The Importance of "Important"

As Roger Cohen points out in "Bush Does Europe Incognito" (NYTimes).... "An American president is in Europe and nobody cares. That's a moment."

And, the result of president Bush's "chip-on-the-shoulder" temperament..... "he has proved mean, vindictive, surly, controlling and impatient, as befits his guns-at-the-ready gait".... the arrogance of self-importance.

The Decider's farewell limp around Europe reflects the "damage a flawed temperament has done to trans-Atlantic ties. Europeans got tired of being scowled at."

Indeed. And it probably didn't help that the resistance of Germany and France to the invasion of Iraq resulted in then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld referring to them as "Old Europe."

Old and wise.

Cohen hopes for "some fresh thinking, but above all a fresh spirit, a fresh temperament."

He's obviously not referring to John McCain whose jaded rhetoric and hair-trigger temper promises more of the same.... after all when asked on the Today show yesterday if he knew when American troops could start to return home, McCain responded.... "No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq." (Huffington)

That about sums up the Bush/McCain world view, bringing our troops home from a deadly occupation that is sucking the national treasury dry, gutting our military, and isolating us from the world community.... while not making us safer..... is "not too important."

Not too important?

Turkey Pardons Turkey

It's sad really, The Decider spares a turkey the usual sentence of the season, while allowing two U.S. Border Agents to remain wrongfully imprisoned.... even though an enraged public has been clamoring for their pardons.

At least the Mexican drug smuggler the agents were trying to apprehend, Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, is finally under arrest, and now facing charges for smuggling drugs into our country numerous times.... even during the agents' trial using the immunity border pass issued to him by U.S. Attorney Sutton for his testimony against the agents.

So, until the agents' appeal is heard, and this travesty is overturned, remember these few things to be thankful for:

"Snowflake" Defense Secretary Rummy got the axe.

Political manipulator Rove flew The Decider's coop.

Attorney General Gonzo no longer gobble-gobbles for his White House dinner.

And, be especially thankful that starting next January we set into motion the means to rid ourselves of the "foul" Bush.

Wishing all a hopeful Thanksgiving.

Friends of George Flee....

There is an echo in the White House these days.... because gone to "spend more time with their families...." are:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Joint Chief of Staffs Chairman Peter Pace
White House Senior Political Advisor Karl Rove
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
White House Counselor Don Bartlett
White House Budget Director Rob Portman
White House Counsel Harriet Miers
White House Political Director Sara Taylor
Justice Department White House Liaison Monica Goodling
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

In Congress, the latest GOP heavy-hitters announcing retirement....

Sen. John Warner (VA)
Sen. Dennis Hastert (IL)
Rep. Deborah Pryce (OH)

And, today after a tumultuous week during which wide-stance bathroom habits were given wide media coverage....

Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) again made headlines..... "Senator Craig Announces Resignation."

Caught in a sting operation by an undercover officer investigating "lewd conduct" in a bathroom of the Minneapolis airport.... and, after pleading guilty.... gay-bashing conservative poster-boy Craig defensively declared in a news conference "I'm not gay."

Which really isn't the point. Conduct unbecoming a U. S. Senator is. This GOP embarrassment will be history by the end of the month.

So..... a lonely Bush is left peering out of his oval office window, wondering how it is things went so quickly from a lame-duck to a lone-duck presidency.

Tenet Finally Shows Some Intelligence

Is former CIA director George Tenet finally trying to earn his furtively-awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom?

In his explosive new book, Tenet is exposing the underbelly of the decision to invade Iraq. "White House and Pentagon officials, and particularly Vice President Cheney, were determined to attack Iraq from the first days of the Bush administration, long before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and repeatedly stretched available intelligence to build support for the war." (WaPo)

Yesterday, the White House tried to throw sand on Tenet's hairballs through counselor Dan Bartlett who asserted that "the president did wrestle with those very serious questions."

Oh, that's reassuring. The wrestling probably took the form of...."Saddam tried to kill my Daddy. Iraq has oil, we want oil. Invade. Time for a bike ride."

As with many things The Decider has touched, he has besmirched the honor associated with the Medal of Freedom by awarding it as a form of hush money to some in the administration's Iraq war cabal.

Besides Tenet, The Decider has awarded the Medal to.... Gen. Tommy "Don't Bother Me About Post-War Iraq" Franks.... Paul "Disband the Iraqi Military, I'm In Charge" Bremer.... and Donald "We Can Do More With Less" Rumsfeld.

Perhaps it never occurred to the jaded Bush and Cheney that some, like Tenet, might have a conscience that the Medal couldn't assuage. Tenet recalls in his book, "At the Center of the Storm," one of the "lowest moments of my seven-year tenure" was when a congressman told me in a public hearing in the spring of 2004 that "we depended on you, and you let us down."

Winning back his reputation won't be a "slam dunk" for Tenet, but this book is a big first step toward correcting the record and fulfilling his obligation as director of the CIA.... to protect our country.

Sadly, Tenet's revelations reinforce the growing awareness of the enemy within.... that those who swore to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" never intended to keep that oath.

Subpoena Showdown

Today The Decider threatened a legal showdown with congressional Democrats.

He doesn't want his "brain" Karl Rove, and his less-than-Supreme former counsel Harriet Miers to testify under oath about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys last year... and no transcripts.

But Committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) wasn't having any of it.... "Testimony should be on the record, and under oath," he said. (WaPo)

To show they mean business, the Senate handed the blustering Decider his Stetson today.... by an overwhelming 94 to 2 vote they revised the Patriot Act so that Attorney General Gonzales can no longer appoint interim U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation.

The two dissenting votes.... Senators Christopher Bond (R-MO) and non-announcing-press-conference presidential candidate Chuck Hagel (R-NE).

The Decider said of the embattled and politically damaged Gonzales, "Yes, he's got support with me. I support the attorney general."

That can only mean one thing. Gonzales will soon be gone. Just ask Rumsfeld.