The Washington Post today has a transcript of Bush's interview with a German tabloid, in which the reporter asked Bush's best and worst moments as President.  His answer is telling, and I believe includes yet another lie from this President who said he would "restore honor to the White House."  

(I will try to avoid the snarky comment that even if he knew what honor was, I think we'd like a little more budget discipline, and let the honor follow.)

Below the fold, let's see if Bush was lying, or if my memory is simply faulty.

I am an advocate of nationalized health care.  One of my disappointments in Bill Clinton was that he let the Republican Party overwhelm him on health care reform.  Clinton gave up, and the Republicans reformed health care.  They gave us the HMO system.

As you remember, the big Republican talking point during that time was, "Look at Canada."  When I talk about health care reform now, Republicans (and a few Democrats) say, "Look at Canada."

What is the truth about Canadian health care?  Can some of you contribute some factual info?  I know there are waiting times and delays (I went to the CBC site, which had a special on the Canadian system), but we have delays now with HMOs.

What's the truth?

Remember when Bush and Cheney toured military bases in the 2000 election season, saying, "Hold on.  Help is on the way."    Their message was, of course, a lie.  Their message was that the military had languished under the Clinton Presidency.  A lie.  But wait until you read this!

The 2006 mid-term elections could be a Perfect Storm as all (some? most?) of the Republican scandals mature in the court system.  What will that bring to America?  What will be the election result?  What will the White House do to counter the problems?

According to Editorandpublisher.com, Bush claimed recently that the progress in Iraq has been "amazing."  

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/...

That's good.  No, that's great.  I did not know things were going so well over there, and I am heartened to learn there is such "amazing" progress.  Really.  

I believe our President, who says he is a Christian man.  I know some others may be skeptical, though, so I make this suggestion to our Beloved Leader:

According to the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Robert Novak got into a scuffle while boarding an aircraft bound for Hawaii.  According to the article, Novak cut in front of a passenger boarding first class and, when the passenger put a hand on Novak's shoulder, Novak turned and punched him.  The article says both passengers were chastised and allowed to board.

The soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who serve our nation, day in and day out, are poorly paid.  Their benefits are eroded daily - check out the Veterans Administration hospitals that were closed by this Administration last year alone.  Check out military health care if you want a laugh.  Check out the basic pay for a private E-3, and tell me if you would risk your life for that amount of money.  

They get little.  They ask little.  In fact, all they ask is one thing, and that is the one thing we owe them.

This link
http://observer.com/...
discusses the possibility/probability that Judy Miller will return to the times.  As Wonkette says, "Jesus Christ, what does it take to get fired from the Times?"

Some suggestions for action below the fold:

I suggest Democrats band together in a concerted effort to save the Miers nomination.  In the short term, the Miers nomination is important to us, because when Littwin testifies we get to bring out the truth (possibly) of Bush's desertion from the Texas Air National Guard and its subsequent cover-up.  

Not suggesting Miers should be confirmed - oh, no - but we should work to keep her nomination alive until Littwin testifies.

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I hate to be a wet blanket at the Fitzmas Party, but I think where this is going is fairly predictable.  If you listen to Rush Limbagh, that fat little Sean kid, and the other Right Wing spin machine, this is all about criminalizing politics.

OK.  I've had it.  I just listened to Rush Limbagh and, as usual, he was ranting about "the Democrat Party."  I listened to Tom Delay the other night, and he was talking about "the Democrat Party."

Since about all the Wingers use the same label - seemingly refusing to call us "the Democratic Party," I can only  assume this is part of their famous framing strategy.  But why?  What difference is it to them if we are the Democrat Party or the Democratic Party?

The way the protests in Washington on Saturday, 24 September, may be being presented by the administration is that the protests are focused against the World Bank.  

Huh?  

Far as I know, the protests are against Bush and his war, but I heard on local DC radio that the protests tomorrow are against the World Bank.  The way the announcer put it, the protests are going to be in the vicinity of the World Bank, and the IMF or World Bank is having a meeting this weekend, ipso facto.  That makes no sense to me, except that if they can get that to stick, then they can spin it that the protests were not about Bush at all.  

Going to be interesting to see if the national media spins it this way.

The WashingtonPost has a news article today - titled "Immigration Nominee's Credentials Questioned - on the White House's nominee to be the Head of the Customs and Immigration Enforcement Agency.  I cannot do the link, but the article is in National news.  The Post says,

"The push to appoint Julie Myers to head the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, comes in the midst of intense debate over the qualifications of department political appointees involved in the sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina."

The way the Post reports it, the Democrats are depicted as super-critical and obstructionist.  Read below the fold to find more about this key appointment.

With Bush's numbers plummeting and the real possibility of the GOP losing the House and/or Senate in 2006, look for some desperate measures.  I predict Cheney's retiring for health reasons, and Condi being moved into the VP slot.  We need to get pro-active on this, which will take some of the wind out of their sails and show it for the craven political move it is.  More below the fold.

The White House strategy to bad news has been, consistently, to stonewall, obfuscate, lie, and wait for the press (and public interest) to shift to Michael Jackson or a two-headed snake from Anniston, Alabama.  The weakness of the DNC and the loyal opposition has been that we allow the White House to set the agenda, and the White House has been more than willing to watch us chase our tails as we try to address Social Security, tax cuts for the rich, the federal judiciary, and whatever else the White House directs that week.  

We must stop that.  We must set the agenda, and we do that by picking a few issues and pounding them until the corporate media acknowledge what we know to be true.  There are a few issues of interest now that, individually, could bring the Administration to its knees, if honest investigations were held.  Collectively, these issues may open the eyes of those who, heretofore, have refused to see.  The issues are:  The July 2002 UK Memo; the Denver, Colorado Three; Jeff Gannon; Rising Energy Prices (and Bush's handholding and kissing of the Prince); and the Iraq War.