Appropo of Very Little

I just wanted to make sure I have this posted somewhere I can easily get to it when I want to see Babs the Bitch - Why Should We Waste Our Precious Minds? - Bush one more time. Priceless mashup on so many counts.

Now We Know Why They Ran W

Even an exclamation mark couldn't help.

Jeb!

I still can't believe they made him try.  He probably can't either.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump! Trump! Trump!

It seems as though poor white conservatives have finally realized that the Republican party has nothing to offer them but increased poverty, and so they've turned to Donald Trump, who isn't really a Republican, but an Opportunist and a thug. But maybe this isn't a sudden realization.  Maybe they've known it for a long time but just haven't had anyone they could vote for, since they damned sure weren't going to vote for a Democrat who would give their hard earned money to illegal immigrants and welfare blacks and cut back military spending.

They have certainly found their boy in Trump. He doesn't even lose his popularity when he says disparaging things about GOP icons.  Nor, presumably, will he lose any support after his campaign's national spokeswoman Karina Pierson said this on TV:

"Donald Trump didn't say that the Twin Towers coming down was George Bush's fault," Pierson said. "He said George Bush didn't keep safe, and there are thousands of families that would agree with that. But I will have to define safe for you. Donald Trump's measure of safety is very different than the Bush's. Donald Trump wants a border wall. He wants to stop illegal immigration. He wants to deport illegal aliens. There are a number of things that Donald Trump would determine safe that the Bushes just didn't quite agree at that time."

[...]

"We don't know for sure if [the 9/11 attack] could have been prevented, but what we do know is that the hijackers did come into this country on visas from hostile territories." [...] "We know that one was here on an expired visa and we know they trained in Florida under Jeb Bush's watch to take down those towers."

  Real Clear Politics

It won't shake his supporters, but it rings bells for the GOP Establishment.

Appearing [Monday evening] on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," [Dick] Cheney listened to the anchor read a list of [Trump's] recent comments about Bush and 9/11 earlier in the day and during Saturday night's debate, including Trump's assertion that Bush and Cheney "lied" about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq as an impetus to invade the country in 2003.

“He sounds like a liberal Democrat to me, Bret. He’s wrong, and he’s I think, deliberately promoting those views in order to advance his political interests," Cheney responded.

[...]

"The other areas, for example, if you look at what we did in the aftermath of 9/11, we did in fact keep the nation safe for seven and a half years," Cheney said.

[...]

Trump likened that argument on Monday to saying, "The team scored 19 runs [on us] in the first inning, but after that we played well."

[...]

“I’ve said I’ll support the nominee of my party," Cheney said. "If he operates the way he’s operating, sounding like a liberal Democrat, I don’t think he’ll get the nomination.”

  Politico

Donald Trump - liberal Democrat. I don't think even that is going to work.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Hillary May Be in Trouble

But Jeb! is in trouble so big, he has brought out his mommy.

Dearest.

That's a picture worth ten thousand words.

Have at it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

(Wouldn't he be better off bringing out Daddy?  Although, Mommy is waaaaaaaay scarier.  Maybe it's a threat.  Certainly one reading of the look on his face could be: "Uh-huh. Babs. You're sorry now, aren't you?  Too late for you.")

And We Thought W Was the Dumb One

[Jeb] Bush, once governor of Florida, has said he supports federal government support for “basic research” into low-carbon energy but, like Rubio, places his faith in the free market to deal with rising temperatures and the extreme weather events, drought and sea level rise they bring.

“What we shouldn’t try to do is pick winners and losers through the federal government,” he said at a gathering in New Hampshire on Saturday, in a newly emerged video.

“The market will work faster. There’s someone in a garage somewhere, parochially I hope it’s in Miami, that’s going to have a clue, to have an answer to this.

“There are people well-intended on climate change but they need to be careful to not paint the apocalypse. Because we are not there. But we should be adapting.”

  Guardian

Christ.

Bush said he doubted sea level predictions for south Florida but, if they did come true, he has told his wife that they should move house.

Or maybe a little before that, but what a great way to deal with the problem. Just move. Simple.

He also said that it was a local problem, and that people where he was speaking (Iowa) talk about a declining moose population, which I guess in his mind is as big an issue as a rising sea level in Florida, and which also needs to be dealt with "on a regional basis, rather than some kind of global basis."

Somebody applauded.  Perhaps his campaign crew.  Or maybe a few Iowans who didn't want their tax money being spent in Florida.

(Iowa has moose?)

At least Jeb! just looks and sounds stupid, like his father, and not smug and belligerent like W.  (Although I recognize that is probably what appealed to many voters.)

Florida is considered particularly vulnerable to sea level rises as it is low-lying and sits in parts on a base of limestone, which causes excess water to seep underground and inundate areas. Salt water intrusion is also a concern for the Everglades and the many species that rely upon the wetland ecosystem.

So what? Move.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Smarter Brother

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And We Thought W Was the Dumb One - Part Whatever

I can still recall wondering why they chose to run W instead of Jeb back in the day.




...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Politickin' Is Hard

The RNC has suspended plans to partner with NBC News for a February debate, citing a “bad faith” performance by CNBC in Wednesday night’s meeting of the candidates.
  Politico

Oh my. What happened?

In his letter on Friday, [RNC Chair Reince] Priebus argued that CNBC assured the committee that the debate would focus on substantive policy issues like jobs and taxes, but he said the network failed on that count. He also said it failed to guarantee relatively equal speaking time for the candidates.

[...]

"CNBC’s moderators engaged in a series of 'gotcha' questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates,” Priebus wrote in the letter to NBC.

Oh I see. The moderators asked embarrassing questions. Seriously, waaaaah.

But, wait. Maybe that's not the real reason.

In the middle of the CNBC-hosted GOP debate on Wednesday, RNC chief strategist and spokesman Sean Spicer and chief of staff Katie Walsh approached CNBC officials. According to a source familiar with the encounter, the two had a complaint: Jeb Bush wasn’t getting enough questions.

I guess we know who the RNC wants to nominate for the 2016 presidential run.  (Maybe they should be grateful that he didn't get more of those "gotcha" questions they were whining about. Eh?)

Immediately after the CNBC debate, Priebus issued a harsh statement calling CNBC’s handling “disappointing” and campaigns began organizing to meet up and plan a way to take control of future debates. The campaigns are aiming to agree on a list of demands that they will submit to the RNC, which plans to make those demands to the networks for future debates.

[...]

The February forum -- scheduled for Feb. 26, at the University of Houston -- was the only Republican primary debate set to be co-hosted by a Hispanic news organization.

Maybe the campaigns can submit the questions they want asked.  Or maybe the RNC can moderate the debates.  Take the risk out of it.

What do you expect from that commie liberal NBC, anyway? They want Hillary to run against the nuttiest right-winger available. But don't they get that we can't have the Great Dynasty Contest if Jeb doesn't get enough air time - with easy and not-embarrassing questions?

Asked for comment, CNBC spokesperson Brian Steel gave the same statement CNBC gave as the criticism of the debate started pouring in on Wednesday: "People who want to be the leader of the free world should be able to answer tough questions," Steel said.

What? And break with tradition?

And, speaking of 2016 campaigns...

Hillary Clinton is now supporting a federal investigation of ExxonMobil following the latest disclosures that the giant oil company worked to hide the effects of climate change.

  IBTimes

Good on Hillary, you say? Well, think again.

Her call for an investigation comes only months after the company decided to stop sponsoring her family’s foundation.

Yeah, that's more like it.

The Clinton Foundation has accepted at least $1 million from ExxonMobil, despite the company’s history of financing challenges to climate science. And Clinton's State Department touted ExxonMobil as an example of how America should look at Iraq as “a business opportunity.”

And The Rude Pundit sums it up for the RNC:  "At this point, Jeb is a hilariously pitiable figure, a vaudeville clown, a sad sack. It's time for someone to walk him into a field and tell him to look at the rabbits.  [...]  The problem, at the end of the day, is that Jeb Bush isn't the vicious motherfucker his brother was."

But Hillary could be.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Holy Shit a Third Time

Jeb!

2005:

Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, Fla.: After more than an hour of solemn ceremony naming Rep. Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, as the 2007-08 House speaker, Gov. Jeb Bush stepped to the podium in the House chamber last week and told a short story about "unleashing Chang," his "mystical warrior" friend. Here are Bush's words, spoken before hundreds of lawmakers and politicians:

"Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society.

"I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down."

Bush then unsheathed a golden sword and gave it to Rubio as a gift. "I'm going to bestow to you the sword of a great conservative warrior," he said, as the crowd roared.

[...]

After the start of the Korean War, the American 7th Fleet protected Chiang [Kaishek] (and Taiwan) from Mao's People's Liberation Army.

Republican wingnuts, however, pretended that the 7th Fleet actually protected Mao's Communists (who had, after all, won the Chinese Civil War) from Chiang's Nationalists (who had, after all, lost it) by keeping Chiang Kaishek leashed. They periodically called for the U.S. to "unleash Chiang Kaishek"--so that Chiang, you see, could invade and conquer the Chinese mainland.

When George H. W. Bush, playing tennis (and losing) in the 1970s and 1980s, would threaten to "unleash Chiang," he was mocking the right-wing nuts of his generation.

But George H. W. Bush's sons--even the smart one, Jeb--never got the joke. They, you see, didn't know enough about world history or even the history of the Republican Party to know who Chiang Kaishek was, or what "Unleash Chiang!" meant. Hence Jeb Bush's explanation that twentieth-century Chinese nationalist, socialist, general, and dictator Chiang Kaishek was a "mystical warrior... who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society."

To me, that level of uncuriosity is scary. Why is this family ruling us, again?

  Brad deLong

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Touché

Jeb!

If you're a Republican and tanking, it's a good last-ditch effort to associate yourself with The Sainted Ronald.  Or, it was once upon a time.  Jeb! is merely showing his cluelessness here. The rabid GOP crowd of today is no longer satisfied with the relatively liberal (I said "relatively") Reagan brand.  Even though he was a crazy rat-bastard who was bad for the US and bad for the world, he wasn't crazy or bastardy enough for today's lunatics.

Count Kasich in:

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

P.S.  Matt Taibbi is referring to the GOP Debate Drinking Game, rules for which are to be posted at Rolling Stone.  

After All, He IS Barbara and Poppy's Son

      

    

I'd say the latter, and I'd also say that's probably the smart approach in his case.  Even if I'm wrong about the latter, beginning (at least) with Grandpa Prescott, no one in Jeb!'s lineage has ever thought the common voters (or, fodder units, as George I called them) have any impact on their lives and careers.  It's all about the dollars.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oh My

I haven't been following the presidential candidate coverage, but apparently Jeb Bush isn't an improvement over W.

And, apparently, he said he would have invaded Iraq had he been president when W was, but now is saying he wouldn't have gone into Iraq.

Which they will, no doubt.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

If Only This Came from the Onion

Washington (CNN)Jeb Bush cited his brother, former President George W. Bush, as one of his main advisers on the Middle East in a private meeting in Manhattan on Tuesday, according to three people who attended the off-the-record event.

[...]

One of the people in the room jotted down Jeb's comment as such: "What you need to know is that who I listen to when I need advice on the Middle East is George W. Bush."

  CNN

I guess Jeb is actually dumber than he looks.

Two sources who the Bush staff put in touch with CNN said they understood Bush's comments to be specifically regarding Israel.

Damage control, I guess. Still. Even if it’s only Israel – not smart.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

I'm Sure It Was Just a Mistake

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who is considering running for president, identified himself as Hispanic on a voter registration form in 2009, The New York Times reported on Monday.

When asked for his race or ethnicity, he marked the box labeled “Hispanic” on the voter registration application — which the Times posted along with its story.

Under Florida law, voter registration applications must be submitted in hard copy and require a signature.

A Bush spokesperson could not explain why the form had been filled out the way it was, the Times reported.

  The Hill

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

I Don't Even Want to Think About It

If [Jeb] Bush's goal is to present himself as his "own man," that list of advisers undermines the point somewhat: 19 of the 21 people on it worked in the administrations of his father or brother.

  WaPo

To be fair, however, things haven't gone very well without that combination either.

Where's Cheney?  Hell, might as well throw in W. All his advisers are there. He'd love a reunion. Good times.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Looking Forward to Jeb?

Beause a GOP win in 2016 is all but guaranteed.

In a recent New York Times article, The Bushes, as Distinct and Alike as Brothers Can Be, the author attempted to draw a distinction between W. and Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush, who is gearing up for a possible campaign for the presidency, would like Americans to know that he is not one of the Bush heads linked to his brother, George. In other words, he really hates to carry the bad luggage left behind from W.

But as we all know, a hydra is a hydra, and a Bush is a Bush, no matter how many times you cut the head off, the same Bush serpent will grow back again, the same Bush policies of profiting from oil and wars will emerge again and again.

No matter what Jeb says on the campaign trail, he will be burdened with the family’s hydra-albatross around his neck, especially W.’s albatross that carries enormous “torturous” weight, beginning with the mass destruction of Iraq that left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and thousands of our own soldiers, either dead, homeless, maimed or poisoned from depleted uranium, a country, incidentally, that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks, followed by the shocking CIA Torture Report, under the Bush-Cheney administration’s orders, barbaric torture practices were used on detainees at the US illegal prison,Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As explained in a NY Times editorial, former military officers described this evil facility as a “betrayal of American values.”

  Truth Out

Methinks you are about to overestimate the American public, good sir.

And besides, Obama owns all that now.

Who even remembers Jeb’s participation in the S&L bailout? The culprit there was brother Neil, wasn’t it?

Neil Bush was the most widely targeted member of the Bush family by the press in the S&L scandal. Neil became director of Silverado Savings and Loan at the age of 30 in 1985. Three years later the institution was belly up at a cost of $1.6 billion to tax payers to bail out.

[...]

Jeb Bush defaulted on a $4.56 million loan from Broward Federal Savings in Sunrise, Florida. After federal regulators closed the S&L, the office building that Jeb used the $4.56 million to finance was reappraised by the regulators at $500,000, which Bush and his partners paid. The taxpayers had to pay back the remaining 4 million plus dollars.

  Rational Revolution

Oh.

You can read more about the Bushes in this [1992] Mother Jones piece, The Bush Family Value$.

BTW, Jeb and his partner sold that office building in 1991 for $8 million.

He may, however, have some weaseling to do to keep this issue at bay:

During his first failed campaign for governor in 1994, Bush was asked in a debate what he would do to help African Americans. "Probably nothing," he replied. In 2000, his administration purged 12,000 eligible voters from the rolls because they were incorrectly identified as convicted felons. More than 40 percent of them were African Americans.

[...]

[He also] said that women on welfare "should be able to get their life together and find a husband."

  Mother Jones

And yet, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see our “democratic” offering in 2016 to be Hillary Clinton and John Ellis “Jeb” Bush. You?

Our Faux Democracy Trundles On

Jeb Bush yesterday strongly suggested he was running for President in 2016. If he wins the GOP nomination, it is highly likely that his opponent for the presidency would be Hillary Clinton.

Having someone who is the brother of one former president and the son of another run against the wife of still another former president would be sweetly illustrative of all sorts of degraded and illusory aspects of American life, from meritocracy to class mobility. That one of those two families exploited its vast wealth to obtain political power, while the other exploited its political power to obtain vast wealth, makes it more illustrative still: of the virtually complete merger between political and economic power, of the fundamentally oligarchical framework that drives American political life.

  The Intercept

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.