Still Utterly Clueless

There must be a certain calmness in it.

Walking around, in the new bubble, out of office, almost universally heralded as the WORST PRESIDENT EVER.



Earlier this week, the former Court-Appointed President gave an interview with the Dallas Star-Telegram, and added to his roster of The Commander Guy, The Decider Guy, Ek-A-Lec-Tic Reading Guy, a new one;

Former President Bush says his new title is 'retired guy'

And this portion of the interview stuck out like a like a neocon at a peace rally;

Time in office: "Some days were good, some days weren’t so good," Bush said. "Every day was a glorious experience of serving our country. . . . When we lost a soldier, it was a dark moment." But even then, "I could always see light."

[snip]

Nervous moment: Standing on the mound in Yankee Stadium, getting ready to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of a game in October 2001. He said Yankees infielder Derek Jeter asked whether he’d be throwing from the mound or from in front of it. Bush said he told Jeter that he’d throw from the mound. "He said: 'Don’t bounce it. They’ll boo you,’ " Bush said, adding that he was nervous. "I got it across the plate and it was a fantastic moment, a moment of relief, then a moment of high energy."

He could "see the light?"

His most nervous moment was throwing a baseball?

It wasn't about lying, and orchestrating the lying, and fabricating the evidence, to invade and occupy Iraq?

It wasn't that his Vice President, and staff, purposefully, and blatantly, exposed the identity of an undercover CIA agent?

Or, that he illegally spied, and wiretapped, innocent American citizens?

That his policies of war, and giving tax cuts to the wealthy, and doing all he could to end oversight and regulation, his warped vision of an "Ownership Society" all but plunged this country (well, nearly the entire planet) into a second Great Depression?

No, his biggest worry, the thing that made him most nervous, was throwing a baseball.

Only the WORST PRESIDENT EVER could maintain that level of clueless consistency.

Say What? ... Commander Guy Cluelessness Alert!

This deserves an Ignorant Dolt of the Day recognition;

Bush says sacrificed free-market principles to save economy

US President George W. Bush said in an interview Tuesday he was forced to sacrifice free market principles to save the economy from "collapse."

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse."

Bush's comments reflect an extraordinary departure from his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market, as his administration has orchestrated unprecedented government intervention in the face of a dire financial crisis.

"I am sorry we're having to do it," Bush said.

In denial, and clueless, right to the very end.

Like his crony-based government, Owner-Society policies, and the "Regulation? What Regulation"?" has nothing to do with the collapse of our economy, and now he is being ever so magnanimous in straightening things out ...

"Sacrificing his principles ..."

Gag me!

Vox Popoli sums it up nicely;

I find myself beginning to be astonished, when suddenly I recall that most people truly are idiots. Not one in a hundred individuals, be they godless or religious, collectivist or free market capitalist, ever stops to think about the obvious contradictions they demonstrate every day in their assumptions, beliefs, actions, and statements.

You can only hope, that when he goes back to The Grindhouse after one of these kind of things, someone explains a few things to him, much like a parent correcting an errant child, and he realizes, even for a fleeting nano-second - WORST PRESIDENT EVER!


Bonus Dubya the Dolt Riffs

He is Iraq's Katrina itself"

Where's That Apple Runner When You Need Her?

Breaking News! White House To Supply Burma With Pre-Fab Convention Center ... Bush Wants To Streamline Media Reports, Provide Easy Access For Junta Flyovers

Some More Heads To Be Pulled Out of Asses

In today's Murdoch Street Journal, Charles Calomiris and Peter Wallison lay down the case for blaming the Wall Street Meltdown on Democrats, Congress, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Incredulously, not one Republican was castigated, and, in particular, one conspicuous Republican.

The Commander Guy ... The court-appointed 43rd President, George W. Bush.

Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain has been beating this drum lately as well.

Much like Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny throws rocks at Barack Obama, over "The Surge", while completely ignoring the first five-plus years of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, Calomiris and Wallison also choose not to look too far in the rear-view mirror.

Not once, not a single word in their "Blame Fannie Mae and Congress" do they mention, reference or otherwise bring up the centerpiece of the Bush Grindhouse's planned legacy - The Ownership Society.

Directly from the Bush Grindhouse, "For Immediate Release - Office of the Press Secretary, August 9, 2004"

Blame Fact Sheet: America's Ownership Society: Expanding Opportunities

"...if you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country. The more ownership there is in America, the more vitality there is in America, and the more people have a vital stake in the future of this country."

-President George W. Bush, June 17, 2004

Expanding Homeownership. The President believes that homeownership is the cornerstone of America's vibrant communities and benefits individual families by building stability and long-term financial security. In June 2002, President Bush issued America's Homeownership Challenge to the real estate and mortgage finance industries to encourage them to join the effort to close the gap that exists between the homeownership rates of minorities and non-minorities. The President also announced the goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million families before the end of the decade. Under his leadership, the overall U.S. homeownership rate in the second quarter of 2004 was at an all time high of 69.2 percent. Minority homeownership set a new record of 51 percent in the second quarter, up 0.2 percentage point from the first quarter and up 2.1 percentage points from a year ago. President Bush's initiative to dismantle the barriers to homeownership includes:

* American Dream Downpayment Initiative, which provides down payment assistance to approximately 40,000 low-income families;
* Affordable Housing. The President has proposed the Single-Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit, which would increase the supply of affordable homes;
* Helping Families Help Themselves. The President has proposed increasing support for the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunities Program; and
* Simplifying Homebuying and Increasing Education. The President and HUD want to empower homebuyers by simplifying the home buying process so consumers can better understand and benefit from cost savings. The President also wants to expand financial education efforts so that families can understand what they need to do to become homeowners.

Can't have an Ownership Society if no one is buying and owning anything.

You gotta move some product, get the numbers up, rack-up testimonials, create the soundbites and talking points to build up the program.

So, however Fannie and Freddie were managed and/or mismanaged, they had a mandate to sell the legacy, the Ownership Society and sell they did.

As did the rest of the dwarfs, finks, phonies and frauds on Wall Street, dissecting it every which way, so as many cronies as possible could get a piece of the money pie.

Here's some riffs on the great "Ownership Society";

• Flashback: In 2004 Bush Campaigned For Re-Election On The Backs Of Subprime Mortgages
• Test Drive Suggests Bush's "Ownership Society" May Be a Lemon
• Is This Your Ownership Society?

Robert Reich's "What Ownership Society?"

You won’t be hearing much at the Republican Convention about jobs and wages, because job growth has stalled and wages are stagnant. But you will hear about something Republicans are now calling the "Ownership Society." The notion is to expand private ownership through more tax cuts on capital investments, tax credits for saving and privatized Social Security.

Face it: The Republican "Ownership Society" is hokum. Ownership of America is now more concentrated than since the days of the Robber Barons of the 19th century. The richest 1 percent of America owns more than the the bottom 90 percent put together.

Calomiris and Wallison also leave out that it was still, at that time, a Republican-dominated Congress, that was rubber-stamping anything and everything coming out of the Bush Grindhouse.

Calomiris and Wallison also were forgetful in mentioning that two close aides to the Republican nominee for President this year, were retained by Fannie and Freddie, as lobbyists, to, among other things, resist regulation and oversight.

Yesterday, the NYT laid it out about Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny's campaign manager, Rick Davis (to which, the Rove Rats running McCain's campaign whined about).

Today, Bloomberg enlightens us to the person Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny has laying down the carpet for his planned presidency.

Calomiris and Wallison, both, are from the American Enterprise Institute, which has been, for all intents-and-purpose, a second West Wing for the Bush Grindhouse.

Between Hank Paulson's attempted coup, Faux News, and others, laying down the meme of blaming the people who bought houses during this period (and many of them, first in line, as to getting royally screwed), this drivel blaming everyone but the Republicans, break out the umbrellas, as you can expect significant more bullshit to be thrown before the week is over.