Dear Mr. American,

Good day and compliments.

I am HENRI PAULSON, the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, and the personal financial adviser to GEORGE W. BUSH (the eldest son of the former dictator of America, GENERAL GEORGE HUSSEIN WALKER BUSH).

This letter will definitely come to you as a huge surprise, but I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decision you make will go off a long way to determine the future and continued existence of the entire members of my country.

It is with deep sense of purpose and utmost sincerity that I have the privilege to write you this letter knowing full well how you will feel as regards to receiving a mail from somebody you have not met or seen before. There is no need to fear, I got your address from a Wall Street business directory which lends credence to my humble belief. I also assure you of my honesty and trustworthiness. I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

During the last Military Regime here in America, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over-invoiced in various ministries. My country has had great crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of US$800,000,000,000.00 (eight hundred billion US dollars) in cash for safe-keeping. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be of most profitable for you.

I am working with the honourable MR. PHIL GRAMM, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As Senator, you may know him as leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.

This is a matter of great urgence. We need a immediate blank cheque. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because as civil servants we are constantly under surveillance by Democratic members of Congress, the media, and the American public. My family lawyer, MR. RICK DAVIS, advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest seven (7) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information: all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. This way we will use your country’s name to apply for payment in your name. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. That’s all. Let me know what you think about this.

We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction.

May Allah show you mercy as you do so?

Your faithfully,

Dr. Minister of Treasury Paulson

I’ve missed a couple of these, but wanted to see how badly Bush humiliates himself in waffling about the current state of the economy.

See also other coverage on:
* MyDD
* AMERICAblog
* Also some comments on OpenLeft and DailyKos

Sparing you folks on the front page…

6:03 – still waiting for Chimpy to show up.
6:05 – Chimpy shows up.
6:08 – Three minutes of annoying narration (I’m viewing in HD on CBS) while excessive handshaking occurs. Introduction of the president and a worthless standing ovation.
6:09 – He can use big words like “rostrum.”
6:10 – Blah. Blah. Blah. Bypartisanism.
6:12 – “Our economy faces a period of uncertainty.” No shit there’s a concern about our economic future. “We can all see that growth is slowing.”
6:13 – Don’t “delay or derail” the stimulus bill.
6:14 – “I’m pleased to report that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders.”
6:15 – “Make the tax relief permanent.” Ah, spin. Not tax “cuts” (for the wealthy) but “relief” as if they were hemorrhoids.
6:16 – The old “wasteful programs” canard. Balanced budget by the NEXT presidential election. Earmarks. Gonna veto them if the number and cost isn’t down 50%. Guess he expects them all to be for Texas.
6:18 – “We share a common goal, making healthcare more accessible and more affordable for all Americans.” … “expanding consumer choice” … of which big health insurer takes your money and then drops you?
6:19 – “End the bias in the tax code” against those getting health insurance through work. Fair, if it’s a better tax deduction for those getting individual insurance (ignoring the crap insurance you can get), crap if it’s taxing employer provided insurance. “Epidemic of junk medical lawsuits.” (*cough* bullshit)
6:20 – A *lot* of people can and do deny NCLB’s results. Not to mention that it’s STILL an unfunded mandate.
6:21 – w00t! Bush likes “faith based” schools and vouchers. “Pell grants for kids.” “trapped in failing public schools” – made failing by artificial benchmarks and a lack of support.
6:22 – Rah-rah free trade! Rah-rah “Made in the USA!” If you don’t pass free trade with Colombia, Hugo Chavez wins!
6:24 – Energy security, roughly “must trust in scientists and engineers.” Does he believe he has any credibility on this? Supports carbon sequestration from coal plants, and nuclear power. Sorry, “emissions free nukular power.”

Had to pause… no more timestamps until I can catch up on the PVR on the stupid applause.

* Continue leading the way to cleaner technology… what about Detroit? How many years or decades are we behind Japan and Europe?

* What is this “American Competitiveness Initiative” he’s claiming Congress didn’t fund?

* “Life and Science” – gonna be complaining about stem cells? Yup. Reprogramming skin cells, “without destroying human life.”

Cheney looks very zoned out.

* Asking for legislation which “bans unethical practices such as the buying selling patenting or cloning of human life”

* Need strict constructionist judges. “Rule by the letter of the law, not the whim of the gavel.” Asking for the “prompt up or down vote.”

* “Faith based groups” … gah.

* “Entitlement spending and immigration” – “social security, medicare and medicaid” growing faster than we can afford. Paraphrasing: ‘You didn’t like my proposals, where are yours?

* Immigration. Need a guest worker program. (What does that have to do with securing the border?) Odd that he’s a moderate on this one point.

* Enemies abroad. “Stirring moments in the history of liberty.” Implying that Lebanon wasn’t independent.

* “Horrific images” – fear! fear! fear! “Terrorists” “evil men.” Finally mentions 9/11. “We will stay on the offense.” Terrorists.

* Afghanistan. Iraq – “the surge” – claims it’s working. The “Anbar Awakening” Surge is working. Applause with someone yelling “hoorah.” Support the troops. To congress: “fully [fund] our troops.” Some draw-down (total of 20,000) of surge forces. Don’t pull more troops – could cause Iraqi forces disintegrate, terrorists win, etc – talking to next year’s candidates?

* “We will not rest until this enemy has been defeated.”

* “The Holy Land” – hello? Rah-rah Abbas and Olmert.

* Iran. It’s all Iran’s fault. Fear the Iranian ballistic missiles and uranium enrichment “which could be used to create a nukular weapons.” Won’t open discussions without suspension of enrichment. “Will defend our vital interests in the persian gulf.”
** Dialed back rhetoric? Sounds like a no.

* “Fear!” 9/11 again. Stopped numerous attacks – but the two he mentioned were very old news. “Thank the spooks!” Is he about to mention FISA?

* “Owe them the tools to keep our people safe” – yup, here comes FISA. Expiring 2/1. “If you don’t act by Friday, we’re all gonna be in danger.” MUST pass liability protection for spying companies (retroactive immunity.)

* Addressing causes of terrorism? “America opposes genocide in Sudan.” Supports freedom in Cuba, Zimbabwe, Belarus and Burma. “Millenium challenge account” – what is it? – wants it fully funded. Food assistance – purchase from farmers in the developing world. Malaria. AIDS relief – additional $30 billion over next 5 years.

* Increase funding for veterans benefits (how the f___ does he plan to pay for all this with making his tax cuts permanent????) … reform VA. How many people has he screwed on this already? NO credibility.

* Benefits for military families and spouses. More nice words about the military. Typical chimp smirk…

* Constitution vs. Articles of Confederation. “Trusting the people” – this from Mr. Police State? “The state of our union will remain strong.”

* “Let us set forth to do their business. God bless America.”

Switching to MSNBC (and thus Olberman’s commentary.)

Via Chris Matthews: 5 American troops died today in Iraq. Points re: the “protective overwatch mission” which I missed above.

Via Troy on DBA.

WASHINGTON – Inflation at the wholesale level surged by the largest amount in more than three decades in November, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and a host of other items.

The Producer Price Index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, was up 2 percent last month, the biggest advance since a similar increase in November 1974, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

Economists had been expecting a rebound in wholesale prices following two months of big declines. However, the 2 percent jump was four times bigger than the 0.5 percent increase they had forecast. Even excluding volatile energy and food prices, core inflation posted a 1.3 percent advance, the biggest jump in 26 years.

Emphasis above is mine. What a great economy we’ve got, eh? Between this and the quagmire in Iraq war, Bush is looking like he is trying to out-Nixon Nixon.

The president’s measure would go further than the Senate package in allowing classified evidence to be withheld from defendants in terror trials, using coerced testimony and protecting U.S. interrogators against prosecution for using methods that violate the Geneva Conventions.

Lovely. Does anyone yet doubt Bush is a fascist at heart?

How bad is he?

Bush ran as a moderate, tacked right and governed ineffectually — before 9/11. Since then he’s become the most radical American president in history — and arguably the worst.

Editor’s note: Following is the introduction to Sidney Blumenthal’s new book, “How Bush Rules: Chronicles of a Radical Regime,” recently published by the Princeton University Press.

By Sidney Blumenthal

No one predicted just how radical a president George W. Bush would be. Neither his opponents, nor the reporters covering him, nor his closest campaign aides suggested that he would be the most willfully radical president in American history.

In his 2000 campaign, Bush permitted himself few hints of radicalism. On the contrary he made ready promises of moderation, judiciously offering himself as a “compassionate conservative,” an identity carefully crafted to contrast with the discredited Republican radicals of the House of Representatives. After capturing the Congress in 1994 and proclaiming a “revolution,” they had twice shut down the government over the budget and staged an impeachment trial that resulted in the acquittal of President Clinton. Seeking to distance himself from the congressional Republicans, Bush declared that he was not hostile to government. He would, he said, “change the tone in Washington.” He would be more reasonable than the House Republicans and more moral than Clinton. Governor Bush went out of his way to point to his record of bipartisan cooperation with Democrats in Texas, stressing that he would be “a uniter, not a divider.”

The article non-free but visible behind the ad at Salon’s site and is well worth a read.

By E&P Staff

Published: May 29, 2006 11:00 PM ET

NEW YORK The deaths of two CBS journalists on Monday means the Iraq conflict is now the deadliest war for reporters in the past century.

Since 2003, 71 journalists have been killed in Iraq, more than the 63 killed in Vietnam, 17 killed in Korea — and now the 69 killed in World War II, according to Freedom Forum.

The Iraq numbers do not include the 26 members of media support staff who have also died, as counted by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

So much for “Mission Accomplished.” When are we finally going to pull the plug on Bush’s “Big Adventure?” And how long is the US going to be paying for it it in the world, even once we’re out?

(Lost track of who that was via, sorry.)

Mo. Town Denies Unmarried Couple Permit

Wed May 17, 11:34 AM ET

BLACK JACK, Mo. – The city council has rejected a measure allowing unmarried couples with multiple children to live together, and the mayor said those who fall into that category could soon face eviction.

Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit after moving into a home in this St. Louis suburb because they have three children and are not married.

Via AmericaBLOG

Dan Savage’s ongoing notes about “Straight Rights are also very much apropos here.