Hating Bush

I've caught a bit of a couple of Bush speeches this week. After a few moments I get so sick of the half-truths and lies I have to change the channel. A week ago, Marty Kaplan did a good job ripping apart Bush's July 4th speech. I'll point you at that to understand the contempt I feel.

Media Matters reports that a Washington Post editorial echoed Bush's misstatements about Al Qaeda in Iraq, "[t]he same people that attacked us on September the 11th is the crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children."

Andrew Sullivan collects some stories on how the administration after attacking Iraq supposedly on the rationale that they had WMDs, did nothing to secure those or any weapons after the invasion. "They certainly were concerned with securing the oil fields but did nothing to prevent weapons from falling into terrorist and insurgent hands."

"This was a preventable disaster. Iraq's nuclear weapons-related materials were stored in only a few locations, and these were known before the war began. As even L. Paul Bremer III, the US administrator in Iraq, now admits, the United States had far too few troops to secure the country following the fall of Saddam Hussein. But even with the troops we had, the United States could have protected the known nuclear sites. It appears that troops did not receive relevant intelligence about Iraq's WMD facilities, nor was there any plan to secure them. Even after my briefing, the Pentagon leaders did nothing to safeguard Iraq's nuclear sites."

John Dean (yes that one), breaks down the administrations order that Harriet Miers ignore congress' subpoena. "By not responding to the subpoena, the President and Ms. Miers all but invited the House Judiciary Committee and, in turn, the House of Representatives to vote to deem her in contempt of Congress. It was a defiant, in-your-face insult to Congress. No president would do this unless he was quite confident of the outcome. Clearly, Bush's White House and Justice Department lawyers believe that the solidly conservative federal judiciary will grant them a favorable ruling, and that, in the process, they will greatly weaken congressional oversight powers, to the advantage of the White House. In short, the Bush White House is not bluffing with this act of defiance. Rather, the White House truly wants to test, and attempt to expand, presidential power."

Scott Thill follows that up with Bush Wants a Showdown. Give Him One Already. "His ratings are lower than ever, yet his power is greater than ever. If that doesn't say dictator, I sincerely don't know what does."