The Buffoon Administration

[Marr]

Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend- and his attempt to cover it up- is turning out to be the straw that broke the camel's back for alot of people I've spoken with. It seemed strange to me at first, for something like this to make a dent when all the WMD, spying, torture, etc. arguments did not. But it is.

These Bush supporters have been going out of their way to deny reality and stand by their men for years now. They've turned a deaf ear to anyone who pointed out the Bush Administration's lies and corruption because they saw the Bush Administration as *WINNERS*. Sure, they might be lying. But they also "know something I don't". They might steal money- but they're "keeping me safe". They might be bastards, but they're *our* bastards and they're smart.

Well, Cheney's bumbling this weekend, shooting a man during on a canned hunt and then trying to hide it- it exposes him as a buffoon. Not some clever, Machiavellian mastermind. He's just a bumbling idiot with a drive to coverup his stupid mistakes. Cheney was the one character in this administration who had managed to maintain his "mastermind" facade. Mostly by just staying out of sight. Now he's exposed as an idiot, too.

What does this say to the average Bush supporter?

Even Bush's biggest fans have subtley acknowledged that he's a dullard, stressing over and over the idea that he's surrounded by hyper-intelligent advisors. Well, apparently not. Bush the buffoon is surrounded by other buffoons.

We've got Cheney, a reckless, "shoot first and dodge questions later" moron.

Rumsfeld is clearly a fool. Every military man I know despises Rumsfeld and his stupidity.

Rove? He's clearly no "genius" either. He's been spying on the competition is all.

Condoleeza "I believe the report was titled 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Within the US' Rice? She redefines the word "incompetent".

They're not masterminds. They're fuck-ups. And THAT pisses the Bush supporters off. Cheney's little accident just sums the administration up. All the secrecy, all the lying... it's not about "protecting America"... it's about hiding their own incompetence. Bush supporters want to cling on to a winner- not make excuses for a loser.

[Gildor Inglorion]

1. "What does this say to the average Bush supporter?" Nothing...

not a thing. These idiots would support B*shit and Cheney if they murdered children in cold blood on prime-time TV. In order ever to accomplish anything, we're going to have to stop expecting rational behavior from the supporters of this monstrous regime. It ain't going to happen. Ever.

[Marr]

4. I'm only telling you what I see.

My in-laws and a few Bush supporting friends are just embarrassed by this thing, and all the lame excuses being made for Cheney. Most of them hunt, and they don't think it's just "human" to shoot someone by mistake. It's the mark of a reckless idiot.

I tell you, they have dismissed everything I've ever told them about the Bush Administration's torture policies, theft, lying- you name it. They just wave a hand and make it disappear. But this sticks in their craw. It pisses them off. They just don't want to be associated with it.

[NanceGreggs]

7. It's already happening ...

... and the poll numbers show it.

You can't expect people to all wake up together one day and say, "Gee, this preznut is an idiot!" It's been a steady decline, which reflects the fact that people ARE waking up, a few at a time, every day - and once turned against these criminals, those people ARE NOT COMING BACK.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. "...those people ARE NOT COMING BACK."

Until they switch the face.


"We would just love to have a beer with George Allen!"

Rinse. Repeat.
Rinse. Repeat.

[Jack from Charlotte]

15. Two words sum up their record.... AWOL & Incompetent......

From doing nothing with the 8/6/01 warning about Bin Ladin attacking NY to taking the biggest surplus to the biggest deficit to attacking the wrong country in repsonse to 9/11 to being AWOL for Katrina.... The staunchest Repug can't name a single success these guys have pulled off.

[NanceGreggs]

2. WOW!!!!!!!!

Truly EXCELLENT post!

"Bush supporters want to cling on to a winner - not make excuses for a loser."

That is absolute journalistic poetry!

[Marr]

9. Hey thank you!

:D

[Dunvegan]

19. Yep...kicked and recommeded!

[adriennui]

3. you've summed up this administration

i think we've allowed ourselves to think that there was really someone minding the store....obviously, we all knew the chimp was an inept idiot....the others are just inept.

[Swamp Rat]

5. Accidental?

:D

[ClayZ]

24. We have seen his TEMPER, have we not?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html



Friday, June 25, 2004;


A brief argument between Vice President Cheney and a senior Democratic senator led Cheney to utter a big-time obscenity on the Senate floor this week.



On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney's ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush's judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.

"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. It's TOTALLY understandable why. Even though thousands of U.S. troops,

and tens if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis die, that's far away. People can relate to the shooting story. They can see themselves as part of it, as either the hapless shooter, or the victim. They can relate to the situation of dealing with the aftermath, and the VP's behavior sends an unmistakable signal about the kind of person he is.

Now all those signals have been there for the last 5 years, but sometimes it's a lot easier for people to SEE it in such a context.

[NanceGreggs]

10. Exactly!

The Bush/Cheney supporters have been able to chalk every horrible thing these people have done to some greater national good, to whit:

Torturing our enemies could produce intelligence that will thwart another attack.

Tax cuts to the wealthy will stimulate the economy.

Losing civil liberties via the Patriot Act keeps the nation safer.

But in THIS case, there was no 'end justifies the means' involved, no keeping America safe, no keeping things covert due to national security.

THIS is just a man LYING' to save his own skin -- no other reason.

And THAT is what is pissing-off Mr. and Mrs. Republican Voter tonight.

[MrBenchley]

8. The thing about Cheney shooting this bobo

is that it's easy for everyone to get their mind around this. Many of the more serious scandals are too complex to be easily summed up and can be spun away by the GOP.

But Cheney shooting somebody else is easy to understand...and the attempts to spin it away are coming across as both desperate and preposterous.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. Marrr, have you no shame? Sheesh, I mean really.

Your unwarranted promotion of Condi is unbelieveable.
Remember, 9/11 HAPPENED ON HER WATCH.
Then, she was promoted to control and direct reconstruction of Iraq. Twice. Once as Bremer's direct boss, and again now, as Secretary of State. We know how well she has done that.

And here you go complementing her by calling her "incompetent"? the reality is far, far worse. I truly suspect her motives, integrity, honesty, morals and ethics. She has said and done anything she needed to do to succeed in the short run, and to hell with the long term consequences. She is a minor league USSR historian, with no training, understanding or experience in national security or State Department issues. Yet, she is leading us into danger, into blind alleys, into unnecessary trouble and doing it clad in tight leather as though her costume gives her more gravitas and smarts.

Have you noticed that every single appointment has been a failure? Every one! From Chertoff to Brownie. From Deutsch to Rice. From Wolfowitz to Feith. The list is endless.

[jazzjunkysue]

12. You get a heart for this, Marr. It's true. He's embarassing, now.

I think this will cost them 4-6 points, permanently.

Lots of red voters don't "think" about what they think. They want to say they voted with the winners, period.

They've heard so many times that libruls are losers, that they're red by default. But this will tip some away.

This will cost them, permanently, like Katrina and Schaivo, and social security.

[JeffR]

13. Big fat kick for this

Excellent.
:kick:

[NanceGreggs]

14. Thanks for the reminder, JeffR!

Kicked and nominated!!!!!

[Stinky The Clown]

16. I agree with you .... collapse starts from the strangest of faults ....

I posted about this incident recently and pretty much see things as you do ..... this one could well take the blinders off their blind followers cuz this is surely one thing they can personally relate to.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2459517

[babylonsister]

17. Right on the money, Marr! K&R! nt

[Dunvegan]

18. It's hard for people to admit they were wrong-maybe harder for Republicans

But for anyone leaning, this is not only another straw, but one they can use to cleanly break away from the kook-aid buffet with, and not take too much flack from the neocons around them.

All they have to keep saying is, "Cheney shot a 78 year old man in the face."

Finally! A talking point a "cult of personality" conservative can get behind and use to defect!

[babylonsister]

20. "Cheney shot a 78 year old man in the face." That's a helluva

mantra! :) Thank you, Jon Stewart & Co.!

[Serenades]

21. I see nothing.

I haven't seen a change in anyone's attitudes. People who support Bush/Cheney just say "it's an accident and it is being over reported," while non-Bush lovers say, "Yes, we know, Republicans are dipshits."

In fact, on another board, I saw someone say, "I'd rather hunt with Cheney then ride with Kennedy."

[Blue Belle]

22. A freeper's knee-jerk reaction is to slam Kennedy...

it doesn't matter what the problem is. They either say Kennedy covered it up or Clinton lied. :eyes:

[babylonsister]

23. I usually counter w/a reminder of Stepford wife's

unfortunate incident in her youth. That pretty much shuts them down.

[degreesofgray]

26. Exactamundo!

Whenever I find my television infested with these lying sacks of Bush brains I cannot fathom how so many people in this country have bought into their nonsense. So, if it takes Cheney peppering his pal with birdshot and then covering it up (perhaps while his BA decreases...), then I'll take it, but at the same time I'll say, FINALLY!

[babylonsister]

27. Welcome to DU, degreesofgray! nt

[SeattleGirl]

28. Excellent post, Marr

Like so many of us, I just cannot believe that there are people who think it's okay to go to war agains a country that didn't attack us -- based on lies, that it's okay to wiretap American citizens, that it's okay to torture prisoners, etc. They can justify it by saying it's not about "us", it's about "them", the "terrists" who threaten "Murika".

This this whole thing with Cheney, this IS something they can react to, because it was so obvious that Cheney was just trying to cover his f-ing ass, and not take responsiiblity for something he'd done, on a personal level. I think most people were taught to take responsibility for what they do (and no, not everybody does), and this is a slap in the face to every one who has had the maturity to say, "It my responsibility," before a lot of time goes by.

Yeah, it's a little thing compared to all the other crap this adminstration has pulled, but if it's the straw that breaks the camel's back, or at least gets more people to open their eyes to the truth, then I'm all for it.