Danny Doom’s Booze Cabinet

Kind of weird to read all the references to polls regarding President Obama and the healthcare bill. Come on, Bush had the worst poll numbers you could have for the majority of his presidency and yet these same folks defended the shit outta him for doing his damage. “Polls don’t matter” is what we heard again and again, from Bush and from his apologists. Whether they do or not, Obama’s numbers aren’t really that bad, they just came down from great heights.

But if poll numbers are so important and should shape a president’s actions, then why did Bush ignore them so grandly? And I wonder, if healthcare begins to turn upwards, as it appears to be doing, and it polls well, then does that mean Obama is no longer thwarting the will of the people? I’m sure these folks will let us know, soon enough.

Interesting. They forgot to finish the sentence:

Fifty percent approve of how Obama has handled his job as president, the second lowest total since Gallup started polling. Obama beats only Ronald Reagan, who started 1982 with a 49 percent approval rating.

That should read:

Fifty percent approve of how Obama has handled his job as president, the second lowest total since Gallup started polling. Obama beats only Ronald Reagan, who started 1982 with a 49 percent approval rating, so you can see how meaningless this really is.

The article goes on to mention that Bush I had an 80% approval, second highest ever. One term later, he didn’t have any approval rating. The highest, of course, goes to G.W. Bush, who had a 9/11-powered 84% approval rating after his first year. And we all know how well that turned out. If only the left blindly approved of Obama the way the right did Bush…who knows how high of an approval this utterly meaningless poll would have for him?

Hmm, an interesting story:

Former President George W. Bush told more than 11,000 people at the Fort Worth Convention Center that he was confident he made the right decisions as president…

And I am confident he didn’t. Next!

Nine months in and the extremists’ reaction to Obama is as if he has enacted all of his agenda and changed the course of American history. Now, that’s kind of what we elected him for, but I certainly didn’t expect it all to happen in less than a year. And for sure, it is taking some time. You can feel the impatience on the left.

But does he deserve all of this right-wing nuttery so early on? Of course not. He hasn’t earned it. He may, and if he does I’d say that the liberals and progressives will be happy. But he’s never going to make the kooks happy. I mean, imagine if Bush had even pretended to listen to all of us who protested against the war in Iraq. Imagine that all of those good points that were being made before the war were taken into consideration. But they weren’t, we all know that.

We were ignored, quite proudly, by the patriots in charge and their media brethren. It’s still a little hard to believe that such an atmosphere existed, but you know it did, even past the 2004 election. And now, proven right by the stupidity and incompetence of the war, we are rewarded with…more right-wing wackiness.

A reader at Andrew Sullivan makes a salient point regarding earnings and time served:

The heaviest hitters in the Republican party, and in the conservative media have loudly and proudly called for Obama’s failure. Liberals who even softly criticized Bush were roundly shamed and called terrorist-loving-America-haters. George W. Bush, despite the controversial beginning of his presidency, was given the chance – - no, in fact, after 9/11, he was given all the unopposed freedom in the world to succeed or fail based upon his own decisions and his own performance. Bush EARNED his hatred.

Obama has not had that luxury.

It’s that “liberal media” once again controlling and defining the conversation, pandering to the 20%’ers. This is what happens when we treat politics like a reality television show.

So many ways to say the same basic thing about these protests:

If Fox News, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh were truly opposed to expanded government power, where were they when George Bush and Dick Cheney were expanding federal power in virtually every realm, driving up the national debt to unprecedented proportions, destroying middle-class economic security in order to benefit the wealthiest, and generally ensuring government intrusion into every aspect of people’s lives?  They were supporting it and cheering it on.  That’s what gives the lie to their pretense of “small-government” rhetoric.

- Glenn Greenwald

Here’s the short list:

Reform health care. Public option. There is no bipartisan solution. Fuck ‘em.

End the wars. Afghanistan, Iraq. Now.

Repeal DADT, executive order, immediately.

Come out in favor of marriage equality, Prez Obama.

There’s a reason why the polls have dipped for Obama: the liberals, progressives and people who elected him are not locksteppers like the Bush apologists. This is how it gets done. The 20%ers who supported Bush no matter what he did are almost as responsible for his failure as he is. Silence means security, silence means approval.

Not going to happen on the left side. The difference is, we’re about to see what happens when a president actually listens to the people who elected him, at least on health care. After that, we’ll go down the list. This is what I voted for, you know. Change.

Nixon’s back in the news with more tapes–always more tapes–and fun-loving quotes that will continue to shape new generations of opinion toward him. Like this gem:

“There are times when abortions are necessary — I know that. . . . Suppose you have a black and a white, or a rape.”

When it comes to the Original Dick, though, I like to defer to the good Doctor, Hunter S. Thompson, for words. Such as:

If there were any such thing as true justice in this world, his rancid carcass would be somewhere down around Easter Island right now, in the belly of a hammerhead shark

If the right people had been in charge of Nixon’s funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin.

Pure beauty. God, I miss Thompson. But one quote that really sticks out, that gives some perspective, is this one from 2004 regarding the potential (re)-election of George Bush:

“Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for — but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him.”

The Booze Cabinet–hell, damn near everyone–won’t have George W. Bush to kick around any more.

The so-called party of Lincoln has spent much of the past month in spirited debate about whether a white candidate for the party’s chairmanship did the right thing by sending out a “humorous” recording of “Barack the Magic Negro” as a holiday gift.

- Frank Rich, NY Times

We’re going to forget about all them for a little while, these right-wingin’ nuts, and let them figure it out on their own. My lessons for right-wingers can be found in the voluminous archives of the Booze Cabinet! There’s really only one major rule: don’t be such a dumb-ass. It may take time before they work that one out.

It’s a huge relief to be getting an inquisitive, complicated mind in the White House.

W. decided there was no need to be president of the whole country. He could just be president of his base. Obama is determined to be president of as much of the country as possible.

We’re trading a dogmatic president for one who’s shopping for a dog. It feels good.

- Maureen Dowd, NY Times

28 percent of Americans think he’s the worst ever. But his poor performance review has yet to inspire a frenzy of self-scrutiny.

Just to make sure of his legacy, we need to get these last few assessments in before he’s gone. More on the “disappointments” of GWB, from Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune:

All these blunders were not accidental. They were the product of this administration’s peculiar combination of arrogance, power lust and incompetence.

Those qualities have not abated. Bush leaves us with the rule of law in shreds, the budget out of control, two interminable wars and the public yearning for change. But to him, it’s all good.

I didn’t realize “24″ was showing two more episodes last night! Now I’m behind two hours. I guess the internets will have to help me catch up. Not sure what to make of it just yet. What I did see yesterday instead was the final Bush press conference, which really endeared me to this great man.

Kidding. That was truly an awful spectacle. He made news for finally admitting to actual “mistakes,” even if he couched some of them in the less damning term, “disappointments.”* But what struck me was his disconnect to actual reality and what people are going through. His take on Katrina is enlightening in that he views it from his seat in Air Force One: was the slow response really affected by whether he landed the plane or not? Of course not. But that’s how he sees it.

And this comment about the fun they had in the White House seemed totally inappropriate in the context that he said it:

Even in the darkest moments of Iraq, you know, there was — and every day when I was reading the reports about soldiers losing their lives, no question there was a lot of emotion, but also there was times where we could be light-hearted and support each other.

What’s wrong with this man? Imagine the comfort that a grieving parent or child would read from this statement. They were able to have light moments despite the deaths of many soldiers. We know what he means–the White House wasn’t a glum, dark place to be in for every moment of the eight years, but have some sense of context!

I truly wonder what people are seeing when they talk about the “likability” of this guy. I know, not many say that anymore, but still. His petulance and disdain are the most prominent features he displays in public, for you and me and anyone who doesn’t admire his “hard decisions.” Quite simply, he seems to be a real dick. Let’s hope that this is my last word on George W. Bush.

* For the record, the mistakes Bush acknowledged were:

- The “Mission Accomplished” banner.
- The attempted  Social Security reform.
- Abu Gharib.
- Iraq not having WMDs.

You can add to that:

- The Katrina response.
- Ignoring 9/11 warnings.
- The Iraq War, in its entirety.
- Sanctioning of torture.
- The economic situation.

Oh, and I’m sure there’s more but who’s counting at this point? One week left!

This is Licor 43, an after-dinner liqueur that I had up in Michigan. Consider it my send-off to “43,” my toast to the end of the Bush Era, my kick in the ass, my good riddance to you, sir! Yes, the end is near. I couldn’t be more pleased. Cheers!

You can’t get rid of these pigs soon enough:

“It is regrettable that they had to die,” Gaffney said, “but I believe they did have to die,” citing Hussein’s chemical, biological, and nuclear capabilities. “The danger was inaction could have resulted in the death of a great many more Americans than 4,000. And that’s the reason I’m still delighted that we did what we did.”

Gaffney’s regret/delight refers to the soldiers that fought and died in an unjust war. My instant reaction is that I’d like to chop off his fingers and feed them to the wolves.

“So what?”

- George W. Bush