By presidential administration:
Showing posts with label President George H.W. Bush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President George H.W. Bush. Show all posts
Friday, December 5, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Coinciding with Valentine's Day
“When the Washington Post telephoned me at home on Valentine's Day 1989 to ask my opinion about the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwah, I felt at once that here was something that completely committed me. It was, if I can phrase it like this, a matter of everything I hated versus everything I loved. In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying, and intimidation.
In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual, and the defense of free expression. Plus, of course, friendship—though I like to think that my reaction would have been the same if I hadn't known Salman at all. To re-state the premise of the argument again: the theocratic head of a foreign despotism offers money in his own name in order to suborn the murder of a civilian citizen of another country, for the offense of writing a work of fiction. No more root-and-branch challenge to the values of the Enlightenment (on the bicentennial of the fall of the Bastille) or to the First Amendment to the Constitution, could be imagined. President George H.W. Bush, when asked to comment, could only say grudgingly that, as far as he could see, no American interests were involved…”
― Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Do you know what happened in Washington with the Disclose Act this week?
We--you and I, the American people--were betrayed.
Yet again.
The best 4 minutes and 51 seconds you could spend today to know more about your government and our nation.
You owe it to yourself. And to all of us.
Link: http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-fighting-disclosure-killing-democracy/
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Who ran up that debt the Right Wing doesn't want to pay, anyway?
US Federal debt increases by U.S Presidents:
Reagan 186%; Bush I 54%; Clinton 41%; Bush II 72%; Obama 23%. Inconvenient truths, anyone?
Source: Congressional Budget Office
Friday, November 26, 2010
You don't have to like him but don't say he's not an "everyday guy" anymore, either, ok?
News from Huffington Post today:
Barack Obama Gets STITCHES After Basketball Injury
President Obama received 12 stitches after suffering an injury during a basketball game, according to a White House statement: "After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the President received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House."
So unlike the posers--both of them--formerly in the White House--who PRETENDED to be "men of the people", who, the first one acted like he liked pork rinds while knowing nothing of the scanners at grocery stores we're all familiar with and the 2nd one who got a ranch just before he took the presidency and now doesn't visit there virtually at all any longer, this president is much more real. He really does like basketball--he watches the professional games, has opinions on them, drinks beer publicly--not pretending to--and plays it--and well--too.
If you don't like him, fine, don't like him.
But don't say he's an "elitist", partly because that's a good thing to have in the highest position in the country and partly because he really did come from nothing, worked like crazy and earned his current position.
His Grandfather wasn't a Senator; he's not deeply indebted to anyone--especially and including the oil industry--for a family fortune because there isn't one; he doesn't have a "family compound" ala' the Bushies, etc., etc.
Oh, and he's gotten a lot of legislation passed that you and I--the common, working-class stiffs--need.
'nuff said.
Enjoy the long weekend, y'all.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/26/barack-obama-stitches-basketball-injury_n_788627.html#s192442
Barack Obama Gets STITCHES After Basketball Injury
President Obama received 12 stitches after suffering an injury during a basketball game, according to a White House statement: "After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the President received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit. They were done in the doctor's office located on the ground floor of the White House."
So unlike the posers--both of them--formerly in the White House--who PRETENDED to be "men of the people", who, the first one acted like he liked pork rinds while knowing nothing of the scanners at grocery stores we're all familiar with and the 2nd one who got a ranch just before he took the presidency and now doesn't visit there virtually at all any longer, this president is much more real. He really does like basketball--he watches the professional games, has opinions on them, drinks beer publicly--not pretending to--and plays it--and well--too.
If you don't like him, fine, don't like him.
But don't say he's an "elitist", partly because that's a good thing to have in the highest position in the country and partly because he really did come from nothing, worked like crazy and earned his current position.
His Grandfather wasn't a Senator; he's not deeply indebted to anyone--especially and including the oil industry--for a family fortune because there isn't one; he doesn't have a "family compound" ala' the Bushies, etc., etc.
Oh, and he's gotten a lot of legislation passed that you and I--the common, working-class stiffs--need.
'nuff said.
Enjoy the long weekend, y'all.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/26/barack-obama-stitches-basketball-injury_n_788627.html#s192442
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
George Herbert Walker Bush Quote On Iraq
10-30-3
"Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
George H. W. Bush, in his 1998 memoir A World Transformed
He was prescient, of course.
Unfortunately for the United States, his son was never that bright.
"Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
George H. W. Bush, in his 1998 memoir A World Transformed
He was prescient, of course.
Unfortunately for the United States, his son was never that bright.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Mr. "Big Oil" President, George W. Bush, et. al
Whistleblower: Oil watchdog agency 'cult of corruption' (from CNN news, just now)
HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) -- Bobby Maxwell kept a close eye on the oil industry for more than 20 years as a government auditor. But he said the federal agency he worked for is now a "cult of corruption" -- a claim backed up by a recent government report.
Bobby Maxwell, a long-time auditor of the oil industry, says his former agency is corrupt "top to bottom."
"I believe the management we were under was showing favoritism to the oil industry," Maxwell told CNN.
Maxwell is referring to a tiny agency within the Department of the Interior called the Minerals Management Service, which manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on federal lands.
A report, conducted by the Interior Department's inspector general and released earlier this month, found that employees at the agency received improper gifts from energy industry officials and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations. It looked at activities at the agency from 2003 through 2006.
Maxwell said the report doesn't surprise him. The agency, he said, is corrupt "top to bottom." Watch a failure to "protect America's interests" »
"It sounds like they forgot they work for the government," he said. "It's disgusting. ... There's no excuse for that. Those people should not be working in those positions at all.
"They crossed a lot of lines that should never have been crossed," he said. "They lost all objectivity."
Maxwell was in charge of keeping track of the millions in royalty payments owed taxpayers by oil and gas companies who explored and found oil on U.S. government lands.
He estimates he and his team were responsible for saving the government close to $500million in royalties, either underpaid or somehow skipped by oil and gas companies, over the years.
He received the Interior Department's highest award in 2003 for his work. But not long afterward, his job was killed.
He believes it was retribution for his cracking down on Big Oil and blowing the whistle on what he believes was a "cult of corruption" within the agency. The Interior Department denies that, saying his job was reorganized as part of routine restructuring.
Just before he lost his job, he said, one of his superiors in Washington ordered him not to investigate why Shell Oil had raised its oil transportation costs. Maxwell said it jumped from 90 cents to $3 a barrel without adequate explanation. The government paid Shell to transport oil from offshore platforms.
When asked why a government worker would tell an auditor not to investigate, he said: "I believe it started from the top down," he said.
Shell Oil told CNN it "pays the same rate any shipper does" and that it has "never engaged in fraudulent transactions or entered into sham contracts as Mr. Maxwell alleges."
Maxwell, a registered independent, said the shift in attitude at the agency began about seven or eight years ago, about the time the Bush administration came into power. He said he was discouraged from aggressively auditing oil companies.
"Laws and regulations were not applied, also not enforced," he said.
The inspector general's 27-page summary says that nearly a third of the roughly 60 people in Maxwell's former office received gifts and gratuities from oil industry executives.
Two received improper, if not illegal, gifts at least 135 times, the report says. It goes on to describe a wild atmosphere in which some staff members admitted using cocaine and marijuana.
In addition, two female workers at the Minerals Management Service were known as the "MMS chicks" and both told investigators they had sex with oil industry officials they were supposed to be auditing.
One e-mail from a pipeline company representative invited government workers to a tailgating party: "Have you and the girls meet at my place at 6 a.m. for bubble baths and final prep ... Just kidding."
Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne accompanying the report that it details "a textbook example of improperly receiving gifts from prohibited sources."
Maxwell is now retired from the government and teaches at the University of Hawaii. He said it was just a matter of time until the agency's behavior was exposed. He feels vindicated now in the wake of the inspector general's report, but is still disgusted by what he was happening at the Minerals Management Service.
"Their job is to protect United States taxpayers' interest. It's like they completely forgot that, like they just became part of the oil companies," he said.
The Interior Department said it could not comment on Maxwell's specific allegations or removal, saying his former supervisor no longer works for the Interior Department either.
Kempthorne said he was "outraged" by the disclosures in the inspector general's report and that the actions "of a few has cast a shadow on the entire agency."
But the department said there is no evidence taxpayers lost money as a result of unethical behavior between government workers and the oil and gas industry.
Maxwell doubts that.
The former auditor said he'd love to put all the government royalty records under his magnifying glass.
"I think the government should be transparent. We are for the people, by the people. This is the government. We're here to serve," he said.
Maxwell has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Kerr-McGee Corp., an energy company involved in oil and gas exploration. In it, he claims the company defrauded taxpayers out of millions in oil royalty payments.
The company denies the accusation. If Maxwell wins, the government would recieve about $40 million in additonal revenue and Maxwell would be entitled to about a third of that.
____________________________________________
I quit putting articles out here I didn't myself write, until this one, today. I couldn't say this any better, or more completely.
It all disgusts me so thoroughly, all I can do is tell everyone I can, all I can about this thoroughly corrupt, self-serving, greedy President, George W. Bush, his administration, his family members, friends and colleagues.
They repulse me.
It's important that we not be so numbed by the corruption and illegality of this administration that we are not shocked by what they've done and what they're still doing. If we are numbed, they win more completely. We have to better and stronger than that, frankly.
HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) -- Bobby Maxwell kept a close eye on the oil industry for more than 20 years as a government auditor. But he said the federal agency he worked for is now a "cult of corruption" -- a claim backed up by a recent government report.
Bobby Maxwell, a long-time auditor of the oil industry, says his former agency is corrupt "top to bottom."
"I believe the management we were under was showing favoritism to the oil industry," Maxwell told CNN.
Maxwell is referring to a tiny agency within the Department of the Interior called the Minerals Management Service, which manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on federal lands.
A report, conducted by the Interior Department's inspector general and released earlier this month, found that employees at the agency received improper gifts from energy industry officials and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations. It looked at activities at the agency from 2003 through 2006.
Maxwell said the report doesn't surprise him. The agency, he said, is corrupt "top to bottom." Watch a failure to "protect America's interests" »
"It sounds like they forgot they work for the government," he said. "It's disgusting. ... There's no excuse for that. Those people should not be working in those positions at all.
"They crossed a lot of lines that should never have been crossed," he said. "They lost all objectivity."
Maxwell was in charge of keeping track of the millions in royalty payments owed taxpayers by oil and gas companies who explored and found oil on U.S. government lands.
He estimates he and his team were responsible for saving the government close to $500million in royalties, either underpaid or somehow skipped by oil and gas companies, over the years.
He received the Interior Department's highest award in 2003 for his work. But not long afterward, his job was killed.
He believes it was retribution for his cracking down on Big Oil and blowing the whistle on what he believes was a "cult of corruption" within the agency. The Interior Department denies that, saying his job was reorganized as part of routine restructuring.
Just before he lost his job, he said, one of his superiors in Washington ordered him not to investigate why Shell Oil had raised its oil transportation costs. Maxwell said it jumped from 90 cents to $3 a barrel without adequate explanation. The government paid Shell to transport oil from offshore platforms.
When asked why a government worker would tell an auditor not to investigate, he said: "I believe it started from the top down," he said.
Shell Oil told CNN it "pays the same rate any shipper does" and that it has "never engaged in fraudulent transactions or entered into sham contracts as Mr. Maxwell alleges."
Maxwell, a registered independent, said the shift in attitude at the agency began about seven or eight years ago, about the time the Bush administration came into power. He said he was discouraged from aggressively auditing oil companies.
"Laws and regulations were not applied, also not enforced," he said.
The inspector general's 27-page summary says that nearly a third of the roughly 60 people in Maxwell's former office received gifts and gratuities from oil industry executives.
Two received improper, if not illegal, gifts at least 135 times, the report says. It goes on to describe a wild atmosphere in which some staff members admitted using cocaine and marijuana.
In addition, two female workers at the Minerals Management Service were known as the "MMS chicks" and both told investigators they had sex with oil industry officials they were supposed to be auditing.
One e-mail from a pipeline company representative invited government workers to a tailgating party: "Have you and the girls meet at my place at 6 a.m. for bubble baths and final prep ... Just kidding."
Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne accompanying the report that it details "a textbook example of improperly receiving gifts from prohibited sources."
Maxwell is now retired from the government and teaches at the University of Hawaii. He said it was just a matter of time until the agency's behavior was exposed. He feels vindicated now in the wake of the inspector general's report, but is still disgusted by what he was happening at the Minerals Management Service.
"Their job is to protect United States taxpayers' interest. It's like they completely forgot that, like they just became part of the oil companies," he said.
The Interior Department said it could not comment on Maxwell's specific allegations or removal, saying his former supervisor no longer works for the Interior Department either.
Kempthorne said he was "outraged" by the disclosures in the inspector general's report and that the actions "of a few has cast a shadow on the entire agency."
But the department said there is no evidence taxpayers lost money as a result of unethical behavior between government workers and the oil and gas industry.
Maxwell doubts that.
The former auditor said he'd love to put all the government royalty records under his magnifying glass.
"I think the government should be transparent. We are for the people, by the people. This is the government. We're here to serve," he said.
Maxwell has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Kerr-McGee Corp., an energy company involved in oil and gas exploration. In it, he claims the company defrauded taxpayers out of millions in oil royalty payments.
The company denies the accusation. If Maxwell wins, the government would recieve about $40 million in additonal revenue and Maxwell would be entitled to about a third of that.
____________________________________________
I quit putting articles out here I didn't myself write, until this one, today. I couldn't say this any better, or more completely.
It all disgusts me so thoroughly, all I can do is tell everyone I can, all I can about this thoroughly corrupt, self-serving, greedy President, George W. Bush, his administration, his family members, friends and colleagues.
They repulse me.
It's important that we not be so numbed by the corruption and illegality of this administration that we are not shocked by what they've done and what they're still doing. If we are numbed, they win more completely. We have to better and stronger than that, frankly.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I just ran across this quote
"War is not nice."
-Barbara Bush
Boy, when it comes to intelligence, it seems the Bush family wasn't blessed with any real depth or complications. There's virtually everything that comes out of W's mouth and now this.
I wonder if Jeb is any brighter. He surely must be. There must be someone in the family who got hit by a lightning bolt of brilliance. Surely. Someone.
It just goes to show how far only money can take a group.
Wow. Thank God for the original Senator Prescott Bush, huh, or these people would all be scraping garbage at your local McDonald's.
-Barbara Bush
Boy, when it comes to intelligence, it seems the Bush family wasn't blessed with any real depth or complications. There's virtually everything that comes out of W's mouth and now this.
I wonder if Jeb is any brighter. He surely must be. There must be someone in the family who got hit by a lightning bolt of brilliance. Surely. Someone.
It just goes to show how far only money can take a group.
Wow. Thank God for the original Senator Prescott Bush, huh, or these people would all be scraping garbage at your local McDonald's.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Whither now?
I've thought for a long time that the "turning point" for us, the United States of America, was John F. Kennedy's assassination. A long time.
It's not that it has anything to do with me, of course, and my generation at all. I've thought that, in a much larger sense, a historical sense, that it was at that point that we were no longer the naive, well-intentioned people we were, up to that point. I don't think I'm being naive here, either.
And ever since then, through the 70's, 80's, 90's up to today, it seems we've been going downhill, as a nation.
It was after that that Jack's brother was also killed, then Martin Luther King, and they were both intelligent, strong people who wanted us all to be better--to be a better people--to be the people we could be.
Then there was Milhouse (the lying scumbag), and a brief window of time with a weak follow-up President. After that, a weak one-termer who, again, wanted us to be better people but he got caught up in minutiea of his Presidency (carrying his own bags, for God's sake) that he didn't get to the important matter of his own work. Besides, we didn't want to save energy, anyway.
Then 8 long years of an affable idiot whom way too many people loved--and who almost wrecked us.
A dolt to follow him but who, unlike his son, kept us out of Iraq.
Then 8 important, good years by a man who couldn't keep himself in his pants.
That brings us to now to this nearly fatal time with a self-absorbed man of small imagination, organization and strength who, along with his friends, is also long on greed.
So we come to a point in time where the dollar is at record lows, energy at record highs and we've seemingly lost nearly all control we ever might have had.
And the issue, now, comes to this: if a barrel of oil is pegged to the euro soon--again, God forbid--you may mark it down in any history book to come, that it was at that exact point in time at which the United States became the Britain of a new world order. In short, a second-rate power.
May this not happen anytime soon, if ever.
(Be sure to look below at a great "Zippy the Pinhead" comic from yesterday and some new pictures).
It's not that it has anything to do with me, of course, and my generation at all. I've thought that, in a much larger sense, a historical sense, that it was at that point that we were no longer the naive, well-intentioned people we were, up to that point. I don't think I'm being naive here, either.
And ever since then, through the 70's, 80's, 90's up to today, it seems we've been going downhill, as a nation.
It was after that that Jack's brother was also killed, then Martin Luther King, and they were both intelligent, strong people who wanted us all to be better--to be a better people--to be the people we could be.
Then there was Milhouse (the lying scumbag), and a brief window of time with a weak follow-up President. After that, a weak one-termer who, again, wanted us to be better people but he got caught up in minutiea of his Presidency (carrying his own bags, for God's sake) that he didn't get to the important matter of his own work. Besides, we didn't want to save energy, anyway.
Then 8 long years of an affable idiot whom way too many people loved--and who almost wrecked us.
A dolt to follow him but who, unlike his son, kept us out of Iraq.
Then 8 important, good years by a man who couldn't keep himself in his pants.
That brings us to now to this nearly fatal time with a self-absorbed man of small imagination, organization and strength who, along with his friends, is also long on greed.
So we come to a point in time where the dollar is at record lows, energy at record highs and we've seemingly lost nearly all control we ever might have had.
And the issue, now, comes to this: if a barrel of oil is pegged to the euro soon--again, God forbid--you may mark it down in any history book to come, that it was at that exact point in time at which the United States became the Britain of a new world order. In short, a second-rate power.
May this not happen anytime soon, if ever.
(Be sure to look below at a great "Zippy the Pinhead" comic from yesterday and some new pictures).
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