Bush, by the numbers

Vanity Fair's editor, Graydon Carter, gives us Bush by the Numbers:

1 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security issued between 20 January 2001 and 10 September 2001 that mentioned al-Qa'ida.

104 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned Iraq or Saddam Hussein.

101 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned missile defence.

65 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned weapons of mass destruction.

0 Number of times Bush mentioned Osama bin Laden in his three State of the Union addresses.

73 Number of times that Bush mentioned terrorism or terrorists in his three State of the Union addresses.

83 Number of times Bush mentioned Saddam, Iraq, or regime (as in change) in his three State of the Union addresses.

It goes on and on. Like:

More like the French than he would care to admit

28 Number of vacation days Bush took in August 2003, the second-longest vacation of any president in US history. (Record holder Richard Nixon.)

13 Number of vacation days the average American receives each Year.

28 Number of vacation days Bush took in August 2001, the month he received a 6 August Presidential Daily Briefing headed "Osama bin Laden Determined to Strike US Targets."

500 Number of days Bush has spent all or part of his time away from the White House at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, his parents' retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, or Camp David as of 1 April 2004.

This is a treasure trove of anti-Bush information and material for advertisements. Read the full list.

Summer will soon be but a memory for most of you. Make sure you get out and get some fresh air. Spend time with your families and friends. Recharge the batteries one last time for the battle up ahead.

•  aoeu

  Bush kind of looks French to me, I think he's got some French blood in him or something.  I dunno.

  by TealVeal on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:11:51 AM PDT

•  Fresh Air?

  Are you kidding that?!
  That shit is toxic after four years of Buscho gutting our enviormental standards.

  Link

  Environmental enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has plunged under Bush. Since 2001, monthly violation notices - the most important tool against polluters - are down 58% compared with Clinton's monthly average.

  Partly as a result, three decades after the passage of the Clean Air Act, almost one in three Americans still breathe air filled with nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, coal dust, mercury, and hundreds of other toxic pollutants. The pollution comes from myriad sources, but within the energy business, the prime culprit is coal, which powers half of the US's electricity and causes 90% of the electric power industry's pollution. Two years after Bush took office, the rollbacks of pollution regulations meant that dirty coal plants that upgraded their facilities would not necessarily have also to upgrade their pollution-control equipment.

  This easing of controls has been calculated to cause the release of an additional 1.4m tonnes of air pollution. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that the change in the law will result in 30,000 American deaths

  
   Fresh Air!
  Jeebus Kos, you want to kill us or something?
  

  by TustonDAZ on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:13:28 AM PDT

  •  I think he meant go outside

    in your Haliburton (TM) safety suit complete with KBR (TM) gas mask and look at the last wild blade of grass (kinda yellow and scraggly like) under glass at the Enron Smithsonian Institute (admission only $84.99 per adult $84.49 per pre - adult).  If you can get off from your (unpaid) overtime (assuming you are lucky enough for the corporate masters to graciously allow you to work for them)

    by TheGryphon on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:22:41 AM PDT

•  Reason to Elect Bush

  John Stewart had a great line about Bush's acceptance speech last night; something like "George Bush wants to you to elect him President so he can work on all the things he didn't do for the last four years."  

  by DHinMI on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:20:58 AM PDT

•  Reminds me somewhat

  of an article that the late great Spy magazine ran before the '92 race when they listed 1,000 reason not to re-elect George the Elder.  Top of the list?  He had a mistress on the side (Jennifer Fitzgerald).  

  by thefirealarm on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:24:57 AM PDT

  •  Wasn't that just a rumor

    started by Donna Brazile?

    by theprogressivemiddle on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:59:32 AM PDT

    •  No

      I have heard several stories on this that he kept a woman on the side.  Hopefully, Kitty Kelly's book will have more about this.

      by thefirealarm on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:09:31 AM PDT

      •  Hmmm

        by theprogressivemiddle on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:24:21 AM PDT

    •  No.

      But here's why you might not remember seeing much about this.

      This makes the Kitty Kelley supposed revelation of Poppy's nickname, Rubbers, a little less surprising -- at least to me.

      by stellans on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 02:16:50 PM PDT

      •  There was a story

        about Bush when he was VP, that he was in car wreck with a woman who was not his wife and the Secret Service hushed it up.

        by Unstable Isotope on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 04:48:37 PM PDT

•  the Osama conundrum...

  So, let's see: our nation is attacked 9/11/01, approximately 3,000 people are murdered. Perpetrator, still at large, is Osama bin Laden.

  Immediately afterwards, the man in charge says, "We'll get him, dead or alive." Time goes by, the perp is still at large, and the man in charge says, "This is not about Osama, and I really don't think about him much at all."

  Could you imagine this: your loved one is brutally raped and murdered. After the killer has been at large for, say, a few months, the chief of police says, "Well, we really don't think about him much. We're more concerned with fighting the concept of rape and murder. By going after shoplifters."

  How long would it take before you want to beat the living crap out of the guy? Three seconds? Less?

  by snookybeh on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:34:59 AM PDT

  •  Don't forget the other members of Murderer's Row

    The Anthrax terrorist.
    Zarqawi
    The villagers who desecrated the corpses in Fallujah?

    Does anybody think we won that standoff with Moqtada-al-Sadr?

    by Dave the Wave on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:51:59 AM PDT

  •  2 related negatives

    to this Osama BL angle that the Dems need to be prepared for and to hound away upon.

    --Osama BL, the perpetrator of 9/11, accomplished this largest security failure in US history under the watch of George Bush. This cannot be considered a good thing for your reelection to anything.

    --If the Bush administration all of a sudden parades Osama BL out in front of the press in chains between now and the election, I surely hope the Dems know a bonanza opportunity when they see it and are prepared to take advantage of such!

    by truthbetold on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:55:14 AM PDT

  •  Why? Hmm

    He does mention al queda, though.  Its part of his big terrorism speech.  I'm assuming they are trying hard not to personalize it with Osama because:

    1. Of Bush's connections with the bin ladens and the Saudi royals.

    2. The failure to capture/kill him and OBL's escape into Pakistan or other parts of Afghanistan which is pretty embarassing for the leaders of the US military.

    3. Tone down his "cowboy dead/alive" image to court the moderate/undecided vote.

    Conspiracies theories might include:

    1. The US cut a deal with OBL or his family to leave him alone and/or let him die or be killed by one of his own.

    2. The US has OBL or practically has him and will capture/kill him in time for the election.
       

    by skallas on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 04:03:07 PM PDT

•  500 days between 4/1 & 9/4?

  "500 Number of days Bush has spent all or part of his time away from the White House at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, his parents' retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine, or Camp David as of 1 April 2004."

  Are you sure of the "April 1 2004" date? Surely it's 2001? There haven't been 500 days between April 1 and Sept. 4.  Please correct this so we pass muster in fact checking.

  by eyeswideopen on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:43:01 AM PDT

  •  Re-read it...

    500 days from the time he was inaugurated to 4/1/2004

    by Newsie8200 on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:44:22 AM PDT

    •  Thanks

      Thanks.  I needed that. 500 days represents about 43% of his sojourn in the WH.  

      by eyeswideopen on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:52:11 AM PDT

•  I hate to say this

  but it may be in reality were not a 50/50 nation weve got 40% who can think and the other 60 simply want to be re-assured and feel good and that's why Bush is starting to pull away. Maher last night put it great poeple want to beleive this guy no matter what we do they just feel good about him....even after all the bad news in the spring ---he puts the flag out makes us cry for sept 11th and people just say fuck-it I can't stand his domestic positions but atleast I know where he stands and shit like that. Kerry needs to use the Sept 11th aniversary to go after how Bush has exploited this for political reasons. this race has changed and we need to change it back ---the economy won't do it, they will get people to believe the economy is bad but they'll still vote for Bush anyway.

  by nevadadem on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:43:22 AM PDT

  •  He is NOT pulling away

    geez 1 little outlier poll (with suspicious sampling almost certainly produced to increse sales of a magazine) and some people GIVE UP!  

    You guys deserve to lose.

    We ill esteem those things bought too cheaply

    or somethin like that...

    by TheGryphon on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:48:22 AM PDT

    •  not to argue with comic genuis

      but its two polls now, with newsweek's comming out.
      Its way to early to panic though, and I think both polls are outliers.
      

      by TustonDAZ on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:50:56 AM PDT

      •  I'll save my panic until

        I see a poll taken post-convention...
        like people polled yesterday, today, tommorrow, maybe?  Oh wait, thats  a Sunday in there...make that Fri., Sat., Mon...no theres a holiday in there...make that Friday, Satuday, and Tuesday...not thats too far apart...Tues., Wed., Thurs. is the first polling model that can come out post convention with data that MEANS ANYTHING.  I'll ignore any polling results between now and next Friday.  

        WOW!  That was liberating!

        by TheGryphon on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:57:12 AM PDT

      •  Life imitating parody

        Newsweek and Time both come out with the same story in the same week.  Like that's never happened before . . .

        by BCF on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 01:36:14 PM PDT

  •  Ugh, "Real Time"

    I tried to watch it last night at 8:00 PM, but then learned it was going to be on at 11:00 PM. I know that HBO repeats things a lot, so when I was watching a movie why it was airing for the first time, I figured it wasn't a big deal. But then I turned on various HBO channels at 1:00 and didn't see anything.

    WTF? If I am home tonight, I hope it's replaying. I can see it on Monday or Wednesday, of course, but I don't want to wait.

    by theprogressivemiddle on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:06:31 AM PDT

  •  The one thing you can count on

    that an incompetent will always do is be incompetent!  If Bush's incompetent, inept, and sleezy actions of the last 3.5 years has not already cost him the election (something that I do believe has likely already been accomplished, BTW), then just let his incompetent nature (count on it) do the final job of it over the next 2 months.  What are the Repubs going to do, keep him locked up until the election?

    by truthbetold on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:06:52 AM PDT

•  The last

  statistic should be 50 days spent in Crawford, Camp David, and Kennebunkport, not 500 since April, 2004.

  by Goby89 on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:43:38 AM PDT

  •  As of != since

    It's "as of" April 1. Not "since".  There's a difference.

    by J from VJ on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:03:52 AM PDT

•  Boy...

  ...if I didn't know any better, I'd say Bush is a pretty shitty and unattentive leader.

  by NTodd on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:50:46 AM PDT

•  Guerilla Marketing

  Come on Hollywood...  This link should be going everywhere.  I'm going to try to get this story plugged into 100 forums over the weekend.  I suggest everyone do the same.  And NOT political forums.  Go to wedding-planning sites, video game sites, anything to get this out to the people have no idea about this info.
  

  by enozinho on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:56:06 AM PDT

•  Own worst enemy

  Great idea for Kerry ad:  Show Bush's record unadulterated.

  by Gearhead on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:56:19 AM PDT

•  He's spent

  a year-and-a-half in Crawford? WTF?

  And how many times was 9/11 mentioned by the likes of Rudy, McCain, Arnold, et al? I lost count after six trillion.

  by theprogressivemiddle on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:56:34 AM PDT

•  I emailed a link to this story

  To everyone in my contacts list, which now that I think about it includes editors of papers, government contacts, etc. But I did RE it  "Why we need to keep Bush in". Although this title  may shock my close friends, I believe most others on my list will read the link because it seems probush.
  Everyone should email this to everyone they know.  
  I added my personal favorite:

  11 Number of press conferences during his first three Years in office in which Bush referred to questions as being "trick" ones.

  by dukestriker on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:00:51 AM PDT

•  Looking for a link on economic information ...

  Anyone know a link where I can see the job and unemployment statistics for the past few years? Clinton averaged about 2.6 million more jobs a year ... I want to see how Bush has done overall, in the last year, and even in the last 6 months. I think the last six months -- March through August was his best period and may still have been lower than Clinton average.

  by oldradus on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:01:31 AM PDT

•  Okay Kos I'll recharge on steak and sports!

                                  

  Get outside.  Right. [It's halftime for the Cal game.]

  by paradox on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:06:28 AM PDT

•  As depressed as this article has made me,

  even more depressing is that so many Americans still think he's a great president.
  Especially the low income people who have
  been hurt the most.  Just HOW do we wake them up?

  And altho' I will do whatever I can (which is not much -- I'm a struggling self-employed artist barely holding on to my house and feeding my pets along with myself) to take the power away from the creeps, I'm scared to death it's not going to be enough.  Damn, and to make matters worse, I can no longer afford to buy my anti-depressants.

  EVERYONE in America needs to read this article.  How can we make it clear to the ignorant Bush lovers that he's a danger to them?  HOW?

  by Southern Bird on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:10:30 AM PDT

  •  Did I post that?

    Sure sound as if I did, right down to the house and the pets and the meds.
    
    Except that I finally did get a fulltime job. Hooray. Entry level in a field I'd rather not have to work in. Not so hooray. Earning about half what I earned at my last fulltime job. Ugh. Which is also several thousand dollars less than I was earning when I left my fist "real" job. Help... me...
    
    Just some anecdotal info for the general stew.

    by AbyssAndApex on Sun Sep 05, 2004 at 11:56:53 AM PDT

    •  Here are the missing s and r for above

      16 hours on the road to get to the job that starts Tuesday, 10 more hours to go tomorrow. I've left letters scattered all over I-40 and I-81.

      by AbyssAndApex on Sun Sep 05, 2004 at 11:59:53 AM PDT

•  I just sent this article

  to everyone in my address book. (even my repug in-laws) Thanks for posting it.

  by bookbear on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:14:55 AM PDT

•  That's a fantastic article...

  But as an American, I was humbled to read this statistic:

  2 Percentage of the world's population that is British.

  2 Percentage of the world's oil used by Britain.

  5 Percentage of the world's population that is American.

  25 Percentage of the world's oil used by America.

  
  

  by osterizer on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:22:57 AM PDT

  •  tip of the iceberg

    here's a little of the supporting data behind that. the sad thing to me is that the US energy consumption per person (from DOE) hasn't budged since the 70s OPEC crisis -- what a lost opportunity.

    of course, i haven't heard much (if any?) talk about energy policy in this campaign, yet don't the numbers say something...

    btw, if you combine oil plus other types on consumption, it's more like 3-to-1 collectively (16% of world's population):

    

    by drh on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 03:09:48 PM PDT

•  Per Previous Suggestion

  Wouldn't it be nice if there were a new promotional campaign featuring these (and other) statistics? Number of jobs lost under President Bush. Percentage increase in Medicare premiums. Number of new people below the poverty line. Etc.

  It would be called "The Numbers Don't Lie" campaign, and it would also feature a new number posted on the podiums of every Democratic speaker, from Kerry on down, every day. Democratic talking heads on TV would get a pin-on button featuring the number of the day. TV advertising would back the theme.

  And there'd be one very important number, omnipresent: days till help is on the way.

  by sipples on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 11:49:22 AM PDT

  •  please

    you know as well as i do that this ad will never run.

    why not? because they're wussy democrats who run from fights over the facts.  like the brilliant moveon ad challenging bush's vietnam record; kerry ran from it with his tail between his legs.

    wouldn't it be great to see an ad showing how bush did nothing after hearing about the 9/11 attacks, because he's not a decisionmaker and instead must be told what to do?

    wouldn't it be great to see an ad exposing all of the SBVT vets as phonies who were first paid by nixon, and then by bush, to make stuff up?

    wouldn't it be great to see an ad revealing that bush threatened to veto the iraq funding bill because it gave too many benefits to our troops?

    wouldn't it be great to see the spineless twits of the DNC replaced by people who have the will to get their candidate elected?

    by astro on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 10:17:22 PM PDT

•  You can't make anyone else smarter

  but you can help yourself.  Come on, you know they are lying, or they simply don't know.  How many of these genius polls predicted Kerry to be the Democratic nominee in November 2003?

  It has been apparent to anyone paying attention that it was very important to the Republicans to get a bigger convention bounce than Kerry.  They've been priming the pump since the middle of July for this result.  They got their little win, so let them be pleased.

  I say ride with it.  Eventually the "correction" will occur and Bush's "lead" will evaporate like a presidential spit ball on a late summer Crawford afternoon.  Then we can use words like "free fall."

  If it were Kerry, you know they would be saying that no one pays attention till after Labor Day anyway.  In fact they said exactly that in 2000 about Gore.  And they were right.

  by BCF on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 01:48:21 PM PDT

•  write letters

  Write to your local papers and give them these numbers.  This election is not as much about Kerry v. Bush as it is the people of the U.S. stating they want their government back.  We want a president that takes being the president seriously.  Bush is good at pretending to give a shit about this country and the masses but his record says otherwise.

  Bush or Kerry, after this election we must insist on accountability.  Clinton got impeached for a blow job, was the target of several congressional probes and inquires.  Bush has been the target of zero, even the 9/11 commission let Bush go without really taking a look at his actions.  Even with Congress stacked against us we have to insist that the legislative branch still acts as the check and balance for the executive branch.  As citizens we have to push the media to pressure the White House for accessibility.  For all Clinton's bad judgement he remained popular because he didn't run and hide.  He showed up at press conferences and answered unscripted questions.  He took questions from people he knew wanted to crucify him.  Bush does neither because when he tries it he has to stop, pull his head out of his ass so he can put his foot in his mouth.  

  by thebloviator on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 01:50:02 PM PDT

•  the lasting impact

  maybe it's obvious to many people, but what about:

  2,073: Number of political appointees Bush put into office (OPM, 2001)

  that's the lasting impact, imho. the policy, regulatory changes, and action/inaction that comes from this army of appointees who determine the agenda of the agencies and which aspects of the legislation they'll actually pursue.

  you're not voting for a one guy and his VP -- you're voting for him, plus 2,073 others, plus any justices he'll put into place (there'll likely be a couple supreme court ones next term).

  by drh on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 02:11:17 PM PDT

•  More numbers

  0 the number of nuclear weapons found in Iraq
  0 the number of biological weapons found in Iraq
  2 the number of chemical weapons found in Iraq
  3 the number of times we announced we had killed Saddam Hussein
  

  by Unstable Isotope on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 04:53:00 PM PDT

•  asdf

  "13 Number of vacation days the average American receives each Year."

  But the president doesn't get weekends off..

  by justaphase29 on Sat Sep 04, 2004 at 09:08:02 PM PDT

•  Front page....

  That article was the front page (and pages 4, 5, 6 and 7) of the paper on Friday - another classic Indy article. What chance of the NYT doing the same? And they could probably fit the lot on the front as well, the Indy being tabloid size.

  by scooza on Sun Sep 05, 2004 at 02:55:45 AM PDT

•  VACATION

  In school we always look forward to vacations and such I am amazed how many days he has gotten off. I am so happy when I get it but I wonder how many times he gets off. I still can't believe 500 days off! I just wish we could get those days back.. I don't get it!

  by ryangilr0y on Thu Sep 16, 2004 at 01:22:58 PM PDT