Bush ruined my morning.

Now, let me pass it along to you!

It is my habit to turn on the radio (NPR) during morning kitchen time - making/eating/cleaning up after breakfast.   We got up so late yesterday, that by the time I flipped on the radio, the Decider-in-Chief's Press Conference, (which many suspect to have been timed to divert attention from Obama's speech, later yesterday) was just getting under way.

Normally, my urge is to change the channel.  I hate that whiney, patronizing tone and those slurred s's with all my heart!   But I toughed it out, and now, I'd like to share my pain (and my responses).  

(By the way - it's much easier to read than it is to watch or listen to! No smirks or attitude!)

I urge members to move quickly to enact the plan in its entirety, along with the good oversight legislation that we have recommended for both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This is a part of a -- should be part of the housing package that is moving its way through the Congress. And I hope they move quickly. The newly proposed authorities will be temporary and used only if needed. And as we work to maintain the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we'll work to ensure that they remain shareholder-owned companies.

Hey, George - I thought you were a "let the markets decide" kind of decider.  Now, you're promoting a Big Government rescue?  Hmmmm.  Seems to be a contradiction here.   I'm reaching, but perhaps those shareholders might be friends of yours?

To help address the pressure on gasoline prices my administration took action this week to clear the way for offshore exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf. It's what's called OCS. Congress has restricted access to key parts of the OCS since the early 1980s; I've called on Congress to remove the ban. There was also an executive prohibition on exploration, offshore exploration. So yesterday, I issued a memorandum to lift this executive prohibition. With this action, the executive branch's restrictions have been removed, and this means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress. ...Democratic leaders have been delaying action on offshore exploration and now they have an opportunity to show that they finally heard the frustrations of the American people.

[God, he's such a dick.]   OK, so with one memorandum, you're now able to stand morally superior to Congress.  How DARE they not act instantaneously to follow your stupendous lead?    And let's talk about that drilling.   I could have sworn that I read somewhere recently that oil companies are only drilling on about a quarter of the viable land they've already leased.  This suggests, to me, that perhaps they want those leases for something else?  Perhaps they want to get their feet in the door of our national parks and other sensitive areas?

There are just 26 legislative days left before the end of the fiscal year. This means that to get their fundamental job done, Congress would have to pass a spending bill nearly every other day. This is not a record to be proud of, and I think the American people deserve better.

Yeah, George - you'd just love to hang that "tax and spend" label on the Democratic-controlled Congress right before elections, wouldn't you?  The fact is, it's YOU who want Congress to spend all that money.  Ronnie would be proud.

We saw the signs of a slowdown early and enacted a bipartisan economic stimulus package. We've now delivered more than $91 billion in tax relief to more than 112 million American households this year. It's going to take some time before we feel the full benefit of the stimulus package, but the early signs are encouraging. Retails sales were up in May and June, and should contribute, and will contribute, to economic growth. In the months ahead we expect more Americans to take advantage of these stimulus payments and inject new energy into our economy.

Aw, honey, those checks were spent paying off bills MONTHS ago.  All your little "stimulus" did was hold off the hounds for another month or two, for most folks I know.   Here's the thing - your economic model depends on constant growth.   So, a shot in the arm helps exactly how?  Well, if May and June were up, expect July to have a hard time growing beyond that.

But, hey - I'm not economist.   Oh, wait - neither are you!

::

And it went on and on like this.   A diary covering every piece of crap that came out of his mouth would take hours and run on longer than you're likely to read, so let me just get to the best bits:

This is a very complicated case; it complicated, the situation in Guantanamo. My view all along has been either send them back home, or give them a chance to have a day in court. I still believe that makes sense. We're just trying to figure out how to do so in light of the Supreme Court ruling.

REALLY?   That's been your view all along, has it?  Is that why you worked so damn hard to suspend the writ of habeus corpus?   And the press: why the hell did you let him get away with this shit?   [bangs head on kitchen counter]

Then, he launched into a multi-pronged answer wherein he used "Secondly, ..." twice.  George, today's vocabulary words are THIRDLY, NEXT, and FINALLY.

It's a little bit reminiscent of what was taking place in Iraq a couple of years ago, where the enemy knows that they can affect the mentality of the American people if they just continue to kill innocent folks. And they have no disregard for human life.

Really?  No disregard, huh?  I guess that means they revere human life? Wait, I'm confused...

And it's really important we succeed there [Afghanistan], as well as in Iraq. We do not want the enemy to have safe haven. Of course -- unless, of course, your attitude is, this isn't a war. So if that's the case, it wouldn't matter whether we succeed or not.

George, dude - it hasn't been a war since you declared Mission Accomplished.  But it has been a rather unsuccessful occupation, hasn't it?

And I understand exhaustion and I understand people getting tired

Wow.  That's some nuance.  That George, he gets it.

it's interesting what the price of gasoline has done, is it caused people to drive less.

I know, right?  That's so interesting - I could never have foreseen such a thing.

QUESTION:   ...one thing nobody debates is that if Americans use less energy the current supply/demand equation would improve. Why have you not sort of called on Americans to drive less and to turn down the thermostat?

BUSH:  ...The American people are plenty capable and plenty smart people and they'll make adjustments to their own pocketbooks.

Yeah, they'll put the yacht in drydock and cut back on the private jet flights to their many vacation homes.

And as you notice, the automobile industry is beginning to adjust here at home as consumer demand changes.

Oh, yeah - it's easy to adjust to a $1.1 billion dollar quarterly loss, isn't it?

::

Just as I suspected back in 2000: the question isn't whether GWB is an idiot or a villian.   He's both.