Jeb Bush in 2015 : Rusty and still rude (and helped his brother steal an election)

[seafan]

The Florida Squeeze has Jeb Bush pegged to the wall.


AP photo via Tampa Bay Times

Governor Jeb Bush has always been a politician with a short fuse and a certain observable sense of entitlement. As Governor, Bush conducted himself in a manner that exuded arrogance, self-righteousness and an all-knowing attitude. When reporters challenged him, he would snap in public, When members of the legislature attempted to meet with him on his policies, he would use various means including security guards to his advantage as he did with the Affirmative Action issue in 2000. When activists questioned him about education he would talk down to them in a condescending manner, often berating teachers and parents for accepting “mediocrity”.

The Bush years were a miserable time to be active in Florida politics from any perspective except that of a Bush loyalist. Jeb Bush’s personal tenor was different that that of his brother, President George W. Bush. President Bush was often willing to sit down with opponents of his policy and political agenda and hammer out some sort of agreement – not a compromise but a broader agreement. Unlike Florida Governor Bush, President Bush did not antagonize large numbers of elected officials in his own party with his style. Certainly President Bush lost many Republicans eventually on policy, particularly immigration, government spending and Iraq.

All of this explains why watching Bush’s exchange with a college student regarding ISIS this week was not surprising. Bush doesn’t like to be questioned or challenged on issues. His “vision” for Florida was never debatable which explains why he consistently faced rebellions from legislators in his own party throughout his tenure, especially beginning in 2001. His interpretation of history is not open to discussion or debate.

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Bush’s arrogance and short temper are unlikely to serve him well in the world of constant cattle calls and public events.

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The condescending nature in which Governor Bush has continued to conduct himself publicly might remind voters of his father’s patrician roots while the constant need to defend his brother’s foreign policy could very well revive the Bush fatigue that overwhelmed the national Republican Party as early as 2007 and continued up until Jeb Bush became a top tier Presidential contender.

But he still refuses to declare himself a candidate for president. It sure makes it easy to cheat around campaign finance rules. Every 100K "fundraiser", every 'big hairy audacious goal' he envisions for himself with merely a wave of of his hand, every conversation shut down with a voter who raises questions he does not like, every Floridian's concerns he blew off when he was governor, reflect the arrogant sense of entitlement that pervades everything he touches and poisons the atmosphere of politics.


Meanwhile, in Iowa yesterday, he took his "non-campaign" campaign to a new level of audacity.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Saturday declared he would aggressively campaign to win the caucuses here, ending any doubt about his participation in the first contest of the GOP primary but also opening himself up to the possibility of a defeat that could severely harm his candidacy.

With Bush trying to win here, the more than 100,000 Republicans in his state who are expected to participate in the Iowa caucuses next February will play an even more important role in winnowing a field that will likely include more than a dozen candidates. And wooing Iowa's activists will become a huge test for Bush, who is lagging well behind in current polls in Iowa, despite being considered one of the leading candidates in the GOP race based on his fundraising strength.

"I'm going to campaign hard here," Bush said at a press conference in Iowa City. "It's my intention to win. Period. I'm a competitive person, my hope is to win any place where I'm competing."

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(bold type added)


Come on, Jeb. Declare you are running. This whole snake oil performance is just toxic.

Money will never buy you love.


And when will his blatant flouting of campaign rules be held to account?

As we learned in Election 2000 in Florida, if it will benefit the Bush Family, there are no rules.


We will never forget.

Jeb Bush blamed for unfair Florida election, June 5, 2001

Jeb Bush's Recount Role Examined, July 14, 2001

And this one:

Jeb Bush's elephant in the room: Role in Bush v. Gore recount, April 16, 2015

Little noticed among Jeb Bush's recently released emails, published on jebemails.com, is this one (Dec. 6, 2000) offering thanks to his brother's future Supreme Court Chief Justice Appointee, John Roberts, for legal advice during the election. "Thank you for your time today. I really appreciate your input on my role in this unique and historic situation," he wrote.

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Jeb Bush may have a problem in the primaries with his family name because of his father and brother's legacies of the Iraq war and the 2008 recession —issues that may have been handled very differently in a Gore presidency — and now attempts to distance himself from them with the widely covered statement, "I'm my own man." The media has not, however, even mentioned what may be his biggest problem: his level of responsibility in Florida for taking the 2000 election from Gore and the national repercussions.

Bush's communications director in July 2001, Katie Baur, said, "While he recused himself from any involvement in what happened after Nov. 7, he did not recuse himself from his role as a brother." What's not known is that the level of direct involvement was, frankly, enormous. The Los Angeles Times reported on July 14, 2001, "The Florida governor's office in Tallahassee made 95 telephone calls to the George W. Bush presidential campaign, its advisors, lawyers and staffers during the 36-day recount period, records show. At least 10 calls came from an office number used primarily by Jeb Bush."

At least one call from Jeb Bush's number "went to Karl Rove, his brother's campaign strategist. ... One went to the Texas governor's chief of staff, Clay Johnson. Additional calls were logged to cell phones assigned to Bush campaign staffers."

Bush emailed in July 2001: "I have no clue what these calls were about." He had "no clue" of what his own calls were about while his brother was on the cusp of winning or losing the presidency?

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To this day, Bush has not updated his "no clue" statement, but current presidential voters, including participants in the Iowa caucuses, deserve answers. The actions were only 15 years ago and have affected the economy and Iraq to this day. Until Bush says what he did (if anything) to slow walk the count so that Gore would lose by a U.S. Supreme Court stop of the counting, there is reason for voters to question his role, and to factor that role into their voting this time around.

(bold type added)


'Jeb Bush does, after all, have experience at shoplifting presidential victories at the last minute', 2012



via UK Telegraph

Jebbie says we got it! Jebbie says we got it!

"It was just the three of us guys handing the phone back and forth--me with the numbers, one of them a governor, the other the president-elect. Now that was cool." ---John Ellis, Bush cousin, working the Fox News Channel election desk on November 7, 2000, as the network unilaterally proclaimed a Bush win at 2:16 am. Link inside to quote no longer active

The entire country needs to know Jeb Bush as Floridians know Jeb Bush.

[PufPuf23]

1. Never forget this. Bump.

[Octafish]

2. Because nothing says ''Democracy'' like ''Bush and Secret Government.''

Multiple generations of warmongers and banksters in the service of Wall Street, if not Satan and Her Majesty.

Ya know, seafan, every one of your magnificent posts over the years contains valuable information?

[seafan]

4. Wow, that old thread took me back to those days of rage. Here was another one.

UP IN THE AIR: Where is the Iraq war headed next? by the great investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who, interestingly, is under an all-out assault from establishment media stenographers on his recent reporting.


Thanks, Octafish, for those kind words, but know that YOUR work here is unsurpassed, my friend! Glad we're in these trenches together.

They reek of sulfur.

[Enthusiast]

3. Kicked and recommended a whole bunch!

[seafan]

5. Thanks, Enthusiast.

Good to see you! Been a long time since the DU2 days.

[Enthusiast]

6. True.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

7. Kick, Rec and saving. n/t