I don’t like W.

But I do like W.

President George W. Bush has been a disaster as a President.  Our economy is in the toilet.  The Constitution has been shredded.  The nation is in an illegal war.  And or country is divided.

But in a surprisingly nuanced and even-handed portrayal of our 43d President, director Oliver Stone has given us a personal story of triumph and, ultimately, tragedy. 

George W. Bush is our Charles Foster Kane of Citizen Kane fame.  Born with a silver spoon in his mouth but never truly able to lead a life outside of the shadow of his family name and his father’s shared name.

Kane longed for his missed childhood through the metaphor of his sled, Rosebud.  Bush longs for the adoration of not just a nation but more importantly, of his father, George H.W.

Stone does portray Bush as a buffoon at times.  But the bumbling Bush, expertly played by Josh Brolin, also understands he’s a screw up—and does something about it.  He truly does find God and religion.  He is sincere in his beliefs.  He gives up drinking and carousing.  Bush becomes a responsible adult after a profligate youth.

Stone could have made fun of all this.  He doesn’t.  He plays it straight. 

Laura Bush, portrayed by Elizabeth Banks, is a smokin’ hot—but smart—smoking librarian.  She probably is the best thing that ever happened to Bush—a no-nonsense Texas woman who may stand by her man but isn’t afraid to tell him when he’s wrong—and when he’s right.  Theirs is a touching love story.

James Cromwell’s “Poppy” Bush is perhaps the character who comes in for the most negative scrutiny.  He obviously thinks his son is a loser.  Jeb Bush is the fair-haired son.  Poppy is distant and dismissive.  W wants nothing more than to gain his father’s approval.

As W gains his confidence as a businessman and as governor of Texas, it becomes clear that his political instincts are better than his fathers.  In a meeting with evangelicals during the 1992 election, George H.W. doesn’t understand the nature of the evangelical’s faith.  W does.

Vice President Dick Cheney, wonderfully portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss, is even more calculating and chilling as you might think.  W truly does believe what he believes about terrorism, democracy, and making the world better (flawed as his ideas and execution was). 

Cheney, on the other hand, uses W’s idealism and ability to connect with people for his own nefarious purposes in a Dr. Strangelove sort of way.

Perhaps the most tragic figure in the movie is Secretary of State Colin Powell, who kind of has the same role as Bernstein—he was there before the beginning and there after the end.

A voice of reason and integrity about the lead-up to the second Gulf War, he ultimately capitulates to Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and the nearly literal lap dog, Condoleeza Rice.  His failure to act to stop the war despite the lies is an allegory for America buying the lies that have lead to the tragedy of the Iraq War.

Some critics have criticized the movie for being too straight forward.  I disagree.  It is full of metaphor, not something you see in modern American movies.

I don’t know for sure if in 50 years people will claim W to be the classic American tale that explains our times and our public figues as did Citizen Kane.  But I’m sure up there in cinematic heaven, Orson Welles has a big glass of wine, a fine Cuban cigar—and a big smile on his face—over Stone’s effort.

With not just Wall Street but world markets taking a major dump on the financial bed, it's finally official: President George W. Bush is now our President Herbert Hoover.

As the MSNBC notes: Dow slumps amid global rout

It takes a very "special" kind of President to "accomplish" so much:

• Shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights
• Shred the economy
• Get us into an illegal and unfounded war
• Run up massive deficits

In fact, President Hoover looks good compared to W.  He only ruined the economy.  Bush has ruined so much more.  And it all started with a stolen election in Florida in 2000. 

God save America.  We need all the help we can get until Sen. Barack Obama is inaugurated and tries to clean up this tsunami of greed, arrogance and incompetence.

Are are some of my snapshots from the BushFailureBus that's in front of my office on North Main across from Sen. Thune's state office.

Enjoy!






Technorati Tags: BushFailureBush, The Bus Legacy bus, George W. Bush, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The BushFailureBus (The Bush Legacy Bus) is parked smack-dab in front of my law firm, Galland Law Firm, at 317 N. Main in Sioux Falls, across the street from Sen. John Thune’s state office.

The bus is open from 3-5 p.m. today. Come drop by if you have the time!

Technorati Tags: BushFailureBush, The Bush Legacy, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, George W. Bush

From Americans United for Change:

***Media Advisory for Thursday, July 17^th, 2008 at 3PM, CDT***

National Bush Legacy Bus Tour to Make Latest Stop in Sioux Falls 45-foot, 28-ton Museum on Wheels Features Several Exhibits on How Disastrous Bush/Conservative Policies - Embraced by Sen. John Thune - Have Harmed Our National Security, Ruined the Economy and Sacrificed Key Domestic Priorities

***Press Conference at 3PM / Open to the Public from 3- 5PM***

Click Here to Visit the Bush Legacy Tour Homepage

“Yes Sir, Mr. President!” – Thune Rubberstamped Bush’s Failed Policies 85 Percent of the Time

WHERE:     U.S. Senator John Thune’s constituent office

320 North Main Street

                        Sioux Falls, SD

Technorati Tags: Bush Legacy Tour, George W. Bush, President Bush, failure, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Americans United for Change

Barack Obama is honest about not being a hunter and fisherman.

From his website:

Barack Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America’s hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport. Were it not for America’s hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. Obama recognizes that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America’s hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.

I have a modest proposal. Barack should come to South Dakota for the pheasant opener. South Dakota's best and favorite outdoorsman, Tony Dean, could take him on an honest to goodness pheasant hunt with some of his buddies. And let me make my pitch now, Tony: Pick me, pick me!

Besides being a great photo shoot, Barack could learn first hand about one of the most hallowed of midwestern and rural rights--the hunt with friends. From Tony, besides getting good hunting advice and good company, he'd also get a first hand education about conservation issues, CRP, global warming, and wildlife management.

More importantly, he'd have fun.

I want to see Barack in camo this fall in South Dakota. It would do his image good and further help him understand what makes "regular" people tick. Plus, if "Barry the Bomber" can hit three pointers on the hardwoods, he can nail rooster pheasants in South Dakota's cornfields.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, hunting, outdoors, Tony Dean, 2008 election, South Dakota

Did anyone else just realize that President George W. Bush left the country?  Does anybody care? Can we cancel his passport before he returns?


Technorati Tags: George W. Bush, Germany

I’m looking forward to HBO’s movie of the stealing of the 2000 Presidential results in Florida that has since inflicted seven years of agony on America via the Bush Administration. Here is a review and clip of HBO’s Recount, which premieres this weekend.

Technorati Tags: Recount, HBO, 2000 election, George W. Bush, Al Gore, theft

 

You South Dakota Republicans mystify me.

In 2004, you kicked out of the U.S. Senate a man who was able to bring many worthy projects to our state and replace him with a man who said “values” were more important than programs.

In 2000 and 2004, you elected a President who wouldn’t know the truth if it was shot out of a cannon and hit him in the chest who led us into a needless war in Iraq.  That war has robbed us our our fine young men and women and emptied our nation’s treasury.

Yes, my South Dakota Republican friends, you’ve given us the twin disasters of John Thune and George W. Bush.

And today, not surprisingly, it all came home to roost with Bush deciding not to propose funding for the much needed Lewis and Clark Regional Water System.

The lack of funding could literally leave us all in the Sioux Empire high and dry.

Yes, “values”—or the appearance of them is more important than water for the growing Tri-State area.

Yes, bogus tax cuts in a time of war are more important than an assured source of water for our children and grandchildren.

My GOP friends in South Dakota, you have no right to bitch about the complete erasure of money for Lewis and Clark.

Your votes and your delusions about your “leaders” and what they would do make it all possible.

I’ve known for years that Thune, Bush, and their fellow Rightwingers in Pierre and Washington don’t give a damn about me.

But how’s it feel to finally realize that that your “heroes” don’t give a damn about you either? 

Technorati Tags: Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Sioux Empire, South Dakota, John Thune, George W. Bush, water, water projects, federal budget

 

• Quick Take: The proposed federal tax rebate is a bribe with our own money.

No, I'm not going to give the money back to the federal treasury.  I'm going to either spend it or pay off some bills.

But that doesn't mean that President Bush's and Congress' proposed $1000/family, $300/child federal tax rebate plan is a good idea.

Let's see.

Budget deficit.  Check.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Check.

Rich already not paying their fair share.  Check.

Necessary programs already go under funded.  Check.

But President Bush and Republicans and Democrats in Congress figure, "Hey, why not spread a little sugar from Uncle Sam to help the peeps and the economy in an election year?!"

Never mind that it is bad public policy.

Yes, I know, many of you think I'm a tax and spend liberal. 

Not true.

I think absent terrible national emergencies, the government--like its citizens--should live within its means.

I too would like to give away lots and lots of money to worthy causes and my friends.  But I simply can't.  If I did, I wouldn't be able to pay my bills. 

Same with the government.  But only this is worse.  The politicians are once again bribing us with our own money.  It's really stupid, when you think about it.  THEY ARE USING OUR MONEY TO BRIBE US.

So, yes, I'll cash the rebate check.  Because like you, I'm a sucker when it comes to "free money." 

Technorati Tags: tax rebate, federal income tax, President George W. Bush, Republicans, Democrats, congress, bribes, taxes

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The following quote comes from my friend Deb McIntyre, executive director of the South Dakota Peace and Justice Center.  Seems that ol’ Jimmy Madison knew we’d someday have a W in our midst.

“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war … and in the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.”

James Madison, April 20, 1795

Portrait: President James Madison.

Technorati Tags: James Madison, President James Madison, George W. Bush, Pres. George W. Bush, South Dakota Peace and Justice Center, SDPJC, Iraq War

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Here's my comment to SD War College concerning PP's post on Dave Kranz's column on Sen. Tim Johnson's first South Dakota press gaggle conference call post-AVM.

Read: Kranz: Little progress for Johnson since welcome home

My response:
Technorati Tags: Sen. Tim Johnson, Dave Kranz, South Dakota War College, PP, AVM, 2008 Election, South Dakota, Sen. James Abnor

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The other night. Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown (watch ‘Waterboarding IS torture’) succinctly showed that the torture technique of waterboarding is clearly illegal under federal law.

But let me approach its legality from the back end. What if Al-Qaeda or Iran were waterboarding our captured GIs? Would the United States consider that torture and a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions?

I think we all know that the answer would be yes. If the perpetrators were captures, you know that our nation would pursue charges against them as war criminals.

And I think this is where Arizona U.S. Senator, Presidential candidates, and former P.O.W. John McCain is coming from. How can the United States complain about treatment of its servicemen and women in captivity if we are doing things to others’ prisoners that we would consider illegal?

And yes, I know there’s the who “combatant” v. “non-combatant” issue.

But should that matter?

Clearly, waterboarding is a violation of the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is cruel and unusual punishment. We would never allow the police or prisons to perpetrate such torture on convicts or criminal defendants, no matter what their crimes.

In the arc of history, it has become clear that civilized nations and people do not torture, no matter how noble the reasons. The United States used to stand for that proposition as well. And it is not as if our nation hasn’t been gravely threatened before.

What has our nation become under nearly seven years of outlaw Bush rule? A nation that denies its own legacy of civil liberties that has been a guiding force to much of the rest of the world.

(Cross-posted to SD Watch and SDW @ KELOLAND.com.)

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Technorati Tags: torture, waterboarding, Geneva conventions, United States Constituion, Eighth Amendment, Keith Olbermann, Sen. John McCain, Iraq, Al-Qaeda

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