Conservative Panel on "The After Party" Discuss Bush's Legacy
By Heather Sunday Dec 21, 2008 9:00am
You Tube
The conservative panel of David Brody, Stephen Hayes, Amy Holmes and Brian Debose on CNN's "The After Party" have themselves a little wing-nut delusion festival over how George Bush will be remembered. Hayes continues to perpetuate the myth that George Bush has kept us safe from a terrorist attack. Holmes has a big chuckle over whether Dick Cheney admitting to torture will be a problem for them or not and thinks it won't matter since Bush has only got a month left in office. I guess she thinks there is some statute of limitations on what's been done that expires when Bush leaves office or that The Hague won't deal with if our country and the Obama administration sadly does not. And Brian Debose seems to think that torturing prisoners is legal but maybe not moral and that is his only concern with what's happened. Rough transcript for anyone that can't watch the video:
Brody: Alright let's move on to President Bush, his legacy. He's on the magical mystery tour now, whatever he's doing and do you get a sense Steve, what is this going to be like exactly for George Bush? How will he be remembered? Is this going to be a Harry Truman type situation where he wasn't looked upon all that great coming out of office but maybe give it ten, fifteen, fifty, seventy five years?
Hayes: Well I think that's their hope but they're certainly not taking any chances so I think the Bush administration and his top advisers have been working now for more than six months to help shape this legacy. They've been working on this thing called the Bush Legacy Project where they've been meeting regularly talking about the kind of things that they want to highlight to the country as he's on his way out.
I mean I think, you know it was easy to listen to the progressives sort of down play the fact that we haven't been attacked since 9-11. But if you look back at the public opinion polls taken at the time you know some eighty percent of Americans thought we'd not only be attacked again but we'd be subject to a major catastrophic attack. It's a big deal and it's because of his policies that we haven't been attacked.
Brody: This administration has taken some major hits over waterboarding and torture, especially Dick Cheney. Let me play a clip of Dick Cheney this week on ABC.
[Cut to video.]
Brody: Amy, how much of a problem is this for the administration?
Holmes: With one month to go, not very much and when you look at Gitmo even in the New York Times a few weeks ago said well letting them out, that could be a little tricky. Do we want to throw them into our Federal court system where they could maybe use it against us. Rendition is difficult because these countries actually don't want these guys. These are actual real terrorists that are down there. And we don't have any easy answers and all of the sudden the New York Times figured that out now that Barack Obama is going to be the Commander in Chief.
Debose: That has been the argument all together. The only problem I have with some of the messaging that has come out with respect to Dick Cheney is trying to defend the morality of torture and other things that went on versus the legality. You can defend the legality. Morally that is something totally different and I don't like the merger of those two things. That's, that's the only thing that's really been problematic.
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Three prime reasons why the rest of the world hates us.
That's the story and we're sticking to it.
43% of those polled at CNN have no problems with Gitmo. But the law disagrees; http://cabdrollery.blogspot.com/2008/12/credi...
And to Amy Holmes, rendition isn't "a little tricky and difficult" it's illegal and truly immoral.
Being a Republican has destroyed your soul.
According to them the country is in great shape. The US was not attacked on US soil after the first WTC attack. Clinton did not brag about it. If that is all they have then his legacy is going down as one of the worst presidents during this time. Maybe in a hundred years people won't even remember what the hell he did.
For real.......they can actually show rim-jobs on CNN?
that is the only way i could fathom enough sand for all of the cnn dunces to fit their heads under sand at the same time....
the 'bush kept us safe' meme is a dangerous deception: and the msm adherence to this lie will come back to kill americans.
yes, this lie will lead to the death of americans. or, i should say, more americans.
He kept us safe? Except for September 11, 2001. And for the IED's that killed thousands of our troops. Except for that, he kept us safe.
that whole anthrax dealio. Seems that every person in government and on the teevee machine has.
This whole "safe on his watch" thing is driving me nuts. Who was prez ON 9/11? Jebus Cripes on a crisp. Next thing we know, 10 years from now, 9/11 will have happened on either Obama or Clinton's watches.
And he didn't keep you safe from bankers or health insurance companies. Both could casue life-threatening situations.
He didn't keep your children safe from No Child Left Behind either. Thanks to that piece of crap legislation, I have to spend approximately 3 weeks each year teaching my science kids how to take state mandated tests.
I've also seen what happens when the state takes over a Title 1 school (poor schools, measured by the % of students on free or reduced lunch) that fails to meet their score goals. Once the state comes in, students often spend up to 4 hours a day working on math or language arts. Art, sports, health classes, social studies and science, all are swept away in the relentless pursuit of test scores. Within 2 years, every teacher that could leave did, and the students were in open revolt.
All so president Bush could say that public schools are a failure and we should allow charter schools to take over.
I pray that Obama changes the legislation soon. By 2014, the government will require that every single child in school pass the state-mandated test (that includes the severely disabled) or your school will be considered a failure. Will they provide extra monies to meet this goal? No, and in fact, many states will cut the funding of these "failing" schools, to punish them for failing.
I think in 10 years, we will have a true understanding of Bush's legacy. Debts that even our grandchildren will be paying, a destroyed and demoralized military, the layers and layers of tarnish on the American image worldwide, recession and possibly depression, the dismantling of checks and balances, widespread corruption, the enslaving of the blue collar and middle class, that is only the beginning of what Bush has gifted us with.
The only legacy for George W Bush should be indictment for war crimes, FISA crimes and murder.
What is the legacy of a murderer but death and destruction?
And a global Great Depression! Give the chimperer his due! How dare you forget his economic war against the American worker!
I have been sounding like a broken record on the economic travesty.
However Bill Clinton, his Democrats and their Fat Cat supporters drove the economy up to the cliff and George W Bush, his Republicans and their Fat Cat supporters pushed it over.
Here is "Ponzi schemes USA".
Here is "Credit Default Swaps are like life insurance for vampires…"
Here is "Here you are citing another Capitalist…"
Here is the entire list.
On and on.
You would never get a conviction in a court of law of politicians for their economic policy travesty. What is their crime other than malfeasance of the common weal?
Indictments yes for the Fat Cat crooks, but instead of subpoenas they are getting truckloads of cash.
It is government by and for the Corporations.
these guys are delusional
the knowledge that their ill gotten monies and loot and stashed away in the assorted financial bankster companies, is being rescued by Paulson, the fed and the other crooks on the hill.
They are hoping for four years of not much happening due to the financial meltdown to cover their tracks.
Is there any such thing as being lusional?
Other than anti-government conservative terrorist Tim McVeigh's attack on America and the earlier trade center bombing there hasn't been a attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor. I guess Bush gets credit for that too. And if there isn't an attack on America's soil While Obama's in office I guess Bush will get credit for that too. Would seen the only credit these wingnuts don't want to give Bush credit for is wrecking America and invading a nation on false pretenses. That's his true legacy.
The Bush legacy before, during and after 911:
Ignoring "Bin Laden determined to strike US", taking the entire month of August prior to 911, then reading my Pet Goat during 911, then being MIA after 911, then saying he was going to get the one responsible for bring down the towers, then using 911 as a basis to go into Iraq, then saying later he didn't really think much about BinLaden. I don't here the numnut history revisionists conservative hacks mentioning this as part of the Bush legacy.
More like "The Delusional Party." These people are truly dangerously insane.
And they get a paycheck if you can believe that.
The description of the 'chat' as a 'wing-nut delusion festival' was real close but 'complete fiction' could also apply. These hacks must have thought they were in a 'group' session in re-hab (they actually should be) during this sit down...
For those of you that are actually trying hard to cling to reality, watching this vid may help crack the ice for you between reality and bush-induced KoolAide delusion.. This chat was truly awful...all that was missing were Rove and Cheeeeney sitting in the corner mumbling to each other....
When you look at the numbers, his record isn't so bad:
1 terrorist attack resulting in the loss of 3,500 lives.
1 sports stadium turned into a giant toilet by hurricane victims left to fend for themselves
1 war started under false pretenses that has cost 4,000 American lives and tens or hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives.
1 Constitution used as metaphorical toilet paper.
2% at the top keep gettin' richer!
Oh, wait, my mistake. He's really the worst President ever. Possibly the worst elected official ever. And I'd say he's in the running for Worst American Ever.
Let's hope the next guy's job isn't more of the same BS.
2nd worse American ever, after Dick Cheney.
I much prefer the Clinton legacy:
http://www.worldofstock.com/slides/PRO2206.jpg
I much prefer the Clinton scandals. The ones real as well as the ones concocted by the right wing. None were nothing compared to BushCo's yet Clinton got impeached while BushCo gets off. Go figure.
I thought it was Clinton that got off.
Erased of what I had written.....looked up and saw Zach pretty much covered it all.
They don't need Afghanistan for any silly oil pipeline, or military lifeline to the area. They need it to supply the "media experts" with opium to keep them delusional. That's gotta be it!
How do you defend the legacy of the legality of torture? When people talk like this I can only think of those who defended the Nazi, and all the evil of the last century by saying they were just following orders. These people represent the true nature of terrorism, not action against someone or an ideology, but support of the ones performing the terrorist act. We have no right, because of the actions of George Bush and the support of the American people for his actions, to say anything about the actions of anybody on the face of the Earth until we punish those that committed crimes against humanity in violation of the Constitution of The United States and international laws against torture, kidnapping, murder of civilians, and all the rest of the filth that has been dumped on the world by the United States.
Bushes legacy will be the catalyst to find if the ideology of the people of the United States is as we claim it to be, the beacon of liberty for the world, or that we are the land of a wasted, degenerated, self righteous, ignorant, country that is going to bring the world down into the mire of lawlessness we claimed to fight against for the last two hundred years.
NY Times: The Reckoning - White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire
From the article:
I don't remember any of this. Anyone?
... on that particular point, MsJ. But I think the point is found in the next sentence:
"... the regulator Mr. Bush chose to oversee them — an old prep school buddy — pronounced the companies [Fannie and Freddie] sound even as they headed toward insolvency."
Classic "heckuva job" Bush.
Bush tried for years to get one of his cronies a job and congress was recalcitrant in okaying this person. Am I correct in that understanding?
... ask these clowns how Clinton kept us safe at home from 1993 until 20 Jan 2001 without spending hundreds of $billions, killing 1,300,000 Iraqis and worst of all, over 4,000 American troops, not to mention the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure
Clinton bombed the bejeebus out of them from 40,000 feet, picking targets indiscriminately, while doin' the "gosh, shucks gee golly" Bubba act like Bush TRIED to do.
I am so saddened by these pundint ass holes that will write off all the crimes committed by this administration and the total incompetence of the past eight years; and instead focus on "the positive"...eg "...he kept us safe..." AFTER 9/11. Nobody seems to connect the dots to HE WAS IN CHARGE when 9/11 occurred!!! God, people!
The morons have ruled this country for the past eight years. I certainly hope intelligence will conquer that era of lunacy. Oh, whoa is me. This country is so f*cked up if these people speak for the nation.
The Hague and the international court was designed to handle situations in other world countries where they did not have internal capabilities to deal with things like war crimes. Couple that with the little fact that Bush pulled out of the ICC (one of his first actions as preznit), it is highly unlikely that the world court will ever do anything about these assholes.
And because we never will, with the media firmly in the pockets of the powers that be and the people who run this government having spines like those in a jellyfish, this legacy will forever tarnish the US.
"The Hague and the international court was designed to handle situations in other world countries where they did not have internal capabilities to deal with things like war crimes. "
That's why Republicans are against it. They would be the first ones hauled before it. Like with everything else they say they claim they are for or against to protect Americans their being against an international world court is all about protecting themselves.
I personally will remember the Bush thugs for the first tragic images of their illegal occupation and bombing of Iraq,specifically the little boy who lost his entire family-and both arms.
I will also remember their missing in action and undeniably suspicious actions on 9/11.These people are subhumans and should all spend the rest of their days behind bars.
A war on innocents launched by cowardly combat dodging Chickenhawks who never lifted a rifle in defense of this country and who children they didn't send to fight in a lie based war they committed other's people's kids to fight and die in. They are the lowest of the low. There's not enough shoes made in a China sweatshop for those bastards.
Phil Gramm would have called that little boy was a whiner.
Cheney is the worst. When he dies they need to bury that f*cker face down so he can see where he's going.
Good line.I couldn't agree more.
Ass up- so his friends can recognize him.
BTW- WTF w/the new password system?
Seven attempts, every time I try to login!!
[If you are having problems, you might try emailing the site team. Please include the OS and the browser(s) you use-Sitemonitor]
C&L has some very good articles, especially on under-reported issues. But the rebroadcasting of this kind of bullshit is simply a waste of time. I wouldn't watch this on the toob, so why would I watch a rerun here?
BUSH did Not protect us from wall street.
No but he protected them to the tune 700 billion bailout with more of our money.
Brody asks:
Can you say Herbert Hoover on steroids. That does not even take into account the war crimes and the shredding of the constitution. But just remember how Hoover is remembered. I hope to god that this asshole and Cheney and Rove end up behind bars.
they will be, having a few beers toasting one another.
What's new about a round table of braindead Wing-nutO's puking up their lies and total delusions about their sick, corrupt, criminal party.
Cannot STAND her wide eyed expressions of utter BS. When she's on Bill Maher I'm afraid I might have to spend the following Saturday shopping for a new TV to replace the one I've just smashed to dust!
She's like a black Michelle Malkin.
BTW it seems to me,and maybe I'm being paranoid,that CNN has ratcheted over another notch to the Right with an Obama Admin. set to take over the leadership.I also sense..what?A renewed sense of journalistic integrity and vigor?A new found responsibility to ask the "tough questions"?Go figure...
the always piss poor cnn is more dangerous than fox, imo.
most people know fox's rightwing slant. yet, a lot of people consider cnn to be somewhat even-handed. there is great danger in that.
not that msnbc is much better (although maddow is a step in the left direction)
I would like to ask each of these wingers if they have any kids in this war though I think I already know the answer to that question.
the biggest problem with the deceptive claim that bush has 'kept us safe' is NOT that it overlooks the obvious inaccuracies to the statement (anthrax deaths, US casualties in mumbai/spain/london/bali). it is important to note that the claim is itself a self-serving lie, but that misses its critical underlying claim: which is that bush's foreign/domestic policies must be continued in order to ‘continue’ to keep 'america safe'. any alteration in the basic "anti"-terrorist prescriptions will be seen--in this light--as dangerous and irresponsible. when the exact opposite is true.
i think it would behoove the bush detractors to focus more on how the bush policies have made america LESS safe, and more likely to be attacked.
any claim that 'bush kept us safe' must be countered head on by the fact that there has been a rise of terrorist attacks, that terror recruitment has dramatically increased, that america is seen as a bigger danger to world peace than osama bin laden, and that there is less political will to stand by america.
and--the crux of the debate--these factors are a DIRECT RESULT of bush policies. the iraq invasion, abu ghraib, gitmo, renditions, civilian deaths, etc.
many people across the globe had less and less reason to trust US foreign policy over the past 6 decades. but, thru US military imperialism and the ever-hungry corporatocracy, bush only poured jet fuel on the fire.
bush's legacy will kill americans for years and years to come.
The gift that keeps on taking.
PLUS the fact that terrorism has INCREASED worldwide by 750%! SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY PERCENT!
No, Bush just exported the problem to IRAQ
Bush Legacy Project: Proof positive you can put a high gloss polish on a piece of shit and it will still stink.
and still be shit
With shows like with all the right wing diversity-(you know-he's just a little more far to the right than she is, and he's a "libertarian")its no wonder the Fairness Doctrine is being debated again. There really isn't a lot of diversity of views in our media, even as the voting public isn't demonstrating the rightist bent that the media has. Two shows (Maddow and Olbermann) do not a liberal media make.
Whatever this collection of "wrong all election" cycle dumbasses suggest, do the opposite.
Newsflash to the wingnuts: The country may not have been attacked by terrorists, but the country WAS attacked by the likes of YOU!
Now our economy is swirling around the toilet and is facing imminent COLLAPSE!
Terrorists did not attack America because they DIDN'T NEED TO! The damage was done by BUSH AND CHENEY!
ARRRRGGHHHHH!!! These people are SO STUPID!
The (R) after the name is a clear signal that they were not potty trained properly, they were dropped on their head at birth, or they were abused sexually as a child. How else do these morons grow up to be such hateful cretins? The thing that stands out is that most or chickenhawk cowards who probably never even wore a boy scout uniform, much less a militry uniform.
I have noticed at my place of work that people will watch CNN.
and some wont watch it, those who do, watch it for the graphic
Videos and Pictures. If you ask them if they believe CNN. they
will say (NO!) CNN. As A Network has been in a race with FOX.
To the Bottom of what could be called the worst Journalistic
Standards we have ever seen. Finally Americans as this last
Election has shown will no longer fall for this Drivel they
call News.
In Turkey.
These four imbeciles sure put the nut in wingnut, that's for sure. They should put down the crack pipe or stop taking LSD long enough to realize that they have about 25% of the public on their side. According to the math I learned, that means three fourths of the population repudiates your viewpoint. I guess math was not their strong suit.
But go ahead, wingnuts, and congratulate each other with the help of your corporate lackey MSM enablers. You really have nothing important to offer America other than reminding us what failures you are. Enjoy your journey to political obscurity and irrelevancy. The public sent you assclowns a message about 6 weeks ago that we're mad as hell at you and aren't taking it anymore. And guess what---WE'RE STILL PISSED!
sure, when truman left office, his poll numbers were low
but truman took responsibility for everything he did, and he never created a "legacy commission" to spin his actions
think 20 years from now, someone will be making a one man play about bush? oh wait...maybe they will...because as a result of his policies we are creating a generation of morons who think tv shows about guys getting kicked in the balls is funny
Bush did more lasting damage to this country than 911 and has gotten more Americans senselessly killed than 911.
Is this the protection they're crowing about?
I have never had anyone to tell me george bush has kept us safe.
Except the TV talking asshats.
I have heard that same stupid line from every paid so called news person on every channel.
I am so sick of hearing these cowards get paid for reading and lying with a straight face that I could just explode.
If I ever have someone to say that crap to my face I think I will see if I can knock that persons head off and say there is how safe george bush has made you.
from terrorist attacks, alright.
Oh, wait... except for one eensy little screw-up called NINE freakin' ELEVEN. You know, the incident that brought down THE WORLD TRADE CENTER in flaming ruins?!
Yeah, you guys remember that one don't ya? I'm talking about that one terrorist attack against America that happened in New York City, gosh, what was it? Back in 2001, I think? The biggest, most destructive terrorist attack EVER perpetrated against the United States?!! Which, oh, by the way, Bush was warned about five weeks prior in a daily briefing entitled" "Bin Laden determined to Strike in US".
Oh, wait there was one other... that little bioterror dealy-o where deadly anthrax was sent via US mail to US Senators and members of the media? Killed five people, infected about a dozen more, caused a panic in postal operations nationwide and caused the stock market to plunge?
OK, so except for those two little minor exceptions, Bush and his Constitution shredding quote/unquote "administration" kept America totally completely safe from terrorist attacks! Heck of a job!
Which reminds me... Bush also kept New Orleans safe from hurricane damage! (Unless you're gonna be a stickler about it and count Katrina).
When people leave a good legacy, no discussion is required. We all see/feel/know it.
Bush's legacy: PNAC's Pearl Harbor 9-11, a phony war on terror, genocide of millions of Middle Easterners for lucrative oil contracts, the destruction of the US economy, the lowest approval ratings of anyone since Nixon who resigned in disgrace. A man people called Chimpy, a rethuglican who used fear tactics on his populace, who once joked he should be a dictator. A neo-facist who took away citizen's civil liberties, and above all a War Criminal who invaded a country who never did anything to the US, brutally killed innocent people and repeatedly lied to try to cover it up. Hopefully history has yet to record his imprisonment for war crimes and possible execution. CNN will never tell the truth, thank God the truth is on the World Wide Web for anyone to see.
sorry, but i just have to be blunt and rude:
this is just a bunch of fucking cocksucker airhead
pundits, who do not know what reality is.
is violence, nepotism and incompetence. I blame the assholes that voted him in.
Let's face it, Bush has done next to nothing that has benefitted the country or the world. MAYBE what little he has given to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, but that's it.
Bush's legacy is:
Torture and rendition
Katrina and making FEMA irrelevant
Iraq and pre-emptive war philosophy
Afghanistan
Deregulation leading to financial collapse
No Child Left Behind
Disregard for Constitution
Disregard of seperation of church and state
Disregard of checks and balances
Domestic spying
Erosion of environmental laws
And this is only what I can name off the top of my head!
Edited to add 9/11 to Chimpy's legacy list, since it happened on his watch and he ignored intelligence briefings.
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