Bush's Screw-Ups, Reminder

For you conservatives who are suffering from Bush Amnesia, here's a reminder of Bush's fumbles, foibles, and blunders:

• Exaggerating case for war.
• Exaggerating ties between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.
• Lying about "only going to war as last resort".
• Stirring up an international "hate race" with polarizing slogans normally only found in dark comic books.
• Commuting Libby's jail sentence despite being found guilty.
• Violating Geneva conventions on torture.
• Pushing to legalize torture.
• Attempting to abandon habeas Corpus.
• Blaming B. Clinton for financial crisis despite having 8 years to undo any Clinton-era rules he didn't like and hyping the hell out of deregulation.
• Running up huge budget during non-recession.
• Running up the trade deficit.
• Pushing unchecked spying on citizens.
• Allowing no-bid contracts for Iraq contractors.
• Appointing unqualified buddies and unqualified political kiss-ups to key posts; FEMA and DOJ appointees being the most notable.
• Praising and giving medals to administrators who screwed up; "Good Job Brownie" being the most notable, but also giving Medal of Freedom to "slam dunk" Tenet and Bremer.
• Sitting on his ass after being notified of the 2nd plane hitting the tower.
• Letting Bin Laden slip from Torah Borah by under-manning the project.
• Letting private security contractors run amuck in Iraq.
• Trying to let dangerous nations manage our ports.
• Underfunding port security.
• Pushing excessive environmental and safety deregulation.
• Failure to keep negotiating Kyoto protocol.
• Gutted FBI financial probes to focus on "terrism" without giving them new funds.
• Pressuring science community to dilute global warming research.
• Touching world leaders in strange ways.
• Torturing the English language.
• Running the wars poorly. (Even John McCain agreed on this.)
• Strumming guitar and letting Condie go shoe-shopping while N.O. was taking the Mother of All Baths.
• Putting his buddy horse trainer in charge of disaster recovery. 
• Tying foreign aide to ineffective "abstinence" programs due to religious beliefs instead of logic.
• Wanting to teach Creationism in schools despite zero field evidence.
• Approving a new Iraqi flag that looked like Israel's.
• Cutting stem-cell and cancer research.
• Underestimating cost of war.
• Keeping the war "off budget"
• Planting gov't operatives to pose as journalists.
• Downplayed relationship with Ken Lay.
• Insulting Europeans with his "elitist" comments.
• Forbidding states from making tougher emission standards than feds.
• Kissing Saudi princes
• Tried to get burger-flipping re-classified as "manufacturing" to jack up the numbers.
• The "Freedom Car" - Used hydrogen cars as a stalling tactic instead of real change.
• Underfunded his Mars ship
• Puked on Japanese Priminister
• Got "doored" by Chinese
• "Not worried" about Bin Laden comment
• Gave excessive tax breaks to oil co's 
• Dismissed 7 U.S. Attorneys for their political beliefs
• Walter Reed neglect
• Misplaced Billions in cash in Iraq 
• "Catapulting the propaganda" phrase

Preview: Romney and Obama Debate on Healthcare

Similar to what we did last year, here's a simulation of a healthcare debate between the president and Mitt Romney:

Mitt: Obamacare is expensive, unpopular, and unconstitutional; and as president I will kill it!

Obama: Your Massachusetts version of the program is supported by almost two-thirds of the state of Massachusetts (MA).

Mitt: MA's program is different than Obamacare.

Obama: If you could identify the differences that would improve it, I'd gladly consider adjustments. I never said I was against tuning it to improve it. Instead, you and the GOP just want to kill it outright.

Mitt: It was a program designed to fit MA and MA's special needs. It was not intended to be a national solution. [Actually, he once claimed it was, but we'll put that aside for now.]

Obama: How specifically are the people of MA significantly different than the nation?

Mitt: Uhhhh.....um... It's unconstitutional!

Obama: I didn't ask about constitutionality.

Mitt: If it's unconstitutional, then the opinions of the people of MA don't matter.

Obama: You are avoiding the question.

Mitt: No, I'm just stating the reality of the situation.

Obama: I disagree that it's unconstitutional, and the nation and MA deserve a reply on the MA question. Healthcare is an important topic.

Mitt: Ask them, not me.

Obama: I guess asking you was indeed a mistake.