Leader W's own stupid stubbornness cost him in further lost "political capital"?
But wait, the damage will NOT be limited to President Jr alone, oh no, even the party pushing away from the Dear Leader W table wfirmly with both hands have walked into a trap that they don't see yet, and one that should absolutely blow up in the smug visage of uberstrategist Karl Rove should the GOP take his now toxic advice of running hard on the issue of Homeland Security
And the
withering view of someone who thinks the deal should be argued for harder than it has been so far
Republicans can't distance themselves from Bush on security issues. He's not only the head of their party; he's the commander in chief. By pouncing on this issue so quickly and joining Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, Republican leaders send a global message: They don't trust Bush. They don't trust him enough to even wait to understand the facts of the deal. They don't trust him enough to even worry that they might have their facts wrong and wind up embarrassed.Maybe Republicans have valid reasons for not trusting Bush, but it's foolish for them to think they can separate their fortunes from his on this issue. When Republican-leaning voters go to bed at night, they don't find comfort in the fact that Bill Frist is protecting them. They pin their hopes on George Bush. If Bush is weakened, they're not likely to be comforted by the fact that Bill Frist is still at the helm of the Senate defending the homeland.And maybe, we'll finally see that supposed temper of Dear Leader W's erupt at the most inopportune time for his political career, at just such a point as the Iraq War, the occupation & now thriving insurgency now make the social situation much more unstable between the Shiites & Sunnis
Dear Leader W held his tongue and took a hard one deep for the team when it came to kissing up to the Wingnut GOP base in terms of replacing Miers with Alito for the Supreme Court nomination-Will he be willing to do so again, or will his thin skin get the better of him?
The squabble will also irritate the president. He's tired of congressional second-guessing—especially in a case like this where GOP leaders willfully refuse to acknowledge the complexity of global diplomacy and the value of global capitalism. You don't hear the deal's critics explaining who exactly will control port security if not Dubai Ports World. (And why are there not more pro-market conservative commentators pointing out that in the global war on terror we must embrace countries like the United Arab Emirates in the interest of winning hearts and minds in the Middle East?) The president did go too far when he hinted that critics were motivated by prejudice. This is similar to the administration's mistaken effort to turn Harriet Miers' conservative opponents into sexists. It will leave a lasting blemish on his party. If Bush was so quick to make such a serious claim about anti-Arab sentiment, he must have had broader grounds to do so. But that's what Republicans always accuse Democrats of doing—playing identity politics when they don't agree with your policies. Bush didn't like it very much when, after the administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina, Democrats charged that he didn't like blacks. Why does he hint at the same kind of thing now?I can't see any way that this doesn't hurt the GOP, both President jr & the party as well,as was pointed out above, the GOP has tied itself SO firmly to the image of Dear Leader W as the Grim Warrior of Righteousness that there's no way to cast off the figurehead now without doing real, structural damage to the GOP's November election efforts
And, let's now play the next edition of "Laugh.....Or...Bitchslap?"
You know the rules-with the delivery set to the cadence of Howie Mandel's uttering of his game show's signature line, "Deal.....Or...NO..De..al", the game where you decide the proper response for something said that's so appallingly stupid that the only proper reaction is to either Laugh at or bitchslap the offender
And for today, we have TWO good examples from Dear Leader W himself
T
here's NO Higher Expression Of Patriotism Than Quoting Our PresidentAnd for Dear Leader W's 1st Example, let's take a look at comments he made during
a roundtable interview with the White House Press Corps he did on Air Force 1 in which he made his first public statements about the Dubai Deal
I do want to talk about this port issue. A foreign company manages some of our ports. They've entered into a transaction with another foreign company to manage our ports. And which two companies would those be Mr President?
And what's interesting here is what's important according to Dear Leader W
This is a process that has been extensively reviewed, particularly from the point of view as to whether or not I can say to the American people, this project will not jeopardize our security.Yes, what's vital is that President Jr can tell the "American People" that the deal won't jeopardize safety, as opposed toletting the ACTUAL "American People" make the decision of just how secure they think the ports are with this transaction
And then, in one of those glorious moments that should get much wider play, Dear Leader W goes COMPLETELY offscript and leaves one wondering just what in the hell he's talking about now-in this case, the term "Grocery List" humorously leap to mind
This company operates all around the world. I have the list somewhere. We can get you the list. They're in Germany and elsewhere -- Australia.*Yes, a missing list, Germany & Australia, very well played indeed Mr Presaident, a definite & firm graso of the minute detail that takes up so much of the President's time
And so I, after careful review of our government, I believe the government ought to go forward.Well, Mr President, it's good to know that the Govt you reviewed carefully should go forward, but weren't you talking about the Deal instead?
And how goofy have things gotten for the Dear Leader, why, apparently, if it's not in the budget for Halliburton then there's no money for trifles like people who clean up the President's grammatical mistakes on the White House website itself-Sheesh, what kind of Dear Leader doesn't have a web-site cleaner upper?
And I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British [sic] company.And what's key in the next line is the word, "NOW"
I'm trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to people of the world, we'll treat you fairly.Oh yeah, that word "FAIRLY" jumped out as well
And after careful scrutiny, we believe this deal is a legitimate deal that will not jeopardize the security of the country, and at the same time, send that signal that we're willing to treat people fairly.Yep, there's that "FAIRLY" word again
Who are you trying to convince about being fair, us or yourself Dear Leader?
And now, Dear Leader W is reduced to sputtering impotently about being listened to-keep in mind, at the time he made thses statements, we still didn't know that Dear Leader W himself wasn't aware of the aprticulars, like say the anem of the companies involved
Q Mr. President, leaders in Congress, including Senator Frist, have said that they'll take action to stop the port control shift if you don't reverse course on it. You've expressed your thoughts here, but what do you say to those in Congress who plan to take legislative action?THE PRESIDENT: They ought to listen to what I have to say about this. They ought to look at the facts, and understand the consequences of what they're going to do. But if they pass a law, I'll deal with it, with a veto. And if they don't listen to what you say, what's next, holding your breath until you trun blue?
Yeah, that'll work all right, it's working so wonderfully so far with this issue
Okay, all kidding aside, this next passage shows that the Dear Leader really DOES consider himself the dear Leader, and that no other political entity EVER enters his calculations
Q The understatement today, and one of the concerns of lawmakers seems to be that they want more of a briefing, and they want more details about the things that you know, that have given you confidence that there aren't any national security implications with the port deal. Are you willing to either have your staff or to give any kind of briefing to leaders of Congress --THE PRESIDENT: Look at the company's record, Jim, and it's clear for everybody to see. We've looked at the ports in which they've operated. There is a standard process mandated by Congress that we go through, called the CFIUS process. I'm not exactly sure if there's any national security concerns in briefing Congress. I just don't know. I can't answer your question.Yes, you DID read that right, the President isn't sure there's ANY national security concerns worth briefing Congress about with this deal
Okay, back to the mocking, as in what the hell did the President think this reporter was asking about in the next exchange?
Q Why is it so important to you, sir, that you take on this issue as a political fight? Clearly, there's bipartisan --THE PRESIDENT: I don't view it as a political fight. So do you want to start your question over? I view it as a good policy.Q Why is it -- clearly --THE PRESIDENT: Are you talking about the energy issue?Q No, I'm sorry, the ports issue. No icon/smiley can possibly do this stupidity the justice it truly deserves
And, now, Part Two of
"Laugh.....Or...Bitchslap?"This is from Dear Leader W to the press after Air Force 1 landed, and at this point it still hadn't been released publicly that Dear Leader W OR Treasury Sec Snow-charged with overseeing the deal for this Administration-weren't even aware of this deal until the uproar that resulted when news of the deal was disclosed publicly
And I also want to address another issue I just talked to the press about on Air Force One, and that is this issue of a company out of the UAE purchasing the right to manage some ports in the United States from a British company.Okay, nothing noteworthy there, well, until THIS, a fact that seems odd for the Dear Leader to state first about this deal with this impromptu press briefing
First of all, this is a private transaction.And there's a very easy reply to the points Dear Leader W raises next
The company is from a country that has been cooperative in the war on terror, been an ally in the war on terror. The company operates ports in different countries around the world, ports from which cargo has been sent to the United States on a regular basis.I think it sends a terrible signal to friends around the world that it's okay for a company from one country to manage the port, but not a country that plays by the rules and has got a good track record from another part of the world can't manage the port. QUICK!!! NO LOOKING!!!
Which countries & which companies?
Ane we're WAY over long with the program and analysis, Good Night Everyone
