The McLaughlin Group: The Toxic Legacy of George W. Bush & Dick Cheney
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I admit I get a slight case of schadenfreude in watching the mainstream media get forced to come around to what we in the liberal blogosphere have been saying all along: the Bush administration will be looked at as the worst ever. As we come mercifully to the final months of the Bush presidency, The McLaughlin Group asks its panel (made up of one "liberal" - Eleanor Clift and three conservatives - Monica Crowley, Mort Zuckerman and Michelle Bernard, naturally) just how toxic the legacy of Bush & Cheney will be. Try as they might to spin it to a more positive bend, none of the conservatives can truly deny McLaughlin's list.
Clift: Well, the notion that the terrorist threat would have been worse if he had not acted the way he did does not excuse a war of choice in Iraq that was then needlessly and poorly managed. And also you left off the list ‘shredded the US Constitution'. I thought your list was pretty good [laughter] and that's why President Bush has a 29% approval rating. He deserves it!
Big kudos to Clift as well for challenging Monica Crowley's mindless "we're winning in Iraq" meme. The clueless award goes not to Zuckerman for his equally mindless "at least we haven't had another terrorist attack" either, but to Michelle Bernard, who seeks to give credit to Bush for bringing our collective attention to education and women's rights, especially in the Middle East. Say what? I guess the fact that the conversation is about how lacking the Bush policies are in those areas doesn't negate that we're at least talking about them.
Transcripts below the fold:
McLaughlin: Is George W. Bush quote unquote radioactive?
[video]
Rep. Tom Davis: The President's the face of the party, he's absolutely radioactive at this point...
McLaughlin: Bush radioactive. For the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Tom Davis is frustrated and very gloomy.
[video]
Davis: We're seen as an appendage to President Bush and between an unpopular war, you take a look at the gas prices, the housing costs and everything, we are being tied to that.
McLaughlin: In the House of Representatives, three seats held special elections this year. In the last six months, Democrats have picked up three long time Republican seats. The GOP on March 8th lost an Illinois seat to a Democrat. Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert had occupied the seat for 22 years. Hastert resigned in November. In May, Republicans lost a Louisiana House seat that has been in Republican hands also for 22 years, since 1986, and most recently, Republicans lost a Mississippi special election. That seat had also been held by Republicans for 14 years. Question: how toxic is the Bush legacy for all 173 Republican House members up for re-election and 23 of the 49 Senate Republicans? Uh, Monica Crowley.
Crowley: Here's what Republicans have to do going into November. Number one, pray. Number two, if the President offers to come to your district and campaign for you...
McLaughlin: Run for your life.
Crowley: ...opt for the cardboard cutout of President Bush, rather than the actual guy. And you also have to run...they have to get back to conservative principles. They have to talk about reducing the size of government, lower taxes, fighting the War on Terror, continuing that on the offense, talking about a national energy strategy, in a very real, tangible way, because gas prices are dominating the conversation. And also talk about the need to appoint conservative judges.
[crosstalk]
McLaughlin: Let me...let me go ahead with this exit question and you can fill it in with your own point now. Exit question: Is it too soon to conclude the following about the Bush/Cheney legacy? One: They destroyed the GOP Congressional majority. Two: Tanked the value of the dollar. Three: Created unprecedented red ink in the federal budget. Four: Drew us into a quagmire in Iraq. Five: Left us with a recession and inflation. Six: Then skedaddled out of town. The question is, is it too soon to conclude that the foregoing constitutes the Bush/Cheney legacy? Zuckerman.
Zuckerman: Well, I think you probably have weighted the case just slightly, John. Now I don't know why I think that. [laughter]
McLaughlin: What are the redeeming features?
Zuckerman: Well, I mean, the one that you have to imagine, okay, is that...
McLaughlin: Imagine? Then it doesn't exist.
Zuckerman: No, excuse me. That the terrorist threat is something that might have been a lot worse had he not been as forceful as he was. And the thing that I think astonishes everybody about this administration is not that their policies [sic], but how incompetent they were in administering their policies.
Clift: Well, the notion that the terrorist threat would have been worse if he had not acted the way he did does not excuse a war of choice in Iraq that was then needlessly and poorly managed. And also you left off the list ‘shredded the US Constitution'. I thought your list was pretty good [laughter] and that's why President Bush has a 29% approval rating. He deserves it!
McLaughlin: Treat it as the abridged version. The executive summary.
Clift: You have to.
Zuckerman: He has a higher disapproval rating than Richard Nixon did in the last week of his presidency.
McLaughlin: Truman was the lowest though...I believe.
Clift: Well, by two points, he was at 27, I think, which at that time...
McLaughlin: That's a lower figure...
Clift: Well, he has time.
Crowley: Okay, so that was a pretty loaded question, John, and I do think it's too soon to pass judgment on the Bush/Cheney legacy. They still have a couple of more months in office, anything could happen. But on Mort's point, this is...
McLaughlin: You talking about Israel?
Crowley: ...this is, well, a number of things could happen. The economy could improve, and by the way, we're winning the war in Iraq now...
[crosstalk]
...which even left-wing media that opposed the war-the Associated Press and so on-now admits we're winning in Iraq. There are a lot of...
Clift: Could you describe what winning is? Winning, what does that mean?
Crowley: The violence is down dramatically, Eleanor. There's political reconciliation happening like mad in Iraq. That doesn't mean it's not reversible, but...
Clift: And all those refugees is winning?
Crowley: ...progress is in the right direction. And I will say, in terms of the Bush/Cheney legacy, there is some time to go and it's too early to pass judgment.
Bernard: Here is something positive, that I hope we'd all agree on about the Bush/Cheney legacy. Despite all the negatives that you just listed, which are probably correct, the Bush...President Bush brought education to the forefront of our national discussion. For the first time in a very long time, people are talking about what happens in our K-12 system, and how we prepare the future for a 21st century workforce.
Clift: But they're hating No Child Left Behind.
Bernard: But we are having the discussion. We have never had this discussion before, it is a national discussion, it's an important one to have, regardless of how you feel about No Child Left Behind, and also to President Bush's credit, for the first time in I think a very long time, we are actually talking about women's rights as human rights in the Middle East. We have had these discussions with Saudi Arabia, with Egypt, with Pakistan, with Iraq, and even in Iran, and I credit the administration for doing that.
McLaughlin: I think those are redemptive features. I also think Mort's point is quite helpful, helpful to redeem, and that is we haven't had a terrorist attack of the kind of significance that brought us to our knees with September the 11th.
is it too soon to say bush is the worst president ever? no.
And he can't leave quick enough.
And it's all the Democrat's fault!
Bush was too busy supporting the troops to NOT destroy our country.
And now the Iraqi government wants a timetable for withdrawal of our troops. That should go over with W and Cheney like a lead balloon. Doesn't the Iraqi government know that we, the American people, need our troops in Iraq to guard the Exxon employees and OUR oil?
Hahaha. Use something that can't be proven (Bush has prevented any additional terrorists attacks) as its only redeemable feature. After 8 effing years.
The President is staying up at night worrying about the rights of women in Iran ...
Crowley: …this is, well, a number of things could happen. The economy could improve, and by the way, we’re winning the war in Iraq now… which even left-wing media that opposed the war-the Associated Press and so on-now admits we’re winning in Iraq. There are a lot of…
left-wing media... anyone who parrots this GOP talking point gets an immediate rejection from the life raft.
monica crowley, the slightly smarter and nicer ann coulter. coulter 2.0
the bullshit she spews is still *gaspingly* wrong.
she is the current bush-apologizer-in-chief, yet she (like tony 'my pimp suit' blankley) tries to portray herself as some bastion of journalistic credibility.
to which i respond: bwhahahahahahaha!!!!
the legacy of bush will be fascism, and may well be martial law... it's not over yet
But we did have a terrorist attack on bush's watch, we just haven't had one since. The terrorist probably decided they didn't need to attack us again seeing as how bush has done more damage to our lives and our country than they could have ever hoped to do.
Quagmire . . where have I heard that before? Seems like somebody predicted that Iraq might become a quagmire in the early '90s.
“At least we haven’t had another terrorist attack.”
When will any of our "liberal" pundits get the balls to say, "Excuse me, what about 9/11? What about anthrax? We've had at least two major terrorist attacks against our country under George W. Bush."
gawd @ 3:
Actually, he had the caveeat of "an attack of the kind of significance".
Nice way to avoid the anthrax attack, I must say.
Martial law? But I thought the troops PROTECTED our freedoms? Hahahahahaha!
I just want to know how these insane morons will sell it to the troops? We're all gay liberals and must die. We're the REAL terrorists so we must be hunted down and put into repatriotization (new word in W's Amurika) camps run by Halliburton's KBR subsidiary.
RichStraightWhiteAmericanMale @ 9:
and, let's not forget to mention that the incidence of "terror" attacks worldwide has gone up. "terror" recruitment and funding? yup, that has gone up too.
True, the education system hasn't been completely destroyed . . yet.
By the way,
I was trying to look up the suggestion I once read about, some democratic senators/congressmen who sometime in 1996-1998 had a suggestion to make armored cockpit doors mandatory on planes, but the proposal was shot down by republicans due to the cost it would incur to the airlines.
I was unable to locate sources, anyone know if it was a factual case?
I could only stomach a few minutes of that moron Crowley she was unbelievable , stating that W's presidency wasn't over and there was a chance he was likely to pull it out of the ashes . Never mind that his time is 90% up and he hasn't done a thing right so far. Equally as galling was watching everyone else sitting there and not calling this bimbo on any of her bull shit. In Monicas case it can't be who you know.
*sigh*
incidents, not incidence....
Maybe that's why W likes "no child left behind" so much. He was left behind when he was young and now he has to make sure all of the children have the same fate.
Destroyed the GOP Congressional majority.
Really, where is the proof in the statement. You can count Rs and Ds but that is completely misleading.
Look at the legislation. Tell me where Bush didn't get what he wanted, except for privatizing social security which was DEAD ON ARRIVAL (thank gawd, can you imagine). Tell me where this congress hasn't caved at every turn. What am I missing.
The worst president ever? Sure but you wouldn't know it from this criminal congress. Joined at the hip.
Actually, it can be disproven-- we still haven't found and brought to justice the perpetrator(s) of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people.
It's as if Jim Jones were President and Charles Manson Vice President.
It pisses me off there are still people as ignorant and smug as a Monica Crowly.
"Hahaha. Use something that can’t be proven (Bush has prevented any additional terrorists attacks) as its only redeemable feature. After 8 effing years."
Did you forget about the Anthrax mailings? Another terrorist attack and we don't know anything about it other than it happened.
The conservative pundits can spin McLaughlin's question any way they want to, this is the worst president and administration ever! 20 January, 2009-end of an error!
Women's rights in Iraq have actually taken a back step since the invasion.
Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld (who said he'd take responsibility for the failures in Iraq) should all be hauled in front of the Hague for war crimes. Nothing would please me more for Bush to take a trip somewhere and be arrested; what an incident that would be. Could you imagine, just for a minute, what we would have said or done if, say, Russia invaded Venezuela for their oil because Lithuanian terrorists set off a bomb in Moscow? Bush must have an agenda because what idiot would've prosecuted a war like this like they did. OOPs, sorry, Bush isn't smart enough to know what an agenda is let alone have one. He's a dupe of Big Oil and we all know it.
Sad, that's the perception and perception influences reality, sad but true.
The Busheviks make the Nixon Gang look like choir boys.
It seems like an excuse for ignoring it to me. These very newsies that ignored news for the "do what you are told" from the office of the chief shooter, have nowhere to go but the happy home. TV news is an oxymoron. Their viewers don't know what an oxymoron is.
Monica Crowley is a dumb bitch.
She says republicans need to get back to "conservative principles". Well I wish liberals would scream from the top of thier lungs that we are living under conservative principles!!!!
But I ain't gonna hold my breathe!
Why the hell there is no loud & attractive liberals on that panel? That old lady is poorly representing our side. She is simply no match for that bitch Crowley and company.
And now the reich-wing are so desperate, they are toting a senile shell-of-a-man, who graduated 894 of 899 at the Naval Academy, as the best they have to offer. Ouch. Heckva job, Booooshie!
"we haven’t had a terrorist attack of the kind of significance that brought us to our knees with September the 11th."
No need... Bush has done exactly what they wanted... destroying the economy and chipping away at the constitution... doing much more damage than 9/11 did.
At least we haven't had any zombie attacks or alien invasions under GW's watch. The Corporate MSM will always have that talking point...
No shortage of apologists in that clip. It gets so tiring listening to them spew praise. Theyre as clueless as a Bush in a grocery store or at a gas pump.
michele bernard: below the radar rightwinger. and she hides it well.
which begs the quesiton... what, exactly, is she up to.
let there be NO doubt, the organization that bernard is the "CEO" of is a far right wing "think" tank, yet, on TV, bernard cloaks her true allies and views.
msnbc owes it to their viewers to give a little background to the people and their organizations. of course, though, that would smack of journalistic credibility.
Any time we hear women's rights discussed in our own country, they are talking about taking at least one of our rights away from us, via the Supreme Court.
I usually consider the McLaughlin Group a bunch of "screamin' me-me's". I don't care much for Monica Crowly; she's such a shill for BushCo. Elenor Clift makes good observations and points but is constantly drowned out by the me-me's.
Who is the dumb heiffa that wants to credit the giggling murderer for womens rights in the middle east? At the same time he and his right wing criminals opposed any equal rights amendment for women here in America!!
Where do these bitches come from??
oldtree... Exactly. It's mostly NOT news, just marketing. Making sure the sheeple get their daily dose of "what to think" and the shoving down our throats of.....OUR interests are one and the same as THEIR corporate interests.
FRN @ 19:
Yes, and what about Osama bin Forgotten? All that oil and no bid government contracts are sure distracting!
And much work can get done at the Brush Ranch, Monica? Someone cut her dolly pull string, please!
pissed off patricia @ 7:
And yet no one wants to say that ..
At the very least they ignored the warnings & let 9-11 happen.
No "conspiracy theory" .. it's all public record.
And yet the entire Bush administration has been built around "preventing another 9-11" by shredding the Constitution, invading Iraq, etc.
What you have to remember is that these people are PAID to think for you. They're paid to go on TV and give the status quo answers and talking points. And the opposition (can barely be called that) keeps to their script. It's a sick joke. Whether you buy the bullshit they're peddling is up to you. Never attempt to rationalize INSANITY.
Crowley's definition of "winning" the war in Iraq, "The progress is going in the right direction." There's that word progress again. It has been used literally thousand of times to spin this mess. And where did they find Michelle Bernard?? Where do these people come from? "Bush has brought education to the forefront of our national discussion." She's kidding right? She's just testing us to see if we're listening. The closest Bush came to bringing education to the forefront was to use a Florida classroom as a hideout while the WTC buildings were pulled.
How can we possibly be "winning in Iraq" if our purpose to invade this nation, that didn't attack us, was because WMD....WMD were not found....Mission Failed.
These wingnuts are delusional.
Conservatives caused these problems!
Republicans are NUTS!!!
It's all BS. Just a bunch of moronic sound bites. No facts, just sound bite marketing by and for the marching morons.
We didn't have any terrorist attacks for 8 years BEFORE 9-11, either. Point 7 should be "The total and complete destruction of the Republican Party."
"No child left behind" is crap, but "...at least we're having the conversation".
So by that logic, Shrub was done wonders for regular people's knowledge of the constitution. Everytime they do something to take away more rights, liberals scream foul and 'regular americans' ask: "That was a right we had?"
We are getting to know our constitution better everytime bush shreds another part of it.
so... I guess that's good?
Zuckerman, Crowley and Bernard...WRONG!!!!
In my youth I thought there could never be an administration even close as bad as Nixon, then came Ronald Reagan. I just knew that there would never be an administration that was as criminal and fascists as Ronnie and the boys. I really pisses me off anytime I hear anyone give the Bush any credit for anything even in the slightest good. I have been ashamed of my fellow American voters and ashamed to be American for going on 8 straight years now and don't tell me he stole both elections. I know he stole them but they should have never been close.
Fuck the McLaughlin group. Who gives a shit what they have to say about anything. Even when they are right, they are wrong. It's like paying attention to Andrew Sullivan. Worthless waste of time.
You know, the other night I got into a politics fight with my parents, again, and they spouted the line "How do you know I voted for Bush." And I said because why the f*ck would you sit here and try to defend the man if you didn't. I think it's the same arogance on display here. They voted him, they parroted for him, the went all in on him, and he failed. Admitting to that would be admitting they were wrong, and didn't you know? Overpaid gasbag pundits can't be wrong!
So one of the good points about the Bush administration is (according to Bernard) we are now talking about education based on the fact that Bush has so screwed things up with his no child left behind program? This is a legacy?
Based on that criteria then the Bush legacy will be outstanding because it will cause us to start talking about how to protect the country from presidential mis-management/corruption/criminal activity/etc. I guess having an administration so bad that it wakes up the American People to be concerned about cleaning up government is some kind of legacy.
Well you know they recognize bush's legacy will be in deep do-do if they are having such a miserably hard time coming up with positives in bush's favor. All their suggestions are lame as hell and they know it, but they keep trying, if for no other reason than to try to make themselves look relevant.
Except maybe for george bush himself, I don't think any sane person really and truly believes he has been even a decent president. Oh sure, the repubs won't admit it in public but they see the same evidence we do and like I said, if they are sane, they see it for what it really is. No one enjoys admitting they have been wrong, but admit it or not, they know they were.
When the shoe fits,,,,,,,,,,
sadly it wont inside bush and cheneys ass but still.
sluggo @ 49:
Kind of like saying that a serial murderer caused people to keep their doors locked out of fear, so if people are locking their doors now, that's a good thing the murderer did?
Teacher in 2040: "So class, can anyone tell me one positive thing George Bush did during his presidency?"
Jimmy: "He talked about education."
Teacher: "Good. Now let's move on."
Jake S. @ 48:
It's basically because their egos are tied into their past choices, and when that happens, there is no way to reason with people like this, because they will only hear what they want to hear. You could rattle off hundreds of failures from the real world and their eyes would glass over and they will go off to their mental happy place, or get angry at you for pointing out reality.
Let em go on living with their heads in the sand. Don't waste your efforts on lost causes.
Hey, the Bush Administration taught me the meaning of "schadenfreude", that's something isn't it?
Bush addresses violations of women's rights by dropping bombs on them - no women, no problem.
Isnt it crazy how bizarre the Republicans have become that they have to remind themselves to even talk about stuff like a balanced budget, small government?
Much less do anything about it! We need to talk about it again to win back the people, they're starting to realize we've blown up the debt and federal government ten times what the Democrats ever did!
We can't make any progress in the future until we admit the failures of the past. It's like an addiction, until you admit you have it, no one is going to be able to help you manage it.
in the last six yrs. the u.s. dollar has declined 40%
this is a major contributing factor with the price of crude
an the coming recession/inflation period. trying to blame oil prices on this current congress is nothing short of ridiculous.
somewhere in that mcLaughlin group video is a potential
obama ad
In The Wickerman, on the first day of every May, the likes of Dumya and Cheney were burned alive in a gas-saoked wicker effigy of the cursed of the Earth while suffering pagan villagers, worst affected by the curse they have scapegoated some insufferable selfrighteous Christo-fascist hypocrite for wroughting, sang and chanted joyously to the sun.
.....hmmmmmmmm.........
So fitting on so many levels! The cursed American pagan technocracy and that rancid cesspool of sanctimonious right wing psuedo-Christian charlatans and knaves who have amassed unto themselves blessings and power while the dollar, the god of this nation, tanked horribly! Our land of milk and honey is now a diseased, befouled perdition of brimstone and treacle! We're too late for the 1st of May. But, Halloween is coming up. And, ReThugniCons and Neo-WHIGS seem to like October surprises! What joy!
I'm sure the irritated and unemployed middle classers who are steadily losing their homes have no need for all that wicker furniture they can no longer afford to store. I think we have access to enough gasoline to get a blaze up. For a cause this worthy, I doubt we'd have a problem getting gasoline donations from a disgruntled nation, should more be needed. And, these days getting volunteers for the lynch mob to gather up all of Administration 43 to be dragged, bound at the end of a huge hemp rope, all the way to the effigy to be set ablaze is a cakewalk. We can give these rascals the same public farce trial they give the extraordinarily rendered before we queue the chanting and manaical laughter of gleeful joy as one of our own precious children, denied healthcare, a good education, good food, potable water, and domestically produced toys that weren't lethal, drops that burning torch into the oil-soaked hay piled from the feet to the hips of the effigy holding our political sacrifices to be broadcast globally live and free in the glorious brillance of HDTV!
So, got cable, satellite, or internet?
There's one thing that Bush has done right, by doing a lot of other things *wrong*:
By making oil less and less affordable, people outside of the normal tree huggers are actually considering alternative forms of energy, some of which are eco friendly. I never thought I'd see solar, wind or geothermal power take off during my lifetime....
That doesn't exactly take away from his total and complete failure as a President. Corporations have never gained more rights and lost more controls, and citizens have never lost more rights and gained more controls. I don't think I've been as ashamed of my country as I was the day that we reelected that bunch of crooks.
"no child left behind" is directly attributable to my niece and nephew being functionally illiterate after high school graduation.
as a sophomore and junior in high school, both my niece and my nephew were SHOWN MOVIES rather than required to read the book. and they were building panoramas rather than writing essays.
Too soon to pass judgement? For god's sake, when will the right time be? He's done in Jan 09. I started passing judgement on Bush while he was still running for Prez. I've been continually vindicated ever since. Too late to pass judgement? I don't understand . . . at what point did the people decide that Mort Z's opinions were anything more than bullshit.
Is Monica Crowley retarded?
Jake S. @ 48:
Do you think these type of people will be able to admit it in private? At the voting box? If they can bring themselves to admit that hey have been hoodwinked in private that McBush is toasted worse than I thought possible. These people are bitter I am sure but they have to find it within themselves to admit that they are bitter.
Captain Obama’s Bitter Half Husein Kangaroo @ 64:
Retarded? That's soooooo pre-mental-health-reform-movement. Here (Michigan), our mental health system refers to it as "developmentally disabled".
So is she "developmentally disabled"? If she's not, she's right on the borderline. ;^D
The worst attack happened under a Republican/Cheney administration. Facts are facts.
Dick Cheney: "So?"
gawd @ 3:
Not True. Anthrax was a terrorist act, no?
Monica Crowley and that permanant sneer is caught as a plagierist. Not for the first time either. I don't know how to link, but here is the headline at Huffington Post in the media section:Radio Host/Fox Commentator Monica Crowley Steals McCain Spoof, Passes It Off As Her Own.
…they have to get back to conservative principles. They have to talk about reducing the size of government, lower taxes
Uh, can you say Highway 35 West in Minnesota? There, I knew you could! The collapse of that bridge was the inevitable, entirely predictable result of precisely this whole Barry Goldwater / Ronald Reagan / Grover Norquist idea of having a smaller, cheaper government! When you have a bunch of angry taxpayers hollering about how expensive government is, guess what the easiest thing to cut is? Yup, you guessed it! Bridge inspections!
Liberal Jer @ 45:
Yep. Crowley and Bernard's defenses of the chimp were odious and laughable at the same time. Mort needs to give it up.
I still say that it was proven to the country that the chimperor had no clothes during the Katrina debacle. Repugs claim to be so good about national security and the chimp hires a frickin horse lawyer to head FEMA in a post 9/11 era. Can you think of a more cynical appointment in such a position of power than Brownie?
We've seen the havoc that conservative governance has wreaked on our country and quite unfortunately to the innocent Iraqis as well. Let's put these repugs out of business and start to turn the country around. Hopefully we haven't reached the point of no return yet.
Bush the education president. What Bull pukky.
gawd @ 3:
BTW, just WTF did W do defend the homeland during the pre 9/11 era? Cheney's anti-terrorism task force met for the 1st time when?
McLaughlin: Is George W. Bush quote unquote radioactive?
[video]
McLaughlin: Not a happy picture, huh?
[video]
McLaughlin: So, Uh, Monica Crowley, what say you?
Crowley: Here’s what Republicans have to do going into November. Talk about real conservative principles. That's what America really wants, after all. We all know that.
McLaughlin: Hmmmm. Is it too soon to conclude that Bush has a reverse Midas Touch? That everything he touches turns to shit? Zuckerman.
Zuckerman: Well, I think you probably have weighted the case just slightly, John. Now I don’t know why I think that. [laughter]
McLaughlin: I don't know either.
Zuckerman: Well, I mean, the one thing that you have to imagine, okay, is that, if Bush hadn't gone into Iraq, every one of us in this room and outside of it might be DEAD! DEAD, I tell you! DEAD!!!!!
Clift: Why do I sit and converse with you guys? Bush ruined the world and shredded the Constitution. He has a 29% approval rating. He deserves it!
Zuckerman: Well, even I have to admit that he has a higher disapproval rating than Richard Nixon did in the last week of his presidency.
McLaughlin: But it's not the lowest ever! Truman was lower one day! Gotta note that!
Clift: Why?
McLaughlin: Cuz I'm a know-it-all.
Crowley: John, I do think it’s too soon to pass judgment on the Bush/Cheney legacy. They still have a couple of more months in office. Anything is possible. Angels could fly down from heaven and make everything all better. Superman could spin the world backwards, and take us back before all the disasters. After all, didn't ya notice that we're on the verge of winning in Iraq? No? Cuz the liberal media won't tell you that!
Clift: What the fuck are you talking about?
Crowley: Oh, Eleanor, everything in Iraq is rainbows and lollipops now, and everyone knows it, except for the liberal media.
Bernard: John! John! Me! I've got my hand raised! Pick me! Ok, I'm talking now! Here's a positive: Prior to Bush's destroying Iraq and our educational system, nobody in America was talking about how to fix Iraq and our educational system. Now they are! Ha! Top that!
Clift: What the fuck are you talking about?
Bernard: Just that when Bush fucks up, it forces America to think. Isn't that a good thing? Americans tend to be allergic to thinking.
McLaughlin: Hmmmmm.......we're not all dead, Angels and Superman can still save us, and otherwise unthinking Americans have been forced to think about the disasters that have destroyed their lives......ok, you've convinced me. Bush in '08!
Clift: He's Constitutionally ineligible, John.
McLaughlin: But, as you noted Eleanor, he shredded the Constitution.
Mike Mid City @ 73:
I disagree. I think that he has given the American public QUITE an education.
“we haven’t had a terrorist attack of the kind of significance that brought us to our knees with September the 11th.”
Because they have been too busy setting up no-bid, unaccountable corporations with not only off-shore accounts, they actually moved them off-shore to the same country that financed the attacks. Their too busy stockpiling their record profits off shore tax free, investing elsewhere, other than the USA. Their too busy speculating all energy costs on the markets into uncalled, unjustified mega-profits, causing many "have nots" to needlessly suffer. They are too busy running this country down as fast as possible, erasing any and all their tracks, then resigning.
Republicans are "the" direct cause of the entire downfall of the USA.
But they will fix it. Ha, ha,ha,ha.....!!!
I tried wathing the show. I couldn't stomach it anymore. We still have people out there still carrying water for these criminals. Who are, in fact, criminals themselves. They somehow able to continue spew out lies with straight face. It is simply too amazing they are willing to help harm others as long as they think they aren't as affected by it. Is there a term that even come close to such creatures?!? I am saddened that I am part of this so-called human race.
I don't want to seem too critical and I always love Nicole's posts but two points:
Point 1 - The imbalance on the panel is actually 4:1, not 3:1, as McLaughlin himself is pretty damned conservative. The first thing he doesn't like about the Bush administration is the effect it had on the Republican party, not the effect it had on the country.
Point 2 - The first thing this whole panel doesn't like about the Bush administration is the effect it had on the Republican party, not the effect it had on the country. This is typical of Republicans who have put their party's fortunes above the law, the constitution, the country's international reputation and the economy. That approaches, nay surpasses treason. You could have mentioned that.
The putative left in America should do a better job of HAMMERING the GOP and the conservative ideology instead of waiting for someone like Tom Davis or Scott McLellan to point out the obvious.
Samson- @ 31:
The Bush/Cheney
legacyaftermath is an America that has been wrecked 8 years of corruption and moral bankruptcy. The worst presidency ever."And continue the war on terror on an offensive blah blah conservative judges blah blah winning the war blah blah....."
Bits of my brain died listing to her ........... is she related to the Miss Teen South Carolina ? ........... What the fuck is wrong with your country !!!
That so many people still believe what those muppets say (only in the US though) is shocking, truly shocking.
And then to talk about education, that the US has the lowest standard in the western world :http://perotcharts.com/
Karen @ 75:
Nice work.
waterboarding for jesus @ 81:
Though it is representative of the US, or it wouldn't of happened and would of been dealt with.
Once the people take responsibility and stop pointing fingers it will turn around.
Ms. Clift, the direct shredding is just the tip of the iceberg. The work of his nefarious court is and will be worse.
Karen @ 75:
And the entire room erupted into a hearty applause with a standing ovation!!!!!
Excellent piece of writing!!!
Jerry @ 84:
Would be true, if the electoral system weren't broken.
Once again ... the old "We haven't suffered an attack since 9-11" garbage.
Since Al Qaeda started attacking the U.S. back in the late 90s, how many times did they successfully pull off an attack in the United States? In the eight years prior to Bush taking office?
What the hell does that mean?
Charles @ 11:
Simple. They don't intend to sell it to the troops at all, at least not the official troops of the US military. Martial law will be implemented by Blackwater/KBR thugs, who will have it pointed out to them that they have been committing war crimes and given a free pass by the government. A powerful incentive I would say, "If you let the libruls have their way, you'd all be in jail."
Plus they'll continue to pay them 10X the going rate for real sodiers.
And you chattering dimwits all voted for him supported him every day on your TV shows and in your editorials and your reich wing blogs. YOU did this to your party and your country and I hope the next time you feel the urge to vote that you instead go volunteer in a soup kitchen. We've had quite enough of your drivel. You should contemplate your diseased ability to comprehend reality and make amends for your vile hateful stupidity.
On the bright side; I was pleasantly surprised to hear Michael SkippedmyMedsved DEFEND global warming on the radio today. My, My, you dimwits could learn something from that. But you probably won't......... requires maturity.
BTW- Bush Cheney legacy "bringing education to the forefront of our national discussion" ?!?!?!?! Are Ye Daft, Lassie!
You are so right Ms. Bernard, no one was talking about education or women's rights before George WTF Bush brought them up.
Seriously? Did she just say that?
I just love how the corporate media finally discovers this, I’m sure it’s in part to distance themselves from selling the Bush brand and also to allow themselves to appear more objective to future historians, who’ll wonder how the hell such a corrupt, inept and illogical administration got into power and held it in the first place.
This leads me to the second problem, US. WE voted them into office, we supported them and we did little to nothing as they made our, Iraqis and Afghanis lives far worse off. Sadly, I think if the Iraq War had cost Iraqis just as much but us far less, I don’t think there’d be widespread opposition like there is. If the economy was just as exploitive towards others and as environmentally destructive and non-sustainable but benefited Americans more I don’t think people would call for much change. Basically, I don’t think (but hope I’m wrong) that people realize systematic problems that require more fundamental change and are unhappy because of how immoral our policies have been (far before even Bush). Look at our candidates, both are well to the right of the US public and are surrounded by the people who’ve put these policies into place. I realize the system itself is flawed and needs fixing, but who besides us can do that? There’s no way it will happen from within.
Worst. President. Ever.
Learn it. Love it. Live it.
Could the whole women's rights thing be subtly an attempt to prime the "Bush isn't a real conservative" pump (to certain ears) while also playing the "he's not that bad" song to others? And, the only way Bush has pushed education to the forefront of the national debate is a case in point of what happens when you elect someone without one.
Rich2506 @ 71:
Ex-fucking-actly. Everyone at the American Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation and the Mountain States Legal Foundation should have to wear a piece of that bridge around their freaking neck. And don't even get me started about the levies.
people tend to get precisely the leadership they deserve and history has
shown this time and time again.
ladies and gentlemen: I submit for your consideration George Walker Bush.
hmmm.. this doesn't say very much for the American public, does it!?
with all due respect to real women,
I wonder when mcLaughlin went for the bimbo factor. those two women spouted the most airbrained mucous I've ever tried not to listen to.
Groucho @ 97:
that is quite a versatile quote you've generated.
I think there should be a contest as to who can come up with the best example - outside of our two, of course.
karen marie @ 62:
exactly.
Karen @ 75:
Thank you. Karen
Too soon? he still has time left? what the fuck do these idiots think is going to happen? Is Fred McMurray going to show up and put flubber in all the worlds war scars and make it all better? Are they going to successfuly thwart invaders from Mars? Are they going to outlaw coctail partied so they can send all the excess ice up to the north pole? Can anyone tell me?
Also for McLaughlin's comment: we haven’t had a terrorist attack of the kind of significance that brought us to our knees with September the 11th
I would like to point out that we have not had another terroist attack (yet) because Bushco haven't ordered the attacks (yet). But don't worry, things will get so bad for the GOP they will have no choice but to attack us again.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Democratic Party Victory Over SCLM and DIEBOLD! @ 98:
Come to think of it, the men are bimbos too!
I don't know how Monica Crowley is and I don't want to know. What a joke U.S. media is.
McLaughlin's voice is awesome!
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 102:
there's still the possibility of an attack and there's an executive order and a compliant house and senate. we're not out of the woods yet.
Number one on this list can't be perceived by any sane person as being anything but a great positive for the country. The GOP losing control of the House and Senate was a leap forwards. Now all we have to do is run Progressive candidates against Blue Dog and Bush enabling Democrats.
Vote McDepression 08 to continue the legacy!
Why does it take three right wing nutbags to shout down one nominal Liberal? What are they afraid of?
ALL OF THESE war mongering, hate mongering, decietful, truth twisting, conservative republicans are STUPID! There's an old Italian saying (translated to english): "Ignorace can be educated, but stupid is bone deep". I know...I WAS a stupid, loyal republican over 40 years. However, I faced the facts, admitted the truth, was honest with myself, and have seperated myself from the party, which is as toxic as the president they supported...at the cost/loss of the MY CHILDREN and GRAND CHILDRENS futures. Yes, I'm loosing sleep because of the status of this nation, which happened during the republican controlled government. I may be old, I'm not "stuck on stupid". I WILL NOT VOTE THIS PARTY BACK INTO OFFICE TO CORRECT THE MISTAKES (DAMAGE) THEY CREATED AND ALLOWED TO HAPPEN. God have mercy on this nation if McBush goes into office!
As a McLaughlin Group regular viewer John McLaughlin has been critical of the Bush Administration from the onset and particularly since the 2006 election. Pat Buchanan, at times, also slams 'W'. Eleanor Clift has been the strongest voice against the cabal but, she allows emotion to take control of her rebuttals which loses credibility with the Right-wing viewer. Clift should keep it to the point and pound the facts sans the whining.
Tony Blakely, Mort Zuckerman et al spew the Republican party line ad nauseam so, their loyalty of all things Bush need be ignored. Even the McLaughlin Wing-nuts know the U.S. is in the shitter thanks to the Bush Family Evil Empire. They play the part to collect a paycheck even, if it is a PBS voucher.
I like what Pinky & the Brain called them:
The McLoudness Group.
These fuckheads continue to use the phrase "war in Iraq" to describe the invasion of a sovereign state (Iraq) by another sovereign state (US). The only legal and logical conclusion is that the latter state is guilty of crimes against humanity and the leaders should be on trial at the International Tribunal in the Hague. This is not a topic for debate, spinning, hedging, nodding or any other rhetorical sleight of hand/mouth. Even the "journalists" at PBS cannot seem to grasp this very simple and straightforward idea. They, too, are ignorant in their denial of reality. They should be demeaned, denigrated and publicly humiliated. Following that, they should apologize to their fellow citizens and the citizens of Iraq. Don't hold your breath.
I thought I was watching Fox News - this panel was definitely NOT fair and balanced!
I am thinking the only way Bush and Cheney can redeem themselves is if Osama Bin Laden - remember him? - is caught before their term is over.
Let's start placing bets this CONVENIENTLY occurs in the next few months!!!
And the reason people are talking about education under Bush is because people are now fearful that their own children may grow up to be as DUMB and INCOMPETENT as Bush if they don't receive adequate education!!!!
The Supreme Court who voted Bush in in 2000 should be ashamed of themselves - and likewise the gullible voters who voted him in in 2004! Of course, the right wing media and gutless Democrats deserve brickbats too!
c'mon Pelosi - the majority in US and around the world want Bush impeached - have a look at the G8 protests in Japan - and every other "greeting" this man receives everywhere he goes???
make the US a once again PROUD nation - impeach these bastards NOW!!!
A biggie, no one seem to put on any list, is pitting Americans against each other. bu$h leaves a horribly divided nation. How can anything meaningful be accomplished with all this 49.5% vs 50.5%?
Neo-classical secular humanist @ 113:
The enormous war crime of attacking Iraq is ignored by the criminal media that is really part of BushCo. I've only found the truth on the good old internet.
Al @ 77:
"we haven’t had a terrorist attack of the kind of significance that brought us to our knees with September the 11th.”
[Deleted. For clarification, please contact us at: sitemonitor1@gmail.com . Thank you. Site Monitor]
Chris R @ 116:
Agreed and this blog is one of the best.
{ Deleted, Way over the top. Don't advocate violence of any kind here. SiteMonitor}
Bush gets points for EDUCATION... and Womens' rights issues??
JESUS... what planet does that women live on?
The Bush Cheney legacy is death, destruction and debt. He has not improved anything except the rich are richer. He has not improved education when he does not finance education and has liars in positions to exagerate the facts. He has thru ineptitude damaged every branch of gov't, the Constitution, and the courts. He will be remembered as a failure. And only complete idiots believe we are "winning" in Iraq. But to prove they are right I invite them to join the Army or Marines, go to Iraq, fight in Iraq then tell me how conditions are (if they live thru it).
Bush only planned one attack on the USA that is why we did not have more 9/11 was staged and most fell for it.... lemmings
Samson- @ 12:
What about terrorist attacks we had BEFORE 9/11? Oh, that's right, except for our own people blowing stuff up, it basically goes back to 1945.
Remember when in the 1970's, the staple of stand up comics were planes being hijacked to Cuba? No one really cared! Men were men & all that! When did we turn into such limp wristed babies? We didn't have Homeland Security & suspension of every right that makes us America,...
Ugh. I'm glad I do not watch TV.
pissed off patricia @ 7:
The attempted murders using anthrax, though likely home-grown (like the bugs), represented a terrorist attack, and also represented the SECOND terrorist attack on the chimp's watch.
And I agree whole-heartedly with you - why should the "terrorists" attack again when they had bush to attack from within?
Norse @ 14:
It was called the Hart-Rudman report...Also see "the Gore commission on aviation safety"
LOL!!!
I fucking LOVE the GOP argument that because HAVEN'T had another 9/11 (read: a repeat of the awful terror attack that happened fuckface's watch) actually works in Bush's favor and shines a positive light on his "legacy".
HAHAHA!
I don't remember a 9/11 happening on Jimmy Carter OR Richard Nixon's watches either. Does that make them exemplary Presidents because of it?
Only the modern-day GOP would try to put a positive spin on something NOT happening and hold it up as an "accomplishment".
Hey, Georgie. California didn't sink into the Pacific while you were President! Good job, cowboy!
gawd @ 3:
They're not even trying that anymore. They're just holding up the fact that we haven't had additional attacks on our soil as proof positive that fuckface MUST be capable of SOMETHING!!!
karen marie @ 62:
Jesus....Christ.
Heckuva job, Bushy...
pissed off patricia @ 7:
Bingo!
another post I sent to a friend before watching the whole thing ...should NEVER do that at C&L.
Once gain C&L manages to let the right wing hog wash be the last minutes of a clip. Let it all go unanswered.
That's what we want - right wing propaganda mixed a few moments of truth.
ZWBush @ 29:
Actually we've had both. Who/what do you think has been mismanaging this fiasco so far?
Just imagine McLaughlin ordering at a restaurant. Chew on That.
Not to mention when the waiter repeats the order and if he makes a mistake ole Mc yells WRONG!!!
How about "sat twiddling his thumbs while New Orleans was utterly destroyed"? That deserves to make the list.
Monica Crowley makes me vomit. And why are these TV-pundit foursomes almost always three right-wing nuts and one liberal person? I saw the same setup on Hannity's show last night when I accidentally tuned through Fox Noise. Three right-wingers and a liberal.
How would the wingnuts do in a fair fight? We'll never know.
NOW the neocons want to remove themselves from the Bush administration. Since 2000, they sat there united and passed every bullshit bill. Towed the party line for two terms and now, 2008, now that the majority of Americans can plainly see how self serving their party was for eight years, they are distancing themselves from George Bush. Hey neocons, f*ck you! You helped make the mess the least you can do is go down with the ship. That would take integrity and no righty has any of that.
Vote every one out on their ass!
Not since the great depression and Herbert Hoover have we faced a
reality as bleak as the one given to us by George W. Bush and his administration. No administration in living memory has been as destructive as the one now in office. Our losses will be measured not only in lives, but in futures. It will take generations to undue the carnage of this Presidency. My only hope is that the shame, and the blood on the hands of this President, is never cleansed. His only lasting legacy incompetence. It is our national shame he was not impeached. The G.O.P. is forever tarnished by what has been nothing less than bufoonery at the highest level. I truly believe it borders on treason in the highest office in the land.
Chris R @ 21:
Her ignorance and arrogance are all that she has left -- the facts and most of the American public have abandoned her camp.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Make sure the next TV guy there puts on "international relations"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7495754.stm
Along with accosting the UK minister at the airport, twice. Just because he's a brown guy .........
karen marie @ 62:
As a high school teacher, I say that this No Child
Gets AheadLeft Behind is completely ruining US public education. I abhor it. You guys would not BELIEVE the crap that gets handed down from on high---from people who haven't set foot in a classroom in YEARS--on how to "fix" our classrooms. "Essays are too hard! It requires too much critical thinking. They discriminate against kids who can't write !" and so and so on. It's horrible. I cannot wait until this shameful Act goes away. Which it will, under a Dem administration. Bill Richardson was one of the few politicians who has called for its demise.And karen marie, I am deeply saddened to hear about your niece and nephew.
Why are these people on TV? I mean really. When you hire a Monica Crowley or a Bill Kristol or a Charles Krauthammer, you know damned well you're getting nothing more than a propaganda tool for the Republican party. These people will spin like a top and outright lie if they have to. So what does that say about the people who hire them? Why is it that you're no longer allowed to show reasonable, thinking people having a rational debate on TV? Why is it ALWAYS shrill, bullying, far-right brown shirts screaming over weak, middle-of-the-road Democrats? How do these shows get ANY ratings anymore? Who is still watching this trash?
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