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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Dumbghazi

Dumbghazi

by $8 blue check mistermix|  October 18, 201510:37 am| 127 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Well, it turns out that Hillary’s emails do contain some scandalous info.   The Daily Mail:

A bombshell White House memo has revealed for the first time details of the ‘deal in blood’ forged by Tony Blair and George Bush over the Iraq War.

The sensational leak shows that Blair had given an unqualified pledge to sign up to the conflict a year before the invasion started.

It flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s public claims at the time that he was seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

He told voters: ‘We’re not proposing military action’ – in direct contrast to what the secret email now reveals.

[…]

The documents, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, are part of a batch of secret emails held on the private server of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton which U.S. courts have forced her to reveal.

Breathless tabloid prose aside, it’s still pretty funny that perhaps the most important discovery from a committee that has held almost as many hearings as the 9/11 committee concerns one of W’s fuckups.

Update: Nice to see that Trump reads the papers (thanks to srv in the comments):

Jeb, why did your brother attack and destabalize the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction? Bad info?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2015

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Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    Chris

    October 18, 2015 at 10:38 am

    Maybe all those committee hearings are doing some good after all.

  2. 2.

    scav

    October 18, 2015 at 10:41 am

    Ohh, That has powerful overtones of Greek tragedy and hubris smack down brilliance. O Toady Toady Toady Blair en plus.

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 10:42 am

    Great tag/category.

  4. 4.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 18, 2015 at 10:45 am

    @Corner Stone: Agreed.

    Opinions differ on the answer. We do need to hear both sides.
    /MSM

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 10:48 am

    I guess the media just can’t let go of the chance to get Sec Clinton harangued by Republicans. Otherwise, they could finally just acknowledge what a farce this always was and move on to boring us with something else.

  6. 6.

    srv

    October 18, 2015 at 10:48 am

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 1 hour ago

    Jeb, why did your brother attack and destabalize the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction? Bad info?

  7. 7.

    aimai

    October 18, 2015 at 10:48 am

    Isn’t it always this way? Haven’t several other of these hearings/fishing expeditions blown up in their faces? Didn’t the Solyndra investigations end when letters from a Republican turned out to have been written in support of Solyndra?

  8. 8.

    boatboy_srq

    October 18, 2015 at 10:49 am

    The GOTea really ought to learn by now that they’re at least as vulnerable as the people they’re persecuting investigating. But then that presumes the GOTea can learn – which as of now is not exactly proven.

  9. 9.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    October 18, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @aimai: These folk aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.

  10. 10.

    the Conster

    October 18, 2015 at 10:54 am

    It took Donald Trump to finally ask JEB on twitter the only important question: why did his brother invade Iraq and destabilize the Middle East when there were no WMDs? Everyone on twitter is now waiting for his response. It’s like Nixon going to China I guess – only a loose cannon like Trump – the Republican frontrunner – could force this question to be answered. Trump may force the whole lead up to Iraq to be honestly discussed because of his outward contempt for Bush, since the GOP and the press have worked tirelessly to force everything about that time into the memory hole.

  11. 11.

    currants

    October 18, 2015 at 10:55 am

    @srv: as someone said yesterday, finally a Republican someone is saying this stuff publicly–in a context that cannot be ignored. Also, as yesterday, while I fear what a Trump presidency would mean, having a Republican say this to other Republicans will have a greater impact than any similar thing a Democrat could say. I’m really interested in where this kind of thing goes in the wingnutosphere. Pass the popcorn, please?

    ETA or what the Conster said more eloquently.

  12. 12.

    benw

    October 18, 2015 at 10:57 am

    @the Conster: look forward not back (except for Benghazi).

    HE KEPT US SAFE! Why will no one believe poor Jeb!?

  13. 13.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 18, 2015 at 11:00 am

    How the mighty have fallen, from ruling most of the world to becoming a lackey of your former colony. That’s quite a precipitous downfall for the empire where the sun never set.

  14. 14.

    redshirt

    October 18, 2015 at 11:00 am

    @the Conster:

    It took Donald Trump to finally ask JEB on twitter the only important question: why did his brother invade Iraq and destabilize the Middle East when there were no WMDs? Everyone on twitter is now waiting for his response. It’s like Nixon going to China I guess – only a loose cannon like Trump – the Republican frontrunner – could force this question to be answered. Trump may force the whole lead up to Iraq to be honestly discussed because of his outward contempt for Bush, since the GOP and the press have worked tirelessly to force everything about that time into the memory hole.

    Its just amazing, and outrageous, that this is the state of our media and nation.

    But thank Trump for getting it out there. And its out there now, to all our benefits.

    God damn American media sucks.

  15. 15.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 18, 2015 at 11:03 am

    @the Conster: Has Cheney or Cheney spawn responded to Trump?

  16. 16.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 18, 2015 at 11:04 am

    @redshirt: Beltway media are courtiers not reporters.

  17. 17.

    the Conster

    October 18, 2015 at 11:05 am

    @redshirt:

    I honestly don’t think anyone expects an answer from JEB – it’s just a trap set by Trump to make JEB look bad, which is fine, but the question does just sit there begging for an answer. The fact that the press has avoided asking the same question all these years is shameful. Our media is an utter disgrace.

  18. 18.

    scav

    October 18, 2015 at 11:05 am

    It’s another stonking clue that neither the Repub establishment nor the Republish mass media really have a clue about a sizable chunk of their base. Megaphone Trumpet wouldn’t be blasting if if there wasn’t a pre-existing receptive audience.

  19. 19.

    Van Buren

    October 18, 2015 at 11:07 am

    @currants: Since no “true” Republican would say that about a Republican President, I am confident that the RWNM will soon reveal that either Trump is secretly a Democrat, or W was.

  20. 20.

    benw

    October 18, 2015 at 11:08 am

    Investigators were also surprised to discover that Hillary’s IE cache contained almost 6,000 “grumpy cat” gifs and evidence that she frequently comments on a website called “Balloon Juice” under the pseudonym “Baud”.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:09 am

    Staffers for the MHP show must have a contest to see who can find a guest with the hardest to pronounce name.

  22. 22.

    the Conster

    October 18, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Not to my knowledge. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to take Trump up on his question, especially with the limitation of 140 characters. Everyone’s waiting for JEB. I almost feel bad for him – hahahaha no I don’t. If he thought he could run for president and not have this become an issue, he’s a bigger bubble boy babyman than even I could have imagined.

  23. 23.

    Chris

    October 18, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @Van Buren:

    Oh, that’s been the “establishment” Republicans and their supporters’ position for months. My wingnut uncle’s tweeted a few things comparing Trump to Obama. (Because they’re both narcissists, and Trump is a secret big government liberal).

    But for whatever reason, it’s not working.

  24. 24.

    redshirt

    October 18, 2015 at 11:11 am

    @the Conster:

    I honestly don’t think anyone expects an answer from JEB – it’s just a trap set by Trump to make JEB look bad, which is fine, but the question does just sit there begging for an answer. The fact that the press has avoided asking the same question all these years is shameful. Our media is an utter disgrace.

    And as an inverse, it’s fucking outrageous that we keep hearing about Benghazi. It shows the power of Republicans to literally make the news when a tragic but relatively minor incident at an embassy is a multiple year “scandal”.

    I wonder if these media propagandists understand the role they play and do it willingly, or all they are tremendously stupid?

  25. 25.

    srv

    October 18, 2015 at 11:11 am

    @redshirt:

    But thank Trump for getting it out there. And its out there now, to all our benefits.

    One day, maybe all liberals will appreciate Trump’s contributions.

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4 minutes ago

    .@MittRomney can only speak negatively about my presidential chances because I have been openly hard on his terrible “choke” loss to Obama!

  26. 26.

    low-tech cyclist

    October 18, 2015 at 11:12 am

    All I can say is, goddamn, this is sweet.

  27. 27.

    Anoniminous

    October 18, 2015 at 11:13 am

    @redshirt:

    I wonder if these media propagandists understand the role they play and do it willingly, or all they are tremendously stupid?

    Yes.

    They understand their role, they do it willingly, and they are tremendously stupid.

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:16 am

    The .005 of a second after the words “He kept us safe.” left Jeb’s mouth he should have been asked, “Say WTF now?” by a person being paid millions of dollars to do things just like that.

    ETA, and yes, I know they are paid to not do things just like that. Hence…

  29. 29.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 18, 2015 at 11:16 am

    Mr IOL is watching Fox Sunday and they’re scandalized by Trump’s comments about W. Mr IOL is still gleefully hoping to go to the R caucus and vote for Trump.

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:18 am

    Can someone in the Biden camp please tell him to just find a shady tree somewhere and get back to warshing the firebird.

  31. 31.

    Cervantes

    October 18, 2015 at 11:18 am

    @aimai:

    Haven’t several other of these hearings/fishing expeditions blown up in their faces?

    Alas, not powerfully enough to get them thrown out of office.

  32. 32.

    redshirt

    October 18, 2015 at 11:20 am

    A question to anyone with more knowledge than I: Is there any chance in re-regulating our media? For example, breaking up large conglomerates and enforcing ownership diversity in every major media market.

  33. 33.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:20 am

    @redshirt: I wonder if these media propagandists understand the role they play and do it willingly, or all they are tremendously stupid?

    WHY NOT BOTH?

    They live inside the bubble and really don’t see the damage they are doing. They only hear from others inside the bubble so they know for a fact it is what EVERYONE is saying/thinking. They know that in order to climb the ranks they have to spew the same crap.

    Both evil and stupid.

    edit: @Anoniminous: great minds!

  34. 34.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 18, 2015 at 11:22 am

    @Corner Stone: get back to warshing

    I like that.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    October 18, 2015 at 11:25 am

    @benw:

    she frequently comments on a website called “Balloon Juice” under the pseudonym “Baud”.

    No I don’t.

  36. 36.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:26 am

    @redshirt:
    cable makes breaking up the giants either impossible or pointless. I think we do need to re-institute the fairness doctrine and enforce it for all cable news and opinion work. That can only happen when the Dems are comfortably in control of all 4 chambers because there will be a lot of howling and gnashing of teeth.

  37. 37.

    Dmbeaster

    October 18, 2015 at 11:27 am

    @srv: Trump comments like this

    I have been openly hard on his terrible “choke” loss to Obama!

    demonstrate that as a speaker of truth, he is in the broken clock category. But we can all appreciate when he is accidentally right with his Iraq Barb at Jeb.

  38. 38.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:27 am

    @Baud:
    A DENIAL FROM CLINTON!!! THATS A SURE SIGN OF GUILT!

  39. 39.

    Tenar Darell

    October 18, 2015 at 11:29 am

    @the Conster: Whats the countdown clock for when Trump attacks the Village for there cheerleading in the run up to war and abdication of responsibility after?

  40. 40.

    Kay

    October 18, 2015 at 11:31 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Maybe he doesn’t listen:

    Jeb on Benghazi: “Was there a chance that these four American lives could have been saved? That’s what the investigation is about.”

    Under his definition Clinton “kept them safe”.

  41. 41.

    Roger Moore

    October 18, 2015 at 11:32 am

    @Chris:

    But for whatever reason, it’s not working.

    Because the people who like Trump distrust establishment Republicans almost as much as they distrust Democrats. Given the way the establishment Republicans have promised them the moon and never delivered, I can’t really blame them, either; it’s the establishment getting its just deserts for taking advantage of the crazies for all these years.

  42. 42.

    Chris

    October 18, 2015 at 11:33 am

    @Schlemazel:

    As we learned from movies and TV, anyone who asks for a lawyer is guilty.

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:35 am

    @Chris: I want my lawyer!….
    Sorry, was there a question somewhere?

  44. 44.

    currants

    October 18, 2015 at 11:35 am

    @Van Buren: MORE popcorn, please!

  45. 45.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:36 am

    @benw:

    Investigators were also surprised to discover that Hillary’s IE cache contained almost 6,000 “grumpy cat” gifs

    Welp, she just locked up my vote.

    she frequently comments on a website called “Balloon Juice” under the pseudonym “Baud”.

    Hmmmm…maybe not.

  46. 46.

    Anoniminous

    October 18, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @Corner Stone:

    get back to warshing the firebird.

    Notice the correct phonetic spelling. Now everyone needs to say this 1,000 times in order to learn how to properly pronounce it in normal conversation.

  47. 47.

    azlib

    October 18, 2015 at 11:37 am

    Trump does know how to use the media and it is clear he really dislikes the Bush clan. Jeb just cannot help defending the clan even though it is not in his best political interest.

  48. 48.

    bemused

    October 18, 2015 at 11:40 am

    @Schlemazel:

    It hasn’t seem to hurt them much until maybe just recently thanks to Trump, Kevin McCarthy, and a couple of other big mouths. I still don’t think the GOP has been hurt that much with the Foxwatching Republican voters. Once an anti-Hillary, anti-dem, anti-liberal lie has been planted in those brains, they don’t readily or ever give up the hate.

  49. 49.

    MattF

    October 18, 2015 at 11:40 am

    I’m actually having positive feelings toward Trump.

  50. 50.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:42 am

    @Chris:
    Also, lawyers always get guilty people off and the cops never ever arrest the wrong person. We could save a lot of time and money if the police were allowed to perform summary executions on the street. Oh, wait, we are working on that.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:42 am

    Either MHP and Susan Del Percio are friends IRL or MSNBC told MHP to give Susan plenty of airtime because Susan has to have had a good 50%+ of the time she’s been on today’s panel.

  52. 52.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:45 am

    I do not give a damn what anyone else says, the undisputed most-punchable-face in America is hands down Ted Cruz.

  53. 53.

    MattF

    October 18, 2015 at 11:46 am

    @Corner Stone: Someone disputes this?

  54. 54.

    Ruckus

    October 18, 2015 at 11:47 am

    @BillinGlendaleCA:
    These folk aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.
    Maybe because they really are ron zipple, the big kind of spoons, for getting things out of pots, the ones with the holes in them.

  55. 55.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:47 am

    @bemused:
    Thats what makes Dump such a gift. He punches through the lies and the media can’t claim it is fringe because he is the choice of more goopers than anyone else (and if you exclude on or 2 maybe all of them). He speaks the language of the FAUX news viewer so his punches land in the lizard brain where they just might register. He is totally insane and a real danger to the nation but he just might be the fever that breaks the grip of madness.

  56. 56.

    benw

    October 18, 2015 at 11:48 am

    @Baud: Good morning, Mrs. Secretary!

    @MattF: see a doctor if that lasts for more than 4 hours.

    @Corner Stone: yes x1000.

  57. 57.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 11:49 am

    @MattF:
    there would be a line of people from the Rio Grand to Lake of the Woods ready and willing to punch that face. the only line longer might be for that pharma bro ass

  58. 58.

    MattF

    October 18, 2015 at 11:50 am

    @benw: Well, non-negative.

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:50 am

    @MattF: Just as indisputable that the SURGE worked in Iraq, it is also non-disputably true that Ted Cruz has the most punchable face in America.

  60. 60.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 18, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @the Conster:

    It’s like Nixon going to China I guess – only a loose cannon like Trump – the Republican frontrunner – could force this question to be answered

    Makes one wonder, doesn’t it? After all, most conservatives aren’t religious zealots and foreign adventures are something traditional American conservatives loath.

  61. 61.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @Kay: If you’re a top adviser to Jeb, don’t you imagine at some point in the beginning you would have sat him down and said, “Do NOT Answer With ANY Mention of Brother OR Safe!”

  62. 62.

    Chris

    October 18, 2015 at 11:57 am

    @azlib:

    There’s an anecdote that JFK, while never disrespectful of his father, did once clearly state in front of a roomful of other Important People, that “Dad, I’m not you and I’m not going to do everything the way you would’ve done it” or words to that effect.

    Maybe iJeb! shoulda done something like that about his idiot brother, but it’s too late now.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    October 18, 2015 at 12:05 pm

    @Chris:
    All of the Kennedy’s had minds of their own. They could stand on their own and I believe were raised to do so and also to think outside the Kennedy box. Not so much with the Bushes.

  64. 64.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    @Chris:
    Frighteningly its not too late. I fully expected him to do this once the general rolled around. I never expected the previous Bush cockups to count against him in the primary and that it has will weaken support for him with the wingnuts. But a lot of people don’t even know who is actually running at this point & a “Sista Solja” moment at the convention would convince a non-trivial number of morans to give the Bushies one last chance to destroy America for good.

  65. 65.

    Hal

    October 18, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    I’m amazed at how this whole Benghazi nothing burger has turned on its head so quickly. I’m half thinking republicans are going to end this inquiry as soon as they can. If Hillary can squash these goons gowdy will pull the plug with some insistence that they did what they set out to do, and oh well, let’s move on to planned parenthood.

  66. 66.

    bemused

    October 18, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    Trump probably has gotten through the fog brains of some, at least a little bit but I still think it would be very difficult for most R voters to not vote for whichever nut job candidate gets the nomination. I just hope a lot of them just stay home and not vote.

    A wingnut guy who has a small local weekly paper surprised me a couple of months ago when he trashed Trump in his editorial. Thought Trump was a blowhard and egotist which was hilarious coming from this guy. He is white, in his 70’s and not very bright but thinks he is and that he knows everything lecturing others to get informed. Every editorial is loaded with all the rightwing propaganda and he addresses the president as Barak Hussein Obama. I don’t think he has mentioned Trump’s name since. I don’t know what he would say if Trump actually got the nomination but I bet he’d vote for him.

  67. 67.

    feebog

    October 18, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    Amusing how Trump has so neatly boxed Jeb? in. He has lured him into this stupid Twitter war and now has sprung the trap. If Jeb tries to answer, he will sound like a drooling idiot. If he ignores it, he looks like a coward. Well played Donald!

  68. 68.

    Tom Q

    October 18, 2015 at 12:24 pm

    @ChrisThere’s also a story I love about when Kennedy spoke in favor of Martin Luther King during the ’60 campaign. King’s father said that he’d never have thought he could vote for a Catholic for president, but Kennedy had won him over. Kennedy said, Imagine Martin Luther King having a bigot for a father…then added, But, then, we all have fathers, don’t we?

  69. 69.

    Schlemazel

    October 18, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    @bemused:
    I am really counting on a lot of bruised feelings and/or general malaise amongst the morans in ’16. Please, stay home you won’t vote for a Dem and just refuse to get excited about whichever goober has the GOP nod so just sit on your hands election day and teach that damn fool party a lesson.

    The rest are all going to look like gray fluff after the Dumpster is through, particularly when they have to pivot and pander to people brighter than the average Republican primary voter (say, sea sponge and above) and I hope that really suppresses the gooper votes

  70. 70.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    @bemused:

    I don’t know what he would say if Trump actually got the nomination but I bet he’d vote for him.

    “would say if Trump got the nomination but he would absolutely 100% vote for him.”

  71. 71.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    @the Conster:

    I can’t imagine anyone wanting to take Trump up on his question, especially with the limitation of 140 characters.

    Jeb only needs 13 characters to answer:

    “STUFF HAPPENS”

  72. 72.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    @feebog:

    Amusing how Trump has so neatly boxed Jeb? in. He has lured him into this stupid Twitter war and now has sprung the trap.

    He has the equivalent of a lifetime’s worth of experience in social media and crowd control over Jeb. The fact that Jeb’s campaign clearly did not want to pay for a competent social media director shows how badly Trump’s early success took them by surprise.

  73. 73.

    johnnybuck

    October 18, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    Gad, it’s almost like this whole e-mail scandal was deliberately done to ratfuck JEB?

    And didn’t Bill encourage Trump to run?

  74. 74.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 12:39 pm

    BTW, anyone else notice that Trump can’t manage to spell “destabilize”?
    Here’s a guy worth a couple of billion dollars, and he hasn’t mastered the basic mechanics of English. So typical of America.

  75. 75.

    geg6

    October 18, 2015 at 12:40 pm

    @mclaren:

    Heh.

  76. 76.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    The fact that Jeb’s campaign clearly did not want to pay for a competent social media director shows how badly Trump’s early success took them by surprise.

    Well, in fairness, even the most competent social media director on the planet couldn’t help Jeb overcome his halfwit brother’s garbage fire of a presidency.

    I mean, that’s sort of like saying Jack the Ripper might have done better with women if he’d had a really good social director…

  77. 77.

    SRW1

    October 18, 2015 at 12:44 pm

    The Donald is obviously having a whale of a time trolling JEB!

    And poor Jebbie just has to take it.

  78. 78.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 18, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    @Hal: Rs were defending the Benghazi committee pretty vigorously on the Sunday shows this morning. I was surprised.

  79. 79.

    MattF

    October 18, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: If you have no choice…

  80. 80.

    the Conster

    October 18, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    @SRW1:

    I think JEB’s in shock that this could ever happen to him, the over-entitled bubble boy who has been given everything he has. It is fun to watch.

  81. 81.

    chopper

    October 18, 2015 at 12:57 pm

    trump’s strategy of making jeb own his brother’s many failures is epically awesome.

  82. 82.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    The ultimate weakness of Trump’s candidacy remains his total inability to explain anything but how rich and smart he thinks he is.

    That’s okay for stump speeches out in the hustings, not so good for a general campaign. You have to actually suggest real policies if you want to be taken seriously, and Trump doesn’t have any.

    –And don’t start yelling “REAGAN!” at me as a rejoinder. Yes, Reagan got away with never explaining any serious policies in his campaigns, but Reagan was a once-in-a-lifetime con artist. That smooth-talking senile sociopath could sell snow to Eskimos. Trump isn’t in that league. No one in either party is in that league in 2015.

  83. 83.

    bemused

    October 18, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    Absolutely, much more malaise please and teach those rinos a lesson.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    @mclaren:

    Well, in fairness, even the most competent social media director on the planet couldn’t help Jeb overcome his halfwit brother’s garbage fire of a presidency.

    W’s presidency was supposed to be something the D nominee hung around his neck in the general. That he’s allowing a buffoon like Trump to bait him into so clumsily hugging his brother tighter to himself shows that he has no one on his campaign who gets this.

  85. 85.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 18, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    @Schlemazel:
    One more point: They are Republicans, and agree with Republicans on most issues. They think Bush was charming, a man of fine breeding but with an approachable, down-to-earth personality. His cowboy diplomacy and war mongering were clearly the manly approach that keeps America safe. Why would they question it on television?

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:
    When did Trump catapult into the lead? When he said Mexicans were rapists and murderers. His supporters do not give a flying fuck what his other opinions are, and have demonstrated that repeatedly.

    @Schlemazel:
    No way in Hell. Did you hear him when a reporter questioned him? Jeb:( knows as an unshakable fact that because he is a Bush, he is right about everything, and because George is a Bush, he was right about everything. Proving that to the ungrateful peons may be his main motivation to run.

  86. 86.

    D58826

    October 18, 2015 at 1:02 pm

    @the Conster: Jeb!’S response seems to be sending out a fund raising letter to defend ‘w’s (cough cough) GOOD (gag gag) name Of course in a just society the money could be used for W’s defense in a war crimes trial.

  87. 87.

    scav

    October 18, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    OK, it’s certainly fun watching piñata-inspiration Trump pass along the piñata status like a virus, but bleating that a trough immigration policy would have prevented 9-11? Because the rest of the world were sooooo superior at preventing box-cutters on airplanes before that date? Because only planes taking off in the US can knock down buildings when the run into them, international flights just pass right through? Throwing out utter nonsense along side the actual blows makes it far easier to write off the real crimes as the usual Trumpean silliness.

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 18, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Elijah Cummings threw a big rock at Gowdy today, but in a world where they still act as if the invasion of Iraq was just something that happened, who knows if it will take root

    WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy to correct the public record after the CIA debunked Chairman Gowdy’s accusation that Secretary Clinton sent an email containing “some of the most protected information in our intelligence community, the release of which could jeopardize not only national security but human lives.”

    Looks like Gowdy (I presume his staff, but in his name and with his approval) doctored an email to make it look like the CIA had redacted classified information

    Contrary to your claims, the CIA yesterday informed both the Republican and Democratic staffs of the Select Committee that they do not consider the information you highlighted in your letter to be classified. Specifically, the CIA confirmed that “the State Department consulted with the CIA on this production, the CIA reviewed these documents, and the CIA made no redactions to protect classified information.”

    Gowdy may actually be sleazier than Issa. He was supposed to be smart enough to do shit like this and keep it looking legit.

  89. 89.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    @mclaren:

    That’s okay for stump speeches out in the hustings, not so good for a general campaign. You have to actually suggest real policies if you want to be taken seriously, and Trump doesn’t have any.

    It’s my contention that even with the ego Trump presents, he knows Hillary is going to kick his ass in the general. So at some point he will tire of the media spectacle and brand promotion this event has been about and move on.
    He doesn’t want the loser stink to be associated with his brand so he will take a high road exit at some point.

  90. 90.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Didn’t Jeb float the possibility of having his idiot brother campaign with him to boost Jeb’s sagging poll numbers before Trump starting hammering Jeb about W’s 9/11 screwup?

    I think a lot of Jeb’s Dubya damage is self-inflicted. Jeb actually seems to have imagined that his idiot brother would help on the campaign trail.

    Viz., this article: “Could George W. Bush Save Jeb’s Listless Campaign?”, Slate magazine online, 5 October 2015.

  91. 91.

    honus

    October 18, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @Chris: Wouldn’t work for Jeb? Joe Kennedy was never as big a fuckup as W.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 18, 2015 at 1:08 pm

    @SRW1: he’s pissing in every corner of the tent that draws his attention

    Donald J. Trump ‏@ realDonaldTrump 2h2 hours ago Manhattan, NY
    Does everyone remember @ MittRomney and his famous remarks about “self-deportation” and “47%”. He was done. I don’t need his angry advice!

    (and.. Trump is mocking Willard for being ham-fisted on immigration? I guess it helps to not believe any of the shit you say, unless you’re Willard)

  93. 93.

    chopper

    October 18, 2015 at 1:09 pm

    @mclaren:

    maybe he meant “stabal”, which is Welsh for “stable”. because W blew up all the stables in all of iraq. that asshole.

  94. 94.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 18, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: They’re not the sharpest spoons in the drawer.

  95. 95.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 18, 2015 at 1:13 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Draco Malfoy is gonna be Draco Malfoy. Boy can’t help it.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 18, 2015 at 1:15 pm

    Karen Townsend
    ‏@ penguinponders
    “Both your parties are lying” – @ ron_fournier taking no prisoners w/Dem & GOP re: #Benghazi committee investigation. @ meetthepress

    I’m sure Chuck and his crack panel followed up and forced John McCain’s would-be press secretary to explain what Democrats are lying about….

  97. 97.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    @mclaren: Yes, he has said he turns to his brother for advice on the Middle East, among other items.
    I think we’re talking about two different aspects of the W presidency. Jeb wanted to present the W admin as a strength because he assumed no Republican would break and go against party dogma. And that by the time he made it to the general all the talking points would be in place and could be repeated by the campaign, surrogates and media. But I repeat myself.
    Then in the general the D would have little room to use the W admin as a negative, except in terms of economic failure. The R’s would have subtly reclaimed the mantle of strong on foreign policy.
    Now however, Trump is disdainfully blindsiding Jeb’s clumsy claims of how good W was for the country and all that other crap he was trying to sell. If Trump can get anyone to actually say it out loud in a prominent platform then Jeb is in a no win situation. Trump isn’t playing party ball and Bush has no one on his team with any understanding of what to do next.

  98. 98.

    mclaren

    October 18, 2015 at 1:18 pm

    According to this article comparing the GOP candidates’ burn rates + fundraising efforts, Rand Paul and Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee are running out of money fast. So one or all of them will probably be the next to drop out.

    Rand Paul’s finances reflect a campaign that’s living on borrowed time. Paul, who recently toured Iowa (by car, after missing his commercial airline flight), live-streaming as he went, raised just $2.5 million in the last three months. His campaign spent $4.5 million during that period, leaving him with a dwindling pile of cash that won’t cover another three months of campaigning if he doesn’t boost his fundraising. But Paul’s financial picture is not as bleak as it could be. When his numbers were first reported last week, his campaign spokesman insisted that fundraising picked up since the second GOP debate, at which Paul appeared more assertive. That, it turns out, is true. Paul raised at least $526,000 in the two weeks after the debate, accounting for more than 20 percent of his total fundraising for the third quarter.

    Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also spent far more than he raised in the third quarter. Like Paul, he won’t be able to make it through another three months at his current rate of raising and spending. Unlike Paul, he didn’t see a post-debate surge. Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina raised barely $1 million and spent nearly $2 million, leaving him with only $1.6 million left in the bank—probably not enough to help him get through the next three months if he doesn’t have a fundraising surge soon.

    Source: “Some Presidential Campaigns Are Running Out of Cash, New Filings Show,” Mother Jones, 16 October 2015.

    Nothing we didn’t already know.

    Jeb’s strategy appears to be to use hjis $103-million-dollar superPAC to hang in there and outlast the small fry, while hoping for a major gaffe from Trump or Cruz or Carson or Rubio. Unfortunately, Jeb is the one who seems to be making all the gaffes.

  99. 99.

    Ruckus

    October 18, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    You aren’t thinking like someone with a yoooooge ego. He can’t drop out, he’ll look like a fool for having spent all the money and time. He’s come this far, he has to see it through till his exit is way past obvious. Which means until the math no longer supports his running, maybe until after super Tuesday and he’s lost all the primaries to date and the race starts to focus on one of the other losers. And his current numbers suggest that that he may not lose them all.

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 18, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    Brent Baker
    ‏@ BrentHBaker
    Video: @ ChuckTodd hails @ VP Joe Biden as “prescient” on Iraq and Afghanistan. #MTP

    I think he may actually be dumber than Luke Russet

  101. 101.

    EZSmirkzz

    October 18, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    Back in the day one of the better sources for 911 whodunits was Cooperative Research which IIRC was mostly newspaper and magazine articles, which may be of interest to those of you who are curious about such matters. ( There, I’ve covered my ass.) A lot the articles are probably suffering from link rot.

    As to the primary topic, I would be interested in reading Secetary Powell’s emails on Libya, and the … oops. Sorry that’s different.

    IOKIYAR.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    October 18, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    What’s dumber than a rock?

  103. 103.

    Corner Stone

    October 18, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I think he may actually be dumber than Luke Russet

    Is that like a really round shaped potato someone made into an avatar for an exceptionally dumb MSNBC reporter?

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 18, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @Corner Stone: it’s maybe the most appropriately erroneous autocorrect in the internets, so I don’t bother to un-auto-correct it

  105. 105.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 18, 2015 at 1:36 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, his dad was referred to here and other places as “pumpkin haid” so there’s that.

  106. 106.

    Bill Arnold

    October 18, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    @mclaren:
    He’s very rich, so he doesn’t have to know how to spell in ordinary life. The unmediated nature of twitter is probably new to him.
    Also possible is that he once thought it looked right and added it to the spell checker dictionary.
    Also possible is that it was deliberate, to look more like the tweets of a “normal american”. (Or that a spell checker saw the typo and he decided to keep it as is.)
    All of which are a little depressing.

  107. 107.

    MazeDancer

    October 18, 2015 at 1:52 pm

    “He kept us safe” No, he used American blood to fulfill Daddy’s dream of ending Saddam.

    Here’s the Guardian on how the memos directly contradict Blair’s long time assertion there was no advance war planning. And that visiting Crawford did not result in agreement for war. In other words, Tony lied.

  108. 108.

    Chris

    October 18, 2015 at 1:53 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    One more point: They are Republicans, and agree with Republicans on most issues. They think Bush was charming, a man of fine breeding but with an approachable, down-to-earth personality. His cowboy diplomacy and war mongering were clearly the manly approach that keeps America safe. Why would they question it on television?

    Yeah, this. Although most of them don’t self-identify as Republicans, I think, they like to think they’re too open-minded and sophisticated to be partisan followers, and also have some squeamishness about associating with the kind of rubes who call into right wing talk radio programs. They’re (I think there’s something somehwere in the Balloon Juice lexicon about this) individual thinkers who just happen to have independently concluded that Republicans are right about every separate issue.

  109. 109.

    Jay Noble

    October 18, 2015 at 2:05 pm

    A question that immediately popped into my mind but I haven’t seen addressed:

    What the heck were these doing on Hillary’s server?

    Also

    I thought Colin Powell’s emails all went missing?

  110. 110.

    MazeDancer

    October 18, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Someone just tweeted me that the documents were not from Clinton but from a FOIA filed in 2012. And linked to the documents: https://foia.state.gov/Search/results.aspx?searchText=*&caseNumber=F-2012-33239 Didn’t say by whom the FOIA was filed.

    Twitter can be inaccurate as often as revealing. So this FOIA could be off base, or right on. Searching now.

  111. 111.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 18, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    @Chris:
    Yep. I think a large portion of them think they’re liberals, but mature enough to know that only hurting people helps them. Ugh.

  112. 112.

    sigaba

    October 18, 2015 at 2:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Gowdy may actually be sleazier than Issa. He was supposed to be smart enough to do shit like this and keep it looking legit.

    Nightmare fuel: Trey Gowdy was a prosecutor and US Attorney for six years.

  113. 113.

    The Other Chuck

    October 18, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: except the Malfoys ended up being decent and helping Harry in the end. Don’t hold your breath when it comes to Gowdy.

  114. 114.

    Roger Moore

    October 18, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    @Jay Noble:

    I thought Colin Powell’s emails all went missing?

    But every email has a sender and a recipient, so it’s possible that some of his stuff was recoverable from the other end.

  115. 115.

    Carolinus

    October 18, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    @Jay Noble:

    What the heck were these doing on Hillary’s server?

    Agreed. Before this the worst the media had cherry-picked from the FOIA’ed private e-mail server dump were examples of somewhat unseemly-looking politicking. This is the first part of it that makes me uncomfortable. Like the classified Manning-leaked State Dept cables, I really don’t like it when candid background diplomatic conversations and analysis end up in the public and embarrass our allies. The more it happens the more it damages future diplomacy as our interlocutors will be less likely to trust the security of communications and consequently be less direct and straightforward. The same also applies to State Dept employees who will be less likely to tell the unvarnished truth in their cables and memos.

  116. 116.

    shell

    October 18, 2015 at 2:25 pm

    Trump is like the bratty kid with a stick, poking thru the cage bars provoking the weird creatures within.

  117. 117.

    Elie

    October 18, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    Trump is the disruptor to the 2016 election. Don’t know if he had that in mind, but its clear that he is taking full advantage of an unprepared Republican Party, the MSM and to an extent, the Democratic Party as well. Carson is trying to imitate the disruption through his wild comments on guns and the Nazis, but he hasn’t attacked any of the other candidates, so has been largely allowed to exploit the disruption to his financial benefit.

    The problem for both, I believe (rather than know),is that they themselves don’t really know where they are going. On one hand that is good because maybe another candidate could find an angle to disrupt the disruptors… On the other hand, their blind recklessness could do damage to the political system in ways we have no way to address. Their presence, I believe, may embolden the Congressional House T-hadists even more to follow their approach of throwing any kind of caution to the winds or to avoid any conciliation or consensus. Clearly, coming together to solve a mutual problem is not the model they will probably take, which leads us to who knows…

    Yes, the Republicans brought us to this place but unfortunately we are all going to have to live with the results of that — not just them.

  118. 118.

    Debbie

    October 18, 2015 at 2:46 pm

    @MazeDancer:

    Except that Daddy had his chance. A much better chance than his son would. More likely, the son was hoping to show his mom he was a better manly-man than his father.

  119. 119.

    Jay C

    October 18, 2015 at 3:18 pm

    @shell:

    Yeah, but when it comes to Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate, who’s “inside” the cage, and who’s “outside” in the zoo?

    Hard to tell sometimes…

  120. 120.

    Ella in Ella in New Mexico

    October 18, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    A. I guess Blair really WAS Bush’s poodle.

    B. As much as I detest JEB!, if this doesn’t put the heat on GW and Cheney, who cares? Everyone always knew this anyway.

    C. Watch the R’s try to turn this into another way to indict Hilary for mishandling her emails.

  121. 121.

    Van Buren

    October 18, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    @Schlemazel: You should have included a spoiler alert with that comment. You’ve given away the plot.

  122. 122.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    October 18, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    @scav:

    Because the rest of the world were sooooo superior at preventing box-cutters on airplanes before that date? Because only planes taking off in the US can knock down buildings when the run into them, international flights just pass right through?

    Most of the rest of the world had better security than the US and certainly didn’t allow non-flyers to go all the way to the gates. Canada really changed their air security after the Air India 182 bombing and corresponding exploding Canadian checked baggage at Narita Airport in 1985; and Europe tightened up after Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie.

    I flew multiple times between Canada, Europe and Africa from 1996-2001. Guards were walking around European airports with semi-automatic weapons. Passengers went through metal detectors at the airport entrances in Cairo before they even got to the ticket desk. I was amazed at how lax the security was in the US when I flew from there (flying Newark to Munich at Easter/Passover 2000 was amazed at all these families blocking the holding areas) as security personnel were not even paying attention to the x-ray screen and chatting with each other when I went through.

    While flights from other countries could have knocked down American buildings, the rest of the world had at least as much risk for their buildings for flights coming from the US.

  123. 123.

    Sondra

    October 18, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    I have a hunch that if the gentlemen dogs of the Republican committee want to continue sniffing up Hillary’s private… ( email server), they are going to have to deal with the fact that more unfortunately smelly information is going to be uncovered than this big fat turd about Dubya.

    I’m wondering if they have the stones to bet against more damaging information about the other Bush brother that might be there, just to get at a little nugget of something a tiny bit negative about HRC. My guess is the big guns of the Bush family will be coming out on this one and the committee will suddenly find it has lost the scent up a big old tree.

    Jeb!’s folks are going to mighty upset since they just made plans to unpack W from whatever attic he’s been stored in since leaving office and put him to work on the campaign trail as a motivational speaker – yeah I know – right about here is where you do a “spit take”!

  124. 124.

    sharl

    October 18, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    @Ella in Ella in New Mexico:

    C. Watch the R’s try to turn this into another way to indict Hilary for mishandling her emails.

    That’s already happening. National Review and its online parrots are already banging that drum loudly on twitter.

    National Review @NRO

    Emails with @tonyblairoffice completely discredit @HillaryClinton’s private server excuses. http://natl.re/M2jB2Y

  125. 125.

    TG Chicago

    October 18, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    @MazeDancer: This has some info about the FOIA:

    http://burningbird.net/put-foia-down-and-back-away-slowly

    Yeah, no idea how this got connected to the Benghazi thing.

  126. 126.

    Ruckus

    October 18, 2015 at 6:28 pm

    @TG Chicago:
    The same way anything gets connected by the right. It’s made up. Lies. It’s unusual to be anything else. What’s more they of course don’t care that it’s not related nor reasonable, nor factual for the case at hand. Their whole theory of government is made up from brain farts by people with serious gas issues. Why should this be any different?

  127. 127.

    DissidentFish

    October 18, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    @Hal: Someone should tell Trey Gowdy at this point that he is Billy Squier after the Rock Me Tonight video. A promising career (though not to everyone’s tastes) is over.

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