9/11
According to my local CBS evening news, a group of families who had lost loved ones on 9/11 had written and signed a letter in support of Bush's usage of 9/11 footages in his first round of re-election campaign ads. "We are very proud of the president and the job he has done," said one man. Ironically, the very next segment was about six fire stations in the city, which undoubtedly participated in the rescue efforts after the twin towers went down, being shut down because of budget cuts.
Frankly, I am amazed that the Bush administration would even dare to remind people of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on American soil ever, perpetrated almost two years after Bush took office. Bush even got an intelligence memo a month before the attack entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," discussing the prospect of "an upcoming Al Qaeda attack and the prospect that terrorists might seek to hijack commercial airliners"! On top of that, this administration has been reluctant to cooperate with the 9/11 Commission in its investigation of the attack: Bush would only agree to meet with the chairman and vice chairman of the commission in private for one hour and Rice refuses to testify in public (in contrast, both Clinton and Gore have agreed to meet with the full commission and Sandy Berger, Rice's predecessor, has agreed to testify in public).
Dennis Hastert, the Republican speaker of the House, refused to grant a two-month extension to the Commission, claiming that he didn't want the investigation to become "a political football," in open defiance of the White House's ostensible approval of the extension. Let me get this straight, he would rather avoid exposing potential embarrassments for the Administration than allow the Commission adequate time to complete the most important investigation in the last century, if not all of American history? Does anyone actually believe that Hastert would have the balls to go against Bush/Cheney/Rove/DeLay?
Worst of all, this White House has never wholeheartedly supported the Commission. It was an uphill battle just to get funding for the investigation. Even now, the budget stands at $14 million, compared to the $130 million dollars spent on the Shuttle Columbia investigation and the $80 million witch hunt spent to bring down the Clintons. Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy to spend less money to investigate the circumstances that led to the deaths of more than 3000 Americans than to produce something like this?
"According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had ten sexual encounters, eight while she worked at the White House and two thereafter.(35) The sexual encounters generally occurred in or near the private study off the Oval Office -- most often in the windowless hallway outside the study.(36) During many of their sexual encounters, the President stood leaning against the doorway of the bathroom across from the study, which, he told Ms. Lewinsky, eased his sore back.(37)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical relationship with the President included oral sex but not sexual intercourse.(38) According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the President; he never performed oral sex on her.(39) Initially, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President would not let her perform oral sex to completion. In Ms. Lewinsky's understanding, his refusal was related to "trust and not knowing me well enough."(40) During their last two sexual encounters, both in 1997, he did ejaculate.(41)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the President on nine occasions. On all nine of those occasions, the President fondled and kissed her bare breasts. He touched her genitals, both through her underwear and directly, bringing her to orgasm on two occasions. On one occasion, the President inserted a cigar into her vagina. On another occasion, she and the President had brief genital-to-genital contact.(42) "
I have long ceased to get all worked up against the Bush administration's shenanigans. After all, there is a Chinese idiom that goes, "a dog can't change its habit of eating shit." What baffles me is how Bush is able to consistently get away with the kind of shit that would have gotten Clinton impeached ten times over.
Frankly, I am amazed that the Bush administration would even dare to remind people of 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on American soil ever, perpetrated almost two years after Bush took office. Bush even got an intelligence memo a month before the attack entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," discussing the prospect of "an upcoming Al Qaeda attack and the prospect that terrorists might seek to hijack commercial airliners"! On top of that, this administration has been reluctant to cooperate with the 9/11 Commission in its investigation of the attack: Bush would only agree to meet with the chairman and vice chairman of the commission in private for one hour and Rice refuses to testify in public (in contrast, both Clinton and Gore have agreed to meet with the full commission and Sandy Berger, Rice's predecessor, has agreed to testify in public).
Dennis Hastert, the Republican speaker of the House, refused to grant a two-month extension to the Commission, claiming that he didn't want the investigation to become "a political football," in open defiance of the White House's ostensible approval of the extension. Let me get this straight, he would rather avoid exposing potential embarrassments for the Administration than allow the Commission adequate time to complete the most important investigation in the last century, if not all of American history? Does anyone actually believe that Hastert would have the balls to go against Bush/Cheney/Rove/DeLay?
Worst of all, this White House has never wholeheartedly supported the Commission. It was an uphill battle just to get funding for the investigation. Even now, the budget stands at $14 million, compared to the $130 million dollars spent on the Shuttle Columbia investigation and the $80 million witch hunt spent to bring down the Clintons. Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy to spend less money to investigate the circumstances that led to the deaths of more than 3000 Americans than to produce something like this?
"According to Ms. Lewinsky, she and the President had ten sexual encounters, eight while she worked at the White House and two thereafter.(35) The sexual encounters generally occurred in or near the private study off the Oval Office -- most often in the windowless hallway outside the study.(36) During many of their sexual encounters, the President stood leaning against the doorway of the bathroom across from the study, which, he told Ms. Lewinsky, eased his sore back.(37)
Ms. Lewinsky testified that her physical relationship with the President included oral sex but not sexual intercourse.(38) According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the President; he never performed oral sex on her.(39) Initially, according to Ms. Lewinsky, the President would not let her perform oral sex to completion. In Ms. Lewinsky's understanding, his refusal was related to "trust and not knowing me well enough."(40) During their last two sexual encounters, both in 1997, he did ejaculate.(41)
According to Ms. Lewinsky, she performed oral sex on the President on nine occasions. On all nine of those occasions, the President fondled and kissed her bare breasts. He touched her genitals, both through her underwear and directly, bringing her to orgasm on two occasions. On one occasion, the President inserted a cigar into her vagina. On another occasion, she and the President had brief genital-to-genital contact.(42) "
I have long ceased to get all worked up against the Bush administration's shenanigans. After all, there is a Chinese idiom that goes, "a dog can't change its habit of eating shit." What baffles me is how Bush is able to consistently get away with the kind of shit that would have gotten Clinton impeached ten times over.
posted by Gary at
6:59 PM
