Kennebunkport Kleptocrats

[CorpGovActivist]

Ever wonder how Poppy and Bar got all that trust fund money?

Senator Prescott Sheldon Bush was the longest-serving Director of Dresser Industries - the Asbestos Shame in the Bush Warlords' closet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott_Bush

Dresser was the liability-riddled company that Dick Cheney decided to buy in 1998 - to keep the story from becoming an obstacle for Shrubya.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=cheney+dresser+halliburton&spell=1

Now, I cast my first vote in a Presidential election for Bush 41 (I plead youthful indiscretion). My reasoning at the time was that: 1. Bush and Baker had a decent shot at parlaying the goodwill engendered by the first Gulf War into a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East, if given that shot in a second term; and 2. Bush went back on his "no new taxes" pledge in a good faith attempt to balance the budget and reap the peace dividend (and though this may not be popular to say here, some of the Democratic leaders at the time double-crossed him, by failing to hold up their end of the bargain).

In 96, I voted for Clinton. In 97, I exchanged e-mails with my college roommate, predicting that Dubya would be the GOP nominee in 00, if certain conditions were met between 97 and 00 (Shrubya failed to meet the criteria I laid out to my roommate, so I voted McCain in the primaries and Gore in the general; Karenna was one year behind me at Harvard, and her dad was my class's Commencement speaker in 94). In 04, I voted for Kerry.

My vote was Shrubya's to lose in 00, as evidenced by my 97 e-mail exchange with my college roommate. Shrubya lost it - "big time," to quote Cheney.

McCain's was mine to lose in 08, but there comes a point after which W's Waterboy doesn't look like a major league player anymore. McCain - like Colin Powell - had (past tense) the stature to stand up to the President.

After the real Republicans in my party excommunicate and expel the Mastadon's, Neo-Cons, Neo-Siths, and outright Fascists from our party, we look forward to working with the new Democratic majority as the loyal opposition.

When I came out to my family as a gay man, they took it in stride. When I came out as a Republican - mercy, that was a whole other kettle of fish. But I believe, like a true conservative, that our republican form of government works best when (wo)men of good conscience work together in good faith, keep an open mind about each other's ideas, and keep a watchful eye on each other's more power-hungry "leaders".

And if I were aging in Kennebunkport, I'd be thinking seriously about the tainted source of the trust funds.

After all, the grandkids are putting it to bad use anyway: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=jeb+bush+drug+daughter+noelle

And Poppy's wartime service to his country during WW II hasn't been matched by another Bush Family member since???

Spare us the artificial patrician noblesse oblige, and put a Bush grandkid or two in uniform. Then, maybe you can come talk to us real Republicans about whether Jeb should just go bankrupt another S&L, or whether he has any chance of ever getting the nomination.

Just one thing: Jeb won't escape the family's Asbestos Shame on the campaign trail, like Dubya did.

KKKarl and the Cheney Chain Gang fooled Amurikuh once. Never again.

- David A. Smith, Editor of BushBunglesBrigade.org and HALwhistleblowers.org
(not to be confused with David R. Smith, VP of Tax at Halliburton)

[aquart]

1. Asbestos money, huh? Figures.

[KoKo]

2. Interesting to hear your view...thanks for sharing...Kick & Recommend

:kick:

[CorpGovActivist]

3. I Love My Country Way More than My Party

My birth certificate is written in indelible ink. It says I'm an American by birth, and a West "By God" Virginian by the grace of God.

: )

My GOP membership card? It doesn't convey the same sort of privileges and immunities that my birth certificate does.

In short, between my loyalty to my country and my loyalty to my party, it's no contest: the party's membership card simply doesn't offer me the same benefits as my American birth certificate.

- Dave

[unpossibles]

7. thank you for the interesting post

As an independent who grew up in a family of conservatives who are definitely not NeoCons and have since distanced themselves from the Republican party in shame, it's good to see intelligent viewpoints from conservatives who dislike what Bush & co. have done to our country and us.

Don't get me wrong, I am a die-hard lefty, but I also value good argument/discussion on issues, and am a firm believer in checks and balances, whether directly from the people or from opposition parties. I have almost always voted Dem, but I too have voted across the spectrum, especially in local and state elections, and try to vote more on issue than out of partisan loyalty. That said, however, Bush and his rubberstamp Congress have done nothing but move me further into the "other" camp, and I will be not only voting for some candidates, but actively against the NeoCons who took over the Republican party.

Honestly, even though I believe in capitalistic competition, I do not agree with most conservative/Libertarian economic stances because I believe that as members of a society, we all should benefit on some level from the "rising tide." And I also believe quite strongly that we DO/can/should all benefit from living in America, therefore the idea of being completely self-made is a myth. I also think that businesses should be regulated on some level because they affect the Commons we all have to share.

I also do not understand being gay and supporting a party who is actively trying to reduce your rights. I know that traditional conservatives are - in theory - about removal or lessening of government influence in people's private lives, therefore I can understand that side of it, but in practice I have never seen that to be the case, other than they seem to want you to stay out of their lives, but your life is fair game. Then again, I think we're around the same age, so the only Republican Party I have known first hand is the party of Reagan/Bush.

All of that said, however, I welcome you here and also respect your rights as an American to believe what you choose to believe. Welcome to DU.

[iamahaingttta]

4. Tip of the iceberg...

Try this:

http://www.tarpley.net/bushb.htm#Table
"George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography"

[CorpGovActivist]

5. One-Way Ticket to Kuwait in Lieu of Treason Trial?

I hear the whole Bush 'Bezzler Bunch is very big in Kuwait.

I wonder if Kuwait would offer the whole family asylum, like Reagan/Bush gave to the Marcos Syndicate?

It would spare us the Treason Trial.

- Dave

[marions ghost]

6. while I appreciate

your focus on the Kennebunkport Kleptocrats (LOL) --they are just one link in the chain of corrupt Repuglicans undermining the country. There's no way to isolate the Booshies at this point...it's obvious the whole party is rotten at the core.

The R party is fully complicit. They have actively aided and abetted these criminals now at the helm.
It's too late to salvage the party just by turning away from House of B*sh...the Repuglicans had their chance to do that already.

Forget the "working together in good faith" approach to government. That sounds like some fond notion out of the dim dark past. This government needs a severe CORRECTION. They have committed treasonous crimes. You can't "work with" people who have supported Bushco...and that's the entire party.

[CorpGovActivist]

8. I Beg to Differ

1. Moderate Republicans were instrumental in felling Nixon. Exhibit A: the Saturday Night Massacre.

2. America's history is replete with examples of worse crises than this one. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: "America always does the right thing - after first exhausting all other alternatives."

3. Surely you're not advocating a one-party system?

"Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." -- Lord Acton

George Washington warned us about the dangers of political parties and factions, and urged us to put the national interest ahead of partisan interest: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=george+washington+farewell+address

He had carefully studied - and fully understood - the history of the Roman Republic. Indeed, he welcomed comparisons between himself and Cincinnatus, the leader who took up power when the Republic was threatened, and then surrendered those powers and went back to his farming once the crisis had passed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnatus.

The Founders designed our Constitution to ensure that Palpatine Power Grabs would never work. Bush gets credit for coming close, but no cigar.

The "Old Republic" will be restored, and whether you want to believe it or not, there are still good Republicans who put their loyalty to the Republic ahead of their loyalty to the GOP.

- Dave

[marions ghost]

9. OK well

you can dredge up a couple of instances in history where it was convenient for Repugs to capitulate to reality.

2. America has had worse crises than this? So you're giving me the classic "Look over there" defense?

3. Am I advocating a one party system?--LOL. You mean like what we have now...no, I don't think that's working.

4. We have a lot of phases of reconstruction to go through before I would agree that "Palatine Power grabs will never work." ('Palpatine' power grabs would be more like something you'd get from Mark Foley or your proctologist).

The party that even gave it a Palpatine try is totally corrupt--complicit in criminal behavior threatening the very root principles of this country. Unforgiveable crimes against the people. THIS is what will go DOWN in history now. Add this to your historical watershed moments.

Oh yeah--so NOW it's time to get all groovy and non-partisan, like big daddy George Washington said? Uh...no. That will be fine AFTER we purge all the Repug scoundrels and enablers.

Show me the "good Republicans." Where is their spokesperson? John McCain--who sold his soul to the highest bidder long ago? Where are the noble moderate Repuglicans? It's crystal clear that ALL of the so-called moderate Repuglicans supported the Booshbots down the line. Tell me who the heroes are--if there had been any, today they would be heroes. I don't think Freedom Fries Jones is your best example. The R party in it's present form has nothing (nothing!) to offer the country now. What do the Repugs have to offer any regular tax-paying Americans?

"The Old Republic will be restored." I certainly hope not. It has been torpedoed beyond repair. But we can rebuild something better eventually, I'm sure. I believe that the people will fix this. We'll see how many former known Repuglicans pitch in and help. They better be ready to change their stripes though, to be taken seriously--form a new 'conservative' party or something. The future will be for the flexible, not the grasping, rigid, congealed, warmongering Repuglicans of the past. Even if going liberal is out of the question, there's no point in allying with the Dinosaur party whatsoever. They're history.

[CorpGovActivist]

10. I Recoil from Over-Generalizations...

... of whatever vintage.

All Democrats are NOT "tax and spend liberals," for example.

All Democrats are NOT "friends of the gay community," for example.

All Democrats are NOT "on the correct side of the Iraq war authorization vote," for example.

Although I don't agree with all their stances, I would suggest that Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and even Arlen Specter have had the courage of their convictions. Although I would be the first to say that they could have - and should have - been more vocal in wielding their influence as moderates/progressives on a good number of issues, I don't think it's easy to discount their conscientious objector stances in many cases.

My grandfather used to vote a straight Democratic ticket. He was surprised to learn that in doing so, he'd never cast a vote for one of his favorite candidates (the WV Commissioner of Agriculture). I never vote a straight ticket, and I carefully weigh the choices. In the last two general elections, I've probably split my vote 60-40 Dem/GOP, given the candidates on the ballot.

While I understand the pent-up anger and frustration that must come from being in the minority, it's easy to get swept away with over-generalizations.

Want the quintessential example of a greater crisis than this one? The Civil War, when the very existence of the Union was very much in the balance.

A Republican led the nation through that crisis. Parties change, they evolve, they ebb, and they flow. It would be a dumb over-generalization for me to say that "All Republicans have the integrity of Abraham Lincoln," just as it would be for me to say that "All Democrats have FDR's uncanny savvy for connecting with America and winning elections."

The pent-up frustration and anger in the GOP led to Gingrich, the so-called "Contract with America," pro-corporate sops, idiotic tax cuts, and a moronic President sitting in office.

As the Democrats prepare to re-take those gavels, maybe they might like to remember the words of Lincoln: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

That doesn't mean that the Dems shouldn't unleash oversight hearings the likes of which haven't been seen since Watergate. But it does mean that - where moderate, thinking, patriotic members of the GOP can be found - the Dems would be well-advised to work with them as Americans equally interested in ending this latest long national nightmare.

- Dave

[marions ghost]

11. Somehow

I can't see Chaffee, Collins, Snowe and (especially) Specter (!?!) leading the way out of the wilderness for Republicans. What have they got to offer the average tax-paying American?

This goes way beyond "Dems vs Repugs" and all that nice talk about not stereotyping anybody. We are talking criminal acts, we are talking a hijacking of the govt, we are talking USING the belief in a 2-party system to your own ends--a TOTAL betrayal.

"Being in the minority"-- "frustrating?" No, more like how it feels to get crushed under a steamroller, watching everything you care about ground under.:grr:

Ummmm....the Dems "would be well-advised to work with moderate Republicans"...oh, like how they were so willing to work with us over the last several years? Nah, the Republicans would be well-advised to think about how they can suck up to the Democrats.

"Binding up the nation's wounds" seems to mean a different thing to you than it does to me. You can go ahead and be some kind of idealistic hybrid of Dem and Repug. That's a mythical pre-apocalyptic animal these days.

[marions ghost]

12. Let's just boil it down

to one question.

What has the R party got to offer the average tax-paying American at this point? (We all know what it has to offer the rich).

A short list--say 10 points--would be enlightening.

[CorpGovActivist]

14. Ten Suggestions for *Either* Party

In the spirit of bi-partisanship I'm espousing and proposing, here are 10 policy suggestions for *either* party to run with:

1. Military Families Relief: Take the money being paid to Iraqeteering Beltway Bandits via no-bid contracts, and reintegrate those services (e.g., logistics work) back into the military, where they belong. Train military personnel to do these jobs, and increase their pay as they acquire these skills. Couple this with a meaningful, across-the-board raise for all enlisted personnel, and all officers through O-3 (Captain in Army and Marines; Lieutenant in Navy and Coast Guard). It is shameful that Halliburton/KBR contractors earn many times what we're paying our brave men and women in uniform, especially when you hear about their families sometimes having to go on food stamps.

2. Expanded National Service for College Tuition: There are so many countries that require national service (civilian or military), and which offer assistance with college costs in return. We could pick and choose among the best programs other countries have up and running, and model ours after theirs. This would give more families the option, and put college within reach of those who want it.

3. Overhaul the Orwellian "tax relief" legislation: when you have Gateses and Buffetts calling for the top tax bracket to be higher, who is a mere millionaire like Bush to second-guess them? He never built a successful business, like they did.

4. Stop the "VA CARES" program dead in its tracks: It is shameful that we're closing VAMCs in Blue States to punish those regions for their vote, while opening up gleaming new facilities in Red States, to reward them for theirs. Amputees and burn victims returning from Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere live in Blue, Purple, and Red areas of the country, and they need access to modern facilities near their homes when they return.

5. Re-write the corporate earnings repatriation legislation: That was a sop to corporations, who hid that money off-shore for years. It was much too generous. Double the tax rate and penalties, and earmark the difference for the Social Security trust fund.

6. Overhaul the Treasury bonds auctions process: Create a class of preferred bonds, with a higher rate, that can only be sold to American citizens.

7. Stop telling Americans that the best way they can help fight the war on terror is to keep on shopping: my grandparents bought war bonds. Why the hell don't we have Osama Yo Mama Bonds? Issue those to Americans only, and use the new money to pay the Chinese back early, to diminish their influence over our foreign policy. Osama Yo Mama Bonds would sell like hotcakes, and they would hearken back to a time when Americans felt personally invested in a war effort. As an added bonus, long-term interest rates would fall again, giving a "second chance" to refi or buy to those who missed out.

8. Create a new set-aside category for Federal Contracts, called Heartland Zones: too few entrepreneurs know about the HUBZones (sounds too much like HUD): http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hubzone

9. Quadruple the appropriation for the SBA, and earmark line items for introducing high school-level programs to teach kids how to turn their passions and interests into a money-making enterprise.

10. Take a page out of the Scandanavian countries' playbook, and financially underpin new parents who want to take time off to raise their kids. The long-term benefits to society are beyond question.

There you go. Ten, right off the top of my progressive Republican head.

Now, where can I find Pelosi's Plan?

- Dave

[CorpGovActivist]

13. Jim Jeffords

... handed the Dems the Senate back on a silver platter in May 2001, just four months into the Bush Presidency.

Many in my party - myself included - rejoiced at his act of supreme patriotism. You could not ask for a more clear-cut example of putting country ahead of party.

No less than George Washington himself reportedly described the Senate as the "saucer" in which the hot-headed legislation of the House is cooled: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=washington+jefferson+senatorial+saucer+to+cool+it

Because the Daschle Democrats played tiddlywinks instead of mounting a campaign in 2002, the Dems lost the Senate again - and we now have Chief Justice Roberts and Samuel Alito bolstering Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. The fumble in 2002 was an expensive lesson for the Dems (and the whole country), but it seems to be one that the party has learned.

So, yeah, the Dems are going to need patriotic Republicans - like Jim Jeffords. If the Senate ties up 50-50, you may even see an Olympia Snowe or Lincoln Chafee reprise Jeffords' brave act of patriotism, to break the tie and rob Cheney of the tie-breaking vote.

- Dave

P.S. If I took a "never work with Democrats" mentality, I would never have had the opportunity to meet with Senator Clinton's staffers, who have been nothing but gracious and helpful.

[eleny]

15. Welcome to DU

There's one huge event that occurred between May '01 and the 2002 midterms. And it put the chess game into Rove's back pocket. So I don't blame the Dems for not being able to make the moves you claim they should have. That being mounting a strong campaign in '02. At that point it became all about Iraq and the lies that eventually got us there.

I, too, rejoiced over Jeffords. But his action wasn't nearly enough to help Dems overcome 9/11 and it's aftermath. We're only now trying to dig out of that. The Foley affair, sad as it is, is giving us traction we need to stop playing "tiddlywinks" and mount the campaign we've waited for for four years.

Again, welcome to DU.

[CorpGovActivist]

16. Thanks, But Daschle Blew It in 02...

... and so did Byrd, which is ***really*** tough for me to say.

Byrd could have tied the Senate up in knots to insist that Colin Powell and Condi lay out a real case for pre-emptive war in Iraq, had he chosen to do so. To his credit, he acknowledged that Russ Feingold had it right.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=byrd+feingold+iraq

After what Bush did to McCain in the 2000 primaries, the Dems should have been fully prepared for what would be unleashed by Rove and the Cheney Chain Gang in 02. They were out for blood for the Jeffords defection, and the Daschle Dems threw up their hands as if to say, "They have the latter day equivalent of Pearl Harbor working in their favor."

There was no excuse for the Daschle Dems losing Max Cleland's seat, as just one example. The "we never imagined they'd go after a triple amputee war hero as being soft on national security" argument holds NO WATER whatsoever, given what Bush did to McCain in 2000 - a former POW from his own party, for crying out loud.

Without crying over spilled milk, and - to mix my metaphors - playing the ball where it lays now, all I'm saying is that it shouldn't have taken a sex scandal to light a fire under Pelosi.

The Dems should have stopped with the tiddlywinks after 02, and certainly by summer of 06.

For example:

1. Stop fearing KKKarl Rove. Start calling him out on the God, Guns, and Gays thing: A. he is a self-described agnostic; B. he dodged the draft to avoid picking up a gun in service to his country (and his military-aged son doesn't seem to have fallen far from the draft-dodging tree); and C. he was raised by a gay father.

2. Stop running from the prospect of impeachment: if Cheney is Bush's Spiro T. Agnew, then let's hear Pelosi say it - no, shout it - loud and clear. If Waxman's staff has file cabinets full of Halliburton evidence (which they do; I've seen it), then say so - loud and clear.

3. Find Lee Atwater's Democratic love child, if all else fails, and replace Howard Dean with the Atwater offspring. Honestly, the Dems shouldn't have had to wait for Hurricane Foley to do the deed. Pick a general, and stop running your message from the Pundit Politburo.

; )

- Dave

[eleny]

17. Dave, you continue ignoring the 9/11 effect

The rhetoric around 9/11 was flying fast, thick and furious.

Daschle didn't lose Cleland's seat. It was a combo of the lies about Cleland, the melding of his face with Osama's and then there were the electronic voting machines. Surely you remember the ads saying Cleland, who lost three limbs in Nam, wasn't patriotic. And yes, I believe that some election results were manipulated. You don't have exit polls like Cleland's and then lose the election.

I remember the 2002 election season quite well. Factoring in it's climate thick with 9/11 imagery and "booga-booga-booga" tactics weaken your arguments, IMO. Bush has been successfully coasting on those memes for the past two elections.

Yes, it's sad that it's taken a sex scandal to part the Red Sea waters. (Can I get a hidey-hi for that metaphor?) But the American public is what it is. The important thing is that it became public and that we Dems make hay with what's been handed us.

And no, I don't want my Party to find a Rove type. Look where he's gotten Republicans today. No thanks. If you don't get it, then we're cut from different cloth. I won't debate that point with you.

Btw, I'm all for Congressional hearings and where they may lead us including impeachment. That's our right and obligation under the Constitution.

[CorpGovActivist]

18. FDR Dems vs. Daschle Dems

"The rhetoric around 9/11 was flying fast, thick and furious."

Yeah, and it was only coming from one side. Where was the loyal opposition?

FDR Dems - and many in the loyal opposition GOP - resisted many of FDR's attempts to increase the scope of presidential power (e.g., packing the Supreme Court). For two years after Hitler started WW II, in fact, many FDR Dems resisted declaring war, insisting on the prerogative of Congress to exercise that power. The composition of the 76th and 77th Congresses (1939-1943) are shown here:

http://clerk.house.gov/histHigh/Congressional_History/partyDiv.html
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm

In December 1941, after Pearl Harbor, there was no doubt about who had attacked us. The Japanese - declared allies of the Axis - hit us.

If FDR had proposed declaring war on Brazil in response, the loyal opposition and the FDR Dems would have said, "Uh, wait just a second now. Run that by us again? Japan attacked us. We're going to go invade Brazil pre-emptively because...???"

The Daschle Democrats threw up their hands and said, "Given the mood of the country, we cannot look unpatriotic or weak. We have to vote for the resolution, or risk being painted as appeasers."

When al Qaeda hit us on 9/11, it was analogous to the Japanese hitting us at Pearl Harbor. All declared allies of al Qaeda were fair game. That included Afghanistan. It did not include Iraq.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm furious with so-called "leaders" in my own party for not insisting on holding closed-door sessions to ensure that the "evidence" presented to the U.N. was at least as airtight as the evidence that Adlai Stevenson had during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Senator McCain should have been front and center - instead of MIA - on making this call.

But in a two-party system, the loyal opposition *must* be the sand in the gears sometimes.

FDR Dems stood up to a giant - FDR. Daschle Dems got spooked by the shadow of a midget - Shrubya.

I'll have to go back and look at the Cleland exit polls. I keep an open mind, and don't trust Diebold as far as I could throw one of their ATMs. If you can recommend a reputable source on that, I'd appreciate the shortcut.

I stand by my assertion that Daschle Dems should have fought harder to honor the incredible gift that Jeffords handed them, on a silver platter. I also stand by my assertion that - given what the Bush campaign did to McCain in the 00 primaries (war hero from their own party - they should have seen the Cleland thing coming a mile off (war hero from the other party was going to get it even worse than McCain; Rove has no shame).

The Red Sea reference was a hoot. ; )

I don't advocate that the Dems find a Rove; an Atwater would suffice. Honestly, though, there are times when I look at the muddled message coming from the Dems, and all I can hear is Leia screaming, "I am NOT a committee." It's like Sybil is running the DNC. There should be fierce, robust, and candid exchanges of views within the DNC, the Democratic senatorial and house committees, etc. - but once a concensus has been reached on the message, hammer it home and sell it.

That could well be the difference between gaining a scant majority, and sweeping to a solid working majority.

Finally, I wholeheartedly agree that impeachment should be on the table, and Pelosi should be saying so. Bribery is listed right behind Treason as the #2 reason the Founders thought impeachment was warranted: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment#United_States

Given the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations that took place on Cheney's watch as CEO of Halliburton, he is clearly the Spiro T. Agnew to Shrubya's Nixon.

- Dave