It certainly did not take long for the parasites at the Democratic Underground to go into full conspiracy mode about Bush’s surprise visit to the troops in Baghdad. Check out this stuff:
So now that Shrub (or Rove) has proven he can go anywhere secretly…
Let’s be honest, there’s a good (though paranoid of me) chance this was done not just as a publicity stunt, but as a test.
What do you think the real purpose of this test was? Where will he go next in secret? What did they just prove today, other than that they can mobilize Air Force One, and send the president into a “war zone” (even though it’s technically “mission accomplished”), and the media either doesn’t bother to notice or is told not to notice.
Will America now be ready for the media to show Shrub anywhere, no matter how photoshopped or faked the trip might be, so that they can make him out to be a superhero by rigging fake trips and fake photo opps for him?
Was this done to find out whether the media really doesn’t care about keeping track of the president, and that they can now abuse that lack of attention?
They showed the world, and they showed us, something. And they proved something to themselves today.
What is it? Is this beyond Orwell?
Entire, broad portions of the modern left are now perpetually stuck in the same wave of paranoia that has encompassed Dave Neiwert (And Dave, please spare me the “It ain’t paranoia if it is really happening” line. That was witty the first 8200 times.). It is really damn amusing, if you ask me. Yes, Mr. Rabrrrrrr, this was just a test. Bush will now be in 7-8 places at once- in fact, right now he is watching you through a special turkey breast camera that was stuffed into your turkey. All reports of your activity will be reported back to the mak you refer to as KKKarl Rove.
Idiots. Then there is this absurd thread, which contained the following tidbits of silliness:
to pretend like he was crying . . . whatever – so he started crying before he came out now while he was talking to them. b.s.
If this was suppose to be low-key for security, why were reporters invited. This was about publicity, not about thanking the troops. I like the comment of him not visiting the dead troops only those that are still of use to him.
and
but think about this. Only Fox News is covering this story? That means Rove fed it to them. What if Bush is not in Iraq? What if this is all a gimmick and he’s on some airstrip in Texas?
and
I wonder how much this political grandstanding cost us? And how many hungry people could have been fed today with that money? Just asking.
Paranoid, delusional, bitter, mean-spirited, and thankfully, completely out of power. These people are so vile that half of me wants Bush to win in 2004 just to hear them squeal. Maybe they will move to Canada and will be Chretien’s problem for a while.
And before my trolls feast, I am not questioning their Patriotism. Just their frigging sanity.
BTW- I think it is pretty damned decent that Hillary is spending the holiday with the troops from Ft. Drum who are stationed in Afghanistan. Good for her.
*** Update ***
The wingnut Atriettes over at Eschaton have lost their god damn minds, while ‘moderate’ Democrat Matt Yglesias calls it all a’ poll-driven PR stunt’ and TalkLeft suspects it was just an attempt to upstage the Jr. Senator from New York. Make sure you read the comments sections at each site for a good laugh.
How delusional with Bush-hatred are these guys- and tell me again how you hate him for his policies. May of these ‘moderate’ Democrats have simply lost their mind, and they have lost a good bit of the country, too.
For the record, Matt should probably read the articles he links to, as this quote is rather relevant:
Presidential aides later said Mr. Bush had conceived of the idea five or six weeks ago, but only informed Vice President Dick Cheney, the White House chief of staff Andrew Card, and the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, on Wednesday.
Officials said afterward that if word of the trip had leaked out
Kimmitt
I’m glad Bush went to visit the troops in Baghdad; it was the right thing to do.
The extreme secrecy and briefness of the trip, however, underline the terrible security situation there and make it clear that we have a long way to go, if we even ever get there.
I believe that the President was genuine in his emotions; the President does not live a particularly examined life, and he seems to be consistently caught off-guard by the human consequences of his actions.
Bob Dole is a man I disagreed with vehemently, but I knew that he was fundamentally up to the challenges of the Presidency. I do not hold this opinion regarding George W. Bush.
Nonetheless, his action was dangerous and appropriate, and therefore laudable.
JC
Hey, don’t tar all democrats. Bush did the right thing. Heck, even a courageous thing, given the recent spate of attacks. It’s the presidential thing to do. Kudos to him.
John Cole
I didn’t mean to tar all Democrats, in fact, the only time I used it was in the title of the DU website. I can tell the difference between lunatics and and Democrats.
Check out the Free Republic- they have their share of head cases, too.
At any rate, I think it was the right thing to do too- and anywhere the president goes it is a photo-op. He is after all, the President.
I just wish more Congressman and Senators had the balls Hillary had to go visit the troops from their region- I think that was a pretty damned decent thing to do, as well. While everybody thinks the military is some right wing apparatus (perhaps more of the officers are Republicans), when I was on active duty, most of the guys trended apolitical, and thye liked seeing politicians, regardless of their political affiliation.
Terry
The President’s trip also pissed them off big time over at atrios, where the loons are going absolutely bananas. That site has truly become a mere adjunct to Democrat Underground.
Unlearned Hand
I 100% agree, John. I’m pretty embarrassed (thought not surprised) by all the commentary coming from what I still consider my side of the spectrum.
Dean Esmay
There is a certain tendency to get overly angry with the lunatic fringe of any political party. I don’t consider the nutjobs at Free Republic or Democratic Underground representative of their respective parties.
That said, when you see the high-profile folks like Yglesias and Talk Left and Eschaton are spewing that kind of garbage, it really is deeply troubling.
Unlearned Hand
You hit the nail head on with that one, Dean. The President can’t even visit our troops without the filth flowing forth. I’m truly ashamed right now.
Matthew Stinson
The problem with winning at any costs is that sooner or later that cost includes your decency. We saw that in the constant second-guessing of the Clintons by Republicans, and we’re seeing that in the writings of “mainstream” Bush critics now.
People on both sides of the aisle should be thanking W and Hillary.
Xrlq
“Daily Trash” is nice. I prefer to think of it as the “Daily Kotze.” It’s a nice pun for those who speak German, but tends to go over everyone else’s heads (Kotze means puke).
Jon H
“The troops jumped to their feet to give him a tremendous cheer, and many held up cameras to snap his picture.”
Yeah, but they do that for Wayne Newton and Sinbad, too.
Just kidding! From what I heard from the BBC, it seemed pretty heartfelt.
Jon H
Speaking of ‘trips during wartime’, I’ve wondered how the hell the Yalta conference was handled – how’d they safely transport Roosevelt and Churchill to the Crimea.
Anyone know? Air? Sea?
mark
Um, John, one other PR “stunt” you are forgetting is Lincoln’s visit to Richmond after it fell. And he even stayed in Jeff Davis’s house…
M. Scott Eiland
“People on both sides of the aisle should be thanking W and Hillary.”
I agree–it was a nice gesture on both their parts. One could argue that HRC has a bit more fence-mending to do than GWB with regards to the military, but the point is that she’s willing to do it–kudos to her for that.
Jon H
” One could argue that HRC has a bit more fence-mending to do than GWB with regards to the military, but the point is that she’s willing to do it–kudos to her for that.”
The troops in Afghanistan are probably thankful for the attention, seeing as how they’ve been pretty much forgotten. (Her trip hasn’t even received much press coverage.)
HH
Hillary’s trip was the 2nd or 3rd story of the hour during the news radio this afternoon… The Dems are really just upset that she didn’t get all the attention today.
John Anderson
OK, who’s running the pool on the first Dem prexie candidate to go with “this was political grandstanding, not patriotism”? I figure before 9AM, perhaps on the Today show, but haven’t decided which: Kerry? And will they tar Hillary with the same brush for her Afghanistan visit? I happen to believe both did it as a matter of principle/conscience, but the spin is beginning…
M. Scott Eiland
If I were running the RNC, I’d be planning a mass mailing right now targeted at undecided voters, which would consist entirely of links to the above-mentioned comments sections. If these dimwits keep this up, McGovern’s going to look like FDR in 1936 compared to the electoral reception the Dems get next fall.
HH
Now more than ever…
Clinton:the Right::Bush:the Left
Everything the left complained about in the ’90s goes the same for them now, and in some cases it’s worse.
Kimmitt
Right, except for the part where we aren’t impeaching Bush for getting an extramarital blowjob.
Moe Lane
Hey, Kimmitt, it’s not our fault that Bush can keep it in his pants.
King of Fools
I have to agree with those above who have noted how we cannot assume the far-wingers speak for their side of the spectrum.
I don’t think they sway anyone…they only push the compatriots further towards the middle.
JadeGold
Mostly agree with Kimmit’s initial post; it’s a nice thing to do and it was done out of purely political calculation.
It does point up the fact, though, just unaccomplished “Mission Accomplished” is.
The very fact your president had to sneak into the country sends a message to those Iraqis who may support our actions that things aren’t as rosy as we portray them.
Ricky
Kimmitt,
Unless you can find the article of impeachment that mentions blowjobs, you can be one of the many to stop that idiotic theme. It only goes over with the folks who participate in the aforementioned comments sections.
Charlie
Mark, the answer to your question about FDR is “by sea”. Aboard a US warship, the name of which escapes me momentarily.
JadeGold
See Rickey Lee parse.
Parse, parse, parse.
Parse, Rickey Lee, parse.
Ricky
Ohhh, I can feel the venom through the bytes, JadeGold, after the latest embarrassment I handed you over at Yglesias’ the other day.
I feel your pain (and Clinton still wasn’t impeached for getting a blowjob – even you can understand that), although I won’t lie about it.
Ricky
My apologies, John….I’d fogotten that I’m going to ignore lying bastards like JadeGold, so I’m sorry I messed up your comments section.
JadeGold
The only ’embarrassment’ suffered at MY’s was your own, Rickey Lee. In the space of less than one hour, it was demonstrated you had lied twice.
Gee, Rickey Lee, if you’re going to pretend to speak for the entire South–it might be best if you didn’t sound like Boss Hogg.
John
Charlie, if memory serves I believe FDR to the crusier USS Augusta to Yalta…..
Kimmitt
“but I am not going to do anything that might put someone in office that these wingnuts want.”
This kind of baffles me. No matter who you vote for, you’re putting into office someone that some batch of wingnuts want. If you vote for Bush, you’re supporting the candidate which the CCC wants. If you vote Libertarian, you’re supporting the candidate the Libertarians want.* If you vote Dem, you’re supporting the candidate that some of Al Sharpton’s antiwhite bigots want. The intelligent thing to do, it would seem to me, is note that both the Dems and the Republicans have massive numbers of basically decent mainstream followers (and the Libs have their fair share*) and make your decision based on your policy and tactical preferences.
*JOKE.
JadeGold
This marks the 3546th time, Cole has uttered the same threat.
It’s funny the first coupla times but it gets old.
The threat is that unless Dems toe the GOP line–Cole might be forced to vote for a GOPer. This seems to be a popular meme among the far right bloggers.
Wince and Nod
Good use of the bully pulpit to raise morale for the troops out there and those of us who support the war at home. You can tell it was a good idea by both the positive and the negative reactions it gets and who makes them. Good for Senator Clinton too! These were classy gestures – and since this war is also being fought in our hearts and minds – important ones.
Yours,
Wince
Eric
This is typical of the people who vote for Bush, “The extreamist-left scare me so I’m going to stay with the extreamist-right even tho I can’t demostrate any proof that they are better leaders or their policies have lead to anything good.”
Admiral Quixote
John, thanks for sharing some interesting thoughts. I quoted you at my blog.
JadeGold,
“The threat is that unless Dems toe the GOP line–Cole might be forced to vote for a GOPer. This seems to be a popular meme among the far right bloggers.”
It is also a popular meme among Independents like myself (and is the reason I quoted John at my site). My three biggest political issues are stopping the slaughter of unborn babies, national security, and fiscal responsibility. If a Democrat would support these, I would vote for him or her. Gephardt ran for office under these three ideas, but then quickly changed his mind on abortion to get some leadership positions in the House. To his credit, he still is fairly strong on the other two. Dean, the presumed winner of the Democratic primary, might be strong on the fiscal side, but is definitely weak on the other two.
I don’t care about most of the typical Republican/Democratic bickering – in many areas I don’t see a difference between them. But the majority of Americans are not going to vote for a president weak on national security at this time in our history. I don’t feel forced to vote for President Bush, I feel like he is the only grown-up option with an option of winning more than 3 percent of the vote.
Jadegold
ADM Q:Can’t help you on the abortion issue but on the issues of national security and fiscal responsibility, you’d have to be insane to vote GOP.
Fiscal responsibility doesn’t mean running up the credit card and having a great time and then passing the bill to your kids.
And national security certainly means a helluva lot more than lying about the reasons for war.
Admiral Quixote
Jadegold, I wouldn’t go as far as insane, but I agree with you about the fiscal responsibility. Since you also asked some of the questions on my site, I’ll answer in more detail there.
cm
Anybody But Bush You Say?
Ok you odd-balls get busy and get Charles Manson parolled then elected in 2004
joe
3 million jobs lost,
record 400 billion deficit, troops pay cut, education funding cut, health care what health care?? rich getting richer, environment getting bush-wacked… need I say more.