bush approval rating at all time low

Why should he give a shit about polls? Give me all that and then tell me that the country hates me, and I wouldn't give a shit either.

But Congress does worry about getting re-elected and it's a damn good thing they do, too. If Bush burns down the barn, he gets to leave for greener pastures. Congress would have to live in the smoking hulk.

What worries me is that megacorporations and evangelicals are the core constituency for most of Congress. The evangelicals deliver the first half of the required votes and the corporate cash and propaganda machine delivers the other half. Recently, this coalition only fails when the propaganda machine can't manage to paper over the truth well enough to deliver that second half of the vote.

1) Social Security reform = stinkbomb
2) Terry Schiavo = stinkbomb
3) Nuclear option = stinkbomb-in-waiting
4) Iraq fallout = silent but deadly, and chronic

And no doubt I'm missing some other fiascos.

Buchanan sees 'war' within conservatism

By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Pat Buchanan speaks of American conservatism in the past tense.

"The conservative movement has passed into history," says the one-time White House aide, three-time presidential candidate, commentator and magazine publisher.

"It doesn't exist anymore as a unifying force," he says in an interview with The Washington Times. "There are still a lot of people who are conservative, but the movement is now broken up, crumbled, dismantled."

. . . Mr. Buchanan, a former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan, says conservatism "is at war with itself over foreign policy, over deficit hawks versus supply-siders."

. . . He suggests that in some respects, traditionalists might be fighting for a lost cause. "We say we won a great victory by defeating gay marriage in 11 state-ballot referenda in November," he says. "But I think in the long run, that will be seen as a victory in defense of a citadel that eventually fell."

As he later says, "I can't say we won the cultural war, and it's more likely we lost it."

Lyndon Johnson was broken by Vietnam and died within a couple years of leaving the presidency. I imagine Bush will be around for a long, long time.

Yeah, I think that we were discussing this about seven months ago, right before Election Day.

And no doubt I'm missing some other fiascos.

True, but never (mis)underestimate the Democrat's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

the only move that I'm genuinely surprised the Republicans would even dare to dream about, much less try, is the filibuster thing.

So, no, I don't expect there to be an outrageous outcry from the American public about the filibuster.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/images/2005/05/19/Fox_Dems_Hate_Owen1.jpg
(From Kos)

http://www.savephil.com

http://images1.istandfor.com/images/FE/chain175siteType8/site134/client/PhilwithFriends3.jpg
Phil A. Buster and his friends Checks and Balanz. I find something alarming about the use of a Schoolhouse Rock ripoff to talk about a serious political issue.

even worse ... her legal views are those of a pompous old man -- from the 19th century!

until the next time it's at a newer all-time low.

etc.

etc. etc. etc.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Haw ha!

Racial Politics -- and Irony -- in Day Two of Debate
McCain Meets With Moderate to Try and Forge Compromise
By DAVID ESPO, AP

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AP
The debate on the Judge Priscilla Owen is expected to last all week.

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WASHINGTON (May 19) - Republicans and Democrats injected racial politics into the struggle over President Bush's judicial nominees and the Senate's filibuster rules on Thursday, underscoring partisan differences while compromise-minded senators from both parties pursued an elusive agreement.

''The attempt to do away with the filibuster is nothing short of clearing the trees for the confirmation of an unacceptable nominee to the Supreme Court,'' said Democratic leader Harry Reid. He accused the president of an attempt to ''rewrite the Constitution and reinvent reality'' with his demand for a yes-or-no vote on all nominees.

Countered Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, ''It's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942.'' He said Democratic protests over Republican efforts to ensure confirmation votes would be like the Nazi dictator seizing Paris and then saying, ''I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me. How dare you bomb my city. It's mine.''

it means that i will KILL my sister if she votes for this assclown next year.

I still have respect for Good ol' Senatpr Arlen Specter though, who should get credit for trying to head the meager group of remaining moderates and broker some sort of compromise out of this insanity; the right-wing loathes him. I wonder what the two senators think of each other? I heard on the radio today that Specter lost all his hair in his battle w/ cancer, but he still plays a game of squash every morning! So he gets props for that too.

The thing I hate the most about the Bush administration is that it turns me into this ultra pessimistic bastard who keeps wishing for awful things to happen just so people can see what a horrendous and awful president Bush is. Somehow I think even if this was to happen, the odds of people seeing the light is still pretty low.
So, so utterly true.

*or pwning Bowser, possibly, hard to tell

--Rickey Wright (rrrickey@aol.com), May 19th, 2005.

Yeah, I think that we were discussing this about seven months ago, right before Election Day.

-- Pleasant Plains /// (pleasant.plain...), May 19th, 2005.

a: idaho!

I've got just the place. Give me an excuse to get out, please!

o rly ya rly no wai!

So, I assume that Moscow is one of the more Bush-unfriendly areas of Idaho, correct? Cause I might be moving there, and I'm curious.

Bush tries to regain his footing on once-rock-solid conservative base

By David Jackson and Richard Benedetto
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Whether President Bush is talking about a get-tough border policy or the importance of judicial restraint — he discussed both Thursday — he is sure to throw in an appeal these days to wavering conservative supporters.

Bush and his aides are playing up items such as tighter borders and judges who “administer the law” rather than make it, seeking to reconnect with conservative Republicans whose support has shrunk in recent polls — and whose votes will be critical in this fall's congressional elections.

Bush used to be able to count on overwhelming support from Republicans and conservatives, but the Iraq war and a variety of other issues have eroded that backing.

A May 5-7 USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found Bush's approval among Republicans at 68%, down from 85% in early January. Among conservatives — who also include some Democrats and independents — Bush's support fell to 52%, from 73% in January.

Now the White House is on a campaign to get that support back. Some examples:

On Thursday, the White House staged a special Rose Garden swearing-in for Brett Kavanaugh, recently confirmed by the Senate for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The White House fought a three-year battle to confirm Kavanaugh. He has been a priority for conservatives but anathema to some Democrats, who noted his role as an aide to independent counsel Ken Starr during the impeachment of President Clinton and said he was too partisan to be a judge.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., described him as a “political pick being pushed for political reasons.”

Another White House event will occur next week when Bush will talk about the importance of a constitutional amendment that would bar gay marriage by defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, a major issue for social and religious conservatives.

The president is scheduled to renew his call for a line-item veto, arguing it will help him rein in the runaway federal spending that has been another nagging source of conservative discontent. Bush has also challenged the GOP-controlled Senate over extra money in a special spending bill for the costs of wars and hurricanes. The House passed a $92.2 billion measure, but the Senate added about $14 billion. “If they bust the $92.2 billion, I'm going to veto it,” Bush said Thursday.

Bush's backing for a “comprehensive” overhaul of immigration laws infuriates some conservatives because it includes proposals to allow illegal immigrants to work here temporarily and would permit some to seek citizenship. Recently, though, Bush has emphasized tougher border enforcement and a crackdown on companies that hire illegal immigrants, both strongly supported by conservatives. In a speech Thursday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce here, Bush said, “We don't have full control of this border. And I'm determined to change that.”

Says Republican strategist Rich Galen: “What (the Bush administration is) doing is reaching back out to the people who elected them in the first place.”

GOP consultants say renewing conservative support could help Bush raise his approval rating, which hit the lowest point of his presidency — 31% — in early May. It could also make a difference this fall, when conservative turnout will be crucial to Republican hopes of retaining Congress.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff says his polling shows that rank-and-file conservative Republicans still support Bush by about 80%. He acknowledges that vocal “radio talk show conservatives” — those who listen to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others — are angry with the president over immigration and other issues.

McInturff says Bush needs to reach out to conservatives on border security. “The public needs to be more assured that more is being done to stop illegals from entering the country, and penalizing employers who hire them,” McInturff says.

Democratic strategist Jenny Backus says she has noticed Bush's new “dance moves” with conservatives. She adds that worries about White House leadership on issues such as the Iraq war cross ideological lines, and Bush may not be able to win back his core supporters if he can't fix that.

“The (conservative) base cares about Iraq, too,” Backus says.

A key test for Bush is whether conservative Republicans show up at the polls this fall. GOP strategist Tom Edmonds says that while most disillusioned GOP conservatives won't vote for Democrats, they could “sit on their hands” and rob GOP candidates of the votes they need to win.

“Time is on our side,” Edmonds says. “We don't need to make wholesale changes. We just need to kind of get our act together.”

GOP consultant Charles Black says that despite all Bush's political problems, the president remains a potent fundraiser.

“In some places, we will have to outspend our opponents,” he says. “We just have to make sure everyone has enough money to do that.”

ah FUCK

who noted his role as an aide to independent counsel Ken Starr during the impeachment of President Clinton and said he was too partisan to be a judge.

hang on, hang on, that wasn't the reason at all. the actual reason was that the guy was a complete Michael Brown who'd never been, y'know, an actual judge before. he was a political douche being stuck there just to help out when all the appeals of indicted Bush Admin figures start chucking thru the system later on.

the Ken Starr affliation was just more shit on the cake.