Perino asked: 'Is the country better off now than seven years ago?'
By Steve Benen Monday Jan 28, 2008 2:16pmJohn Cole noted, “I honestly cannot recall a State of the Union address which has received less hype.” Neither can I. Usually, even for lame-duck presidents, the SOTU is a pretty significant moment of political theater. I remember the last addresses for Reagan and Clinton drew quite a bit of attention, but going into tonight’s speech, no one, on either side, seems to care at all. I frequently get the sense the country is asking Bush, almost in unison, “You’re still here?”
Of course, the SOTU invariably leads to some reflection and introspection. For example, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Dana Perino a very good question: “Is the country better off now than seven years ago?” Given the response, I don’t think Perino was prepared for the question.
“Certainly seven years ago — well, seven years ago, right before September 11th, I think that people would say that the country certainly felt better off. There’s been — once we were confronted with terrorists who would fly jumbo jets into buildings and kill thousands of our citizens in an instant, it created a sense of fear and nervousness about our security. And that’s why the President decided to take on the terrorists head on and go on the offense.
“And we have done that around the world. We have been successful so far in preventing another attack on our country. But it’s not for their lack of trying. And that’s another reason why the President — tonight you’ll hear him call on Congress to pass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reauthorization. They have until Friday to do that, and the President sees no reason why they shouldn’t be able to get that done.”
Um, Dana? (Can I call you “Dana”?) The question was, “Is the country better off now than seven years ago?” The fact that you couldn’t answer it — you barely tried — doesn’t exactly reflect well on Bush’s presidency.
Of course, this shouldn’t come as too big a surprise. What, exactly, could Perino say?
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She could tell the truth for the frist time
More double-speak and more lies and more denial.
Re: What, exactly, could Perino say?
"Well, at least now you've got ME at this podium!"
Dana, the short answer is:
No.
The reason that the country is better is because of The Iraq, and South Africa, and such as, because of the FISA and that's why the country is better off from the Democrats.
Good job Dana.
The country is better off now than it was 7 years ago...
If you're a CEO, or work for oil, pharma, or the MI-complex (exception, you make less than 150K a year).
I Am A Banana @ 5:
Hey give her a break - she can't help it if the manufacturer didn't install a "glib and cheeky response" line of code into her programming.
Well we all know that Perino can't say the truth... she can barely string together a sentient sentence. Pitiful! Sure looks ugly when you sell your soul, doesn't it?
Marc @ 7:
This country is better off in 356 days, 21 hours, and 33 minutes.
Wow. Weak C&L entry. And to think I thought all those Democratic party Senators and Congresspeople actually did say something this time.
I'm surprised that she didn't say: "Of course the country is better off than it was on September 12, 2001."
let's see...
we are less safe
we are less prosperous
we are less influential
we are less trusted
we are less needed
but, of course, the rich are richer. the corporations control more of our lives. so, they are better off.
and relax, dan-duh perino, this is not another one of those tricky questions about the cuban missile crisis, just try to be truthful.
No Dana. What has created a sense of fear is this President and his ilk. Not the terrorists.
I fear whatever the hell he's still got up his sleeve.
The only two possible answers I would've accepted from Dana 'Stepford' Perino was (1) "No." or (2) "I carried a watermelon."
The answer is NO and it's gonna get worser. heh heh. ( Dubya answering the question )
Wow..how much longer do they think this shtick is going to work? There has been no attack on American soil? Why should there be? Bush exported thousands of Americans so that it might be easier for them to die at the "turorists" hands. He delivered them right to their door. But, the real reason that there has been no attack is because one is not needed. Bush has kept the damage piling up in response to 9/11..no further prompts are necessary. Bush has nothing more to stop domestic attacks then he has to prevent rain. If the sun is out...it aint Bush that takes the credit!
What about the anthrax attacks? How quickly they forget.
The economy tanked in May 2001, months before 9/11.
Was Dana Perino even gainfully employed then?
Weaseldog @ 20:
Nope... she was just a barbie doll on the shelf...
In Dana’s world, the terrorists are to blame for absolutely everything.
Weaseldog @ 20:
She was selling girlscout cookies, so, yes.
The moron couldn't answer a simple question with a simple answer, "NO!"
Our govt hate us for our freedom, that why they attack us and take away the bill of rights!
Now that they take away our rights, things been much quieter, no more open dissent, no more word about anyone being haul to a secret prison.
anyone have a avi file on that talk? I would love to do a animation on her.
it would top this one by me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh8DjrKSlwk
She could have done what her predecessors, Tony Snow, Scott McCleland and Ari Fleischer did when asked a question like that: LIE.
Meet the new Press Secretary, same as the other Press Secretary...
This is just another example of incompetence in the Bush administration. Regardless of the truth, it is understood by EVERYONE that the answer to this question (if you work for the Admin.) is a simple "Yes". What kind of idiot blows that question? I'm glad she doesn't work for a more important department.
Just keep cashing your paycheck Dana. Nothing else matters huh?
Would this of been a better response from Dana?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-emQAsGMeQ
9/11 is the fallback answer when you don't know what to say. Evil. Pure evil.
"What, exactly, could Perino say?"
How about "I'm sorry," followed by her public suicide out of shame while the cameras rolled?
At least we taught the Republicans to instinctively shout "911!" instead of "Clinton's Penis!". It makes it easier to be out in public with them.
"What, exactly, could Perino say?”
How about “I’m sorry,” followed by her public suicide out of shame while the cameras rolled?
Go out like Budd Dwyer, baby. 21 years ago last week.
The Bush Cheney Administration.
A National disgrace.
Everything has been Obstruction of Justice.
There is no credibility left. None.
Only Coverup and Secrecy.
November 1, 2001 - Presidential Records Act Executive Order
--> Executive Order 13233 - drafted by White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/11/print/20011101-12.html
http://www.projectcensored.org/censored_2006/#1
Did da' bitch go blind, or sumpin'?
um, no.
next question, you fucking blow-dried idiot.
Roket @ 22:
I agree with her there. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the rest ARE pretty much responsible for everything that is wrong...
Dr. Matt @ 19:
The investigation into the anthrax attacks went into the same files as the "search for Osama binHidin".........We know, so.......case closed.
"And that’s why the President decided to take on the terrorists head on and go on the offense." Does mere proximity to GWB make one inarticulate? Or does she need a fembot tune-up?
Right on! @ 10:
She forgot to say we haven't been hit by a meteor either. Good for them.
I'm sure that Dana is better off. My company, however, is tanking thanks to our Dear Leader's policies. Why do the "journalists" even show up for those ridiculous Q&A sessions??
Powkat @ 40:
I say fembot tuneup... or stepford wife checkup... you pick.
Any truth to the rumor that Busholini will play the role of the Tin Man in the remake of The Wizard of Oz? You know, that way he could sing "If I only had a brain..."
The country is experiencing "Bush fatigue." Even those who live to hate the man are getting exhausted.
Dhalgren @ 34:
Public self-flagellation?
Or should that read pubic self-flagellation?
This country could be great again if the civilians of this country would grow some balls and take it back from the sons of Facsist.
"Um ... actually, I'm not all that familiar with the State of the Union," Perino admitted. "I know it has something to do with the States, right?"
Who could imagine a White House press secretary with short term memory loss & self induced confusion?
I Am A Banana @ 5:
Bam,
Bwahahahahaha. Nail meets head.
Who could imagine a White House press secretary with short term memory loss and self induced confusion?
No attacks?
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=845
Hmm, Dana, did they ever catch that anthrax mailer?
By the way, the Senate's plan is better than the House's.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080129/ts_alt_afp/useconomygrowthpolitics_...
no.
Perino:
"Is the country better off than seven years ago? You bet. Seven years ago, mired in a properity that no one appreciated, in an atmosphere of post-cold war peace that no one wanted, the American people voted for a man who, they knew, could end the nightmare.
Now, seven years later, no one remembers what job growth was like, no one can remember a time without war, a time when Americans didn't look for scapegoats and villians. Thanks to the President, this is a new America. The nineties are long gone, and now we can look forward to a new future of war, recession, decay and corruption.
Hell, yes, things are better off."
If having a police state that is rapidly speeding to the runaway trainwreck of complete totalitarian controll is better, I guess we are better off. Hell, it's easy to prevent further terrorist attacks if you happen to be the only terrorist who has palneed and executed attacks....big accomplishment there. If a ruined economy and debts that children who won't even be born for another 75 years will be paying for their entire lives is better, damn... we're doing great. If thoroughly corrupted government institutions are the goal, we've exceeded them by miles. If being the only rogue nation of significance is a desirable metric, we're the best. IF being hated and despised by liberty and human rights loving people the world over is an accomplishment, nobody can touch us.
Damn but we're good!
Spotts1701 @ 8:
Truthful responses would have corrupted the programming in her Neocon Robo-Chip. Non sequitur. Non sequitur. This does not compute.
Truth Be Told ... Hell NO!
The American people are the ones who are suffering more since 911.
The Corporate Elite are the ones who are benefiting.
But then, That WAS the purpose for this war after all ... to benefit the Military Industrial Complex. The very one that ike Eisenhower warned us against.
The answer, Dana, is, NO!
Because of your boss's incompetence and the incompetence of the people around him, we are involved in a failed attempt at empire building in the Middle East that has resulted in our country being destroyed by federal debt and skyrocketing energy costs to say nothing of being regarded as the world's bully.
bin Laden is laughing his ass off in a mud hut in Waziristan, protected by Pakistani inaction and sovereignty.
A city remains destroyed and the few attempts to make life bearable for its citizens sit around rusting or melting or going stale.
Halliburton, KBR, Exxon and Pharma thank you.
Heckuva job Bushie. Award yourself a a Medal of Freedom and go away.
But even her evasions are a lie. The President did not decide to "take on the terrorists head on." Instead, he decided to dance around like a chimp for their amusement:
www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
And our nation has been attacked by terrorist again. In Riyadh in May 2003, in Mosul in December 2004, and by countless Saudi suicide bombers attacking our troops in Iraq to this day.
Maybe the answer is yes, after all, and the country is better off. Think about it, at that point there were still seven years to go in this awful presidency. At least now we have some hope.
"And that’s why the President decided to take on the terrorists head on and go on the offense."
Damn, now she made that commercial run nonstop through my brain again. Head-On, apply directly to the forehead, head-on, head-on, head-on. Must be subliminal advertising planted by the government to make us insane just like them, just saying.
Chwaliszewski @ 16:
(2) "I carried a watermelon." ROFLMAO
NO
Is our politicians learning anything?
Nah.
Traffic Jam on the Highway to Hell
by Sheila Samples
January 27, 2008 at 23:43:07
"When once a republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil."~~- Thomas Jefferson
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_sheila_s_080127_traffic_jam_on_t...
No More Investigations Please
by David Swanson
January 26, 2008 at 07:57:49
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_david_sw_080126_no_more_investig...
Bushs ever-declining approval numbers
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash08.html?proje...
The legacy of Bush’s presidency.
A new chart put out by the House Democratic Caucus compares the state of the country when President Bush took office to the state of the country today:
Click here for a larger version - http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/rchart4.gif
39 Comments »
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/23/the-legacy-of-bushs-presidency/
What a Bush presidency has wrought
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/15/EDS0UF33B.DT...
The End of the Road for George W. Bush
Posted on Jan 13, 2008
AP photo / David Furst, pool
President Bush, center, listens to Franciscan priests as they overlook the Sea of Galilee in the ancient village of Capernaum, Israel.
By Chris Hedges
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080113_the_end_of_the_road_for_geo...
The Most Inappropriate Bush War Smirk of 2007
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-most-inappropriate-bu_b_7835...
GWBush Worst President Ever?
Paul Finkelman
Posted December 21, 2007
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-finkelman/worst-president-ever_b_7787...
Mr. Bush, Your Legacy Awaits ...
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion: Politics
Thu Nov 01st 2007, 08:10 PM
Mr. Bush, Your Legacy Awaits …
By Nancy Greggs
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs/294
'W' Stands for Worst
Mike Papantonio of GoLeft TV and Air America's Ring of Fire talks about how historians have already began to judge the legacy of George W Bush, and have labeled him the worst president ever.
http://www.goleft.tv/view.asp?c=1&v=520
Bush's legacy of failure
By Manal Alafrangi, Staff Writer
Published: September 11, 2007, 00:03
Illustration by Nino Jose Heredia/Gulf News
http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/columns/world/10152788.html
Bush’s Pet Legacy
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2007/09/05/...
Professor paints grim picture of Bush legacy
By Maureen Groppe
Star Washington Bureau
September 2, 2007
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/LOCAL19/7090...
Bush’s Legacy Under Tony Snow: All-Time Low Poll Numbers, Legislative Defeats
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/31/snow-legacy/
still not satisfied?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/qws/ff/arc?sort=date&term=george+w+bush+le...
that being said, there are literally MILLIONS of articles about bushs failed Residency and he will go down in history as the Worst President Ever, beyond any shadow of a doubt!
Just like Guiliani..... these folks have nothing but 9/11 rhetoric to run on.
What about the anthrax attacks? How quickly they forget.
Or what about white guys trying to blow up abortion clinics:
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2006/10/other-kind-of-terrorist.html
(see, he's just a criminal, not a scary terrorist, coz he ain't brown or muslim.)
Or google Luis Posada Carriles, a terrorist who blew up a plane in South America, and who has protected by the US government for years.
NOTHING done in the last 8 years has had anything to do with preventing terrorism.
It depends, is there food on your family?
As much as they like to invoke 9/11, why are the borders still WIDE OPEN? Why are citizens able to walk through security points with weapons, but not hair gel?
ysbaddaden @ 68:
is our children learning?
This is an excellent question to ask any right-wing hack who starts whining about the Clinton years. Every politician who is on telelvision in the next few weeks should be asked this question point blank. When the interviewer doesn't get a straight answer, they should ask the question again and keep asking until the politician refuses to answer or they go to commercial. Then it'll be on the record that they are too chicken shit to answer the question and it gives more canon fodder to websites like C&L.
"Is the country better off now than it was seven years ago?" Outstanding question! Never let up!
abarts @ 71:
Am our gynecologist practicin their luv of wimins?
Is our children learning? Do our skies cleaner? Are water better? Has al Qaida 9/11? Is smoking mushroom clouds a problem?
These are the hard questions our leaders ask that we pose for the cameras, for without them, we cannot win those which would do us evil.
[Deleted. ALL CAPS-Sitemonitor]
abarts @ 71:
LMAO
Can gynocologists practice their love with women?
Interesting that this PC is not on the C-Span site yet!
Seven years ago I had a job that paid me in excess of $15,000/month. Every month. With health insurance and pension benefits.
Now I'm lucky to gross $3K, thanks to Shitbag and his Repuke buddies.
What the fuck do YOU think, Dana, you witless hosebag?
Well it was pretty obvious Bush was going through the motions (he looked mostly bored during the speech), so why should anybody bother paying attention?
jimbo92107 @ 74:
What would we do without gallows humour the past seven years?
Dana Perino is a mushroom. They keep her in the dark and feed her bullshit.
That bimbo Himmler doesn't want to ask that question.
uppity kitty @ 76:
Look, there's an old saying down in Texas, fool me once, shame on me......fool.......won't get fooled again......
"We have been successful so far in preventing another attack on our country."
Cheney 11/09/2001
"anthrax attacks...clearly a terrorist attack; whether it's domestic or foreign, we don't know"
David [reporter]: You talked about the possibility of a threat in the U.K. The anthrax attacks, which have happened since September 11th, CBS is reporting that they -- that these may be an American -- what you might call an American loony, and not a Muslim terrorist. Do you think -- are those reports correct, do you think? Do you have anything you could share with us?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: We just don't know. We're working hard trying to find out exactly what the source of the anthrax attacks are. But at this stage, we don't know whether that's something that's generated here at home, or whether it's part of the Osama bin Laden-al Qaeda attack on the U.S. It's clearly a terrorist attack; whether it's domestic or foreign, we don't know.
David: Absolutely. But you have no proof that it's al Qaeda or bin Laden?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: At this stage, I can't say. We just don't know.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/567683/posts
Fran Townsend, White House Homeland Security Advisor, also admits that America was attacked twice under Bush's watch.
Q Fran, you said that we've not been -- "in the six years since the September 11th attacks, we've not been attacked, and I'm often asked why" -- are we any closer to finding out who carried out the anthrax attacks that followed the September 11th attacks?
MS. TOWNSEND: Obviously that's an ongoing investigation. I'm sure Director Mueller would be delighted to answer. (Laughter.)
Q But doesn't that count as a terrorist attack? I mean, that is a subsequent event, right, so it's -
MS. TOWNSEND: It does in my mind.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-7.html
The November 9, 2005 bombings of three American hotels in Amman, Jordan, that killed 60
May 12, 2003 with the bombing of Western compounds in Riyadh, killing 34, including 10 Americans
of the 33 suicide attacks listed, 23 were conducted by Saudis, and only 1 by an Iraqi. Similarly, in June 2005 the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Institute of Washington, D.C. found by tracking both jihadist websites and media reports that of the 199 Sunni extremists who had died in Iraq either in suicide attacks or in action against Coalition or Iraqi forces, 104 were from Saudi Arabia and only 21 from Iraq. The rest were predominantly from countries around the Middle East.
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, there has been a 246 percent rise in the rate of suicide attacks (6 before and 47 after) by jihadist groups outside of Iraq and a 24 percent increase in the corresponding fatality rate. Even excluding Afghanistan, there has been a 150 percent rise in the rate of suicide attacks and a 14 percent increase in the rate of fatalities attributable to jihadists worldwide.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/iraq_effect_2.html
fabricate a security threat by Iraq, erase anthrax terrorist attacks by suspects unknown.
"What, exactly, could Perino say?"
A wop bop a doo-wop, a wop bam boom!
Here's a good list of the differences between today and 7 years ago under Bush
http://icantbelieveitsnotademocracy.blogs.com/weblog/2008/01/read-this-a...
What? For lack of trying? Dana, you really believe GWB et al have prevented an attempted attack? Get a grip, girl. Any terrorist, even one with an IQ of 80, could so, so easily bring this country down with a couple of hundred bucks worth of supplies, or a single hunting rifle. I'm not going to tell you the "secret", because surely you folks already know all our vulnerabilities, but, please, Dana, don't treat us like we're stupid.
And if you really believed you'd stopped all these terrorists, virtually chomping at the bit to "get us", why is it that you need to force us innocent citizens to get Big Brother RFIDs on our passports, our drivers license, etc? You've "saved us" from these attacks without even having our privacy stolen from us; isn't it true that the real reason for all this RFID stuff, all this spying on our phone conversations, our internet habits, our library cards, and everything we probably don't even know about yet, is not to PROTECT us, but to CONTROL US?
Dana, why don't you take a flying fuck on a rolling bush?
Uhm...911? I hope I am still alive when the 911 files are declassified.
This is called "getting the message out". No doubt the "Message" will be inscribed on Dana's tomb stone.
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