Do You Have Those in a Size Stupid?

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — A man identified as an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at — but missed — President Bush during a news conference Sunday evening in Baghdad, where Bush was making a farewell visit.

Bush ducked, and the shoes, flung one at a time, sailed past his head during the news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone.

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Charlie and Chimpy

Charlie Gibson of ABC News was the first stop on Chimpy’s Magical Rewriting History Tour.

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It’s Saudi Duty Time!

From Freep (FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES):

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s leaders said Friday they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President George W. Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices.

It was Bush’s second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah, head of the monarchy that rules this desert kingdom that is a longtime prime U.S. ally and the world’s largest oil exporter.

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The Big Shill

Hey kids, The New York Times has published an eleven-page article by David Barstow that is absolutely fascinating, and I suggest you read the whole thing. Here are snippets:

In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.

The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.

To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

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Devolution…

From Reuters (transcript of White House press briefing 12-07-07):

WASHINGTON–(Business Wire)–James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:42 P.M. EST

MS. [Dana] PERINO: Good afternoon. I don’t have anything to start with on
this Friday, so I’ll go straight to questions. Jennifer.

Q Thanks. On these CIA videotapes, did either the President or
Vice President or Condoleezza Rice, when she was National Security
Advisor, or Steve Hadley, see them before they were destroyed?

MS. PERINO: I spoke to the President, and so I will have to defer
on the others. But I spoke to the President this morning about this.
He has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their
destruction before yesterday. He was briefed by General Hayden
yesterday morning. And as to the others, I’ll have to — I’ll refer
you to the Vice President’s office and I’ll see if I can get the
others.

Q Was there any White House involvement in approving or commenting
upon their destruction?

MS. PERINO: As I said, the President has no recollection knowing
about the tapes or about their destruction, and so I can’t answer the
follow up.

…snip…

Hell on Wheels

It’s the 5oth anniversary of the Ford Edsel!

From the Washington Post:

Forget New Coke or the Susan B. Anthony dollar or the over-hyped Segway scooter or those pathetic dotcoms that went belly up in the late ’90s. The Edsel was the most colossal, stupendous and legendary blunder in the history of American marketing.

Hey, Washington Post! I think you forgot the Iraq War! On a happier note, kids, I think we found the official automobile of the Chimpy maladministration!!!

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You simply must read the article! Change Edsel to the Iraq War, and Ford to the Chimpy Administration. A perfect metaphor!