There are so many things I want to write about, for example the conflict in Gaza, the continued economic meltdown, the wars, but today George W. Bush had his final (I HOPE!) press conference and, while I only heard exerpts from it, I heard enough to have to focus my remarks (again) on him. I have to start by asking, how on earth did this baffoon ever get elected to be president of the supposed most powerful nation in the world? It is actually embarrassing to me watching him in public. I believe this is because I feel such a level of connectedness to this country that I just can’t believe this guy is supposed to represent me. He can’t even put his sentences together properly, which you would expect from our “Chief Executive.” Tonight, I heard him make some incredibly STARTLING comments!

Let’s start with the most startling of all. Tonight George W Bush eliminated all the guesswork about Dick Cheney’s arrogant admission about a week or two ago that he (Cheney) authorized torture of prisoners in the “War on Terror.” After listening to Cheney I thought, well now he has to be prosecuted for this because it’s a clear war crime. Keep in mind, Cheney willingly admitted to authorizing waterboarding as a means of “enhanced” interrogation. Tonight, Bush joined Cheney in this incredible admission to authorizing war crimes. Now, I’m assuming that during his last eight days in office Bush is going to pardon anyone involved in this action, although I’m not sure whether or not he can pardon himself. However, this should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention during the past four plus years. Everyone knows that the orders for the torturing came right from the White House, but when you’ve got people who lie with the regularity of these folks, I suppose the question would be do you want to try to prove they were lying during a prosecution. But that problem has now been solved, because in their arrogance they admitted doing this in front of national TV cameras.

If you’re reading this blog I don’t suppose you ever believed that those 5 or 6 lower level Army “grunts” who are serving time for Abu Ghraib were actually the ones who came up with the ideas of how to deal with those prisoners (now, if Bush pardons himself do you think he will pardon the soldiers doing time for following his orders?). To me, it has been one of the more grievous parts of an occupation full of grievousness that underlings such as Lindy England are serving time in Leavenworth for following the orders of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld. And these guys (Bush et al) have no conscience whatsoever in letting these lower level people take the fall for them. When you look at the complete body of work from Bush and company this should be no surprise. They have shown no sign of conscience in the war, the Katrina fiasco, outing a CIA agent, the destruction of our economy, in anything. True to his incompetence, today while trying to spin his administration as something besides a total disaster George W Bush admitted to commtting war crimes.

Now, there’s more – but I have to add here that today Bush really put President Elect Obama on the spot. If you’ve read any of my earlier posts you know the significance I am putting on Obama allowing an impartial investigator to look into all the allegations of lawbreaking by the Bush administration. He is showing signs of weakness in this regard, making comments like “I want to look forward and not backward.” I have stated my position that this would be a huge mistake – but now it would be HUGER! (I made that word up :o) If Obama looks the other way once he has placed his hand on the Bible and pledged to uphold the constitution and enforce the laws of the land, he is putting himself and his administration in the same company as the administration he is succeeding. I REALLY HOPE HE DOESN’T DO THIS – I WILL ASK FOR MY MONEY BACK! If Obama doesn’t have the fortitude to take on this battle he shouldn’t have taken on the job of President of the United States! I don’t know what he’s thinking, but this is the “Change we voted for!” Enough already! Not only should the torture that has been admitted to be investigated and prosecuted where appropriate, but also the many other areas where Bush/Cheney over-stepped their “bounds” – THERE HAS TO BE A FIRM STAND AGAINST THE IDEA THAT THE PRESIDENT IS ABOVE THE LAW!

Getting back to Bush’s press conference. Here are some more incredible things that were said today. Bush said that the FEMA response to Hurricane Katrina was “not delayed.” This coming from the man who was on vacation and didn’t even do his “photo op” for two days after the storm was over and who has eight more days in office while a huge portion of New Orleans remains in ruins. I suppose if your goal is to eliminate the poor sections of town then their response has been appropriate. Bush continues to claim that historians will view his “surge” as some kind of military genius move in Iraq. Well, first of all, that would have to presuppose that historians are going to give a favorable view to the invasion in the first place (in my mind the chances of that are approaching zero the more info that comes out about the manipulation of intelligence and information) and, secondly, it would presuppose that there is some kind of “peace” in Iraq. Granted, the violence is “down” but I don’t believe the Sunni/Shia problem has been addressed let alone solved. I’m sure Bush believes that when we pull out of Iraq and when the eventual battle between factions in Iraq presumes (not that it’s not going on now – we just don’t have anyone reporting on Iraq anymore) the new administration will be blamed. I just have to say hogwash to that – there are a lot of ways to explain the reduction in casualties for Americans in Iraq (one is that we bought off the insurgent Sunni’s so that they would take care of al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for us) and once Moqtada al Sadr returns in about two years, the Sunni/Shia conflict is going to re-emerge if not before then. The bottom line – Bush’s misadventure has destablized Iraq and the entire region and there is no way he’s going to be able to rewrite history on that one.

Bush also tried to blame the economy on his “predessessor.” That would be, of course, Bill Clinton – and republicans have been busy blaming Bill Clinton for just about everything since well before Bush took office, so this one wasn’t too much of a surprise either. Bush said something like “I came in during a recession and I’m leaving during a recession – with five years of prosperity in between.” Well, this just confirms his ignorance regarding economics – which is no surprise to those of us who have been watching this guy closely for the past eight years. EVERY indicator of the economy is significantly down today compared to when he took office. He did not come into office during a recession. He came into office on the tail end of one of the greatest periods of prosperity in the history of this country. Once it was clear that his tax cut policy was inevitable, the stock market started to tank and by the time he initiated the policy the recession was in its infancy. HIS TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH WERE AND ARE A HUGE DISASTER (If Obama was wise he’d repeal them immediately upon taking office)! We struggled through the eight years of Bush’s presidency on a false economy – everything built on borrowing and leveraging and borrowing some more. Not only did the Bush administration deregulate, they appointed people who wanted to destroy the very agencies of government they were put in place to manage. AND THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF DESTROYING THEM.

What we have left is more than a simple recession. This meltdown could gather more steam if Obama doesn’t push the exact right “buttons” and turn into Great Depression II. And Bush said tonight that “nobody saw this coming.” I can tell you for sure why that is so absurd. I am just a school teacher and I saw it coming. I put all my money (what little I have) in a “safe haven” two years ago. I’ve been telling my fellow teachers and staff members to get ready for a “big one” for over two years. Most of them thought I was nuts, but they don’t think so any more. Bush has virtually doubled the national debt in eight years. It took over 200 years to get to the point we were at when he took over (and the sad thing is that of the 5 or 6 trillion that was there when he took over his Dad and Ronald Reagan were responsible for about 80% of that!) and he didn’t even count the money spent on Iraq in the figures – which was about a trillion dollars at last count. While his claim about recession is fantasy this is fact: Bush inherited a $250 Billion surplus and he’s leaving a $1.2 Trillion deficit – now that took some doing!

For some reason Bush still thinks the United States is viewed in the world with respect. He thinks that “some people don’t like me” – I wanted to throw my shoes at him when I heard him say that. Earth to Bush, about 75% of the American people don’t like you – and in the world community the number goes up. I absolutely will not miss his babbling answers to questions, I have not been this anxious for anything – his leaving office – than anything I can remember in my lifetime. Barrack Obama, you’re on the spot! If you let this guy and his cronies walk away into the sunset to continue their efforts of rewriting their legacy you will lose enough political capital to seriously damage your presidency. This IS a nation of laws and not men. George Bush and Dick Cheney have thumbed their noses at our constitution for eight years. WE ARE ALL SUFFERING IMMEASURABLY BECAUSE OF IT. I supported you throughout the campaign – even when you voted for the FISA law granting immunity to the telecom companies (you promised me in a letter from your campaign that you would fix this wrong once in office). I gave you money when I didn’t have any money to give. President Obama, please don’t tell me George W Bush is above the law!