The Hollywood Liberal

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Senator Chuck Hagel R-Nebraska, called Bush’s troop surge plan, “The worst blunder since Vietnam.” Makes sense being that Bush, unable to come up with a speech of his own, borrowed directly from the same speech Lyndon Johnson made 40 years earlier about ramping up troop levels in Vietnam. Do you see the twisted logic of Bush, do you see how failure is the actual goal. Bush uses a 40 year old speech from a failed war, for another failed war. Only the perfect F**k Up could come up with something that brilliantly bad.
As long as the war continues Bush, and his family and friend continue to get rich selling arms, and stealing oil from unmetered wells

Senate opposition to Bush plan grows

MSNBC
Excerpt
WASHINGTON – President Bush’s decision to deploy 21,500 additional troops to Iraq drew fierce opposition Thursday from congressional Democrats and some Republicans — among them Sen. Chuck Hagel, who called it “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam.”
“We expect to have 60” votes needed to block a filibuster, Reid said, noting that at least a dozen Senate Republicans have come out against the troop increase.

Bush said in a speech while visiting troops at Fort Benning, Ga., on Thursday that “it’s important for our fellow citizens to understand that failure in Iraq would be a disaster for our future.”’

H.L.s Take:
Too late George, it already is a failure to our future, but even more of a failure to your future. Although you don’t have a future, not that you need one with all the money you stole, but history will judge you as the worst president ever. 100 years from now when kids are learning history your name will be on the tips of thier toungues along with Washington, Lincoln, and FDR, but your name, George, will be up there for the opposite reason.
I was reading a story yesterday in the L.A. times about rich people who hire famous rock bands to play at their parties, peruse this excerpt:

And check out the lineup of stars that David H. Brooks, a defense contractor in Long Island, N.Y., hired for his daughter Elizabeth’s bat mitzvah at New York’s Rainbow Room in 2005: 50 Cent, Aerosmith, Don Henley, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks and Ciara. And during the pre-show cocktails, Kenny G provided some burnished background music. Again, the bill hit a reported $10 million.

That is what your tax dollars, (over 300 Billion so far) the blood of our soldiers (over 3000 so far) and the blood of innocent iraqis (over 100,000) are paying for. How much you want to bet that this guy was a BIG contributor to Bush’s campaign?

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How Low Can He Go?

Poll: Low support for Iraq buildup

USA Today
Excerpt
WASHINGTON — President Bush will outline his “new way forward” in Iraq Wednesday to a nation that overwhelmingly opposes sending more U.S. troops and is increasingly skeptical that the war can be won.

A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday shows a daunting sales job ahead for the White House, which is considering a plan to deploy up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

Those surveyed oppose the idea of increased troop levels by 61%-36%. Approval of the job Bush is doing in Iraq has sunk to 26%, a record low.

Among key findings:

•Nearly half of those surveyed say the United States can’t achieve its goals in Iraq regardless of how many troops it sends. One in four say U.S. goals can be achieved only with an increase in troop numbers.

•Eight in 10 say the war has gone worse than the Bush administration expected. Of those people, 53% say Bush deserves “a great deal” of blame; 41% place a great deal of blame on Iraqi political leaders.

•By 72%-25%, Americans say Bush doesn’t have a clear plan for handling the situation in Iraq. Congressional Democrats fare only a little better: 66%-25%.

Even so, Democrats take control of Congress amid a wave of good feeling. By 2-to-1, Americans say they want congressional Democrats, not Bush, to have more influence over the direction of the nation.

H.L.s Take:
Yes, but do Congressional Democrats want to take have more influnce over the nation, or do they want to let Bush hang himself with his own rope?
Bush is truly in desperation land now. Of course everything he does makes it worse for himself in the long run, but hey no one wants to tell the emperor that he is not wearing any clothes, so he will continue to furhter drag down this once great nation.
After his troop surge kills even more of our soldiers, (and everyone else over there) his rating will be lower then then the tempeture on a winter morning at the South Pole. Is it possible to have a negative approval rating???

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Snow Falsely Claims That Bush Said ‘Just The Opposite’ Of ‘Mission Accomplished’

Think Progress.org
Excerpt

In today’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow tried to distance President Bush from his infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, claiming that Bush said “just the opposite” of “Mission Accomplished”:

I think the public ought to just listen to what the president has to say. You know that the mission accomplished banner was put up by members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, and the president, on that very speech, said just the opposite, didn’t he?

For that May 1, 2003, Bush stood in front of a large banner that read, “Mission Accomplished.” In the opening of his speech, he declared, “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” He called the “battle of Iraq” a “victory.” In his radio address shortly after the speech, he boasted, “I delivered good news to the men and women who fought in the cause of freedom: their mission is complete and major combat operations in Iraq have ended.”

Additionally, as Bob Woodward reported in October, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to pressure the White House to take out of the speech the actual phrase “Mission Accomplished,” but he couldn’t “get the sign down.”

In Oct. 2003, then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan admitted that the White House — not members of USS Lincoln — had “take[n] care of the production of the banner.”

Full transcript below:

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Say Good-bye to a Future Republican Presidency

Thomas Paine’s Corner
Excerpt
President George W. Bush, contrary to the will of the American and Iraqi peoples and his own military commanders, seems ready to embark on a potentially disastrous escalation of the Iraq war, which was lost long ago. This mind-numbingly idiotic strategy is sure to needlessly cost more American and Iraqi lives and to lose the presidency for the Republicans in 2008…

20,000 more U.S. troops will be sent to Iraq to dampen the violence in Baghdad and Anbar province. This relatively small number of troops will not quell the violence, however. Although more troops are being added, they will now patrol Shi’ite areas, as well as Sunni enclaves, thus continuing to be spread too thin. And news of the arrival of more foreign occupiers most likely will increase resistance…

the president is trapped in his own psychological maladies. Deep down, he knows that Iraq is an unsalvageable mess, but he is an avoider of bad news and cannot accept it mentally. Psychologically, he just hopes to postpone defeat in any way he can. Defeat in Iraq means a failed presidency for him. The likely outcome of this mental trap is to attempt to keep the lid on Iraq’s escalating civil war until he can hand off the problem to his successor.

Escalation of the war means his successor will very likely be a Democrat. By 2008, the failed Iraq policy will make the hawkish McCain radioactive as a candidate for president. Even Republicans who were skeptical of Bush’s war policies, such as Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), probably will not be able to win the presidency. In the 2006 congressional elections, even Republicans who opposed the war—for example, Jim Leach of Iowa—were defeated. Thus, Bush’s new strategy will likely strengthen Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress in 2008.

H.L.s Take
You got that right. As I read somewhere yesterday, the Democrats have to tred a thin line, If they take away funding for the war they leave themselves open to charges of “Losing The War” from Republicans, if on the other hand they sit back and criticize what Bush is doing, but do not try to stop him, they can sit back and watch while Bush goes down in the final throes of failure and humiliation in Iraq. Of course the downside of that is that more troops have to die. Of course if they would speak up, in plain English and continue to pound home the facts Bush would be so badly exposed that they could then cut his funding without getting the “lost the war” label. But as usual Democrats, and the media, keep there mouths shut about the catastrophe that is Everything Bush, and allow it to happen

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AP
Al-Qaida suspects still alive in Somalia

AP
Excerpt
MOGADISHU, Somalia – A top U.S. official in the region said Thursday that none of the al-Qaida suspects believed to be hiding in Somalia died in a U.S. airstrike this week, but Somalis with close ties to the terrorist group were killed….
A Somali human rights group said Thursday that thousands of Somalis fleeing the fighting were now stranded on the Kenyan border, which has been closed.
“Thousands are in a bad condition and they do not have food and water. They are stranded at the border after Kenya closed it and they cannot go back to their houses for two reasons: the ongoing airstrikes and lack of transportation,” said Ali Bashi, chairman of the Fanole human rights group.
The Red Cross said more than 850 wounded people, both civilians and soldiers, have been treated at medical facilities since fighting started just over two weeks ago. The group said in a statement it was deeply concerned about the plight of civilians and those captured by Ethiopian and government forces.

H.L.s Take:
They killed the wrong 10 people, wounded 850, left thousands stranded at the border with nowhere to go, chaos everywhere, this sounds like the work of George W. Bush, the failure monkey in chief. Everything he touches turns to s**t. They call that the reverse midas touch. However since failure and chaos is the Bush families main goal, I guess you would call it the reverse reverse midas touch. Either way you look at it you can chalk up another in a still perfect record of failure. Bush is becoming the Cal Rikpen Jr. of failure, he hasn’t missed an opportunity to F**k up in at least 6 years.

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Monday evening I had the chance to go to the L.A. Premier of the new movie God Grew Tired of Us, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. I was invited to cover the red carpet entrance, as well as the movie and after party. I arrived a little late for the red carpet and when I walked in the first people I spotted being interviewed were Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie.

See The Rest of The Story and More Pics

Whats happening, I just got back from the L.A Premier of the new movie “God Grew Tired Of Us” which is the story of the “Lost Boys” who were refugees of Sudan, and escaped the brutal civil war. There was a screening, and after party at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, which has a small theatre. A few people attended you may have heard of. I got some pics.

Full story and more pics in the morning.

Gov. Bush & his mystical buddy

Gainesville.com
Excerpt
Jebbie and “Chang” Share a Moment

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.

H.L.s Take
He can’t even keep his imaginary friend (what is he? 6 years old?) happy, imagine how the people of the state he leads must feel about him. The whole damn family is insane, and should be stopped now.

Did you know that in Florida it is legal to shoot someone if you feel threatened by them in anyway at all. If someone does not like the way you look at them (even if he just thinks you are looking at him) He is legally allowed to shoot and kill you. Will someone do me a favor and just blow that place off the damn map already. What a bunch of F**king Rednecks.

Welcome to Florida! Wish You Weren’t Shot!

The Gun Guys
Excerpt

You’ll have to be careful heading down to Florida nowadays. After the “deadly force” bill passed there last year, it’s now legal for anyone to shoot you first if they at all feel threatened. Look at someone the wrong way? Take some lead home with you from your vacation!

And bless their souls, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is taking it upon themselves to warn tourists to watch their fanny packs.

Enter Florida at your own risk. That’s the message supporters of gun control are sending in an ad campaign designed to warn visitors about Florida’s new law allowing victims to shoot first in self-defense without fear of prosecution.

H.L.s Take:
The south half of Florida is mostly made up of New Yorkers who got tired of the winter. (If they had waited a little longer they wouldn’t have had to bother leaving for the weather since it now gets up into the seventies in January in the Northeast) and high real estate prices. The North half of the state consists of the capital, Tallahassee, and a bunch of dumb ass toothless rednecks. These are the people who steal elections for the Bush’s every 4 years and hide in their houses with a shotgun in thier lap every night in fear. Stay out of that alligator infested swamp, which will be the first to go under water when global warming kicks in completly. Let them shoot it out amongst themselves.

Manipulating Oil Prices For Political Gain

Riding The Juggernaut.com
Excerpt
“I mean if anybody says there’s some magical solution to the high price of petrol in Australia, will you please ring the Lodge and I’ll spend an hour all-ears listening to them.”
– Australian Prime Minister John Howard, August 1st, 2006

It was August 1st, 2006, when Howard made this disingenuous remark. The oil market had soared to record highs (over $US78 a barrel) in mid-July. There was widespread consumer anger at ever-rising bowser prices and record oil company profits.

And yet, by the time US mid-term elections came around three months later, the oil price had fallen a massive 20 percent.

And now, with the US elections over, oil prices are on the rise again. Here’s a little graph (slightly adapted) from Opec’s own website.

Yup, the lowpoint came on exactly the week of the US Midterm elections. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The big question is, how did it happen, and why?

First, let’s look closely at what happened. Here, courtesy of Blogging Stocks, are the average weekly U.S. average price for Super Unleaded for that period (based on data from the
Energy Information Administration): Aug 21, 2006: $3.08
Aug 28, 2006: $3.01
Sep 04, 2006: $2.90
Sep 11, 2006: $2.79
Sep 18, 2006: $2.67
Sep 25, 2006: $2.54
Oct 02, 2006: $2.48
Oct 09, 2006: $2.43
Oct 16, 2006: $ 2.40
Oct 23, 2006: $2.39
Oct 30, 2006: $2.41
Nov 06, 2006: $2.39
Nov 13, 2006: $ 2.42
Nov 20, 2006: $2.42

Note the low point of $2.39, achieved in the week just prior to the US mid-term elections, and held to the very day before the election. This fine tuning by US oil retailers was no accident, either. Can you say “price gouging”?

Specifically, on November 6th, the ratio of the price/barrel of gasoline at the pumps and price/barrel of crude oil fell to 167% — significantly lower than the weekly average of 174% between August 21st and November 20th.

The conventional wisdom holds that the US government cannot significantly influence world oil prices, except through manipulation of the US strategic reserve. But in a globalized world, that sort of thinking is sorely out-dated:

During a meeting in the Oval Office, according to [Bob] Woodward, Bush personally thanked Bandar because the Saudis had flooded the world oil market and kept prices down in the run-up to the 2004 general election.

The remarkable link between the price of oil and Bush’s popularity has already been well documented:

H.L.s Take
There is talk of gas now going above $3.00 a gallon, You SUV drivers out there should be plenty pissed off at that. Today came news however that prices are going down due to the summer like weather we are having in mid January, (but shhhh don’t mention global warming…) The first time that tempetures return to normal, the prices will rocket up again. This is a very interesting article, read the whole thing and see what you think.