# Pitting Bush for stuff that doesn't seem to rate its own thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131 "2004-07-08T16:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/121 "2004-10-25T11:44:12Z")
Jesus Christ that’s scary **Squink**. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > Nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives that could be used to build large conventional bombs are missing from the former Al Qaqaa military installation, The New York Times reported Monday. > > The explosives included HMX and RDX, which can be used to demolish buildings but also produce warheads for missiles and detonate nuclear weaponry, the newspaper said. It said they disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/24/iraq.main/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/24/iraq.main/index.html) > [@](#): > > BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) – Iraqi authorities have discovered the bodies of 44 Iraqi soldiers and four drivers after they were ambushed and killed overnight near the Iraq-Iran border, an Iraqi military commander said Sunday. Iraq is so totally headed down the crapper. Good job Bush. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/122 "2004-10-25T11:59:39Z")
And [here’s an example](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6323593/) (this one, about renewed probes into the awarding of sole-source contracts to Halliburton, and about contracts being extended “for political reason”) of the kind of story in which the shit isn’t going to hit the fan for another year or two. There’s a growing list of them. In a weird way, I almost hope we get a second Bush adminstration, so that when these investigations start bearing fruit, some people start getting indicted, and we get some good perp walks. Even in an Ashcroft Justice Department (oxymoron?), U.S. Attorneys tend to be an independent, ornery lot. If the people pulling these stunts are no longer in office, however, there will be a tendency to “let bygones be bygones.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/123 "2004-10-25T16:39:08Z")
[QUOTE=World Eater] [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/25/iraq.explosives.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > Nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives that could be used to build large conventional bombs are missing from the former Al Qaqaa military installation, The New York Times reported Monday. > > The explosives included HMX and RDX, which can be used to demolish buildings but also produce warheads for missiles and detonate nuclear weaponry, the newspaper said. It said they disappeared after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq last year. [I think this one’s worth its own thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=282764) It’s well underway, in fact; check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/124 "2004-10-25T16:41:52Z")
I think he combs his hair funny. And his eyes are too close together. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/125 "2004-10-25T18:11:14Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I think he combs his hair funny. And his eyes are too close together. You’re onto something there **Liberal** , but such a serious charge really deserves its own thread. Maybe in MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/126 "2004-10-27T21:11:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Bush’s rally in the [Cuba City high] school gym featured his stump speech. The kids were told that if they wore a Kerry button or made any rude interventions, they would be in big trouble. No one did. When Bush has a private campaign rally, it’s just stupid when he excludes anyone who doesn’t wear regulation clothing with no hint of a thought of their own. But when he uses the kids at a public high school as a campaign prop, he of course has no right to tell them what they can and can’t wear. Chicken George can’t even stand up to the sight of a Kerry badge on a high school kid. How pathetic is that? And how’s he gonna face down al-Qaeda? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/127 "2004-10-27T21:28:21Z")
What I am mildly crisped about at present is the fact that, being currently resident overseas, I’m not even allowed to look at the [Bush-Cheney campaign website](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=283253). A recent post in that thread indicates that it was in response to a recent act of sabotage. However, given that the other guys (with a lot less money) are running the same risks (and it is clear that Bush opponents are by no means the only ones out there willing to use dirty tricks), I would think that the Bush campaign folks would be embarrassed to look (a) secretive or (b) chicken about this. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2004, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/128 "2004-10-28T16:43:39Z")
[Here’s the link](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A446-2004Oct26.html) for my quote in post 126. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/129 "2004-10-29T00:32:29Z")
WTF? [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/bush.ad.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/bush.ad.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) – President Bush’s campaign acknowledged Thursday that it had doctored a photograph used in a television commercial and said the ad will be re-edited and reshipped to TV stations. > [@](#): > > The photo of Bush addressing a group of soldiers was edited to take out a podium, aides said, and a group of soldiers in the crowd was electronically copied and used to fill where the podium had been. C’mon now man. ---
**Author:** ![MMI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@MMI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MMI)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/130 "2004-10-29T15:34:02Z")
Okay, Curt Schilling is going to be in a campaign appearance with President Bush. That’s cool. That’s his perogative to support whoever he wants. I have absolutely no problem with that. My question is: How, in this day and age, can Bush bring Curt Schilling (ace pitcher of 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox) to a campaign stop without mentioning his current affiliation with either “_Massachusetts_”, which we all know to be the dark heart and soul of all that is wrong with America, or “Boston”, which most people (rightly or wrongly) associate with the aforementioned state. I know that everyone loves a winner, but given that Schilling has said that it was the fans who were a big part of his wanting to go to Boston, and that many of those self-same fans are _Massachusetts_ voters who consistently elect twisted, evil men to send to Washington to plot against America, he hardly seems an appropriate spokesman to bring to a rally of good, loyal Americans that the president represents. Can ya trust him, or has he been corrupted by playing 89 games in _Massachusetts_? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/131 "2004-12-15T12:26:14Z")
George Tenet gets a fucking presidential medal of honor? What the fuck are you smoking Dubya? In other news [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/15/missile.defense.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/15/missile.defense.ap/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/132 "2004-12-15T12:29:01Z")
Bah. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/15/missile.defense.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/15/missile.defense.ap/index.html) > [@](#): > > The Missile Defense Agency has attempted to conduct the test several times this month, but scrubbed each one for a variety of reasons, including various weather problems and a malfunction on a recovery vessel not directly related to the equipment being tested. Weather related? Let’s hope our “enemy” lobs a nuke at us on a clear sunny day. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/133 "2004-12-15T23:45:33Z")
A clear sunny day would be a step up from the previous tests, which required the “enemy” to tell us when they were launching ahead of time, what they were firing at, to give the missile a bright white paint job, to make sure they didn’t send up any decoys, and to stick a _freakin’ transponder_ on the missile so we can “successfully” hit it. Yeah, I can see Bush trying to negotiate an arms treaty with North Korea in 2007 with those terms… ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/134 "2004-12-16T03:42:15Z")
[Red Cross neutrality jeopardised by US action in Iraq, British chief says](http://society.guardian.co.uk/aid/story/0,14178,1374051,00.html) > [@](#): > > The chief executive of the British Red Cross has warned that the international movement’s neutrality is fast becoming a casualty of the global “war on terror”. > > Sir Nicholas Young told the Guardian that the US-led coalition’s defiance of international law in Iraq threatened to obliterate the capacity of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement to operate in areas of conflict. > … > Last month the US forces breached international law when they publicly snubbed the Iraqi Red Crescent by denying it access to Falluja after weeks of heavy bombardment. It was a “hugely significant” gesture, Sir Nicholas says. > > “It sets a dangerous precedent. The Red Cross had a mandate [under the Geneva convention] to meet the needs of the local population facing a huge crisis and, given their neutrality, they should have been allowed to meet those needs.” Says Bush: “Bring it on” Says Condi: “No one could have predicted…” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/135 "2005-03-15T21:20:14Z")
[Froomkin](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33973-2005Mar14.html): > [@](#): > > Bush called for “people from both political parties to set aside our partisanship and come to the table” on Friday – while talking to audiences that had been prescreened to remove dissenters. No wonder half the population thinks he’s a uniter! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/136 "2005-04-19T11:37:21Z")
The man is apparently not capable of telling the truth. To nobody’s surprise, his claim that his administration did not know about the Armstrong Williams thing was (wait for it) A LIE!!! [http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=710&e=2&u=/usatoday/20050418/pl\_usatoday/reportnoethicsbreachineducationdept](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=710&e=2&u=/usatoday/20050418/pl_usatoday/reportnoethicsbreachineducationdept) > [@](#): > > **Higgins also found that David Dunn, a special assistant to President Bush, participated in at least four conversations about the Williams contract with Education Department officials last summer.** > > The conversations, the report says, took place around the time the department renewed a deal that called for Williams to use his syndicated TV show and newspaper column to promote Bush’s education policy, No Child Left Behind. > > During at least two of those conversations, Education officials voiced “strong” concerns about “the inherent conflict of Mr. Williams’ role as both a public relations executive and commentator,” the report says. The Education officials, deputy director of public affairs D.J. Nordquist and chief of staff Anne Radice, told the inspector general that Dunn “agreed with their concerns,” the report says. Even so, the contract was renewed. > > **The inspector general’s findings run counter to a statement made by Bush on Jan. 26, about three weeks after USA TODAY first disclosed the deal with Williams. At a news conference, Bush said of the contract, "We didn’t know about this in the White House."** ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131/137 "2005-04-19T13:44:43Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > “We didn’t know about this in the White House.” That’s not a lie. It’s quite obvious that “we” is not the same as “I”. “We”, as in the “guy that mows the lawns” and “I”, didn’t both know about it. Duh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-bush-for-stuff-that-doesnt-seem-to-rate-its-own-thread/254131.md?page=6)