Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) will deliver a speech on Wednesday that seeks to distance his foreign policy views from the previous two Bush presidents, saying, according to early excerpts, that while he admires his presidential family members, “I am my own man.”
“[M]y views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences,” Bush will say as he lays out a vision that calls for increased military spending in order to project strength and encourage peace worldwide.
So Jeb Bush is his own man, and we should not assume that his administration will simply be a George W. Bush sequel right?
Wrong!
According to Reuters’ Steve Holland, Bush has tapped a “diverse” roster of former George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush officials to advise his burgeoning campaign on foreign policy, including key architects of the 2002 invasion of Iraq.
The list of advisers provided to Reuters by a campaign aide includes Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Hadley, as well as former George W. Bush Homeland Security Secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, and Bush adviser Meghan O’Sullivan.
Wolfowitz, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration, began advocating an attack on Iraq shortly after the Sep. 11 attacks, established “what amounted to a separate government” to push for war and invited journalists to secret meetings in order to lay out the foundation for his plans. Wolfowitz established the Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon that ignored the conclusions of the intelligence community and fed policy makers and the media discredited claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
Then-Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley famously disregarded warnings from the CIA and then-FBI director George Tenet and included references to Iraq’s pursuit of uranium in Bush’s speeches, a claim that proved to be false. Hadley later apologized for leaving the now-infamous phrase in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address and was promoted to become the president’s National Security Adviser.
Meghan O’Sullivan was as a top adviser to L. Paul Bremer — the U.S. viceroy in charge of the Coalition Provisional Authority that is blamed for mismanaging the occupation of Iraq immediately following the American invasion — and is credited with developing the security agreements and early transfer of sovereignty negotiations between the United States and Iraq. She also served as special assistant to George W. Bush from 2004 to 2007.
In some ways, Jeb Bush’s reliance on former Iraq war architects is not surprising, as it reflect his previous support for his brother’s Iraqi policy — endorsements the former governor is now downplaying as he prepares to officially enter the race.
Yeah, you know I've already seen this movie and I fucking hated it the first time.
I don't give a shit how concerned you are about Hillary Clinton's liberal bonafides, or how much you don't like voting for dynasties, if you refuse to vote in 2016 becasue you are dissatisfied with the choices, then in my opinion you are a traitor to this country.
Period!
We cannot, repeat CANNOT, allow another Bush administration!
It cannot be allowed to happen, and if it does I fear there will be nothing left of this country to even have ideological fights over anymore.
Where's Dick Cheney?
ReplyDeleteThe Dark Lord will remain way under cover in this go-round. C'mon, people! We must fight like hell! NEVER AGAIN!!!
DeleteProbably only shows the ones that can be photographed and walk abroad in daylight.
DeleteAnd can cast a reflection in mirrors. Tom Ridge, seriously?!?
DeleteI know, but I don't think he's the one we have to worry about. I think the one we have to worry about is that asshole governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker.
ReplyDeletewolfowitz agani!?
ReplyDeleteYep, Jebby is off to a great start. Dynasty, my ass.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/18/jeb-bungles-facts-pronunciation-in-his-big-national-security-speech.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/jeb_bush_wants_to_be_his_own_man_why_he_can_t_escape_george_w_bush_s_legacy.html
2016 is going to be some scary shit. We must get Hillary(if she decides to run) elected.
ReplyDeleteI'm old enough to have seen this crappy show twice already, and I will guarantee you, Gryphen, there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that I will ever vote for ANYONE associated with that group of beggars and thieves.
ReplyDeleteNever have, NEVER will!
March On, Democrats!
I am CERTAINLY with you!
DeleteLived with Tom Ridge as governor, watched him "elevated" to Homeland Security and cringed for all Americans.
The others are simply re-runs of a government that failed us all.
Cheney will pull the strings.
No way...not ever again!
With this group you know that Inauguration Day will end with an announcement that we are declaring war on Iran. And we'll be back in Iraq and Afghanistan with a full military force. Maybe Syria for good measure.
ReplyDeleteDay two will be the announcement that taxes for the .01% will be cut but taxes for the middle class will be raised to pay for the wars.
See, this is where Nancy Pelosi and President Obama went wrong. Should have charged ALL of the players in the Iraq War debacle as war criminals and sent them to the Hague to be tried, convicted, and hanged then we wouldn't have them around for another attempt at power and destruction of the United States. When people aren't held accountable for their poor decisions then they think there are no consequences for what they have done and they seem to be correct - no consequences for any of the fuqwads. The Democratic President has worked too hard for too long with absolutely no help from the opposition party to allow them to get the keys so they can run the country back in the ditch. No, no, and double no. NO. MORE. BUSHES.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Scott Walker, when opposition research is done with him there will be no campaign. What has he done to improve anybody's life but his own and his butt buddies the Kochs?
+ one billion.
DeleteExcept... I truly fear that the misinformed masses and the poorest, most destitute people from the deepest nooks and crannies of the Right will gravitate toward Walker, possibly because of his unfamiliarity, or because they associate authoritarianism and ruthlessness with effective leadership. I read that the Kentucky county with the nation's highest percentage of food stamp recipients consistently vote for the Republicans who invariably, little by little, gut those programs. I don't understand the "why" of it all; I would go insane trying.
As for the Bushes-- I'm half-insane just imagining what would happen not just to this country, but to this entire solar system.
So you mean to tell me the "experts " that allowed 9-11 happen in America is setting up shop for Jebster?
ReplyDeleteHmmm interesting, perhaps we should make them all take off their shoes and pass a vaginal scope into their dark pie holes.
Those evil men again???? No way, no how! I'm thinking it will be any D rather than another Bush. But, with luck, he won't be the candidate - OTOH, who could it be? Walker? Christie? any other R in play at the moment? HELL NO!
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping that there will be some actual reasonable candidates on both sides, but I have my doubts.
Well said Gryphen. Agree 100%
ReplyDeleteWolfowitz has been stepping in it since at least 1992
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfowitz_Doctrine
Wolfowitz Doctrine is an unofficial name given to the initial version of the Defense Planning Guidance for the 1994–99 fiscal years (dated February 18, 1992) authored by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Paul Wolfowitz and his deputy Scooter Libby. Not intended for public release, it was leaked to the New York Times on March 7, 1992,[1] and sparked a public controversy about U.S. foreign and defense policy. The document was widely criticized as imperialist as the document outlined a policy of unilateralism and pre-emptive military action to suppress potential threats from other nations and prevent any other nation from rising to superpower status.
There will always be ideological fighting
ReplyDeleteThere will always be people who work hard, pay taxes and resent people saying they should pay more. Because to them (and me) it is ONLY their decision where their money goes and how much to charity ie welfare of others
Those people aren't bad. They are responsible and save for "oh shit" days, rainy days, and catastrophe days. I grew up with the lesson that I should always have a checking account which I use for daily things, a retirement account, a fun account and an oh shit, my life sucks account for tragedies.
I am 37 and my checking always hovers around 2500, retirement is at 250000~ at the moment, fun account at 30000, and life sucks account is about 75000 (that one slacks I admit)
It's kind of common sense to me
You must be very satisfied with yourself.
DeleteWell how GD Republican of you.
DeleteYou've impressed us all. I mean it!!
You're awesome. I can't tell you how
impressed I am, really. Totally! 1
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'd expect someone who is able to have 300k in the bank would say. I got mine, fuck the rest... Welfare goes to people who will never have that opportunity, they're not lazy slackers many of them work harder than you ever will, or are senior citizens who worked like dogs their whole life.
DeleteIf letting welfare be entirely voluntary and left up to churches and samaritans worked, we would've left it that way. But we've been there and most of our senior citizens ended their lives in squalor and poverty.
It's easy to kick back in your comfy recliner and wonder why everyone can't do what you did, but it's not a fair world and everyone CAN'T do what you did. And unfortunately we have to force those at the top to care about the rest, so that's what we do.
It's kind of just human nature.
All you have to do is investigate history to see what things were like when we let the wealthy decide what kind of life the rest of us could afford.
Try it. Go investigate why men were willing to die for the right to form unions. Go find out what happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911. It's so easy to be ignorant about how the world really works (or doesn't) for those at the bottom of the ladder. So easy to feel superior.
You need to grow an insight.
Well, aren't you special, 7:58. I wonder how much money would be in your checking account, or if you'd even have a checking account, if you'd been born in deep poverty, educated in underfunded and understaffed schools, and unable to find a job that paid a living wage no matter how hard you tried and were willing to work. Your complete lack of understanding that this is how many, many people, through no fault of their own, subsist is both stunning and telling. And, since I'm guessing that you, with your smug sense of superiority at your good fortune, consider yourself a Christian, I will also say that your attitude is the very antithesis of what Jesus Christ preached. (Not that I believe in him - but I'll bet you do.)
DeleteGood for you, at your age you should have a solid retirement account. Right around age 40 you should also be well on your way to paying for your first home and at minimum be carrying a home equity/debt ratio of 75:25.
DeleteHopefully you are not carrying a car payment because the "life sucks" account would be better used to pay off a car or your mortgage. Given the current market hopefully you have your "life sucks" invested so that it is making money for you. You should also have a savings of a quarter of your annual income, which I assume is your "fun account". Obviously there aren't children involved as I don't see a college savings account but that is the #2 most important savings/investment account for those who have to provide an education for their kids.
My father is a financial analyst so he's been saving and investing for us since we were wee babies and his financial guidance is why I had my first home paid for at 39 and will be able to retire when I'm 55. Saving and investing is hard but very important, as is being debt-free.
Must be difficult handling the awesomeness of you every day.
Delete8:48, are you even the slightest bit aware that so many people were not born with your advantages?
DeleteHmm, what gave you the step up? An inheritance?
DeleteNo death taxes?
Income where you're not paying fully into social security and yet another reason why social security should have NO cap. Everyone should pay into it fully.
Investments where you're not paying a tax rate like most other Americans. It's either deferred or it's off shore? You're savvy in ways most people aren't as they're not in your income bracket or get your tax advice or tax shelters?
Another reason why income tax for the uber rich should not be limited to 35% and perhaps 50% is fairer on some incomes. Perhaps even more, back to the days of Eisenhower.
You are full of shit, Alicia.
DeleteYou're only 31 and you live with your parents because you can't make it on your own.
Before moving home, you tried your luck in NYC and failed miserably. Who paid for your rent in Brooklyn? Mommy and Daddy?
Congratulations on your magnificent accomplishments.
DeleteI wonder if your cushy little accounts would look quite the same if you had started in a new city like I did 17 years ago, making just under $20,000 a year with a Master's degree. I've worked my way up and make twice that now, which is still way below what most people at my age with my education and experience bring home.
I live carefully and, despite having bought a house (which needed a new roof, new furnace and new siding) and a car, have managed to still put some money away. Unfortunately, it's a whole lot harder to bulk up those bank accounts when the majority of your salary goes to pay for frivolous items like a mortgage, property taxes, heat, and food.
I'm doing fine and don't regret the choices I've made, but please dial back the smugness for those of us who are struggling to live a somewhat comfortable life.
"It's kind of common sense to me"
Delete-------------------------
How very unsurprising.
This is so GD scary. Really, I mean seriously crazy.
ReplyDeleteThey will beat Hillary, you know that, don't you.
There is nothing that these people will not do this time
to win, you have to know that!!! They're even telling us
this by these picks. They will construct a total
Democratic Party collapse. They have the money to do it.
Is anyone surprised? Seriously? WHo did you think Jeb was going to hook up with? IN the end, Cheney and Rove will be right there in the thick of it too. Who doubts it? Those narcissistic choads actually believe they did a great job and it's only "the liberal media" making them look bad. They will do ANYTHING to take another victory lap.
ReplyDeleteLet me guess, you weren't raped at 15, no access to abortion, education ended at 16, one of _those_ people.
ReplyDelete"It cannot be allowed to happen, and if it does I fear there will be nothing left of this country to even have ideological fights over anymore."
ReplyDeleteThis is true. The Bush family has been trying to destroy this country since Grandpa Prescott Bush tried to help stage a coup to overthrow FDR and install a fascist government. George W. Bush came pretty close to destroying it - he took a 281 billion dollar surplus and turned it into a 357 billion dollar deficit, invaded 2 countries and started 2 wars based on lies causing the death and displacement of millions of people, crashed the financial and housing industry, and increased the national debt from 57 trillion to 97 trillion, instituted torture programs and black sites, and started domestic spying programs on our own citizens.
Then the black guy comes in and ends the wars, decreases unemployment, cuts the national debt, provides health care for millions of our citizens and begins to restore our economy. Well we can't have that. It's time to get another Bush into the White House to finish the job his grandfather started.
Jeb is known as "the smart Bush". And with the same old cabal to help him - and don't forget Karl Rove, he's in this, too - old grandpappy may finally have his dream come true after all.
They say third times a charm, except some of these people served under Reagan. So fourth time must mean it's the apocalypse.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this is creepy. Jeb doesn't want to talk about his father or brother, yet it's the same shit (same people, administration, team) again.
The simpleminded villagers of centuries back, knew enough to give the little bastard who kept crying wolf, only three whacks at it.
ReplyDeleteAmericans appear to have lost the ability to discern bullshit, so get fooled by the same con game, over and over and over again.
I have more faith than my fellow posters....we managed to keep Obama the 2nd time, that's when I was really worried. Scott Walker looks like the one and he has such a history of destruction they will tear him apart. We need more democratic governors, hopefully 2016 will turn around what we have now when the younger generation gets out to vote. The GOP loves to think they really won over the country in the midterms but we all know the cowardly dems ran away from Obama and they all stayed home. I do love the thought of Hillary but I fear she has different ideas when it comes to the military and she won't put up with the GOP bullshit. I don't see any olive branches in her future, she knows going in exactly what to expect. We need Elizabeth Warren right where she is....on the banking committee. We also need a national media to do their job without Stewart & Colbert....did I say I have faith?
ReplyDelete