Humor through juxtaposition:
Look, let’s talk turkey. McClellan isn’t a very good press secretary, to put it mildly. He looks as though at any moment he is going to bolt from the podium and go running into the bathroom to throw up. Karl Rove is the most effective White House strategist in our lifetimes. – John Podhoretz, the Corner
…
President George W. Bush’s job approval rating fell below 40 percent to its lowest level in three national polls conducted after the indictment of an administration official in the CIA leak case and the withdrawal of another aide as a Supreme Court nominee.
Thirty-five percent of the public said they approved of how Bush is handling his job in a CBS News poll, lower than any two- term president in the last 48 years except Richard Nixon, according to the network’s data. A Zogby International poll found his job approval rating at 39 percent, as did a survey by the Washington Post/ABC News. – Bloomberg News
Then go read this Ezra Klein Cult of Personality post and exchange Bush with the name Rove.
Discuss.
*** Update ***
Mark Kleiman comments.
Vladi G
No comment today on Drownie’s emails, John?
KC
Interesting. Honestly, to some extent, though I’m not a fan of the president, I’ve been infected by the cult of Rove. There was a time when I thought the guy could get away with any dirty trick, do any dirty deed, and come out unscathed and still on top of the pyramid.
SomeCallMeTim
Bush at 35%? 55% of Americans think the Administration intentionally misled us into Iraq? Why does America hate America?
John Cole
Hunh?
MnMnM
Grand Jury testimony of Karl Rove, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States (COSTUS), leaked by Rove-ing reporter (humor). How much will COSTUS cost us? Please keep my identity a secret. Double super Secret.
Middle-aged, Middle-of-the-road, Mid-Westerner
Posted at http://rovesayswholeakedfirst.blogspot.com/
demimondian
Oh for heaven’s sake, Vlad. Drownie was just a bureaucrat out on a jaunt. Nobody could have foreseen that those emails would become public.
(You knew I was setting up for something like that, didn’t you?)
ppGaz
Please rescue me. Can I come home now? Nobody could have anticipated this. I’m doing a heckuva job.
Please allow me time to eat my dinner.
—//
Sorry, this whole thread just seemed like a straight line.
demimondian
JC — Drownie’s emails
ppGaz
Well, other than anyone who has been a government employee for longer than a week. It’s right there in the orientation: Your email is PUBLIC PROPERTY. Don’t write anything you would not want to see in the newspaper.
Maybe Drownie skipped the New Employee meetings?
Kimmitt
Anyone who can get Bush elected twice is a freaking genius; the fact that there isn’t a decimal point in Bush’s approval rating is yet more testament to Rove’s abilities.
I guarantee Rove wasn’t consulted in the decision to appoint Fitzgerald; even very smart men are undone by the actions of very stupid allies.
demimondian
WOuld you complain if Drownie took time out to eat a baby?
jaime
If Rove is such a genius (with a photographic memory apparently), why is his memory so faulty?
Mike S
That was the fault of Nagin and Blanco, Brownie did a heck of a job eating that baby.
Ancient Purple
Indeed, the Drownie emails were certainly an entertaining read during my lunch hour today.
However, I submit, for your approval, that this story takes the cake for a good belly laugh on how the White House is absolutely incapable of operating without Rove in charge.
Here’s a hint at the contents: Howard University, Soul Food, Pres. Bush’s visit, students directed to the back of the cafeteria to get their food.
This is priceless material.
cd6
kimmit hit the nail on the head
The fact that Bush isn’t only getting a positive approval rating equal to the percentage of Americans directly related to him shows that Karl Rove truly is a master of the politics. I mean, daaaaaaammnnn
demimondian
Da.n! I’m going to be cleaning Coke out of that keyboard for a LO-ONG time to come.
Krista
You say “to-may-to”, I say “to-mah-to”…you say “quiet, dignified morality”, I say “that happy asshole”…
Bob In Pacifica
Anyone who can get Bush elected twice is a criminal.
By the way, I’ve always felt that naming streets and putting up statues for living people is getting too close to the cult of personality for me. I like the Post Office waiting until the body’s cooled off for five years before putting anyone on a postage stamp.
Rove may have gotten Bush elected twice, and they used all the reactionary tricks to do it (fear, war, racial angst, outright vote-rigging), but eventually when your guy is dipping down to 35% I think you are no longer a genius.
And I don’t think it was his cleverness that kept him from being indicted……..yet.
Ancient Purple
That is pretty much what I did today as well. I literally coughed up a lung laughing so hard when I read how the security guards told the black student to go to the back of the cafeteria to get their fried chicken meals.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up. Why would you need to with Bush in the White House?
Enigma
Did they poll illegal immigrants?
stickler
Now, now, it’s not like Bush is setting any records for unpopularity. Yet. From the MSNBC Wayback Machine:
By the way, just look at how unpopular Truman was in 1951. Man, that 24% is lower than dirt. Truman is now one of our most-popular ex-presidents, but when he was actually in office? The buck stopped and took a crap on his popularity.
So just keep these numbers in mind as George W. Bush benchmarks. Can he do it? Can he set a new low in popularity? An anxious world awaits …
Mike S
We can move a little closer.
Slide
How much longer before Bush starts hitting the bottle again?
John S.
Kleiman seems to be on to something. While I’m not entirely willing to assume that Scotty bears little mea culpa for his credibility being tarnished, I can certainly agree with the conclusion he draws.
It would certainly explain the look he has on his face lately during the press conferences.
SoCalJustice
While I concede it is indeed amazing that he got someone, who often speaks like English is his third language, elected President – twice – his reign also coincides with the robust 35% figure, as was noted above.
Feels like a mixed bag to me.
Besides, should we really be all that impressed that he beat such acharismatic suits as Gore and Kerry? And again, he didn’t really win (fine – by all that much/hanging chads, whatever) the first election, and that was right after the previous President had been impeached.
Rove – overrated evil genius.
Slide
Bush’s approval numbers are bad enough but I found some of the other numbers in the polls even more revealing. Only 40% find Bush honest and trustworthy. That was one of his strong suits. I don’t care what you do, or what your policies are, if the public doesn’t trust you and don’t think you are honest, you are not going to be able to recover.
Another interesting number is the 59% that think Rove should resign and those numbers are only going to go up in the coming days. Mark my words, his days are numbered. As I said in another thread, either Rove lied to Scotty or Scotty lied to the press. My guess, and apparently many in the White House agree with me, think it is the former. He’s gotta go.
stickler
Slide asks:
You use those words as if that which you ask hasn’t already occurred. Or, worse, as if he actually, truly, gave up drinking in the first place. All the evidence either way is completely anecdotal. And, as far as getting on the wagon is concerned, not all that convincing.
Mike S
I’m not fond of commenst like that. I don’t like the man but it’s almost as if you are wishing for it to happen.
I admire people who’s lives are going wrong because of addiction when they get themselves cleaned up.
Slide
The qualities one needs to win an election, especially if morals and ethics do not impede your actions, are not the same qualities that help you govern a nation. I never thought I’d say this but Trent Lott was right when he questioned a political operative being put in charge of policy. They are two different things.
Slide
lighten up Mark its a joke.
Slide
So do I, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want them in charge of our nuclear arsenal.
John S.
Not to be confused with Wile E. Coyote – super genius.
Mike S
Who’s Mark?
Slide
sorry, Mike. I’ve been drinking. With Bush in office, someone has to.
Steve Casburn
The opening chapter of Kurt Eichenwald’s Conspiracy of Fools, a book about the Enron bankruptcy, recounts an Enron PR flack having a meltdown in a meeting with corporate officials who are trying to figure out what is happening in the company as it collapses around them.
I wonder if a future Bob Woodward book will include a similar scene from 1600 Pennsylvania.
Mike S
Looks like I picked the wrong 8 years to quit sniffing glue.
stickler
Look, we’ve had people in office who were complete and total drunks. I’m not sure that matters. FDR liked (or so the story goes) to have at least four dirty martinis a night; Nixon knocked’em back with the best, and LBJ was famous for taking guests on 90 mph tours of his ranch with a cup of Scotch in his right hand (now that would have been exciting!). Harding had his own rum-runner make deliveries of Canadian whiskey to the White House (remember, during Prohibition).
(Surgeon General’s Disclaimer: heavy drinking probably contributed to the early deaths of at least Harding and FDR, and along with the smoking — and Vietnam — LBJ, too. So imbibe in moderation.)
Few successful statesmen could top Churchill, though, who started almost every day with a bottle of champagne and drank steadily — every day, including during the Blitz — through until 2am. Even FDR dreaded Churchill’s visits to Washington. “I assure you, madam, that I have taken more out of drink than drink has ever taken out of me.”
(Loudmouthed drunk’s disclaimer: Churchill lived to his 90s and drank like a fish to the very end. Smoked stogies, too.)
It’s not the drinking that is the potential problem with W. It’s the lying hypocrisy, as with so much else. He’s the one who made it an issue, and in a “morally-clear” but somehow, “factually-vague” way, from 1999 on. And he started a war based on a pack of lies, which just adds to the venom.
Steve S
Yes, but Truman had the good sense not to run for reelection after getting us into Korea.
Somehow I rather doubt history will be as kind to the Excuses President as it was to the Buck Stops Here President.
Steve S
I don’t. I admire people who don’t let themselves fall into addiction and mess up their lives in the first place.
ppGaz
Some numbers MSNBC just put up.
That 17% that thinks that honesty has risen under Bush?
That’s called the “Darrell Effect.”
Two thirds don’t like the ethics of this bunch. Two thirds think the war was a bad idea (not worth the loss of life). Two thirds don’t think Bush is doing a good job. These are just some numbers I picked up from mainstream polls in the last day or two.
I don’t think these guys have struck bottom yet. I think we are going to see historically low numbers before it’s over. But we’ve passed the point at which the potatoheads can govern. At this point we just have to hope they don’t fuck up the delivery of mail and the Social Security checks.
Paddy O'Shea
New AP/Ipsos Poll today has Shrub at 37%, a new low for this poll. But then the Kennebunkport Cowboy sets new lows almost every week no matter what poll you might happen to be reading.
Some here have cited worse poll numbers for other presidents. But what people need to keep in mind is those are the lowest figures those presidents ever recorded. We’re not to that point yet with the current Mr. Popularity.
My bet is he’s going for the record. When it comes to failure, nobody beats George W. Bush.
CaseyL
I never thought I would say this, but after seeing Wonkette’s photo of McClellan, I almost feel sorry for the guy. The look in his eyes is just like the one Anakin Skywalker had at the moment they put the Darth Vader helmet on him.
Steve S
Want to see even lower ratings?
dKos has the link…
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/3/224529/687
Documents that have come out from the Abramhoff investigation, detailing the Republican strategy. This quote from a Salon article, but the PDF of the original documents is noted by dKos.
ppGaz
This is where the code words come from. I mean, who in their right mind would have believed that mainstream candidates for office would be talking about something called the “sanctity of marriage?” There’s no such thing, and if there were, it would be church business, not government business … one reason why once the election is over, they pretty much ignore the “topic.”
So we have the President of the United States running for reelection and talking about this “sanctity of marriage” bullshit … and as soon as the election is over, it’s “political capital” and “mandate” and “social security reform.”
Say wha … ???
Honestly, when you look at this year’s news as a sort of record of these guys’ performance, you have to shake your head. Have you ever seen anything like this? The depth and breadth of the incompetance and the arrogance. It’s breathtaking. It’s a spectacle. And here’s the beauty part: They have 3 years to go! Still plenty-o-time to completely fuck up the country and half the world.
We are watching history being made here.
Ancient Purple
They President’s “base” became classic patsies. They were fed a line of bull and they feasted on it all the while cheering at what a noble, honest, sincere and courageous president we have.
The sad part is how many will still continue to rally around him, as though he was a demi-god.
Disgraceful.
stickler
Upthread someone mentioned that all my depressing numbers were for the low points in previous Presidents’ approval ratings.
Yes, indeed, that they were. George W. Bush still has the better part of three years to beat them.
Come on, people, don’t you love an underdog? I’ll bet he can not only start the stupidest overseas invasion in our history (who is stupid enough to start a land war in Asia in 2003?), but he can also turn a $200 million surplus into massive deficits, get half his staff indicted, and — finally — get his approval ratings below 10%.
He wants to make a mark on history. He will. A skid mark.
stickler
Shit. Mr. P-Gaz already posted most of what I just said.
I need to buy a new Mustang. It would sharpen my reflexes.
Fledermaus
Aw, how ’bout some sympathy for the
devilScottie, it’s hard work keeping all those lies marshaled in an orderly formation. Imagine how silly you’d feel having to go out every day and and proclaim that, contrary to what you said yesterday, the sky is now red.It’s not so much that he is a bad press sec. it’s just that – well gee – these folk lie . . . a lot. Ari had it easy back when the press was too afraid to question anything.
Slide
The Republican Strategy to Electoral Victory:
In light of the “Republican Strategy” that we just read, my question is to the Darrells, Stormys, and TallDaves of the world, are you the wackos they talk about or are you the oblivious sheep with the wool pulled over your eyes that they have been fooling all along? Curious to hear your responses.
Paddy O'Shea
Interesting findings in the new ABC/Washington Post Poll. Apparently they’ve found that only 40% of those responding believe that President Bush is “honest and trustworthy,” while 58% claim to “question his integrity.” Which I guess is a nice way of saying that a strong majority of the American people now think that the so-called President of the United States is a miserable lying snake.
“For the first time in his presidency a majority of Americans question the integrity of President Bush, and growing doubts about his leadership have left him with record negative ratings on the economy, Iraq and even the war on terrorism, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110301685.html
Things are getting so bad for the Pinnochio President that you have to wonder if he really is all that relevant to the running of the country anymore. Personally I am surprised that the GOP leadership in the Senate have yet to launch some sort of scheme to send the old Georgie down to Crawford for a 3 year vacation of brush clearing and not reading intelligence reports. The prospect of keeping control of Congress in 2006 with the crazy uncle equivalent of the Republican Party running around and doing his fatuous photo-ops all over the world cannot be a pleasant one for the likes of Fiduciary Frist and Trent “Country Club” Lott.
Oh, and this particular poll found that only 39% approve of the job he is doing, while 60% are not very happy.
How far will Bush fall? Is he heading for the 20s? In the past few weeks the CBS, Zogby, WP-ABC, and AP-Ipsos Poll have all posted new lows for His Irrelevancy. Gallup, ARG, Rasmussen and Fox have him at near lows. Going into the 2006 midterm elections the erstwhile leader of the Republican Party could have poll ratings that rival Richard Nixon during his last bitter days in office.
But is anyone really surprised that George “Mission Accomplished” Bush has gone from mighty War President to limp GOP albatross?
Not me.
Jay
Drownie? Let me guess. The same people who use that term also use the term ‘Rethugs’ or ‘Repugs.’ Right? Am I right?
Pelikan
Or perhaps another way of putting that, other than having seen your horse come in first, (barely) what have you gotten out of Bush’s presidency guys? TallDave, you’re always going on about what a bunch of losers the democrats, (dumb-ocrats? democRATs? demon-rats?) are, what the hell has the latest batch of republicans brought you except some excitement-by-proxy for your adreneline gland during “shock and awe?”
slide
Well, so much for the right wing pundits that all had the “talking points” over the weekend how Bush had “dodged a bullet” with only Libby getting indicted. How it would all blow over. That no one outside of Washington has even heard of Scooter Libby. That the Dems are sooooo disappointed. Bush would change the agenda. Alito was a grand slam home run. Yada, yada, yada. Lol…. right. If only wishful thinking were true. From todays Washington Post:
Withering decline in how Americans view Bush personally. hmmmmm…. the scales have fallen off of eyes of many Americans. Many, not all, we still have the kool-aid drinking Darrell, Stormy, TallDave and MacBuckets to carry the water for this criminal administration.
Enjoy
ppGaz
Shit, I think his wife even calls him that.
nyrev
Now is that any way to talk about a fashion god?
Steve S
I have to go see Jarhead tonight.
DougJ
Oh, come on, believe me if you went through James Lee Witt’s emails there’s plenty of reference to his clothes. That guy was the biggest clothes horse in Arkansas.
And what about Clinton’s 800 hundred dollar haircut that held up air traffic at Dulles for five days? Or Al Gore’s earth tones? Or those pictures of John Kerry windsurfing?
Let’s face it: both sides do this kind of thing. Both parties are captives to the fashion extremists at either end of the political spectrum.
DougJ
I almost forgot: did you see what Aaron Broussard had on when he was on Meet the Press lying through his teeth, with the enormous power of the Jefferson Parrish media establishment behind him? It was *Prada*, Christ’s sake. It’s part of the new Prada Bayou Collection.
Sojourner
It was LAX, not Dulles, and it was two weeks, not five days.
Otto Man
And it wasn’t a haircut. He was feasting upon the blood of womb babies.
Ancient Purple
Sorry, Jay, but I have no respect in any way, shape or form, for a scumbag like Drownie who is more concerned about his clothes and making sure he has ample time to stuff his face at a posh DC restaurant while people are dying in New Orleans.
The only thing missing from this scene of Theatre of the Absurd is Michael Brown suggesting that there are plenty of workhouses and prisons in Louisiana, so why does he need to move on the issue.
timekeeper
I had to check the URL when reading the comments of this thread. I feel as soiled as I do when I venture into Drum’s or Willis’s sites.
DougJ
It was a Baton Rouge restaurant, not a DC restaurant. You’re a liar just like Aaron Broussard. Why is it that when the vice-president’s chief of staff has a memory lapse, it’s a crime, but when an anonymous commenter makes bald-faced lies about FEMA, that’s acceptable? It’s a ridiculous double standard brought about by the extreme left-wing bias of the media.
DougJ
Right on timekeeper. These lefties are filled with so much hate, it’s incredible. The way they go after Michael Brown, it’s just unfathomable. As if James Lee Witt didn’t do the same thing many times. As if Sean Penn and Al Gore didn’t harm the relief effort with their political stunts a thousand time more than Michael Brown did by having the decent dinner everyone is entitled to. It makes me sick to read their hate-filled comments.
Jay
Ancient, the problem is, your argument carries far less weight when you resort to using idiotic terms like “Drownie.”
If you’re going to be critical of Michael Brown and want people to pay attention, you’d be better off not including childish nicknames in the process.
DougJ
Jay, why is it that the left always resorts to this kind of name calling? The right always comes up with much more dignified nicknames like “Hitlery” and “Slick Willie.”
And simply because hundreds of people drowned because of Brown’s negligence, that’s no reason to call him Drownie.
Vladi G
Because its funny. Seriously, I crack up every time I see him called Drownie. Rethuglicans, etc., just not funny. But Drownie? Hilarious.
Rocky Smith
With all the bile you lefties have going lately, I think I’ll invest in the companies that make antacids. I should get a nice dividend on that stock. Doesn’t all that hate eat you up?
Ancient Purple
My mistake. I stand corrected.
I am sorry he was too busy worrying about his clothes and stuffing his face at a Baton Rouge restaurant while people were dying in New Orleans.
But all the Arabian horses were safe.
Lines
What happens if Michael Brown writes to John Cole about how he’s really upset about the way you guys are using his name?
I thought you libs were supposed to be sensative and empathetic, don’t you care how poor Mr. Brown feels?
I did think he looked great on camera, though.
Ancient Purple
Perhaps, but let me bring you up to speed that even the strong Bush supporters in my workplace think “Drownie” is funny and appropriate.
But, in order to make you feel better, let me clear it up for you:
Michael Brown is a disgrace to this nation. He is a soulless clown that worried more about his clothes and having plenty of time for a leisurely dinner that he did about people dying in New Orleans. He is a croney that had no meaningful experience in disaster management and the only reason he got the job is because he kissed Bush’s ass better than most. In short, Brownie is scum and deserves every ounce of ridicule he gets.
Steve S
DougJ – You’re a God damned LIAR!
Aaron Broussard didn’t have a Prada bag with him. It was Von Dutch! Sheesh!
Joan Rivers has more fashion sense than your sorry ass.
Steve S
The Judges at TBS have ruled:
Drownie … Funny.
Hitlery … Not so funny.
Kimmitt
Dude, you’re a conservative. Your entire fricking political philosophy is based around hating sixty to sixty-five percent of the American population. Your personal subset of poor people, gays, liberals, women (or just the ones who have jobs), members of unions, your preferred minority ethnic group . . . the whole conservative philosophy is based around protecting you from the group you hate by denying them power.
Sojourner
Doesn’t it hurt to continually get screwed by your party?
Faux News
I think this interview with Brownie speaks volumes:
http://www.whitehouse.org/ask/mbrown.asp
:-)
kate
Slide Says:
Who’s Mark?
sorry, Mike. I’ve been drinking. With Bush in office, someone has to.
HAHAHAHAAH
Thanks for that
Rocky Smith
I don’t hate any percentage of the population. Nice of you to make such specious assumptions though. Denying them power? That’s laughable. We welcome those whom finally stop drinking the left wing whacko kool-aid all the time- and we don’t care what race they are. We don’t throw oreos at black people running for the Senate just because they don’t back the government being a nanny from cradle to grave. Your side is the one blatantly showing off hatred and total lack of acceptance of anyone with a differing view than their own. There are whackos on both fringes, but I’d like you to explain where you got the idea that I’m a racist. You assume much for someone who doesn’t know me at all. It isn’t the first time someone from your side of the political spectrum has assumed what I think. Very presumtuous of you to do so.
Kimmitt
“Your personal subset”
Ah, the Eternal Conservative Victimhood Complex, a condition so fierce that it only allows its holders to read one word in every three.
Rocky Smith
“Your personal subset” suggests that if the groups named don’t quite fit, there is still a group that I hate anyway. I read every pesumptive word you read. Did you even try to understand any of my response? Apparently not. Well, there is a group that I don’t particularly care for- it is those self loving self important people whom seem to think they know other’s point of view.
Kimmitt
Amazon’s top 25 nonfiction books:
Conservative:
1. “Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Profiles in liberal hypocrisy,” Peter Schweizer
5. “Unhinged: Exposing liberals gone wild,” Michelle Malkin
12. “Disinformation: 22 Media myths that undermine the war on terror,” Richard Miniter
14. “The War on Christmas: How the liberal plot to ban the sacred holiday is worse than you thought,” John Gibson
17. “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades),” Robert Spencer
20. “100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (And Al Franken is #37,” Bernard Goldberg
Liberal:
2. “Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis,” Jimmy Carter
8. “The Truth (with jokes),” Al Franken
Do you see a pattern here? We get it — you hate us, you really really hate us. You’re also not thrilled with the media or Muslims; all of those titles are negative! They’re all about what you loathe. Look at the liberal titles — they’re about what we care for, not what we hate.
You say you aren’t a part of this — fine, I don’t know you. But you belong to a movement which is defined by hatred of the other.
Rocky Smith
Yea- Al Franken never took a shot at anyone, right? Michael Moore never said anything bad (or untrue) about anyone either. Get real! I could list liberal hate mongers all day.
Kimmitt
Yes, yes, “I know you are but what am I?” Whatever.
Jack Roy
We welcome those whom finally stop drinking the left wing whacko kool-aid all the time- and we don’t care what race they are. We don’t throw oreos at black people running for the Senate just because they don’t back the government being a nanny from cradle to grave.
Neither, it appears, do liberals.