Truespeak

I have a major research paper due this week, so I will most likely be back next Monday. Have a good week, everybody!

In a desperate attempt to explain Bush's plummeting poll numbers, the White House has dusted off one of the Republican party's old stand-bys: liberal media bias. Georgieboy hinted at it on Tuesday during the press conference and then they brought it out full-force yesterday in West Virginia.

Q I have a comment, first of all, and then just a real quick question. I want to let you know that every service at our church you are, by name, lifted up in prayer, and you and your staff and all of our leaders. And we believe in you. We are behind you. And we cannot thank you enough for what you've done to shape our country. (Applause.)

This is my husband, who has returned from a 13-month tour in Tikrit.

BUSH: Oh, yes. Thank you. Welcome back. (Applause.)

Q His job while serving was as a broadcast journalist. And he has brought back several DVDs full of wonderful footage of reconstruction, of medical things going on. And I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, for a solution to this, because it seems that our major media networks don't want to portray the good. They just want to focus -- (applause) --

BUSH: Okay, hold on a second.

Q They just want to focus on another car bomb, or they just want to focus on some more bloodshed, or they just want to focus on how they don't agree with you and what you're doing, when they don't even probably know how you're doing what you're doing anyway. But what can we do to get that footage on CNN, on FOX, to get it on headline news, to get it on the local news? Because you can send it to the news people -- and I'm sorry, I'm rambling -- like I have --

BUSH: So was I, though, for an hour. (Laughter.)

Q -- can you use this, and it will just end up in a drawer, because it's good, it portrays the good. And if people could see that, if the American people could see it, there would never be another negative word about this conflict.

First of all, that's not true. Just today, I couldn't avoid seeing coverage of the rescue of the three peace activists. I would think that would be considered good news, right? Of course if the media were a little gun shy when it came to covering good news, I guess it might be understood after the whole Jessica Lynch fiasco, but I digress.

The truth is, we don't see much about the reconstruction in Iraq. We don't see much about the new schools and the new hospitals. We don't see much about the "medical things" that are happening in Iraq. As the woman said, we tend to focus on the car bombs and the bloodshed. But there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of that.

DEAD PEOPLE DON'T CARE!

There is nothing more tragic than the loss of a human life due to a senseless act of violence. Whether the death is caused by a car bomb, or an ambush, or a military operation gone bad, death is always tragic. And once you're dead, you really don't give a shit what happens. Dead kids don't go to school. Dead people don't need hospitals. Dead people don't give a rat's ass how well the reconstruction is going. Dead people don't give a flying fuck what kind of good "medical things" are happening. Dead people don't give a shit which ethnic group is in charge. They don't care about a constitution. They don't vote. They don't need clean water or electrical power. They don't care if Saddam is no longer in power. They don't need new roads, secure airports, a green zone, sanctioned militias, or freedom. The simple fact is this - until we can stop Iraqis from dying senseless deaths, it doesn't matter how many good things are happening because dead people don't care.

I for one would love to see some good news coming from Iraq. I'd like to hear that things are wrapping up and our troops are coming home. But when there are 50, 60, 70 Iraqis dying each day from violence that didn't exist before we invaded, there is very little "good stuff" that's going to make a damned bit of difference. When we've spent $200 billion on a war that was going to pay for itself, there's very little good news that's going to mean jack shit. When we've lost 2300 soldiers in a war where we were going to be greeted as liberators, there's very little positive progress that makes any fucking difference. Until we end this disaster and bring our troops home; until Iraqis are no longer subjected to the senseless violence that we have wrought, I don't give a shit what good things are happening in Iraq and I seriously doubt the dead people do either.

So if the media focuses on the latest car bomb or bloodshed it's because everything else is bullshit when you compare it to senseless death and destruction. Maybe instead of focusing on the fact that the media is showing the negatives, the Bush administration should focus on itself and fix the fucking problem. Quit your damned whining about the "liberal media" and do something about it. Because dead people don't care how fucking noble the mission is. They don't care if freedom is on the march. And they sure as shit don't care that George W. Bush has a plan for victory. Dead is dead and death is tragic.

I tell you what, those crazy kids over at Think Progress sure are resourceful. Check out their Iraq timeline. Very helpful, indeed.

This is going to be a LONG LIST!

Last month it looked as though Georgieboy had hit rock bottom when CBS showed him polling at a 34% job approval rating. When this month's CBS poll showed him still at 34%, I was pretty convinced that this was about as low as he could go. But today the Pew Research Center has him at an abysmal 33%.

In the aftermath of the Dubai ports deal, President Bush's approval rating has hit a new low and his image for honesty and effectiveness has been damaged. Yet the public uncharacteristically has good things to say about the role that Congress played in this high-profile Washington controversy.

Most Americans (58%) believe Congress acted appropriately in strenuously opposing the deal, while just 24% say lawmakers made too much of the situation. While there is broad support for the way Congress handled the dispute, more Americans think Democratic leaders showed good judgment on the ports issue than say the same about GOP leaders (by 30%-20%).

The new Pew survey underscores the public's alarm over the prospect that an Arab-owned company could have operated U.S. ports. Fully 41% say they paid very close attention to news about the debate, which is unusually high interest for a Washington story and is only slightly lower than the number tracking Iraq war news very closely (43%). There was broad opposition to the proposed deal from across the political spectrum, including two-to-one disapproval among conservative Republicans (56%-27%).

Bush's overall approval measure stands at 33%, the lowest rating of his presidency.

Part of the reason I didn't think his numbers could go any lower is because he's always going to have the hardcore Republicans on his side. These are the people that would vote for a criminal as long as he was running as a Republican. People like Judy Deats who said "Right now, I wouldn't vote Democratic if Jesus Christ was running." (She was voicing her support for Tom DeLay.) But according to the Pew Center, even his base is leaving him.

Oh, how the mighty keep falling.

So I guess the question remains: How low can he go? Any predictions?

Do you remember John McCain's Straight Talk Express? Man, that seems like a long time ago. Back when McCain was still a "maverick." Well, he's a maverick, no more. It's now official - McCain is George W. Bush's bitch.

During the 2000 campaign, John McCain was smeared in South Carolina by a Bush campaign push poll. But did that stop Johnny from supporting Georgieboy in 2004? Of course not! Almost any day of the week, ol' Johnny could be seen huggin on Georgie as he told everybody how much he loved him.

Then in January of this year, George stabbed McCain in the back again when he issued a signing statement concerning Little Johnny's torture ban. In other words, John could take his namby-pamby little anti-torture legislation and go fuck himself. But did that stop McCain from kissing King George's ass? Absolutely not! Just this past weekend, Little Johnny was right there supporting Bush like the little bitch that he is.

John McCain came to Memphis Friday afternoon with a simple mission: to prove his loyalty to the man who beat him for president in 2000. And nothing - not straw polls nor lurking reporters - would derail that mission.

The Arizona senator, who often touts his maverick credentials, had one message this weekend at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) in Memphis. And it's a simple one: I'm with the president.

So as far as I'm concerned, John McCain can take his little maverick label and shove it up his ass. Hey, Johnny! You're not a maverick if you keep supporting the man who treats you like shit. You're nothing but a bitch and George W's your pimp.

As you've probably noticed, I've been kind of out of it for a while. Obviously, I haven't posted since last week and this is the first chance I've really had to check in. I won't bore you with the details, but over the last I've had two music contests to attend and two major papers due in my grad classes. I've barely had time to sleep, let alone keep up with my blogging.

So anyway, I decided I'd better check in today. (Not that I have a ton of readers, but what the hell?) So I checked my sitemeter stats and damn-near fell out of my chair. I was visited by the government twice today. The first time was by the Naval Ocean Systems Center in Washington D.C. and the second was by the Army Information Systems Command-Pentagon. According to the stats, the Navy just visited the front page from an unknown referring URL, but the post visited by the Pentagon was (no big surprise, here) very anti-Bush administration. They were brought here by a Google search of "stuart bowen miers."

So I guess my question is... Should I be concerned? Am I on some watch list now or is this part of some new Bush administration "surveillance" program?

Poor George. Too bad for him, the numbers just keep rolling in:

Faux News - 39%
Gallup - 38%
Quinnipiac - 36%

Not even old reliable Faux News can manage to get him out of the thirties. And don't forget the 34% from the CBS poll earlier this week.

Wait... What's that noise? Why... I think... Yes! It Is! It's the sound of millions of Americans waking up and opening their eyes. I knew it would happen sooner or later I just didn't think it would take this long. I just hope it's not too late to undo the damage this bastard has already done.