What was he thinking!?

I am checking out reviews of the latest Springsteen album and I come across this...

Rolling Stone:

Hoping to cash in on Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band’s Super Bowl appearance, Wal-Mart will exclusively release the group’s Greatest Hits at a low price on January 13th.

Oh, man, how could you, Bruce!?

Can't Stop the Pain

Automatic Earth:

I’m going to go out on a not-so-thin limb here and make a prediction: This latest scheme to save the world will fail just like all the others. That is because nothing … NOTHING … can prevent a painful adjustment process. I wish that weren’t the case. But the time to prevent this painful correction and deleveraging process was a few years ago when the bubble was inflating. If regulators, policymakers, borrowers, and lenders hadn’t acted so stupidly then, we wouldn’t be in this mess now. But they did, we are, and no amount of Washington happy talk can change that fact.

Where we're at.

[h/t Crooks and Liars]

No. More. BAILOUTS!

Enough!

AO PAULO -- General Motors plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil to avoid the kind of problems the U.S. automaker is facing in its home market, said the beleaguered car maker.

According to the president of GM Brazil-Mercosur, Jaime Ardila, the funding will come from the package of financial aid that the manufacturer will receive from the U.S. government and will be used to "complete the renovation of the line of products up to 2012."

The United States of Jose Padilla

Christian Science Monitor:

"This guy had nothing. He was utterly isolated and had no clue that there was anybody out there advocating for him. He was just there forever," says Michael O'Connell of Charleston, one of Padilla's lawyers. "I don't think I could have stood that and come out sane."

Mr. O'Connell adds: "I can't think of another time in this country that that ever happened to an American citizen."

The Justice Department says the case should be thrown out of court because government officials are entitled to qualified immunity from such lawsuits.

That's where we are today. Will we rectify the situation by holding those responsible accountable? Or will we bury it, protect the wrongdoers, and continue to destroy the rights of American citizens?

"We are reviewing the allegations and have no comment," he said.

Welcome to the United States of Excessive Force. Shame on us for allowing our country, which also has the highest incarceration rate of any nation, to become a place where police brutality runs rampant and where you are subject to tasering for not taking your proper seat at a football game. We are ALL Pigs!

Via Hullabaloo:

University of Wisconsin football fans Roman and Margaret Hiebing, who have strong ties to the university, have filed claims against the state of Wisconsin claiming police officers used excessive force, including a Taser, when arresting Margaret for sitting in the wrong place at the crowded Penn State football game in October.

The Hiebings were among the 81,524 fans who packed into Camp Randall Stadium on Oct. 11 to watch the Nittany Lions pound the Badgers, 48-7.

Like many others in section U on the east side of the stadium, Margaret Hiebing could not sit in her regular seat in row 69 because it had already been taken. So she sat at the end of the row, partially in the aisle, and that led to confrontation with police, which led to Margaret being handcuffed, stung by a Taser, and being ticketed for disorderly conduct on university property.

[...]

The Hiebings live in Maple Bluff and Roman is retired after a lengthy career in advertising, including 25 years as head of the Hiebing Group, a premier advertising firm in Madison, and he taught in both the business and journalism schools at UW. Margaret worked for many years as a nurse at University Hospital. The couple has had Badger football tickets for the past 25 years, the notice of claim says, and are members of the Bascom Hill Society.

The notice of claim makes UW-Madison Police Officer Tamara Kowalski out to the prime culprit of what the couple calls "excessive force." As Margaret Hiebing was trying to watch the game from her makeshift seat at the end of the aisle, Kowalski approached and told her to get in her seat. Roman Hiebing then asked the officer to check tickets of those in row 69, because some people were obviously in the wrong seats.

Kowalski, the notice of claim says, "did not check the tickets; in fact, (did) nothing to rectify the situation in response to (Roman's) request."

"Without provocation, Kowalski then grabbed (Margaret's) hair, pulling it backwards," and threatened to spray Margaret with pepper spray, the filing says. Kowalski then called six other officers to the area, and they in turned grabbed Margaret and started hauling up the stairs, the notice of claim says.

Margaret Hiebing tried to warn officers that she had previous knee surgery which made her prone to injuries, but said in an affidavit her pleas were ignored. When she got to the top of the stairs, Officer Peter Grimsyer "Tasered her repeatedly," the notice of claim says.

Roman, the claim says, was battered and falsely imprisoned by Officers Benjamin Newman and Nicolas Banuelos when he tried to help his wife.

State Justice Department spokesman William Cosh declined to discuss the claim. "We are reviewing the allegations and have no comment," he said.

Police said at the time that Margaret Hiebing was "kicking and screaming" when officers tried to handcuff her. "That's when one of the officers discharged a Taser weapon on her," said UW Police Sgt. Jason Whitney.

Party Down!

Iran

01.30? Stella's Birthday.

Shoe Wouldn't Believe it...

A statue of the shoe hurled

at former US President

George W Bush

has been unveiled in Iraq

Mr Bush had to duck during a press conference in Baghdad when journalist Muntadhar al Zeidi threw his size nines in anger. Footage of the incident spread around the world, prompting rallies in the Arab world and political satire in the US and UK.

Now, a giant fibreglass and copper statue of the shoe has been unveiled in Tikrit - the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. Artist Laith al Amari said his work was in honour of the pride of the Iraqi people. It is inscribed with a poem which pays tribute to the missile-throwing journalist.

Al Zeidi himself is still awaiting trial for "assault" against a foreign leader. He reportedly intends to apply for political asylum in Switzerland, after claiming he was beaten up in custody.

[Source: SKY News, UK]

There's no maybe about it...

You work for us now, Geithner.

Stop pretending you still work on Wall Street.

Big Picture:

Consider this statement from Geithner, who said that Treasury is considering a “range of options” for its financial rescue plan, with the goal of preserving the private banking system. “We have a financial system that is run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we’d like to do our best to preserve that system.”

No! Defending these idiots was your old gig. In the new job, you no longer work for the cretins responsible for bringing down the global economy. Please stop rationalizing their behavior, and preserving the status quo!

"Finance, like time, devours its own children."

According to data from Equilar, a compensation research firm, the average performance-based bonuses for top executives, other than the chief executive, at 132 companies with revenues of more than $1 billion increased by 14 percent, to $265,594, in the 2008 fiscal year.

[...]

On Wall Street, where money is the ultimate measure, some employees apparently feel slighted by their diminished bonuses. A poll of 900 financial industry employees released on Wednesday by eFinancialCareers.com, a job search Web site, found that while nearly eight out of 10 got bonuses, 46 percent thought they deserved more.

How far we have to go...

Raw Story:

A Republican senator says that President Barack Obama's attorney general nominee, Eric Holder, privately offered assurances that no Bush administration officials would be prosecuted for torture if he was confirmed.

The claim was printed Wednesday in a conservative-leaning Washington, D.C. newspaper.

"Sen. Christopher 'Kit' Bond, a Republican from Missouri and the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in an interview with The Washington Times that he will support Eric H. Holder Jr.'s nomination for Attorney General because Mr. Holder assured him privately that Mr. Obama's Justice Department will not prosecute former Bush officials involved in the interrogations program," Eli Lake writes for the Washington Times.

You, too, can succeed in politics! Just sell out your principles and watch your career flourish. It's easy. Get started today!

How far we've come...

An astonishing performance by 16 year old Janis on the Smothers Brothers show.

R.I.P. Mr. Schur

I'd like to share a truly disgraceful incident that I found on The Sniper's blog, and even used the same title. No matter how often progressives and conservatives may disagree, there are perspectives that go beyond politics. This is clearly one of those issues.

This should have NEVER happened:

BAY CITY, Mich. -- Officials in central Michigan say a 93-year-old man who owed more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills froze to death inside his home -- where the municipal power company had restricted his use of electricity.

Neighbors and friends of Marvin Schur want answers as to how this could happen.

“Now that we do know it was hypothermia, there’s a whole bunch of feelings that I’ve got going through me,” said Jim Herndon, a neighbor of Schur’s. “There’s anger, for the city and the electrical company.”

Schur’s neighbor, Herndon, said Schur had a utility bill on his kitchen table with a large amount of money clipped to it, with the intention of paying that bill.

Right now the city said the situation is still under investigation. Marvin Schur was a World War II veteran.

[Sniper] Is this pissing off anybody else as much as it pisses me off? According to the article:

Bay City Electric Light and Power, which is owned by the city, said a limiter was placed on Schur’s electrical line.

The device limits the power that reaches a home, and it blows out like a fuse if power consumption rises past a set level.

[Sniper]From another article I read on the subject, BCEL&P was supposed to show the guy how to reset the limiter after it blows, but they weren’t sure that happened. Not only that, but just how the hell did they expect a frail, 93 year old man to do that kind of thing on his own? Oh, and in 30 below weather to boot? This kind of thing pisses me off to no end. Nobody should be left to die in the cold in their own home in this country, let alone a WW II vet.

To allow a 93-year-old, WWII veteran to freeze to death in his own home is just a disgrace. In this part of Michigan, the temperature may get down to 20 degrees, and then drop another 30 due to the "lake effect."

Sure, we may not agree with war, but is this the right way to treat our veterans. My sincerest thanks to Sniper.

The Warthog Speaketh

Limbaugh against stimulus

because its success could hurt

GOP’s electoral chances.

On Friday, when President Obama met with congressional leaders from both parties to discuss his economic recovery and reinvestment program, he told GOP leaders, “You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” Asked for a response by National Review yesterday, Limbaugh said that Obama’s “plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters.” He added that passage of the stimulus bill would hurt Republicans electorally:

Obama’s plan would buy votes for the Democrat Party, in the same way FDR’s New Deal established majority power for 50 years of Democrat rule, and it would also simultaneously seriously damage any hope of future tax cuts. It would allow a majority of American voters to guarantee no taxes for themselves going forward. It would burden the private sector and put the public sector in permanent and firm control of the economy. Put simply, I believe his stimulus is aimed at re-establishing “eternal” power for the Democrat Party rather than stimulating the economy because anyone with a brain knows this is NOT how you stimulate the economy.

Limbaugh’s argument echoes former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell’s recent claim that Obama’s stimulus plan “could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats at taxpayer expense... Creating 600,000 new jobs might help cement Virginia in the Democrat column, making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House,” said Blackwell.

Great comments from post:

Joe: The repugs/neocons and their media shills just hate the “will of the people”.

Limpballs knows that if the majority of people had any real input on programing, his fat a$$ would be off the air.

Crusty Old Bastard Says: "Obama’s stimulus plan “could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats…" I sure hope so as it is about time, again!

Proud American Liberal: "Note to Rush: Obama was not elected by the media. He was elected by the American people who were tired of failed GOP policies and shenanigans. Obama worked hard to be elected and the American people worked hard to put him there. The GOP is the only one who hurt the GOP electoral chances, and continue to do so. Now STFU and go away."

Kay in Maine: "But I thought the right wingers of America said we should always love our president right or wrong and that we should support him no matter what (to prove our love of country and our patriotism)? What happened?"

Briseadh na Faire: Well, there was Bush’s stimulus package last summer. We all got $600, borrowed from future taxpayers. Surely 8 years of Bush’s economic plans were intended to help Republicans electorally. And wasn’t it part of the GOP plan to create a permanent Republican majority? Are we now to let a Republican minority further dictate economic policy? Tax breaks! Tax breaks! Tax breaks! That’s their mantra. Well, if we keep cutting taxes, how are we going to pay off the multi-trillion dollar debt Bush saddled us with?

Haven’t we learned that tax breaks are perhaps the LEAST effective way to stimulate the economy for the long haul? It’s like using your credit card to pay for the necessities of life. Eventually your credit runs out and you have to pay your bills. But without a job, that is impossible.

Without a strong manufacturing base, our economy is untenable. Manufacturing creates wealth. While infrastructure projects provide jobs, they do not, in and of themselves, create wealth. However, they do assist the manufacturing sector, hence are an important investment. But we need to figure out how to bring back “Made in America” stickers on our products. To do that will require sacrifices: we must be willing to buy less, and pay more for what we buy. We must be willing to boycott the Walmarts among us and purchase from stores that sell goods made in the U.S. We must support our fellow workers in this manner, for their jobs create wealth for us all. And companies manufacturing goods in America must commit to making high-quality goods. Gone must be the days where the consumer is afforded the opportunity to purchase an extended warrantee. Innovation must take the forefront once again.

Capitalists must work hand in hand with Labor. Together we can turn our economy around.

HEY RUSH: WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK?

Law Meets Torture

Holy Cow: Top Dems Are Serious About Investigating Bush's Criminal Acts

As President Barack Obama reverses some of ex-President George W. Bush’s most controversial “war on terror” policies, a consensus seems to be building among Democratic congressional leaders that further investigations are needed into Bush’s use of torture and other potential crimes.

On Wednesday – the first working day of the Obama administration – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would support funding and staff for additional fact-finding by the Senate Armed Services Committee, which last month released a report tracing abuse of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib to Bush’s Feb. 7, 2002, decision to exclude terror suspects from Geneva Convention protections.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, who issued that report, echoed Reid’s comments, saying “there needs to be an accounting of torture in this country.” Levin, D-Michigan, also said he intends to encourage the Justice Department and incoming Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate torture practices that took place while Bush was in office.

Two other key Democrats joined in this growing chorus of lawmakers saying that serious investigations should be conducted.... [more]

Presidents: A Brief History

With many thanks to Boston Maggie, from whom I "borrowed" this clip and greatly admire.

To Suzanne Horne of Liquid Illuzion

Where have I been? How late I am to write I will miss her art, poetry, and dynamic creativity. As Utah Savage wrote, "She was a very talented photographer. She deserved more of life than this. She killed herself on Christmas Eve. A woman in her prime. Only forty two." Her blog is one of the most dynamic works of art in cyberspace. I was unaware of her passing until today, much to my regret.



Here is a poem from Suzanne, whose poetic voice touched everyone.

Right foot Left foot
Oh, the sound of pitter - pat.
Some paths lead me forward
And some leave me confused.
Destinations that have brought me joy
and journeys that left me feeling used.
I choose these streets and avenues
Whether skipping and whistling
or singing the blues.
This reminds me,
I need some new shoes!

And the picture I love so much: a Christmas ice cube:


How I wish I'd read her words more closely.

I really do not have many words today.
Just a lot of feelings.

Winter is a time for seeking refuge,
for our mind, body and spirit.

But I refuse.

There are lots of changes going on inside of me
and I feel like I am jumping off into the deep end
without my "floaties" on.

Yet, at the same time, I feel my power welling up inside of me
and I am in search of the tallest cliff imaginable so that even
in the moment where I need to be still and grow,
I am taking action and standing up for my self.

So, today I just feel like putting on my swimming suit,
and plunging into the water from heights I've never been before.

HERE I GO!

I wish your spirit peace and joy, Suzanne.

On the Shoulders of Giants

Thin Is The New Miserable, V

A young girl watched her mum as she
conformed to how society
dictated how a girl should look -
a little nip, a little tuck.

Although just five, she took it in
and saw how chocolate was a sin.
No sweets or biscuits were allowed.
A healthy diet - mum was proud.

By age of nine she often heard
her mum discussing how she cared
so much about her size and weight
and how size two made her feel great.

When she was twelve she realised
that big was bad and she despised
the buds of breasts that just appeared,
for she might now look fat, she feared

So this young girl of chubby form,
she sadly thought it was the norm
to diet and to exercise.
To be like mum - her crucial prize.

When in her teens her carbs she cut,
along with fatty things that put
an ounce of flesh upon her waist.
Her view of self was sure misplaced.

For in the mirror she would look,
while standing tall she'd try to suck
her tummy in but sadly there
was not an ounce of flesh to share.

With every day her frame grew thin.
A fat girl she still saw within.
The bones protruding from her hips
and still no food would pass her lips.

At sixteen she could walk no more,
emaciated to the core,
with failing heart and fading sight.
No will to live or win this fight.

Her mother sat beside her bed.
A string of endless prayers she said,
but through the night she cried bereft
because her darling girl had left.

So is society to blame?
Yes, we should hang our heads in shame.
This twisted world that we live in
despises fat and honours thin.

On Shopping List...

New mouse pad for unrelenting blogger...?

A happy poster for my front door...?

Too Cool!

Off to a great start...

"Let me say it

as simply as I can:

Transparency and the

rule of law

will be the touchstones

of this presidency."

- Barack Obama,

January 21, 2009

Off you go!

To lead the rest of your miserable life.

Oh, Happy Day!

This land was made for you and me.

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

OH, HAPPY DAY!

Waterboarding isn't torture, it's just really bad policy

Keith Olbermann on Obama's refusal to call a crime a crime.

My favorite paragraphs from Obama's speech today

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

That signifies real change for America.

Another very positive sign is the new White House site. It looks great already.

Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

Could it be that the Great Communicator has finally met his match?

FULL STEAM AHEAD, BARACK OBAMA!

You began as a community organizer.

We are all your community now.

Let us be color-blind

With great thanks, I am cross-posting a comment from Lee's Tidbits, which bears thought and reflection on the issue of differences among people.

In 1963 a baptist minister gave a speech about his dream for America and the promise of Freedom and Equality.

• I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
  
• "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
  
• "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

While we have made such long strides since that day, I still feel sad that we are so far from being a color-blind society. My mom and pop raised me to look past the accent, skin color and clothing. My best friends dad taught me that a wheelchair or other handicap aiding device was no measure of a man.

The MSM has been touting President Obama's ethnic background, instead of touting the content of his character, who he is, what he has done to win the hearts and minds of the American public and ascend to the position of the most powerful mortal on the planet.

I agree with the wisdom of Lee's post, as should we all. So, let us usher in a new age where we become color-blind and, as Dr. King said, focus on the content of one's character. We have elected the first African-American president in history: now, let's put this mindset behind us and recognize the greatness in our new president.

I speak in the name of the black millions
Awakening to action.
Let all others keep silent a moment
I have this word to bring,
This thing to say,
This song to sing:

Bitter was the day
When I bowed my back
Beneath the slaver's whip.

That day is past.

Bitter was the day
When I saw my children unschooled,
My young men without a voice in the world,
My women taken as the body-toys
Of a thieving people.

That day is past.

Bitter was the day, I say,
When the lyncher's rope
Hung about my neck,
And the fire scorched my feet,
And the oppressors had no pity,
And only in the sorrow songs
Relief was found.

That day is past.

I know full well now
Only my own hands,
Dark as the earth,
Can make my earth-dark body free.
O thieves, exploiters, killers,
No longer shall you say
With arrogant eyes and scornful lips:
"You are my servant,
Black man-
I, the free!"

That day is past.

For now,
In many mouths-
Dark mouths where red tongues burn
And white teeth gleam-
New words are formed,
Bitter
With the past
But sweet
With the dream.
Tense,
Unyielding,
Strong and sure,
They sweep the earth-

Revolt! Arise!

The Black
And White World
Shall be one!
The Worker's World!

The past is done!

A new dream flames
Against the
Sun!

Langston Hughes

I just can't help myself

To me, seeing Cheney in a wheelchair with a sprained back as he left the White House seems apt. After all, he is one of the prime movers behind our fiscally, socially, and civilly damaged and sprained nation. Of course, the Right Pundits site couldn't wait to disparage progressives, despite President Obama's (HURRAY!) rousing speech that we are in a time of "earth-shaking change":

The picture of Dick Cheney in a wheelchair during the inauguration ceremony will clearly prompt rousing cheers among the partisan left. They will cherish the symbolism of the administration’s chief policy maker and foe appearing crippled on the much-maligned administration’s final day in office. Apparently he pulled a muscle in his back.
...
That was then and this is now. The Bush Administration was largely unsuccessful in the past 4 years, except in two very important area. They stayed they course in Iraq to surprising success. Where a weaker VP and President would have given in to fickle demands from the left, they did the right thing. That is the lesson learned from Vietnam and applied to Iraq: do not give up on a winnable war because liberals don’t like it. And their second success was the recent decisive action during a failed economy. Barack Obama inherits the second half of the banking stimulus and owes a debt of gratitude to the effectiveness of an unpopular, outgoing administration. [Excuse me?]

So we see Dick Cheney in a wheelchair at the inauguration and remember his legacy as the most powerful vice president in U.S. history. He pulled a muscle in his back and will remain in the wheelchair for 2-3 more days. With the excessive parties finally over, one can hope that Barack Obama will get out of his figurative wheelchair in less time.

As our entire country almost crumbled under the weight of this administration, I think the L.A. Times gets the irony and presents a far more appropriate perspective:

WASHINGTON -- There is something fitting about the symbolism.

Dick Cheney, known to the Secret Service and his critics as "Angler," reviled by the left as the Darth Vader of the Bush administration, survivor of enough heart ailments to keep a medical practice in business, spent his last hours in power in a wheelchair.

Felled by a box.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino explained that Cheney pulled a muscle in his back while moving boxes into his new home in the D.C. suburbs -- no more government housing -- and the doctor recommended that he take to a wheelchair for a few days.

The idea of Cheney bested by a bunch of boxes might delight his foes.

But the thing is, what boxes was he packing? Presuming that there are staffers for the heavy lifting, maybe he was taking personal control over the boxes of his papers.

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

America salutes you, Chimpy

You still don't know?

STICK A FORK IN HIM

HE'S DONE!!!

U.S. Joint Forces Command says Mexico in deep doo-doo

So are we invading Mexico next? (quick, check out their oil reserves to see if it makes sense!)

Or are we building a wall?

Or both?

According to the U.S. Joint Forces Command, and as reported at the Huffington Post, Mexico is becoming one of the world's biggest security risks.

"The prospect that America's southern neighbor could melt into lawlessness provides an unexpected challenge to Barack Obama's new government. In its latest report anticipating possible global security risks, the U.S. Joint Forces Command lumps Mexico and Pakistan together as being at risk of a "rapid and sudden collapse."

Not sure what the beaurocrats mean by "could melt" as the economic and political landscape has been molten for years. Uprisings in Chiapas, extreme poverty, narco-trafficking, corruption - anarchy, meltdown, whatever you prefer to call it.

Mexico has been in deep meltdown mode for a long time, but those in charge of security in the outgoing Bush administration are just now noticing.

Obama already off to a lousy start...

They excluded gay bishop Gene Robinson from the HBO broadcast of pre-inauguration festivities.

Sunday afternoon, HBO televised the Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial — a concert planned by the Presidential Inauguration Committee — to kick off the festivities surrounding Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.

Openly gay bishop Gene Robinson delivered the opening prayer before the start of the concert, but the prayer was not included as part of HBO's broadcast.

Contacted Sunday night by AfterElton.com concerning the exclusion of Robinson's prayer, HBO said via email, "The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show."

Way to go.

It's party time in Washington!

[source]

They sure do know how to spend money. Automatic Earth is not happy:

In my opinion, Barack Obama should have cancelled the inauguration celebration, re-directed all of the money set aside for the events to food banks around the nation, and modeled for the nation the sobering realities that we face. Instead he has chosen a grand and glorious wedding rather than a quiet marriage in front of a Justice of the Peace. He has opted for the ten thousand dollar wedding ring rather than weaving blades of grass together into a wedding band. He has baked a cake for a million wedding invitees, a lovely frosting-encased edifice that has no nutritional value for the country. And once the grand wedding is over, all of the drunk celebrants will return home and wake up on Wednesday morning with hangovers and less money in the bank and will scratch their heads and wonder what happens next.

Truth be known, I believe that in time the festivities of the inauguration will serve to undermine Obama's authority during this the most trying moment in American History. People will recall the smiles and good feelings and they will wonder aloud, "what the hell were we thinking?". Had Barack Obama opted for a more understated and somber inauguration, people may have been jolted out of their somnabulent complacency. Unfortunately, while the rest of the nation battens down the hatches, it's party time in Washington!

Rachel Maddow says goodbye and good riddance

And so do I.

History will never revive your reputation. Historians tend to be responsible folks who care about facts. If anything, the verdict will get worse as the extent of your incompetence and the breadth of your crimes are further revealed. The anger and hostility will only grow. As you rot in that upscale Dallas suburb, I doubt that you will have the nerve to confront and digest the hatred that you spawned. Ignore it though you will, it's there to see on countless blogs, in countless newspaper and magazine accounts, and occasionally even on television. It's not going away. If you try to fight it with your propaganda machine, countless individuals will swarm out of the woodwork to pound you back down.

Poem: Take Out The Trash (Or George Bush's Term Ends)

by SGlennW
[Daily Kos]

The long, eight year nightmare comes to an end. Though its residue will linger on our economy, environment and foreign standing, not to mention the graves of far too many young soldiers, thank God the fool is going!!

---

Goodbye to that snicker
And the empty, dumb stare
Adios to the "leader"
Who never did care

I speak of Katrina
As he flew overhead
We can talk of our soldiers
Four thousand-plus dead

Or maybe the workers
Who Enron sold out
Perhaps deregulation
And the greed it would flout

Might mention the warnings
In the NSA brief
With a vacant expression
Our Commander in Chief

While Towers were falling
He read "My Pet Goat"
A half-hearted mission (Afghanistan)
Then a too early gloat ("Mission Accomplished")

Tax cuts for rich folks
The planet a foe
Faith as a weapon
Divisions would grow

Never held interest
In the interests of all
Exclusive for zealots
With a self-righteous call

Gitmo and "Brownie"
Abu Ghraib, Karl Rove
Wherever the story
The low road he strove

Torture made "legal"
A Veep of no bounds
In every step taken
Corruption resounds

So goodbye George Dubya
Farewell Cheney, Dick
The people have spoken
As grown cold to your schtick

Copyright SGW 2008

The Bastard from the Bush

As the night was falling slowly over city, town and bush,
From a slum in Jones's Alley came the Captain of the Push,
And his whistle loud and piercing woke the echoes of the Rocks,
And a dozen ghouls came slouching round the corners of the blocks.

Then the Captain jerked a finger at a stranger on the kerb
Whom he qualified politely with an adjective and verb.
Then he made the introduction: 'Here's a covey from the bush-
Tuck me blind, he wants to join us—be a member of the Push.'

Then the stranger made this answer to the Captain of the Push,
'Why, fuck you dead, I'm Foreskin Fred, the bastard from the bush.
'I've been in every two-up school from Darwin to the 'Loo,
'I've ridden colts and black gins—what more can a bastard do.'

'Are you game to smash a window?' asked the Captain of the Push.
'I'd knock a fucking house down,' said the bastard from the bush.
'Would you take a maiden's baby?' said the Captain of the Push.
'I'd take a baby's maiden,' said the bastard from the bush.

'Would you dong a bloody copper if you caught the cunt alone,
'Would you stoush a swell or Chinkee, split his garret with a stone?
'Would you have a moll to keep you, would you swear off work for good?'
'What? Live on prostitution? My colonial oath I would!'

'Would you care to have a gasper?' said the Captain of the Push.
'I'll take the bloody packet,' said the bastard from the bush.
Then the Pushites all took counsel, saying, 'Fuck me, but he's game.
'Let's make him our star basher, he'll live up to his name.'

So they took him to their hideout, that bastard from the bush,
And they granted him all privileges appertaining to the Push.
But soon they found his little ways were more than they could stand,
And finally the Captain thus addressed his little band.

'Now listen here, you buggers, we've caught a fucking tartar,
'At every kind of bludging, that bastard is a starter,
'At poker and at two-up, he's shook our fucking rolls,
'He swipes our fucking liquor, and he robs our fucking molls.'

So down in Jones's Alley all the members of the Push
Laid a dark and dirty ambush for the bastard from the bush.
But against the wall of Riley's pub, the bastard made a stand,
A nasty grin upon his dial, a bike-chain in each hand.

They sprang upon him in a bunch, but one by one they fell,
With crack of bone, unearthly groan, and agonising yell,
Till the sorely-battered Captain, spitting teeth and gouts of blood,
Held an ear all torn and bleeding in a hand bedaubed with mud.

' You low polluted bastard,' snarled the Captain of the Push,
'Get back to where your sort belong, that's somewhere in the bush:
'And I hope heaps of misfortune may soon tumble down on you,
'May some lousy harlot dose you till your ballocks turn sky-blue.

'May the pangs of windy spasms through your bowels dart,
'May you shit your bloody trousers every time you try to fart,
'May you take a swig of gin's piss, mistaking it for beer,
'May the next push you impose on toss you out upon your ear.

'May the itching piles torment you, may corns grow on your feet,
'May crabs as big as spiders attack your balls a treat,
'Then when you're down and outed, to a hopeless bloody wreck,
'May you slip back through your arsehole, and break your fucking neck.'

It is uncertain whether Lawson wrote the rude poem 'The Bastard from the Bush' and cleaned it up, publishing it as 'The Captain of the Push' (The Bulletin, March 26, 1892), or whether the blue version is a parody of the published poem. (The word 'push' is a mainly Sydney term meaning a company of rowdy fellows gathered together for ungentle purposes. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, larrikins assembled in groups called 'pushes', such as the Bantry Bay Devils, the Stars, the Golden Dragons, the Livers, the Forty Thieves and perhaps the best-known of all, the Rocks Push.)

[Source]

Barbara Boxer - Environmental legislation overturned In the dead of night...

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the incoming chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, speaks to The Associated Press during an interview in Washington Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. In a wide-ranging interview Boxer spoke about her agenda, including her goal to impose the nation's first mandatory caps on carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Environmental rollbacks from the Bush administration "in the dead of the night" are history, Boxer declared...

As if we need a reminder...

The Nightmare Ends...

Bush reported dead. Shocking news is still not confirmed

Divisiveness is not the problem

...it's rather difficult to understand how people think that we're going to "send a message to the world" about the restoration of American values as we deliberately protect the people who have systematically tortured and thereby transparently violate the core provisions of this [Geneva] Convention. Doesn't that conduct rather clearly send the exact opposite message?
- Glenn Greenwald

The Whitewash Express makes a stop in Philadelphia.

We began this train trip in Philadelphia earlier today. It is fitting that we did so - because it was there that our American journey began. It was there that a group of farmers and lawyers, merchants and soldiers, gathered to declare their independence and lay claim to a destiny that they were being denied.

[...]

And yet while our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that those first patriots displayed. What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives - from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry - an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels.

That is the reason I launched my campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago. I did so in the belief that the most fundamental American ideal, that a better life is in store for all those willing to work for it, was slipping out of reach. That Washington was serving the interests of the few, not the many. And that our politics had grown too small for the scale of the challenges we faced.

[...]

But I also believed something else. I believed that our future is our choice, and that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, north, south, east and west, black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.

The national divisiveness is the result of the serious wrongdoing perpetrated by the Bush administration. To call for idealism, reconciliation, and an end of divisiveness without calling to account those responsible for destroying our government and our Constitution reflects a serious unwillingness to confront facts. Is not the Declaration of Independence all about holding a king and a government accountable for its crimes and misdeeds?

We need fewer feel-good symbolic speeches at symbolic stops in symbolic places and more pursuit of justice.

Like Bush, who believes "those who get angry and yell and say bad things ... it's just a very few people in the country," Obama does not seem to understand why people are angry, and he does not seem willing to take the steps necessary to address the serious flaws in government that caused the anger to mushroom and consume the political discourse. He wants us all to wave a mental wand, come together, and make a new day. It's not going to happen. My hope will be restored when wrongdoers are punished for what they have done.

After two years of traveling around the country and criticizing President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama said Friday that he "always thought [Bush] was a good guy." "I mean, I think personally he is a good man who loves his family and loves his country," Obama said in an exclusive interview with CNN's John King. [...] Obama also said he thought Bush made "the best decisions that he could at times under some very difficult circumstances."
[source]

Brief Time of Righteous Ridicule Remaining

My deepest thanks to HILLBLOGGER for introducing me to Peter Brookes. The following is cross-posted on Hill's site. I had one of those "too good to resist" moments, and hope Hill doesn't mind. Thankfully, Busheney won't be around much longer to ridicule.

---

Peter Brookes of The Times, in his latest political cartoon commentary, identifies the outgoing president of the United States as The American Pelican't.

Brookes defines the American Pelican't as "Incapable of independent thought or action, the pelican't is destined to inhabit a swamp of deep incompetence and rank inadequacy. Its call is a baleful 'Yes we can't - yes we can't."

While the American Pelican't and the honest to goodness Pelican may share a slight similarity, they also possess a stark difference: the American Pelican't may seem jovial like the true Pelican of the swamps but it thrives in being callous and malicious. Unlike the tactical Pelican of the swamps, the American Pelican't is virtually brainless. Its thinking neurons are virtually inexistent as it wreaks havoc and destruction whenever and wherever it suits his fancy. It misunderestimates^* its enemies and begins fights that it cannot finish. The true Pelican, on the other hand, is almost simple and harmless. When it preys on other species, it is for the purpose of feeding itself while its American counterpart, the Pelican't, ever the insatiable, seeks easy gratification by preying on the weak.

^*Bushisms: i.e., "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office.".
~~Washington DC, 12 May, 2008

Holtzman says: Hold Bush accountable

Via AlterNet:

We need to launch investigations to get at the central unanswered questions of Bush's abuse of power, commence criminal proceedings and undertake institutional, statutory and constitutional reforms. Perhaps all these things don't need to be done at once, but over time--not too much time--they must take place. Otherwise, we establish a doctrine of presidential impunity, which has no place in a country that cherishes the rule of law or considers itself a democracy. Bush's claim that the president enjoys virtually unlimited power as commander in chief at a time of war--which Vice President Dick Cheney defiantly reasserted just last month--brought us perilously close to military dictatorship.

[...]

Violation of FISA is a felony, and we know, through his own admissions, that Bush failed on at least forty occasions to obtain court approval for the wiretaps, despite the clear requirement of the statute that he do so. He even authorized wiretapping when the Justice Department refused to sign off on its legality. Subsequently the president worked with the FISA court to obtain authorization for the special program--a fact that strongly suggests court authorization could have been obtained much earlier, if not from the outset. Similarly, the president was able to persuade Congress to weaken the FISA protections a number of months ago. That shows that the president could have asked Congress to change the law from the outset (as he did with other parts of FISA). Instead, Bush took it upon himself brazenly and repeatedly to violate the law, authorizing wiretap after wiretap without seeking FISA court approval or revisions in the statute. No person, including a president, should be able to disobey the law this way.

Violation of the Anti-Torture Act is also a felony. This statute bars any US citizen from committing or attempting to commit torture abroad. Those who conspire with or aid and abet the torturers are penalized. The statute carries the death penalty when death results from the torture, and thus in those cases there is no statute of limitations on prosecution.

[...]

If the investigations show that President Bush deliberately deceived the country about the Iraq War, then a determination should be made as to whether the lies are prosecutable under federal law. If so, a criminal proceeding on these grounds should be commenced.

What are we waiting for?

Krugman says LOOK. BACK.

If we whitewash the abuses
of the past eight years,
we'll guarantee
that they will happen again.
- Paul Krugman

Last Sunday President-elect Barack Obama was asked whether he would seek an investigation of possible crimes by the Bush administration.

"I don't believe that anybody is above the law," he responded, but "we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards."

I'm sorry, but if we don't have an inquest into what happened during the Bush years - and nearly everyone has taken Obama's remarks to mean that we won't - this means that those who hold power are indeed above the law because they don't face any consequences if they abuse their power.

[...]

Why, then, shouldn't we have an official inquiry into abuses during the Bush years?

One answer you hear is that pursuing the truth would be divisive, that it would exacerbate partisanship. But if partisanship is so terrible, shouldn't there be some penalty for the Bush administration's politicization of every aspect of government?

Alternatively, we're told that we don't have to dwell on past abuses, because we won't repeat them. But no important figure in the Bush administration, or among that administration's political allies, has expressed remorse for breaking the law. What makes anyone think that they or their political heirs won't do it all over again, given the chance?

If we can't pursue the truth because pursuing the truth is divisive, we might as well pack it in right now. We might as well consign our nation to permanent second-class status on the world stage, more akin to deeply corrupt societies like Mexico and Russia than a beacon among nations. Is that what we want?

Looking Back in Anger at the End of Eight Years of Hell

Profile of the Sociopath

* Glibness and Superficial Charm

* Manipulative and Conning: They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They may dominate and humiliate their victims.

* Grandiose Sense of Self: Feels entitled to certain things as "their right."

* Pathological Lying: Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and even able to pass lie detector tests.

* Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt: A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.

* Shallow Emotions: When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.

* Incapacity for Love

* Need for Stimulation: Living on the edge. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal. Promiscuity and gambling are common.

* Callousness/Lack of Empathy: Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them.

* Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature: Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others.

* Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency: Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet "gets by" by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.

* Irresponsibility/Unreliability: Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blames others, even for acts they obviously committed.

* Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity: Promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts.

* Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle: Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.

* Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility: Changes their image as needed to avoid prosecution. Changes life story readily.

Other Related Qualities:

1. Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
2. Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
3. Authoritarian
4. Secretive
5. Paranoid
6. Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
7. Conventional appearance
8. Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
9. Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
10. Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
11. Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
12. Incapable of real human attachment to another
13. Unable to feel remorse or guilt
14. Extreme narcissism and grandiosity
15. May state readily that their goal is to rule the world [or that a dictatorship could be good if he's the dictator]

(tell me I'm wrong...)

Thin Is The New Miserable, IV

Note to self: help young women find new role models...

From the pro-anorexic website:

I'm having such a horrible night i cant stop sobbing =(
please help me.. someone..

i just got home and i was all upset because of the stupid fucking weight ive gained and its made me so hideous and fat and ugly so i yelled at my mom and told her to leave me alone cause i wanted to be by myself, then she started screaming all of a sudden saying like "I HATE YOU! YOURE THE REASON I HATE MY LIFE!" and all this horrible stuff and i just sat there and took it, then it sunk in. and its all true. i dont deserve anything better than this shithole of a life i have.

and now im miserable and dontknow what to do. half of me wants to starve myself to death and the other half wants to stuff my face with food.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME =(

"It was the only time I remembered being speechless..."

In three days, Barak Obama will assume the presidency. We hear little of Joe Biden. Although I cannot download the clip, you can link to the CSPAN broadcast from here.

If you can, please spend the 40 minutes listening to Biden's speech. He recounts the first time he walked into the Senate: he "just walked in," and just sat in the presiding officer's chair. For a broad historical Senate history, Biden's speech is second to none with surprising revelations. He insists that there is no greater trait for a senator then is to know how to make friends. He also notes how when he began as senator, his seat was between Henry Clay's and Daniel Webster's.

Take your time and listen. Listening to Vice President-elect Joseph Biden discuss his experiences will be the fastest 40 minutes you ever spent listening to a political speech. The new vice-presidency: 180 degrees from the bastard who held our nation hostage for the past eight years.

Please contact Iditarod sponsors!

And tell them, in no uncertain terms, not to support a "sport" that is built on cruelty to animals.

The sample letter says it all:

Dear Iditarod Supporter:

Please end your organization's support of the Iditarod dog sled race. For the dogs, this event is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the Iditarod includes death, paralysis, frostbite (in the places where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons, sprains, torn footpads and anemia. At least 136 dogs have died in the race. No one knows how many dogs die after this tortuous ordeal or during training. For more facts about the Iditarod, visit the Sled Dog Action Coalition website, http://www.helpsleddogs.org .

On average, 53 percent of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. According to a report published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, of those who do finish, 81 percent have lung damage. A report published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine said that 61 percent of the dogs who complete the Iditarod have ulcers versus zero percent pre-race.

Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills. Mushers breed large numbers of dogs and routinely kill unwanted ones, including puppies. Many dogs who are permanently disabled in the Iditarod, or who are unwanted for any reason, including those who have outlived their usefulness, are killed with a shot to the head, dragged, drowned or clubbed to death. "Dogs are clubbed with baseball bats and if they don't pull are dragged to death in harnesses....." wrote former Iditarod dog handler Mike Cranford in an article for Alaska's Bush Blade Newspaper.

Dog beatings and whippings are common. During the 2007 Iditarod, eyewitnesses reported that musher Ramy Brooks kicked, punched and beat his dogs with a ski pole and a chain. Jim Welch says in his book Speed Mushing Manual, "Nagging a dog team is cruel and ineffective...A training device such as a whip is not cruel at all but is effective." "It is a common training device in use among dog mushers..."

Jon Saraceno wrote in his March 3, 2000 column in USA Today, "He [Colonel Tom Classen] confirmed dog beatings and far worse. Like starving dogs to maintain their most advantageous racing weight. Skinning them to make mittens. Or dragging them to their death."

During the race, veterinarians do not give the dogs physical exams at every checkpoint. Mushers speed through many checkpoints, so the dogs get the briefest visual checks, if that. Instead of pulling sick dogs from the race, veterinarians frequently give them massive doses of antibiotics to keep them running.

Most Iditarod dogs are forced to live at the end of a chain when they aren't hauling people around. It has been reported that dogs who don't make the main team are never taken off-chain. Chained dogs have been attacked by wolves, bears and other animals. Old and arthritic dogs suffer terrible pain in the blistering cold.

Please end your organization's association with this horrific race.

Sincerely,

Except, in your case, they did.

When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror.
- George W. Bush, January 15, 2009

Obama's 2nd Pastor Problem

If it worked for Hitler, it'll work for me, says Rick Warren.

"God, I want you to make me more influential. God, I want you to give me more power. I want you to bless my life more. God, I want you to spread the fame of my name through other countries." - Pastor Rick Warren

Power-hungry? No doubt. Also ignorant.

Do you believe Creation happened in the way Genesis describes it?

WARREN: If you're asking me do I believe in evolution, the answer is no, I don't.

Way to go, Obama.

Being rendered nearly voiceless

Chris Hedges:

The refusal by political leaders from Barack Obama to nearly every member of the U.S. Congress to speak out in the major media in defense of the rule of law and fundamental human rights exposes our cowardice and hypocrisy. Those who openly condemn the Israeli crimes, including Israelis such as Yuri Avnery, Tom Segev, Ilan Pappe, Gideon Levy and Amira Hass, as well as American stalwarts Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich, Norman Finkelstein and Richard Falk, are ignored or treated like lepers. They are denied a platform in the press. They are rendered nearly voiceless. Falk, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied territories and a former professor of international law at Princeton, was refused entry into Israel in December, detained for 20 hours and deported. Never mind that nearly all these voices are Jewish.

Break the Silence, by Mr. Fish

A friend commented on the similarity between the bombing of the Gaza Strip and the attack on the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Both were areas where people could not flee . Both were cut off from food. Both were not allowed safe medical help. Both were acting in resistance to a government that curtailed their freedom. The only difference is that there were no trains waiting to take the Palestinians to the death camps.

So many good riddances, so little time...

George W. Bush Farewell by Will Ferrell

Goodnight Bush

Good Riddance to George W. Bush Project

“What will you miss most about Bush?” (a photo essay)


Goodbye and Good Riddance (Paul Waldman, The American Prospect)

Best Place to Say Good Riddance to Bush (Village Voice)

GoodRiddanceBush.com

Goodbye Curious George (The George Bush Sendoff Society)

Sling.com's George W. Bush Farewell Bingo

Bush is gone - good riddance CARTOONs

Farewell Song For George Bush Contest

Farewell Mr. President (You Tube Channel)

George Bush's 20 worst moments

So Long Worst President Ever; 10 Reasons History Will Hang You

10 Reasons Why George W. Bush Was Such A Very Successful President

The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency

10 Reasons Bush Will Be Known As Worst President In History

Good Riddance, George W. Bush, by various artists

Good Riddance you Nutjob

Good Riddance, GWB!

How will history assess George W. Bush's presidency? (poll)

Bye Dubya!

Farewell 43

Goodbye Mr. Bush......."Time For You To Go"

And for after he's gone:

The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program: A Lifesaving Guide to Shaking Off the Horrors of the Last Eight Years, with Practical Advice on Relapse, Remission, and Recounts