Is there anything these folks can't screw up? - Molly Ivins

[cornermouse]

Molly catalogs some corruption that I hadn't seen. The $100,000 polished pumps was a good one. Per rules, I've included the first four paragraphs.

http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/1/2006/1306

AUSTIN, Texas -- Several great minds were asked to help think up interview questions for George W. Bush. I liked, "Are you the worst president since James Buchanan, or have you never heard of him?"

Sorry about the snarkiness quotient, but is there anything these folks can't screw up -- and then refuse to own up to? Iraq is the most difficult to judge because it's so far away. I can find no indication -- from hours of electricity available to amount of oil being pumped to number of dead people -- that hints at any improvement.

On the other hand, even though I don't think it's my job, I can't prove that pulling out won't make things worse. Judging the good news-bad news volume from Iraq took such an exceptional lurch to ludicrous, it's now difficult to even try to judge it with a straight face.

(For those of you who missed it: The Pentagon is now investigating itself to find out why it was paying American soldiers to write phony stories about how well things are going in Iraq and then paying a politically connected Republican public relations firm to in turn bribe Iraqi news outlets to run the phony stories. Presumably, this fooled a lot of Iraqis.)...

[Mr.Green93]

1. Is there anything these folks can't screw up?

I thought she was talking about the filibuster.

[izzie]

2. They even screw up business which is their real thing.

But then I have 4 people in the family now working to make war goods. Always good to learn to make things to blow up. As my dear Republican father used to tell us you can not build a country on things you blow up. I think we have had our day in the sun.

[ClintonTyree]

3. More from the article........

In matters closer to home, however, it is not that hard to miss total disaster when you see it. The Medicare prescription drug benefit comes to mind. As governmental screw-ups go, it ranks up there with Katrina, which in turn is the latest in a parade of fiascoes inspiring the administration to an impressive level of dishonesty.

Following its usual m.o., the administration's first step on Katrina was to clam up on all the information possible about how the government handled it. Why should a congressional committee have any right to question the Bush administration? Whom do they think they represent?

I couldn't even bring myself to snicker at poor Joe Lieberman, chair of the committee trying to find out what went wrong, as he forlornly announced a "near total lack of cooperation." Despite his record as a Bush toady, Lieberman couldn't get enough information to even start on the problem.

The committee had one interesting item -- Bush had claimed that "no one anticipated" New Orleans would be leveled. Turns out they not only expected it, but the Department of Homeland Security sent an urgent warning to the White House situation room, saying Katrina will likely leave "the New Orleans metro area submerged for weeks or months."


"The gang that couldn't govern straight" would be an apt title for any future movie made about the bush administration. As the old saying goes, "these guys could fuck up a one car funeral procession". How much would the Corporate Media be screaming if this was a Democratic controlled Congress/Judiciary/White House? From what I hear on TV it's all the Democrats fault anyway. Even questioning our grate president aids and abets the enemy and keeps him from doing anything correctly. :eyes: What the hell happened to our country? Have we been invaded by aliens? Has everyone been replaced by pod people? It certainly appears that the media has been replaced by these sinister aliens. Watching "Hardball" for 5 minutes should convince anyone of that. :mad:

[emc]

5. people are brain dead

Its not aliens----its a brain ray that comes out of the tv every night----bullshit shows lull the american public into some kind of euphoric trance and then the administration and CONGRESS comes along and fills in the gaps with more bullshit about look under your bed for terrorists and how well your doing on your minimum wage job----

Its seems to me the bigger the screw up by this administration, the more the pubic eats it up----like Molly says, everything they touch turns to ----. But then the usual Walmart worker dosent give a shit, since he has his shitty job and his Tv celebrity shows showing him how the rich and famous live....who incidentally dont give a fly fuck about the american public, and if the going gets to tough for these rich, well just move overseas.

Im about to give up------it seems with every screw up in this administration,there is a cover up by republicans which make everything look OK to the public----where are the outspoken and the press--------OH, yea, forgot, they all make million dollar salaries----- they dont have to shop at walmart and face the real america..

[Paranoid Pessimist]

6. You're Half Right

Polls on most issues run about 50%, so half the people are exactly as you have described and the other half are like you (and me) -- know what's going on but unable to come up with anything to do about it.

How do you go about giving up? Who do we surrender to?

[DemBones DemBones]

7. I never heard the old saying about the one car funeral

but it's a good one. My mother had an old saying "There's nothing wrong with this country that a couple of good funerals couldn't fix." I'm not sure it applies today, however.

[Demeter]

4. Nope. Can't Think of a One. n/t