Bush: "I was willing to make the tough decisions."

"You may not agree with some tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions."

- President George W. Bush


(h/t to Daily Kos)
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BEST PRESIDENT EVER!

Emergency Veto Rally Tomorrow!

From MoveOn.org:

Congress is about to send an important bill to the White House—it would require the president to start bringing our troops home from Iraq this year. President Bush has said repeatedly he's going to veto it. It's outrageous. Most Americans support a timeline and he's standing in the way.

This will be a pivotal moment on Iraq—it's not clear what Congress or the president will do after the veto. We need to make clear that President Bush is really vetoing the will of the American people. And we need to tell Congress to hold firm.

There are already more than 200 rallies planned and it's really important to turn out in big numbers to get our message across. There is one right near you in Pittsburgh. Can you make it tomorrow?

Here are the details:
Intersection Forbes Ave. and Schenley Dr.
Wednesday, May 2 2007, 5:00 PM

If this event doesn't work for you, click below to search for another rally near you: http://pol.moveon.org/event/vetorally/?search

Buying the War

If you missed Bill Moyers' most excellent documentary Buying the War on PBS last week, I urge you to check it out online (you can watch it in its entirety here).

It tells the story of how the MSM got the run up to the War on Iraq so very wrong and how they were complicit in the web of lies told by the Bush Administration through a mixture of their own fear and indifference.

For example, Phil Donohue tells how after 9/11 his bosses at MSNBC demanded that his guests be 2 to 1 Republican to Democrat as they feared being accused of being unpatriotic.

You also get to see Tim Russert explain what a shame it was that none of the scientists who were saying at the time that the aluminum tubes in Iraq had nothing to do with nuclear bombs didn't call him to tell him this. (Apparently Timmy's phone can only receive calls and not make them.)

The program is particularly instructive when it plays parts of Colin Powell's televised address to the United Nations Security Council in February of 2003 where he argued in favor of military action against Saddam Hussein. One part that sticks in my mind is Powell stating ominously that Saddam had built a roof over a building which was under suspicion for weapons building activities without mentioning that UN inspectors were in that building and had installed video cameras there which operated 24/7.

[sigh]

The show would be completely depressing if it didn't also cover the efforts of reporters for the Knight Ridder media company (now The McClatchy Company) who were doing real journalism at the time and who give lie to the claim that everyone believed the same intelligence.

Watch it!

One more thing about McCain's "stroll" in Baghdad

Not only did McCain's stroll through a Baghdad market to prove how "safe" it is there require the services of 1 bulletproof vest, 100 American troops, 3 Black Hawk helicopters and 2 Apache gun ships, but some poor mooks had to sweep the area first -- risking their lives for his photo op.

This is not a man who should ever be our nation's Commander in Chief.

Bush Vs. Saint Vincent

As you probably have heard, our preznit will be speaking at the Saint Vincent College Commencement Ceremonies on May 11, 2007.

The following link is to an Open Letter to President Bush protesting his visit because, as they put it, not only are his values at odds with Catholic values, his values are at odds with universal values of decency.

If you know anyone who is specifically a donor, teacher, staff, faculty, student or alumni, please forward it to them and ask them to sign it.

This is only meant for those who have an actual association with Saint Vincent College so please do not sign it unless you qualify.

LINK: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/svc/index.html

Must-Do List

The New York Times published a "Must-Do List" yesterday of things that need to be done to try to reverse "[t]he Bush administration’s assault on some of the founding principles of American democracy."

They add that, "Taking on this task is a moral imperative that will show the world the United States can be tough on terrorism without sacrificing its humanity and the rule of law."

I couldn't agree more!

The list "starts with three fundamental tasks:"

- Restore Habeas Corpus
- Stop Illegal Spying
- Ban Torture, Really

It also includes the following:

Close the C.I.A. Prisons
Account for ‘Ghost Prisoners’
Ban Extraordinary Rendition
Tighten the Definition of Combatant
Screen Prisoners Fairly and Effectively
Ban Tainted Evidence
Ban Secret Evidence
Better Define ‘Classified’ Evidence
Respect the Right to Counsel

But, please read the entire editorial here.

A Recent Presidential Chuckle

From a few days ago (via talkingpointsmemo). The article offers up some examples of how complicated things have gotten over Iraq, Iran and the rest of the region. At the tail end we see this:

At a farewell reception at Blair House for the retiring chief of protocol, Don Ensenat, who was President Bush's Yale roommate, the president shook hands with Washington Life Magazine's Soroush Shehabi. "I'm the grandson of one of the late Shah's ministers," said Soroush, "and I simply want to say one U.S. bomb on Iran and the regime we all despise will remain in power for another 20 or 30 years and 70 million Iranians will become radicalized."

"I know," President Bush answered.

"But does Vice President Cheney know?" asked Soroush.

President Bush chuckled and walked away.

So nice to see that the decider-in-chief can get all chuckly when faced with the reality of his foreign policy.