Satire????? Man I hope so.

kimmymedic: Satire????? Man I hope so.

The Weekly Standard is most definitely not satire. Whoever wrote that crap actually believes it.

FTFA: "His fifth success was No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the education reform bill cosponsored by America's most prominent liberal Democratic senator Edward Kennedy. The teachers' unions, school boards, the education establishment, conservatives adamant about local control of schools--they all loathed the measure and still do. It requires two things they ardently oppose, mandatory testing and accountability."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

*gaspcoughhack*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Americans that think like this scare me.

Bush's third achievement was the rebuilding of presidential authority, badly degraded in the era of Vietnam, Watergate, and Bill Clinton. He didn't hesitate to conduct wireless surveillance of terrorists without getting a federal judge's okay. He decided on his own how to treat terrorists and where they should be imprisoned. Those were legitimate decisions for which the president, as commander in chief, should feel no need to apologize.

And this is just plain frightening.

Finally, a no-brainer: the surge. Bush prompted nearly unanimous disapproval in January 2007 when he announced he was sending more troops to Iraq and adopting a new counterinsurgency strategy. His opponents initially included the State Department, the Pentagon, most of Congress, the media, the foreign policy establishment, indeed the whole world. This makes his decision a profile in courage. Best of all, the surge worked. Iraq is now a fragile but functioning democracy.

I like how they changed the goalposts to make it a success. It makes it easier to revise history.

bulldg4life: Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Americans that think like this scare me.

Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote? I agree with you on the secret prisons thing though.

"Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Pretty definitive statement. We know EXACTLY what we did to prevent something that may or may not have been going to happen again.

Why should Fred Barnes's opinion matter to me?

--Oh, that's right. It isn't.

kimmymedic: Satire????? Man I hope so.

Change the logo on top to read: The Onion. That way, in your head, it reads much more hilariously than down right saddening.

He apparently prevented Israel from attacking Iran. Sort of.

Bush had ten great achievements (and maybe more) in his eight years in the White House, starting with his decision in 2001 to jettison the Kyoto global warming treaty so loved by Al Gore, the environmental lobby, elite opinion, and Europeans. The treaty was a disaster, with India and China exempted and economic decline the certain result.

Boy, good thing that didn't happen!

/Kyoto was BS, but come on...
//what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Reading that article made me feel smarter than a journalist.

whhhhhhaaaarrrrgggarrrrblllleeee


/oh. Was that a joke? Carry on.

Fred, you're dumb.

this is coming from the same people who brought us this morning's:

"Is it too soon to talk about the failed Obama presidency just because Obama isn't president yet?"

so, i think we can realize that they shouldn't be allowed the ability to write or live amongst human beings.

I'm pretty sure I read a list the other day that had all the same elements called Ten things Bush got Wrong.

wow.

He stood athwart mounting global warming hysteria and yelled, "Stop!" He slowed the movement toward a policy blunder of worldwide impact, providing time for facts to catch up with the dubious claims of alarmists. Thanks in part to Bush, the supposed consensus of scientists on global warming has now collapsed.

OK, what? Someone might wanna tell that to the climatologists... Y'now; the people who actually study that shiat, instead of freakin' politicians and partisan dittoheads.

The skeptics, who point to global cooling over the past decade, are now heard loud and clear.

Goddammit, Brockway. Who let you write a newspaper article?

hellbilly: Reading that article made me feel smarter than a journalist an idiot.

ftfy

Doublek111: bulldg4life: Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Americans that think like this scare me.

Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote? I agree with you on the secret prisons thing though.

Can we drop the freakin' euphamism. It's torture, plain and simple.

The recruiting power of terrorist groups has increased due to our torture at abu Ghraib. Experienced interrogators,including former military officers have testified that torture does not provide reliable info.

So turture is both ineffective and counter productive. Not to mention freakin' inhuman and against the basic human rights that America is supposed to protect.

Thanks to george bush I fell far more threatened by my government than I do by terrorists.

Doublek111: bulldg4life: Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Americans that think like this scare me.

Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote? I agree with you on the secret prisons thing though.

This rock protects me from tiger attacks.
I havent been attacked by a tiger since i had it.

Therefore, the rock has prevented any and all tiger attacks, of which there were an unknown number.


Thats exactly what they say. They say it prevented them. Well, did you stop people in the middle of preparing for an attack? What stage were they in when you captured them? Or did your eternal vigilance deter any would be attackers from even starting to develop any plan to start with?

And obviously, if these terrorists were in possession of plans and materials for an attack they would be prosecuted and convicted, right?

/been saying for years mumbai style attack on america would be simple if anyone ever actually tried it.

I'm a moderate, and while I disagree with Bush, I'm not one of the people we see on here screaming about how evil Bush is. With that said, this article is frighteningly stupid.

tshetter: Doublek111: bulldg4life: Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists. Along with use of secret prisons and wireless eavesdropping, this saved American lives. How many thousands of lives? We'll never know. But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Americans that think like this scare me.

Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote? I agree with you on the secret prisons thing though.

This rock protects me from tiger attacks.
I havent been attacked by a tiger since i had it.

Therefore, the rock has prevented any and all tiger attacks, of which there were an unknown number.


Thats exactly what they say. They say it prevented them. Well, did you stop people in the middle of preparing for an attack? What stage were they in when you captured them? Or did your eternal vigilance deter any would be attackers from even starting to develop any plan to start with?

And obviously, if these terrorists were in possession of plans and materials for an attack they would be prosecuted and convicted, right?

/been saying for years mumbai style attack on america would be simple if anyone ever actually tried it.

GOP: "lisa, i'd like to buy your rock!"

Bestbank Tiger: //what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Except he didn't even do that right. Abstinence only? come on...

ftfa: "Second, enhanced interrogation of terrorists."

fail, you coward turd

#1. I agree.
#2. Total horseshiat
#3. Total horseshiat
#4. This has weakened America more than anything else he has done.
#5. LOL. That's silly.
#6. LOL. That never happened.
#7. Meh. Not that important.
#8. Meh. Roberts is OK. Alito is out of his league.
#9. The India legacy might just be the most important of all. But Bush alone doesn't deserve much credit for that. Congress pushed him into it.
#10. LOL. You've gotta be kidding.

FTFA: with the help of waterboarding. Whether this tactic--it creates a drowning sensation--is torture is a matter of debate. John McCain and many Democrats say it is. Bush and Vice President Cheney insist it isn't.

Well, I guess Bush and Cheney need to apologize to the families of the Japanese that were executed after WWII for waterboarding since it isn't torture. How far have these two debased this country and how detached from reality are right wingers that constantly excuse them after years of screaming about Clinton getting a BJ.

- Improve Public Education
- Increase Home Ownership Rate
- Protect America from Terrorism
- Peace in the Middle East
- Not Expediting the Greater Depression
- Uniting America
- Bringing Morals back to the White House
- Stand up to Big Government

Doublek111: Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life?

Yes.

FTFA: That--defiantly doing the right thing--is what distinguished his presidency.

This is as far as I could get.

The author is a fool, a traitor, and a coward.

attackingpencil: Bestbank Tiger: //what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Except he didn't even do that right. Abstinence only? come on...

last week's TIME had an article which stated that abstinence teens are just as likely to have pre marital sex, more likely to have unprotected sex, and more likely to get pregnant. the only difference is it happens a few years later.

I stopped reading after the denials about how badly Bush screwed this country's world image and the ZOMG "global warming hysteria."

Trollbait. Even if it is satire.

Bush deserves to be put on trial at The Hague, along with the other alleged criminals.

That's all I'm interested in.

If any of you idiots want to seriously "argue" any of the other BS therein, go ahead. I've got my whacka-troll club handy.

bulldg4life: But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, "Those are precisely the elements which kept us safe and which have prevented a second attack."

Krauthammer is just about the dumbest columnist working in major media today (I'm discounting the Savage-Hannity-Coulter types, they're just paid to be assholes). The only thing that saves him from taking the top honor is the NYT continuing to cut Billy Kristol a paycheck every couple of weeks.

Hiro's Protagonist: - Improve Public Education
- Increase Home Ownership Rate
- Protect America from Terrorism
- Peace in the Middle East
- Not Expediting the Greater Depression
- Uniting America
- Bringing Morals back to the White House
- Stand up to Big Government

I'm confused: Is this a list of things Bush has done the opposite of, or are you just trying to be funny?

epocalypse: attackingpencil: Bestbank Tiger: //what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Except he didn't even do that right. Abstinence only? come on...

last week's TIME had an article which stated that abstinence teens are just as likely to have pre marital sex, more likely to have unprotected sex, and more likely to get pregnant. the only difference is it happens a few years later.

Exactly and to promote abstinence only in the midst of an AIDS epidemic is irresponsible at best.

calm like a bomb: Krauthammer is just about the dumbest columnist working in major media today (I'm discounting the Savage-Hannity-Coulter types, they're just paid to be assholes). The only thing that saves him from taking the top honor is the NYT continuing to cut Billy Kristol a paycheck every couple of weeks.

You've obviously never read Mark Davis, then.

attackingpencil:

Exactly and to promote abstinence only in the midst of an AIDS epidemic is irresponsible at best.

You are much more generous than I am.

Doublek111: Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life?

Simply put? Yes.

calm like a bomb: or are you just trying to be funny?

It's really all they've got left, isn't it?

jcooli09: attackingpencil:

Exactly and to promote abstinence only in the midst of an AIDS epidemic is irresponsible at best.

You are much more generous than I am.

What can I say? the Eagles won, I'm in a good mood.

If Conservatives really want to prove the dubious claim that torture saved lives, they need to put at least one example and allow it to be scrutinized openly. If they think that an opinion from an openly partisan pundit "proves" anything, they have truly forgotten the difference between fact and fiction.

Doublek111: Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote? I agree with you on the secret prisons thing though.

The "24" scenario is a fallacy. Torture, it is torture btw not enhanced interrogation or whatever, won't ever do anything useful. Plus it's highly unlikely that you would die knowing that torture could have saved your life.

After clicking a link to The Weekly Standard, one must remember to shower thoroughly to get rid of that neocon stink.

Bill Kristol can suck a diseased one.

whidbey: calm like a bomb: or are you just trying to be funny?

It's really all they've got left, isn't it?

No, unfortunately. To wit: The Half Hour News Hour.

attackingpencil: epocalypse: attackingpencil: Bestbank Tiger: //what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Except he didn't even do that right. Abstinence only? come on...

last week's TIME had an article which stated that abstinence teens are just as likely to have pre marital sex, more likely to have unprotected sex, and more likely to get pregnant. the only difference is it happens a few years later.

Exactly and to promote abstinence only in the midst of an AIDS epidemic is irresponsible at best.

The Time article was about teens in America not african woman in africa, no?

I guess when you are starving to death, your children are too, you have no home or employment or life to speak of, you want to fark. Maybe get aids and maybe get pregnant.

Telling them that condoms stop aids or that sex leads to children seems a little off the point to me.

Maybe I just really dont understand the problem, but I just dont see how it keeps going on over and over.

Sex -> Aids or Kids -> More Suffering

Is that not the math at work?

Solving the Israel/Palestinian issue would be easier than the Aids/Starvation problem in Africa.

Argh2: If Conservatives really want to prove the dubious claim that torture saved lives, they need to put at least one example and allow it to be scrutinized openly. If they think that an opinion from an openly partisan pundit "proves" anything, they have truly forgotten the difference between fact and fiction.

I believe that is what they count on, not that they actually kept us safe but that they gave us the mere appearance of safety. There's a kind of meta-concept about this that I have always, always found quite disconcerting: We keep you safe by doing things, in your name, that we just can never tell you about... In other words I just have to trust "them". I'd rather buy stock in GM or use my anti-cobra rock to ward off evildoers than trust these buffoons.

Peter von Nostrand: You've obviously never read Mark Davis, then.

No, but then I'm not in Texas. Is he nationally syndicated to anyone? That's more the people I was talking about.

tshetter: attackingpencil: epocalypse: attackingpencil: Bestbank Tiger: //what about his initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa? That's the only thing he really did do right and it's not in there

Except he didn't even do that right. Abstinence only? come on...

last week's TIME had an article which stated that abstinence teens are just as likely to have pre marital sex, more likely to have unprotected sex, and more likely to get pregnant. the only difference is it happens a few years later.

Exactly and to promote abstinence only in the midst of an AIDS epidemic is irresponsible at best.

The Time article was about teens in America not african woman in africa, no?

I guess when you are starving to death, your children are too, you have no home or employment or life to speak of, you want to fark. Maybe get aids and maybe get pregnant.

Telling them that condoms stop aids or that sex leads to children seems a little off the point to me.

Maybe I just really dont understand the problem, but I just dont see how it keeps going on over and over.

Sex -> Aids or Kids -> More Suffering

Is that not the math at work?

Solving the Israel/Palestinian issue would be easier than the Aids/Starvation problem in Africa.

I don't really understand what you're saying. That teaching abstinence only in Africa isn't a bad thing?

calm like a bomb: Hiro's Protagonist: - Improve Public Education
- Increase Home Ownership Rate
- Protect America from Terrorism
- Peace in the Middle East
- Not Expediting the Greater Depression
- Uniting America
- Bringing Morals back to the White House
- Stand up to Big Government

I'm confused: Is this a list of things Bush has done the opposite of, or are you just trying to be funny?

They are some of the topics he has grandstanded on. Peace in the Middle East was recent as May 08, and the home ownership was used going into last fall. The only one I think I was loose with in that respect is the "greater depression"

Ask GaryPDX for more accomplishments though, his Fark Independent bimonthly magazine has plenty of pages stuck together over Bush's successes in continuing Reagan's administration (who continued Nixon's administration)

Clinton's got his list of sins, but considering how Jimmy Carter is treated by the uninformed independent militias, I feel like I'm wasting my breath

Doublek111: Why? Would you rather die knowing that a little enhanced interrogation could have saved your life? Or does that just seem too remote?

Condoning Enhanced interrogation torture is like spitting on the grave of every soldier who has ever died serving America. It's an affront to everything that America is supposed to stand for.

As for being too remote, it's incredibly farking remote. Even if you were IN NYC on 9/11, the chances of your dying were about 1/3000. That's about the same as the odds of being hit by lightening in your lifetime.