president george w bush

The other night I covered the pardon problems of Mike Huckabee and Tim Pawlenty. Now a new GOP pardon problem comes to life. This one doesn't involve a presidential candidate, but rather a former President and aTea Party darling:

Though it’s typically pardon-empowered governors who must fret about their felons in the closet, legislators can also have some cause for worry. Case in point: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who might need to explain her support for a pardon for a donor named Frank Vennes.

Vennes was convicted in 1988 on money-laundering charges, and pleaded no-contest to illegally selling a gun and aiding in a cocaine sale. He claimed he discovered religion while in prison, and went on to become a well-known donor - in fact, he was a top giver to Bachmann’s 2006 congressional campaign.

She reportedly wrote in a pardon letter to then-President George W. Bush in 2007, “Mr. Vennes is truly a unique man in that he is not asking for a pardon that he may achieve personal success. By the grace of God, this has been done. Mr. Vennes is seeking a pardon so that he may be further used to help others.”

Well, that depends on the meaning of helping others—in 2008, the feds raided Vennes’ home as part of a probe into a massive Ponzi scheme.

Vennes was indicted a few weeks ago. Bachmann also wrote another letter saying she acted to "hastily".

Luckily Vennes is a white-collar criminal. Could you imagine if he was a murderer or rapist? I'm sure that wouldn't have mattered to Bachmann, as the almighty dollar outweighs anyones safety.

The New York Times has run a lengthy profile on Tucson Shooter Jared Loughner, but out of the seven pages there is one part that caught the eye of Matt Drudge:

This part of the complex puzzle of “who is Jared Loughner” appears on page 3 of the article:

He became intrigued by antigovernment conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were perpetrated by the government and that the country’s central banking system was enslaving its citizens. His anger would well up at the sight of President George W. Bush, or in discussing what he considered to be the nefarious designs of government.

OK – so not only does he hate Bush, but he was also a truther. But apparently Drudge couldn’t read past that paragraph to notice this part:

“I think he feels the people should be able to govern themselves,” said Ms. Figueroa, his former girlfriend. “We didn’t need a higher authority.”

Last night Miss Michigan, Rima Fakih, was crowned Miss USA. Fakih is a Lebanese-American and the first Muslim to ever win the crown. Needless to say the right is up in arms over this. Here’s a list of responses compiled by Think Progress:

– Conservative radio host Debbie Schlussel blamed Fakih’s win on a supposed “politically correct, Islamo-pandering climate” in America and labeled her a “Lebanese Muslim Hezbollah supporter with relatives who are top terrorists.” [5/16/10]

– Right wing pundit and Fox contributor Michelle Malkin ranted that “Fakih’s cheerleaders are too busy tooting the identity politics horn to care what comes out of her mouth” and that “the Miss USA pageant didn’t want to risk the wrath of the open-borders mob.” [5/16/10]

– Conservative author Daniel Pipes, who was briefly appointed by former President George W. Bush to the U.S. Institute of Peace, opined that “this surprising frequency of Muslims winning beauty pageants makes me suspect an odd form of affirmative action.” [5/16/10]

– Fox News’s Gretchen Carlson complained that Woolard’s “informed opinion” may have cost her the crown, and said that Fakih may have won because we live in a “PC society.” [5/17/10]

This morning on Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough declared the Bernard Kerik has a great man that they only went after because Rudy Giulliani ran for President. Either Joe is crushing on Rudy and Bernard so much that he is flat out lying, or Joe is a moron. Actually it could be both, but let’s recap some of the history of Kerik.

In December 2004, President George W. Bush nominated Kerik as Secretary of Homeland Security. A week later, Kerik withdrew his nomination, explaining that he had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny; subsequently, numerous allegations surfaced which would likely have led to a confirmation battle in the Senate. In 2006, Kerik pled guilty to two unrelated ethics violations after an investigation by the Office of the Bronx District Attorney, and was ordered to pay $221,000.

His problems started well before Rudy ran for President. Everything just happened to catch up to him when Rudy was actually running:

Chuck Todd reported on MSNBC this morning that President Obama called former President George W. Bush last night and asked him to help former President Clinton with Haiti, much the same way his father helped Clinton. Bush has said he will do “whatever is necessary”. In a time when our nations is so polarized, it’s great to see two former Presidents put politics aside to help out people in need.

Michael Steele’s new book is being coined as a big mea culpa for the Republican party, but how can they admit their failures when they won’t even admit that they ever happened?

Let me take a few bullet points from the AP’s article on Steele’s book:

-President George H.W. Bush for raising taxes two years after President Ronald Reagan left office, though Steele ignores the fact that Reagan raised taxes too.

Right there the AP admits part of the problem – Steele ignored Reagan’s record also. As matter of fact, just try to tell a Republican that Reagan raised taxes and they will look at you like you just got caught raping a kitten. They refuse to accept history.

-President George W. Bush for not vetoing any spending bills during his first five years in office. He calls Bush and other Republicans "enablers for big government" and derides the Bush administration's Troubled Asset Relief Program as "a massive government slush fund."

Hindsight is good and all, but Steele was one of those people out there constantly supporting Bush policies. The Bush tax cuts alone were enough to put this country in financial ruins, yet Steele and other Republicans still champion them as the epitome of conservatism. Or how about the highly expensive and totally unnecessary Iraq War? Steele and Republicans never once say that we should have taken a pass on it.

As for the TARP fund, well I seem to remember the Republican candidate for President doing an unprecedented move of suspending his campaign to fight for TARP. Steele wasn’t out blasting that move then, and we are talking about something that happened only a little over a year ago. Redemption doesn’t happen that fast buddy.

Sounds simple enough – doesn’t it? Well apparently not, and this is where we go to the latest escapades of one Liz Cheney:

"I think that what President Bush used to do is do it without the cameras. And I don't understand sort of showing up with the White House Press Pool with photographers and asking family members if you can take pictures. That's really hard for me to get my head around...It was a surprising way for the president to choose to do this."

Catch the lie in there? If not then read what I posted yesterday:

The dramatic image of a president on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years. Former President George W. Bush spent lots of time with grieving military families but never went to Dover to meet the remains coming off the cargo plane. Obama did so with the weight of knowing he may soon send more troops off to war.

And as Rachel Maddow just reported, a spokesperson for George Bush confirmed that he never once went to Dover.

Let’s face it – Liz Cheney is a liar. Almost every time she has appeared on the TV or in some interview she has been caught lying. So why does the media keep turning to such an unreliable source? Once can only conclude that they must hope her lies won’t be caught by those dirty Cheeto eating, PJ wearing bloggers, but they are. So I no longer blame Liz Cheney for lying. Let’s face – that’s what she is. Who I do blame is the brains in the media that choose to let her air her lies. They are like the dealers on the corner saying “come on – you can go ahead and take some of this crack. Just remember where you got it”.

That’s the meme the wingnuts are trying to spin right now, following the lead of Byron York:

Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election. Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November. (Eighteen percent of those surveyed say they have no opinion of Biden.)

Biden's average favorable rating during his time in office so far is 45 percent -- well below the average 65 percent favorable rating for Vice President Dick Cheney during Cheney's first year in office. Vice President Al Gore's favorable rating during his first year, 55 percent, was also higher than Biden's. (Gallup did not measure vice presidential popularity before Gore.)

This really isn’t that shocking. Biden hasn’t been front and center on a lot of stuff. We just went from a period of imperial vice-presidencies, lead by Cheney, to returning the office back to it’s constitutionally intended place.

What’s really interesting though is how York finishes his post:

Finally, there is a greater gap between Biden's favorable rating and President Obama's than there was between Cheney and President George W. Bush and Gore and President Bill Clinton. Biden's 45 percent average favorable rating this year is well below Obama's average of 63 percent. Cheney's 65 percent average was near Bush's average of 69 percent, and Gore's 55 percent rating was close to Clinton's average of 57 percent.