Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, who served two Republican presidents as one of the country's best known conservative lawyers and successfully argued on behalf of same-sex marriage, died Wednesday. He was 84.

Former Republican presidential candidate and TV evangelist Pat Robertson's has flipped on his stand on legalizing marijuana. The straight-laced preacher's mind-blowing comments were made last Wednesday to the New York Times. It was merely an echo - and amplifying - of previous statements he's made about how the war on drugs has been unsuccessful. "Marijuana," he said, "should be treated legally like alcohol; offenders are wrongly locked up with violent criminals." ... Opponents to Robertson's proposal might argue that marijuana is an entry drug and by legalizing it, legal use of the drug might lead users to more powerful drugs. Scientific evidence would support such an argument. So, is Robertson right? That depends on whether taxpayers are willing to continue to pay for the imprisonment of pot users and dealers at such an extreme price. Further, the war on drugs has failed in that marijuana is more widely used today than when the "war on drugs" fired its first political shot. Well-known evangelical blogger Brett McCracken, managing editor of Biola Magazine at Biola University, said young evangelicals "laugh at Robertson, as a caricature of an evangelist and wouldn't see him as a role model, even if their cohort would be expected to be more open to legalizing drugs. That harsh assessment of the evangelist might just derail his efforts of legalize pot."

Posted without comment for your consternation:

On Labor Day, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) issued a press release whose title summarizes its contents all too neatly: Bush Declares Eco-Whistleblower Law Void for EPA Employees. Here's some of it:

Washington, DC - The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retaliation for reporting water pollution enforcement breakdowns, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.

The rest of the post on the terrific blog Effect Measure

Me thinks he won't be invited to the White House anytime soon:

Was it just me or did Colbert sound more mean spirited than funny? I know what you're thinking. Look who's talking, but still... check out the video for yourself.



You can view parts 11 and 111 here.

UPDATE: The Colbert video was pulled but you can still find it here.

Related links: media, in the news, news headlines, headline news, news and politics, politics, political, fun, funny humor, humour, daily fisk, bush, youtube

The daily FISK asks the question: Does Bush need a scapegoat? Or is he THE scapegoat?

FEMA boss Michael Brown isn't being fired. He's just being reallocated. Speculation is strong that this is a precursor to his removal as director, but the die-hards remain in denial.

Charles Krauthammer notes:

"The head of FEMA. Late, slow and in way over his head. On Thursday, Sept. 2, he said on national television that he didn't even know there were people in the convention center, when anybody watching television could see them there, destitute and desperate. Maybe in his vast bureaucracy he can assign three 20-year-olds to watch cable news and give him updates every hour on what in hell is going on." "The president. Late, slow, and simply out of tune with the urgency and magnitude of the disaster. The second he heard that the levees had been breached in New Orleans, he should have canceled his schedule and addressed the country on national television to mobilize it both emotionally and physically to assist in the disaster. His flyover on the way to Washington was the worst possible symbolism. And his Friday visit was so tone-deaf and politically disastrous that he had to fly back three days later."

Damage Control, Dubya Style:

But will it be enough to restore his credibility? President Bush accepted full responsibility for the federal government's (mis)handling of the Katrina disaster. (It's called 'damage control'). On the other hand he only acknowledged the obvious and his confession could have gone further had he volunteered it sooner.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said during a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. (Watch Bush's comments).

He repeated his desire to find out exactly what went wrong on every level of government.

"It's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on ... so we can better respond," Bush said."

A bipartisan joint congressional committee is to review the response at all levels of government to the hurricane and report its findings to Congress no later than February 15.

ROVE TO THE RESCUE:

"Bush already has dispatched his top strategist, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and other aides to assemble ideas from agencies, conservative think tanks, GOP lawmakers and state officials to guide the rebuilding of New Orleans and relocation of flood victims. The idea, aides said, is twofold: provide a quick federal response that comports with Bush's governing philosophy, and prevent Katrina from swamping his second-term ambitions on Social Security, taxes and Middle East democracy-building."

TOMORROW, the president is to outline his vision more comprehensively than he has to date. A top aide said he will stress that New Orleans officials will dictate how the city will be rebuilt, but will also make plain the reconstruction should reflect his vision of government -- including reducing regulatory obstacles and emphasizing entrepreneurship over big government. He will also discuss plans to provide health care, education, jobs and housing assistance to flood victims.

ANOTHER CASE OF TOO LITTLE TOO LATE?

IT'S A VARIATION OF the tried and proven bait and switch technique. You screw up, so what do you do? After denial and the passage of time no longer works, first you 'sincerely' apologize.

Then you provide a new and grandiose vision for the future that the people can focus on, and soon (hopefully) all of your past sins will be forgotten. He said what needed to be said, or should I say what the public wanted to hear. It's a strategy that Karl Rove can be proud:

"The main text of President Bush's nationally televised address last night was the rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but the clear subtext was the rebuilding of a presidency that is now at its lowest point ever, confronted by huge and simultaneous challenges at home and abroad -- and facing a country divided along partisan and racial lines. Hurricane Katrina struck at the core of Bush's presidency by undermining the central assertion of his reelection campaign, that he was a strong and decisive leader who could keep the country safe in a crisis. Never again will the White House be able to point to his often-praised performance after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, without skeptics recalling the fumbling and slow-off-the-mark response of his administration after the hurricane and the flooding in New Orleans. His response to these criticisms last night was a speech largely shorn of soaring rhetoric and stirring turns of phrase of the kind that marked his efforts to rally the country after the terrorist attacks. Instead, as if recognizing that his own road back will be one marked by steady but small steps, he spoke with workmanlike focus, spelling out the details of what has been done and will be done to help those displaced by the storm. In again taking responsibility for the federal government's failures, Bush signaled last night that the White House has decided not to contest the widespread perceptions that his administration failed in the early days of the crisis. By embracing those criticisms, they hope to make the issue a sideshow that will play out sometime in the future. Instead, after a halting start, the White House appears intently focused on demonstrating the president's capacity to manage the huge rebuilding effort ahead. Bush's advisers believe that, despite the partisan finger-pointing over what happened, most Americans are not looking back and will judge the president on what happens going forward. But as Iraq has shown over the past two years, the facts on the ground shape public confidence in the president more than words or promises."

THE QUESTION REMAINS, will it be enough to repair the presidency and his ability to govern effectively for the remaining 40 months?

TALK IS CHEAP. For a fiscally conservative government, will they, or can they possibly deliver?

Virtual Bush, much like the real G.W. only with you at the controls instead of Dick Cheney.

Someone made a DB out of bushes in Australia

Bush meets The Pittsburgh Steelers

Bush Trumpets The Death of Al-Zarqawi

Bush was in Vienna this week and got into it with The Vienna Boys Choir

25% off any purchase

This week we look to the Old Testament readings of Exodus 3 and Jeremiah 32-33 to understand the feast of the Annunciation, the words of Gabriel to holy Mary, and the meeting of the Theotokos with Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah. God’s glory is seen in humble places.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos calls us to take up our cross of suffering and follow Christ during the global pandemic.

Washington – Ambush killings of law enforcement officers have increased more than 366 percent this year compared with the same time period one year ago, according to a report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Bush's new flavor adds a white chicken chili to its portfolio, offering an easy way for chili lovers to make homemade chili in under 30 minutes with just three simple steps.  

A biogas system has transformed Stahlbush Island farms into a carbon negative operation, removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it is responsible for creating.

The National Academy of Sciences, in partnership with The Kavli Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, will host a symposium to consider the future of science in the U.S. and how it can best serve society in the 21st century.

Mourad Bushra Takla, PhD, recognized as a distinguished fellow at Verizon

Michael Lee Bushnell, PhD, lends years of expertise to his work with Spectral Design and Test

This week Steve, Robert & Mike discuss George Herbert Walker Bush, Self Driving Cars and all the other News of the Week. Steve discusses his lunch meeting with President &…

Cardiac profile from the medical history summary of President George W. Bush, August 7, 2007.

In a personal interview with Dr. Linda Livingstone, Ed Wedbush, Founder of Wedbush Securities talks about the founding of his company and the valuable insights he gained through his many years of experience.

Ed Wedbush, Founder of Wedbush Securities, talks about the elements of executive leadership and policies implemented in the workplace to help foster a better working environment. (Part 1 of 2)

Ed Wedbush, Founder of Wedbush Securities, sits down for an interview with Dr. Linda Livingstone, Dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management. Ed also answers various questions from audience members. (Part 2 of 2)

Los egipcios han luchado valientemente, han echado a Mubarak y le han dado el poder a los militares. Pero resulta que el ejército egipcio está bastante controlado por USA, ya que fueron ellos los que lo financiaron y lo entrenaron [...] En América Latina y otros puntos del mundo, darle más poder un cuerpo militar que se apoya en USA habría significado un tremendo paso atrás. 

 

 

President Bush declared on Saturday that the "bitter differences" between the U.S. and Europe were over, and that NATO had a responsibility to help Iraqis with their own security.

He received improper benefits while in school.

Below are two lists of nominations for Japanese buzzword of the year.  Each has 30 entries, and from each list one will be chosen as the respective winner.  Since the two lists are already quite long and rich, I will keep my own comments (mostly at the bottom and focusing on phoneticization) to a minimum. […]

After parking his taxi cab along the sidewalk, Leon Thompson exited his vehicle and held on tightly to the tiny hands of his four small passengers. They all walked towards a makeshift bridge, and Thompson lifted each child, making four trips,...

Watch a selection from the Smithsonian Institution's submission for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register of historic artifacts

State policymakers question the effect of expanding the federal reach.

A weeklong outreach gives missions training students in Angola practical experience.

[Radio Dalsan] Two soldiers from Somalia's Southwest State were ambushed and killed by al-Shabab militants on Tuesday while travelling by motorcycle between Wanlaweyn and Afgoye districts in the Lower Shabelle region, residents reported.

The film looks to deliver an exploration of samurai culture in a tumultuous era that aligns with a renewed global interest in samurai narratives, spurred by FX’s ‘Shōgun’

The 2024 election made clear a fact with which both Right and Left must reckon. 

Broll footage and soundbites from a Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) event at the George Bush Presidential Library on Thursday, April 14, 2016, in College Station, Texas. RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation�s aquatic natural resources.

�I think it is an opportunity for nurses to learn a skillset you don�t learn in nursing school.� � Jeffin Bush

Victoria Bushrangers, in town for over a week now, will get a real taste of Delhi when they take on the Daredevils in their first match of the Champions...

Residents of a town in the Australian state of Queensland have been evacuated due to a threat posed by a fast-moving bushfire.

London : Nick Hern Books, 2022.

New York, NY : Flatiron Books, 2022.