posted on November 7, 2007 08:17:10 AM new
THE DEMO-GOGUES
This week’s “John Kerry Flip Flop” Award: “No [I don’t agree with giving drivers’ licenses to illegals].
What I have said is that I support what governors are trying to do. And governors are on the front lines because of the failures to get comprehensive immigration reform.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, who first supported, then didn’t support, and then supported this same proposal Break
“I don’t think they’re [other Demo presidential contenders are] piling on because I’m a woman. I think they’re piling on because I’m winning...
I anticipate it’s going to get even hotter, and if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. I’m very much at home in the kitchen.” —Hillary
She’s clear alright: “I have been very clear about where I stand and what I want to do for the country. I have laid out very specific plans on how we are going to have a different energy agenda, how we are going to have a healthcare plan that covers everybody, how we are going to improve our education system and all of the other issues that people talk to me about, as well as what we need to do to restore America’s leadership around the world. And I have even put out how I’m going to pay for each and every one of the policies that would cost money.” —Hillary **Tax the rich, tax the rich and let’s see, tax the rich. Great plan.
Morality on the Hill: “[President Bush] is pouring mountains of cash into the Iraqi civil war, at the same time he’s pouring $60 billion in tax cuts into the pockets of people who make more than a million bucks a year...
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.George S. Patton
posted on November 7, 2007 09:26:08 AM new
But you LIKE flip-floppers !!!!!
(1) Flip-Flop #1: Bush has flip-flopped about whether capturing Osama Bin Laden is an important priority for his administration.
FLIP: A week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush said he wanted Osama Bin Laden "dead or alive."
FLOP: But he told reporters six months later, "I truly am not that concerned about him. It's not that important. It's not our priority." He also did not mention bin Laden in his hour-long convention acceptance speech this year.
Bush didn't order U.S. troops into Tora Bora to capture Osama Bin Laden right after the Afghanistan invasion. Instead, he relied on warlords who were of dubious loyalty and ability to find Osama Bin Laden and other members of Al Qaeda in that mountainous region. Later, when Iraq became this administration's priority, it shifted special forces from Afghanistan (where they had been searching for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda members to Iraq).
What Bush has said about bin Laden at various points in time, depending on how he was trying to spin things:
FLIP: Capturing Osama Bin Laden is the number one priority:
"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." G.W. Bush, 9/13/01
Washington Post, 9/17/01, UPI: Bush said he wants accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "dead or alive.” “I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI
AP, 12/14/01: President Bush pledged anew Friday that Osama bin Laden will be taken "dead or alive."
FLOP: Capturing OBL no longer a priority:
G.W. Bush, 3/13/02: I don't know where Bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
"...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...."
- Bush, in remarks in a Press Availability with the Press Travel Pool, The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on official White House site
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, responding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02) ]
Secondary Sources: A BUZZFLASH READER COMMENTARY by Karen What Bush has said about bin laden... spin: http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/11/13_Laden.html and "President Bush: Flip-Flopper-In-Chief" ( September 2, 2004, Updated)
www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=118263
(2) Bush flip-flopped on whether former Baathists could participate in the new Iraq government.
FLIP: May 16, 2003: U.S. civil administrator L. Paul Bremer announces a sweeping operation to ensure that Baath Party members are removed from critical positions in the public sector. This ban could affect as many as 30,000 senior Baath Party members.
FLOP: Thursday, April 22, 2004: "The White House confirmed Thursday that the administration is moving to change a postwar policy that blocked members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from Iraqi government and military positions. . . . The sweeping ban was put in place by civilian administrator Paul Bremer, but he now wants to change the policy as part of an effort to convince Sunnis, who dominate the party, that they are welcome members of the postwar political transition in Iraq.""
Sources:
"Policy easing to bring Baathists into new Iraq" by John King (CNN Washington Bureau) Thursday, April 22, 2004 http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/22/iraq.baathist/
"U.S. Reaches Out to Former Members of Baath Party and Senior Iraqi Military Officers" http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA9ZDB9DTD.html
(3) Bush opposed the creation of an independent Sept. 11 commission, then supported it.
FLIP: BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]
FLOP: BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." [ABC News, 09/20/02]
(4) Bush has waffled on whether to adopt the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
(5) Bush has flip-flopped on whether the War on Terrorism is winnable.
FLIP: First Bush claimed he can win the war on terror: "One of the interesting things people ask me, now that we're asking questions, is, can you ever win the war on terror? Of course, you can." [President Bush, 4/13/04]
FLOP: Bush says war on terror is unwinnable: "I don't think you can win [the war on terror]." [President Bush, 8/30/04]
FLIP: Bush then says he will win the war on terror: "Make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win [the war on terror]." [President Bush, 8/31/04]
(6) Bush has flip-flopped on Yucca Mountain.
FLIP: Bush Said He Would Listen to Local and State Officials When Deciding on Yucca Mountain. In late May 2000, Bush released the following statement in regard to storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain: "I believe sound science, and not politics, must prevail in the designation of any high-level nuclear waste repository. As president, I would not sign legislation that would send nuclear waste to any proposed site unless it's been deemed scientifically safe. I also believe the federal government must work with the local and state governments that will be affected to address safety and transportation issues." [Associated Press, 5/23/00]
FLOP: Bush Decided to Send Waste to Nevada Despite Sufficient Science or Agreement with Local and State Officials. In February 2002, Bush decided to send nuclear waste to Nevada despite opposition from local and state officials and without sound science to prove it would be safe at Yucca Mountain. "President Bush said today that a 57-year accumulation of nuclear waste from power plants and weapons should be buried in the Nevada desert at Yucca Mountain, declaring that an end to the 40-year search for a place to isolate radioactive waste was necessary to 'protect public safety, health and the nation's security.'" [ New York Times, 2/16/02] Source:
(7) Bush has attempted to have it both ways on assault weapons.
FLIP: Bush promised in 2000 to renew the assault weapons ban.
FLOP: Then he said and did nothing as Congress let it lapse.
(8) In 2000, Bush argued against new military entanglements and nation building. He's done both in Iraq.
FLIP: BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road." [Gov. George W. Bush, 10/3/00]
FLOP: BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING "We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for the good of the Iraqi people." [President Bush, 3/6/03]
[More on the nation building flip-flop: Nation building: During the 2000 campaign, Bush called for a “humble” foreign policy and disparaged President Clinton’s interventions to bring stability to international hot spots as fuzzy-headed “nation-building.”
Here's what Bush said about nation building during the October 3, 2000 debate with Gore:
"MODERATOR: New question. How would you go about as president deciding when it was in the national interest to use U.S. force, generally?
BUSH: Well, if it's in our vital national interest, and that means whether our territory is threatened or people could be harmed, whether or not the alliances are -- our defense alliances are threatened, whether or not our friends in the Middle East are threatened. That would be a time to seriously consider the use of force. Secondly, whether or not the mission was clear. Whether or not it was a clear understanding as to what the mission would be. Thirdly, whether or not we were prepared and trained to win. Whether or not our forces were of high morale and high standing and well-equipped. And finally, whether or not there was an exit strategy. I would take the use of force very seriously. I would be guarded in my approach. I don't think we can be all things to all people in the world. I think we've got to be very careful when we commit our troops. The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. "
Source: Transcript of October 3, 2000 debate http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000a.html
(9) Bush opposed the creation of a Homeland Security Department, then embraced it.
FLIP: BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything." [White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, 3/19/02]
FLOP: BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation, 6/6/02]
(10) Bush first refused to speak to the members of the 911 Commission, then agreed only if Vice President Dick Cheney came with him and provided that their testimony was secret and not under oath.
(11) Bush argued for free trade, then imposed three-year tariffs on steel imports in 2002, only to withdraw them after 21 months.
FLIP: BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue." [President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]
FLOP: BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection." [ Washington Post, 9/19/03]
FLIP:After instating the tariffs, he ultimately lifted the restrictions on trade in response to the threat of WTO sanctions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A23899-2003Nov30?language=printer
(12) Bush and Cheney have been hypocritical flip-floppers on the question of whether we should prosecute the war on terrorism and assert our national power in a way that is "sensitive."
Bush and Cheney have attacked John Kerry for saying that America needs to fight "a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror," highlighting and ridiculing Kerry's use of the word "sensitive." The fact is that Cheney and Bush have used the word in the same context.
FLIP: Cheney said, " America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won by being sensitive."
FLOP: Cheney neglected to mention that President Bush and other top administration officials - including Cheney himself - have publicly called for "sensitive" use of American military power.
Here is a selection:
On 3/4/01, at the christening of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, President Bush said, "because America is powerful, we must be "sensitive" about expressing our power and influence."
On 1/7/03, Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the president's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the administration asks "our troops to go out there and be, on the one hand, very "sensitive" to cultural issues, on the other hand, be ready to respond in self-defense to a very ticklish situation."
On 4/13/03, Cheney said, "We recognize that the presence of U.S. forces can in some cases present a burden on the local community. We're not "insensitive" to that. We work almost on a continual basis with the local officials to remove points of friction and reduce the extent to which problems arise in terms of those relationships."
Sources:
1. "Cheney blasts Kerry for 'sensitive' remark," Chicago Sun-Times, 08/13/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1167279&l=50430
2."Remarks by the President at Christening Ceremony for the USS Ronald Reagan," The White House, 03/04/01, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1167279&l=50431
3. "DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers," U.S. Department of Defense, 01/07/03, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1167279&l=50432
4. "Remarks by the Vice President at the Washington Post-Yomiuri Shimbun Symposium," The White House, 04/13/04, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1167279&l=50433
(13) Bush has flip-flopped on whether his legacy will be as a war president or a peace president.
"I'm a war president," Bush told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Feb. 8. But in a July 20 speech in Iowa, he said: "Nobody wants to be the war president. I want to be the peace president."
(14) Bush keeps revising his Iraq war rationale.
The need to seize Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction until none were found; liberating the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator; fighting terrorists in Iraq not at home; spreading democracy throughout the Middle East. Now it's a safer America and a safer world.
(15) Bush has changed his positions on new Clean Air Act restrictions.
(16) Bush has changed his positions on protecting the Social Security surplus.
FLIP: BUSH PLEDGES NOT TO TOUCH SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS... "We're going to keep the promise of Social Security and keep the government from raiding the Social Security surplus." [President Bush, 3/3/01]
FLOP: BUSH SPENDS SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS The New York Times reported that "the president's new budget uses Social Security surpluses to pay for other programs every year through 2013, ultimately diverting more than $1.4 trillion in Social Security funds to other purposes." [The New York Times, 2/6/02]
(17) Bush has flip-flopped on tobacco buyouts.
FLIP: BUSH SUPPORTS CURRENT TOBACCO FARMERS' QUOTA SYSTEM... "They've got the quota system in place -- the allotment system -- and I don't think that needs to be changed." [President Bush, 5/04]
FLOP: BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL SUPPORT FEDERAL BUYOUT OF TOBACCO QUOTAS "The administration is open to a buyout." [White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo, 6/18/04]
(18) Bush has changed his positions on the level of assistance to help combat AIDS in Africa.
(19) Bush has changed his positions on campaign finance reform.
FLIP: BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD... "George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as an infringement on free expression." [ Washington Post, 3/28/2000]
FLOP: BUSH SIGNS MCCAIN-FEINGOLD INTO LAW "[T]his bill improves the current system of financing for Federal campaigns, and therefore I have signed it into law." [President Bush, at the McCain-Feingold signing ceremony, 03/27/02]
(20) Bush has changed his positions on whether to negotiate with North Korean officials. While he has been dithering, North Korea has been moving forward with their nuclear program.
FLIP: BUSH WILL NOT OFFER NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA INCENTIVES TO DISARM... "We developed a bold approach under which, if the North addressed our long-standing concerns, the United States was prepared to take important steps that would have significantly improved the lives of the North Korean people. Now that North Korea's covert nuclear weapons program has come to light, we are unable to pursue this approach." [President's Statement, 11/15/02]
FLOP: BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS NORTH KOREA NCENTIVES TO DISARM "Well, we will work to take steps to ease their political and economic isolation. So there would be -- what you would see would be some provisional or temporary proposals that would only lead to lasting benefit after North Korea dismantles its nuclear programs. So there would be some provisional or temporary efforts of that nature." [White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, 6/23/04]
(21) Most recently, Bush did an about-face on whether the proposed new director of national intelligence should have full budget-making powers as the bipartisan Sept. 11 commission recommended.
FLIP: Bush at first indicated no.
FLOP: Then he said yes.
(22) Bush has taken multiple positions on how this nation should deal with Iran.
He has alternated between calling them a part of the axis of evil one day and acting calling for engagement the next. While he has been dithering and wavering, Iran has been growing less democratic (1000s of reform candidates were disqualified in the last election by Iran's clerics) and has been moving forward with its nuclear program and continuing to export terrorism.
In his 2002 State of the Union speech, Bush boldly condemned Iran along with Iraq as a fellow member of the so-called "Axis of Evil." More recently, Bush has eagerly courting Iran as a key facilitator in negotiations with the Shiite rebels in Iraq. Washington has eagerly sought Iran's good offices to get hostages released in Iraq and to reach a compromise consensus in dealing with the militias in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.
Sources: Original research and writing & "Analysis: Bush flipflops on Iraq crisis" by Martin Sieff UPI Senior News Analyst Published 4/20/2004 12:24 PM
(23) Bush has taken multiple positions on whether budget deficits matter.
In 2000, he claimed to be for balanced budgets. Four years later, now that he has turned record budget surpluses into budget deficits, he claims that deficits are not a problem, and that it is the size of the budget deficit relative to the GDP that matters...
(24) Bush has flip-flopped at least three times on whether patients should have the Right to Sue their HMOs.
FLIP: GOVERNOR BUSH VETOES PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "Despite his campaign rhetoric in favor of a patients' bill of rights, Bush fought such a bill tooth and nail as Texas governor, vetoing a bill coauthored by Republican state Rep. John Smithee in 1995. He... constantly opposed a patient's right to sue an HMO over coverage denied that resulted in adverse health effects." [Salon, 2/7/01]
FLOP: CANDIDATE BUSH PRAISES TEXAS PATIENTS' RIGHT TO SUE... "We're one of the first states that said you can sue an HMO for denying you proper coverage... It's time for our nation to come together and do what's right for the people. And I think this is right for the people. You know, I support a national patients' bill of rights, Mr. Vice President. And I want all people covered. I don't want the law to supersede good law like we've got in Texas." [Governor Bush, 10/17/00]
FLIP: PRESIDENT BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION ARGUES AGAINST RIGHT TO SUE "To let two Texas consumers, Juan Davila and Ruby R. Calad, sue their managed-care companies for wrongful denials of medical benefits ‘‘would be to completely undermine' federal law regulating employee benefits, Assistant Solicitor General James A. Feldman said at oral argument March 23. Moreover, the administration's brief attacked the policy rationale for Texas's law, which is similar to statutes on the books in nine other states." [ Washington Post, 4/5/04]
(25) Bush has flip-flopped on abortion.
FLIP: In 1978, as a congressional candidate, Bush supported a Woman's Right to Choose... "Bush said he...favors leaving up to a woman and her doctor the abortion question." [The Nation, 6/15/00, quoting the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 5/78]
FLOP: BUSH OPPOSES A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE "I am pro-life."
posted on November 8, 2007 11:06:17 AM new
Bear says, "Yup, we all know dingo has no original thoughts and must rely on its lame cut and pastes."
The pot calling the kettle black! In Mingo's defense, she does have original thoughts and only uses cut and paste occassionally to inform... not to spin and mislead as you do, Bear.
Sound an alarm next time you have an original thought and maybe we will read it.
Are YOU a Bunghole?