this column impressed me

quite a bit. as i've written before, i happen to want the obama administration to not only release the detainee abuse photos, but charge those responsible (and by 'those', i mean the big boyz, NOT the bit players). that way the world can see and believe the UNITED STATES DOES NOT TORTURE
NOR WILL IT STAND FOR TORTURE

Obama Can’t Turn the Page on Bush
By FRANK RICH
TO paraphrase Al Pacino in “Godfather III,” just when we thought we were out, the Bush mob keeps pulling us back in. And will keep doing so. No matter how hard President Obama tries to turn the page on the previous administration, he can’t. Until there is true transparency and true accountability, revelations of that unresolved eight-year nightmare will keep raining down drip by drip, disrupting the new administration’s high ambitions. That’s why the president’s flip-flop on the release of detainee abuse photos — whatever his motivation — is a fool’s errand. The pictures will eventually emerge anyway, either because of leaks (if they haven’t started already) or because the federal appeals court decision upholding their release remains in force. And here’s a bet: These images will not prove the most shocking evidence of Bush administration sins still to come..........

once again our king george

does NOT disappoint. he and big big big bid-nez (i.e. the good ol' whiteboy network) are suckling off each other. we? well we're not getting fed at all

not only are the fat cats getting fatter, but rome is burning. on top of ALL OF THAT, we don't know how this money is being spent OR where it went

Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

Now, however, the small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts. In a reversal, the Bush administration has not used auctions for any of the $335 billion committed so far from the rescue package, nor does it plan to use them in the future. Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives. ........

i am by NO means

by NO way shape or form endorsing ONE thing saddam did. he was evil and a murderer. however, if you ask an iraqi were things better under saddam or NOW - what do you think they'd say? i know because i've heard them say it over and over and over again.

this woman (the whole administration) is spouting SHEER LUNACY

Condoleezza Rice: ‘I Am Proud Of The Decision’ To Invade Iraq

In an interview last March with Bloomberg’s Judy Woodruff, the late conservative scholar William F. Buckley said President Bush’s legacy would be judged purely on Iraq. He stressed, “It’s important that we acknowledge in the inner councils of state that it (the war) has failed, so that we should look for opportunities to cope with that failure.”

In an interview with Bloomberg TV yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was unable to acknowledge the failure of Iraq. Woodruff presented Buckley’s argument to Rice that Bush’s legacy will be Iraq. “That’s just fine,” said Rice.

“We tend to forget very quickly what Saddam Hussein meant. … In the post 9/11 environment, you couldn’t let a threat to international peace and stability like that remain.” She added:

Yes, it’s been very, very tough. But I know that great historical events go through difficult phases and often emerge with the world left for the better. And I am proud of the decision of this administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein. I am proud of the liberation of 25 million Iraqis.,,,,,,,,,,,

(liberation? haven't tens of thousands been killed and even more maimed? haven't AT LEAST one million been displaced? isn't their water and electricity barely working? haven't the rights of women been slashed? )

read it and weep

LITERALLY

i'm not sure all ten would make MY list. i think there are a couple others i would chose (abstinence only funding here AND in foreign lands as one of my examples) but all ten of these are pretty horrible as well. i know i know it's hard to choose ONLY ten
The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency
By Brad Reed, AlterNet
In a lot of ways, choosing the Bush administration's 10 greatest moments -- disastrous failures, all -- is about as pointless as picking out your 10 least favorite hemorrhoids: There are entirely too many of them, and taken together they all add up to a throbbing mass of pain. But unfortunately, history demands that we at least make the effort so that future generations will understand why we perform voodoo rituals cursing Bush's memory before we go to bed every night.
Narrowing down the Bush administration's various debacles to a mere 10 was no easy fete. In fact, I expect that many people will express dismay that their least favorite moment was left off the list. "How could commuting Scooter Libby's sentence not even make the top 10??!!" I can hear some of you shrieking already. Well, I'll tell you. Essentially, I tried to rate each Bush disaster by two main criteria: its body count and its damage to the country's reputation. So while Bush's awkward groping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be personally humiliating to everyone, it doesn't have the same heft as, say, the Iraq War.............