The Swamp 14 Ottobre 2008

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - For President Bush, the end is near. On Sunday, he will have 100 days left in his presidency.

He warned everyone that he would be "sprinting'' to the finish, but nobody had an international financial meltdown in mind when Bush vowed that he would be working to the very end.

Bush may be down in the polls - with 25 percent public approval, his all-term low, in the latest Gallup Poll - but he still finds comfort in certain quarters. The Simpsonville Little League Softball team, the world champions, where happy to see him.

The team greeted Bush at his landing Friday night at the Charleston Air Force Base. Another couple hundred people were assembled behind a fence on the tarmac on an overcast evening at the end of a rainy day - one assumes this was the family and extended family of the 2008 World Series of Little League Softball champions.

Bush had seen some admirers along the road on his way out of South Florida on this day, people standing on corners along the route of the presidential motorcade in Coral Gables and waving American flags and cheering - the supporters far outnumbering the few protesters along the motorcade route, quite the opposite ratio of that most recent Gallup Poll on presidential approval, which put Bush just one point above Richard Nixon's all-time low (24 points) before resignation in 1974 and jut three points above Harry Truman's low in 1952, the all-time low in Gallup surveys.

And, in the aftermath of three tortuous weeks of economic turmoil, the president was ready for some crowd-love. He and first Lady Laura Bush had gone separate ways in their travels this day, the pair splitting up at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland in the morning and reuniting in Charleston in the evening. And the two worked the crowd from left to right before posing with the ball team for photographs - and then taking off by helicopter for a Republican Nation Committee fundraiser on Kiawah Island.



The party was raising $1.4 million at the evening fundraiser at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, a low-lying . Marine One, the president's helicopter, landed on The Ocean Course, a golf course set by the open sea, and then rode by motorcade to the resort hotel.

It's safe to say that the 100 people assembled at the hotel were as happy to see the president as the softball team was, but the fundraiser was closed to the press, so we'll take it on faith.

By day's end, the president was returning to Washington, arriving well after dark, and preparing for an early morning meeting with the finance ministers of the G-7 nations this morning in the West Wing.

And then, another Rose Garden appearance just after 8 am EDT to offer a nation some reassurance in the midst of the worst stock market turmoil in decades.

The financial crisis was awaiting him in Washington, upon his return from the fans in South Carolina. That 25 percent approval factor may come back into play this morning, with not all Americans as happy to see the president this morning as was the Simpsonville Little League Softball team.

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Comments

"Sprinting" to the finish? More like crawling backwards.
The war in Iraq has lasted longer than WWII. Osama bin Laden hasn't been dealt with. The Taliban and al Queda are surging in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A lot of the world holds us in contempt. Dubya's approval rating are the worst since the ratings began. To say the economy is in the toilet, is a vast understatement.
The title of this administration should be "Unmitigated Disaster."
Posted by: Doug Zook | October 11, 2008 7:51 AM
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Can't we just waive Bush's last 100 days and let him retire early? With pay? It's hard to believe that 25% of the population still believe he's doing a good job. But that's the way androids are, once programmed always programmed.
Posted by: GEEP | October 11, 2008 8:54 AM
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Mission accomplished, hey George?
Posted by: C.Hussein.Morris | October 11, 2008 11:45 AM
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Now, after the Nov. elections, comes the pardons.
Should be interesting.
Posted by: OldCreaky | October 11, 2008 12:34 PM
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IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHO WINS OR LOSES THE ELECTION. THEY'RE BOTH PUSHING ESSENTIALLY THE SAME MESSAGE, WHICH IS THAT THE WORKER AND TAXPAYER SHOULD PAY FOR THE MISTAKES AND TREACHERY OF THE GOV'T.
Posted by: LEE LARSON | October 11, 2008 4:16 PM
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Has Bush led us into a Depression? Modern Americans do not even know what that means. ............
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/12/a-nickle-for-bread-but-no-one-has-a-nickle/
Posted by: Ohg Rea Tone | October 12, 2008 10:46 AM
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Like a bullet exiting the body politic, I'm concerned with the damage he's going to do on the way out.
Posted by: Jeffrey S | October 12, 2008 10:52 AM
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DEAR LEE LARSON, "IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHO WINS OR LOSES THE ELECTION", you write. Well, what's your beef with lowercase letters? What's your beef with complexity? What's the thinking behind your awkward simplification of the facts? It's quite alright to allow for some nuance in complicated times, you know. Start by not using the typing equivalent of YELLING in your comments, and then let yourself understand the world of difference between the candidates. It's FUN to be SMART, give it a TRY!
Posted by: Johannes Labusch | October 12, 2008 11:11 AM
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I'm concerned about the strategic deployment within the continental U.S. on the orders of W. I'm starting to think there may actually be something to those far-fetched rumors that W suspend will suspend the Presidential election due to "crisis". What then? Will the android sheep sit back and take it if and when he declares martial law?
Posted by: James I | October 12, 2008 11:14 AM
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thank god. it is like we've been held hostage for 8 years. national post-traumatic stress syndrome has set in. we will be damaged -- individually and collectively -- by this presidency for years to come. we will never be the same because of this unmitigated disaster.
Posted by: jeff black | October 12, 2008 11:19 AM
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Bush has activated troops on US soil. Why is his Florida visit news?
Posted by: Sean B | October 12, 2008 11:34 AM
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One day would be too many.
I'm terrified that what is left of our country can't survive 100.
Posted by: rbrooks | October 12, 2008 11:36 AM
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If you only interact with pre screened folks who like you; you might be deluded into thinking you are great.
Good to see this dangerous imbecile leave office. How many years will it take to repair the damage?
Posted by: Robert Garbin | October 12, 2008 11:36 AM
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He's done a GREAT job in his role to prepare the nation for the End of Days:
1. He's allowed our economy to fall into shambles, leaving only the wealthiest to survive
2. He's decimated our military defense forces while helping to build the largest, most powerful mercenary force in the world (i.e. Blackwater)
3. He's flooded the federal government with political appointees of the Regent University and Assemblies of God persuasion (i.e. their interpretation of the word of God trumps the Constitution in legal matters).
"A dictatorship would be easier"---G.W. Bush
Don't worry, Mr. President, a full 26% of the electorate still believes you're "doin' a heckuva job" and are rabidly ready for someone like Sarah Palin to take the baton for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth!!!
We're in deep, deep trouble people.
Posted by: Navy_VET_EOD | October 12, 2008 11:39 AM
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Please just go away. Don't we all agree that Bush and his den of liars and thieves have done enough damage? No one wants to hear one more word from this village idiot
please go away forever.
Posted by: Janet Engel | October 12, 2008 11:46 AM
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We cannot be free of this "president" soon enough.
Impeach him!
Posted by: athena | October 12, 2008 11:47 AM
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Molly Ivins, in her book, Shrub, laid out what to expect in a Bush presidency. Now that his mission has been accomplished, you may want to go back and read it and see what stupid white men have wrought on our country.
Bush is a small minded man of average intelligence and the only reason he came to power was because of his family ties and he was a good pawn for the corporate powers that are the driving force behind the Republican Party. He is not a man of vision, does not learn and has no leadership abilities. He is like the hundreds of other spoiled brats that have been given everything and has no inner values or conscience at the effect of his actions on others.
If our representatives had been living by American's original values, this man and his vice president would have been impeached and thrown in prison long ago.
Posted by: Sandra S | October 12, 2008 11:56 AM
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Bush is already doing damage on the way out. He is giving India nuclear to aid his corporate buddies in the nuclear industry. He will try to trash environment and species protection, which can be fixed by Obama when he comes into office; but I am not sure what else he can do that is irreversible. And would be curioius to know the possibiities.
Posted by: Sandra S | October 12, 2008 11:59 AM
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100 days?!?
ARREST THE CRIMINAL NOW! WE CAN"T WAIT.
Posted by: poggy | October 12, 2008 12:02 PM
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Good riddance pResident of the "US" and leader of the true axis of evil...I hope Paraguay throws you out...You should be exiled as the stupid, greedy and little man without a country that you are...
Posted by: Marsha | October 12, 2008 12:06 PM
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I forgot to mention, evil.
Posted by: Marsha | October 12, 2008 12:08 PM
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This guy has a hundred days left and he can demolish a anvil in seconds? Not Good.
Posted by: Jeronimo Dan | October 12, 2008 12:21 PM
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Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Posted by: SharedHumanity | October 12, 2008 12:50 PM
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Bush is such a patheic loser and moronic fool. He is still unaware that his idiotic policies caused the financial meltdown. Soon his bafoon will be living at his new rancho in Paraguay, where the country will not throw you out for committing war crimes.
Posted by: widollar | October 12, 2008 12:54 PM
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I'm new to this site, but the name The Swamp is the perfect lead-in to this article on George Bush. Maybe The Gutter would have been more appropriate since that's where his policies have put us :+)
But I digress . . . What is perhaps the most disturbing thing about this guy is the fact that he has smiled all through his presidency. There is no tragedy great enough to take that smirk off his face. And asked by several reporters in separate interviews how he's doing, his reply inevitably is, "I'm doin' great; havin' the time of my life!".
And I'm sure he's leaving office with the thought that his legacy will be kind to him; that historians will all agree that his adventures in Iraq will be justified; that the economic disaster he and his stooges have left us with is nothing by a cyclical bump in the financial road.
But you know who the really pathetic person has been during this 8-year nightmare? Laura Bush: An intelligent, articulate wife who didn't have the common sense to tell her husband that he was in waaaaaaaaay over his head and that he should have retired to his god-forsaken ranch years ago.
Posted by: Jan Sershen | October 12, 2008 1:20 PM
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Eight years of "The Scream."
Posted by: ericmiami | October 12, 2008 1:24 PM
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Hey clown face Bush, ya gonna do something like attack another country, or even the US, so McCain can step up to the plate and look Presidential? He'll just be "erratic" and "senile" as usual, so really, there's no point in bothering.
I wouldn't put it past the Greedy Old Pig party to do, just that! YUK
You've run this country into the ground, we are at our wits end because of you!
Go away freakazoid, you are not wanted, even by the majority of idiots who voted for you TWICE1
Go back to Texas, where YOU ARE NOT FROM, and be quiet! No one cares what you say, and your only work from here on in, is to take the rest of the money in the treasury for you and your friends!
Don't even think of suspending this election, YOU'RE NOT A MONARCH, just a joke on the American people.
Go now, go away! You can only make it worse, if possible!
You are and will be known for eternity as THE WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY!
WORSE THAN HOOVER, WOW, AN ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU WILL LIVE WITH FOREVER!
You and that big necked cow of a mother of yours, must be so proud!
Posted by: AndreaD | October 12, 2008 1:36 PM
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The market took 20 years to recover from the Great Depression.
If we get focused and work hard at it, maybe four. Start infrastructure rebuilding projects, and eliminate capital gains tax on small business investments (this would capture investment that were being incentivized to feed hedge funds). Small businesses account for the majority of jobs.
Posted by: Deb | October 12, 2008 1:38 PM
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Le batarde should go to prison.
Posted by: Sandra S | October 12, 2008 2:20 PM
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President Bush has no shame. I hope that we can get through the final few months of this clown’s administration without another calamity. President Bush, please resign for the good of the country, and take all the Republican neocons with you.
Posted by: Eric L. Prentis | October 12, 2008 2:24 PM
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So, will he start the pardoning for Xmas or wait for the very end?
Posted by: BobN | October 12, 2008 3:01 PM
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There will be a world-wide party on the day he leaves office.
Posted by: Vince Gomez | October 12, 2008 4:23 PM
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by Mark Silva

Source >  The Swamp | oct 12