all hail the least reassuring motherfucker on the planet

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President Bush met Thursday with his national security team at his Texas ranch, and declared he has moved one step closer to devising a new Iraq strategy but will seek more advice before settling on a final plan.

"We're making good progress," Bush said outside an office building near his Texas ranch where he stood with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Bush took no questions from reporters and offered no details about the strategy he is set to announce to the nation after the first of the year.

"As I think about this plan, I always have our troops in mind," Bush said. He will continue to consult with members of Congress and the Iraqis, he said, stressing the importance of having a government in Iraq that can deal with the militias and the rising violence.

"We've got more consultation to do until I talk to the country about the plan," he said. "The key to success in Iraq is to have a government that's willing to deal with the elements that are trying to prevent this young democracy from succeeding."

Bush said one of his resolutions for the new year is that the troops will be safe and that this nation will come closer to its goal of having an Iraq that can sustain independence and govern itself.

scott seward (121212), Thursday, 28 December 2006 18:50 (seventeen years ago) link

"the plan"

scott seward (121212), Thursday, 28 December 2006 18:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Hahaha new plan = "maybe Ethiopia will do it?"

nabisco (nabisco), Thursday, 28 December 2006 18:55 (seventeen years ago) link

oh god my stomach hurts now nabisco

Matt Cibula (Formerly, the Haikunym), Thursday, 28 December 2006 18:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Matt OTM

Ed (dali), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:06 (seventeen years ago) link

Don't tell me he's at his ranch AGAIN? How many days of work does a president actually have to do in the US? 5 days a month?

StanM (StanM), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:20 (seventeen years ago) link

i was amazed to learn recently that a huge chunk of the new iraqi government actually lives in london! wtf!!

and what (ooo), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Is it "hard work" yet?

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:23 (seventeen years ago) link

ts: bush at his ranch formulating his "plan" vs. axl in his mansion remixing chinese democracy

tipsy mothra (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:24 (seventeen years ago) link

i was amazed to learn recently that a huge chunk of the new iraqi government actually lives in london!

Yeah, but Iraq's a really dangerous to be.

Johnny Cash Rules Everything Around Me (Modal Fugue), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:26 (seventeen years ago) link

dangerous place to be, dammit.

Johnny Cash Rules Everything Around Me (Modal Fugue), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Q Mr. President, the Iraq Study Group described the situation in Iraq as grave and deteriorating. You said that the increase in attacks is unsettling. That won't convince many people that you're still in denial about how bad things are in Iraq, and question your sincerity about changing course.

PRESIDENT BUSH: It's bad in Iraq. Does that help? (Laughter.)

m coleman (lovebug ), Thursday, 28 December 2006 19:48 (seventeen years ago) link

another bit of political irritation: today's NPR's talk of the nation covered the future of U.S. foreign policy. The conservative representive they had on? Richard fucking Perle.

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Thursday, 28 December 2006 20:10 (seventeen years ago) link

I think George W thinks he is playing Risk and that by holding on to Kamchatka, he will be able to win the game.


earlnash (earlnash), Friday, 29 December 2006 00:20 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/images/20060518-18_d-0482-250h.jpg
http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2006/05/18/buggy.jpg

Are you suggesting there's something somehow not completely reassuring about this man?

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Friday, 29 December 2006 00:33 (seventeen years ago) link

lol kamchatka always fucked me up

BIG HOOS aka the steendriver (hoosteen), Friday, 29 December 2006 00:39 (seventeen years ago) link

A week or two I remember just banging my head on the desk after reading a quote of his (well, that could be any week, actually), something along the lines of: "The Iraq enemy is far from defeated." I have no choice but to believe that he's president in a parallel universe where what he's saying bears a descriptive relationship to reality.

Not For Use as Infant Nog (A-Ron Hubbard), Friday, 29 December 2006 00:45 (seventeen years ago) link

about the vacations: he takes more vacation than people in fucking Denmark.

the table is the table (trees), Friday, 29 December 2006 00:46 (seventeen years ago) link

Get thee behind me, Dubya.

Øystein (Øystein), Friday, 29 December 2006 09:25 (seventeen years ago) link

"i was amazed to learn recently that a huge chunk of the new iraqi government actually lives in london!"

Is this actually true? I know a defence minister came to London last year after a small matter of a billion dollars went missing from his accounts but he's moved on.

Ned T.Rifle (Ned T.Rifle), Friday, 29 December 2006 09:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Most members of Chalabi's "Iraqi National Congress" have lived the last 20 or so years in Europe and other places outside Iraq. Chalabi's not in the picture (seemingly) but a lot of those other people are ministers now. They haven't lived in Iraq for decades.

Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 29 December 2006 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Elsewhere some of us were talking about Bush and Hussein and the latter's imminent-but-it's-probably-already-happened death, and my thoughts on our president were these, having already asserted earlier that there's no way Bush will ever really feel what follies and attendant horrors he's overseen:

"...[Bush] reminds me of something from a really great Peanuts sequence once where Lucy tells Charlie Brown something close to this (and this was well before the eighties and Spike Lee, FWIW):

"In history nobody has ever caused more problems than someone who thought he was 'doing the right thing.'"

Bush is going to be insulated from everything that has happened because at base he thinks he is doing the right thing on a broad moral scope that is bigger than he is....(a)nd short of a total psychic collapse on W's part that insulation from all the blood will stay with him until he dies."

Which means among other things he'll never feel any pain from this. And you can multiply it forever, but you'll still have to divide by zero.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 December 2006 18:29 (seventeen years ago) link

I keep being reminded of Alejandro Jodorowsky's comments that somebody post early last year, that after his re-election, Dubya had nothing to do and would be adrift for four years

(or words to that effect)

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Friday, 29 December 2006 18:37 (seventeen years ago) link

this is my fave:



The White House calls the meeting a "non-decisional" gathering. Bush met with a group that included Vice President Cheney and General Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary of State Rice and Defense Secretary Gates spoke briefly with the president Wednesday night.

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:37 (seventeen years ago) link

"non-decisional"

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:38 (seventeen years ago) link

"we got nothin'. happy new year!"


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/28/us/28bush.600.jpg

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:42 (seventeen years ago) link

Non-decisional gatherings generally involve pipes and video games, in my experience.

has been plagued with problems since its erection in 1978 (nklshs), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:45 (seventeen years ago) link

WTF is up with Condi's hair?

has been plagued with problems since its erection in 1978 (nklshs), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:46 (seventeen years ago) link

I think Cheney & Pace need to swap blazers.

David RER (Frank Fiore), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:48 (seventeen years ago) link

"mr. president, what i think we should do..."

"now, condi, you know that this meetin' is strictly non-decisinational, you gonna eat those wings...?"

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:51 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah, i have a lot of non-decisional meetings in my garage listening to steely dan.

max (maxreax), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:53 (seventeen years ago) link

88% humidity in Crawford = Condi's hair

clevo lk (clevo lk), Friday, 29 December 2006 19:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Air Force One To Crawford - A Tragicomedy In One Act:


Q Scott, where is he right now in determining the way forward in Iraq?

MR. STANZEL: As you know, the President after the first of the year will talk with the American people about the new way forward in Iraq. He continues to ask questions of his advisors and he is continuing to think about thinking steps ahead and trying to make sure that all options and all ideas are given the due consideration they need, trying to think through the consequences of any actions and of those options.

So he will continue to do that this week while he's down on the ranch. And, as you know, he'll be meeting with members of his National Security Council on Thursday to continue to talk about this option.

Q Scott, on the meeting on Thursday, how do we characterize the importance of this meeting? Is this, like, the final one before he's going to actually make up his mind?

MR. STANZEL: You know, I think we characterized it yesterday as a non-decisional meeting, but --

Q That's how you characterized it Friday, too. (Laughter.)

MR. STANZEL: The meeting hasn't occurred yet, so we look forward to that meeting on Thursday. And I'm not going to say whether or not this will be the last meeting -- that depends on the discussions that occur and depends on the dialogue and how comfortable the President is with that new way forward.

Q Can you give us a sense of what this meeting will be? Is it an all day, multiple sessions? Is it one meeting? And who will be there?

MR. STANZEL: We have indicated that Secretary Gates, Secretary Rice, the Vice President, Stephen Hadley, of course, the President will be there -- I don't have a full list for you at this point and don't have specific timing of the meeting, but we'll get you that as we get closer.

Q Are you thinking of it, though -- is it an all-day pow-wow, or is it just --

MR. STANZEL: That may be your characterization, but I don't have the specific times for when it will start and when it will end, but we'll get you that as we get closer.

Q Is that the only day that Gates will be here?

MR. STANZEL: I don't have Secretary Gates' schedule, but that is the day of the national Security Council meeting.

Q Could there possibly be another one later in the week -- Friday?

MR. STANZEL: We haven't made any announcements beyond that, but my expectation is that Thursday's meeting will be the day for those meetings.

Q -- more on the Iranians who were picked up in Iraq?

MR. STANZEL: As we've indicated, we suspect that this validates our claims that the Iranians have been meddling in Iraq, but we want to finish the investigation of the detained Iraqis before characterizing their activities. And that's an ongoing investigation that we are working with the government of Iraq on, so we'll have more information when that investigation concludes.

Q But do you concede that at least two of them were actually diplomats -- I mean, had diplomatic --

MR. STANZEL: Yes, and that has been widely reported and they were released back to the embassy.

Q Why did the United States take them into custody if they had diplomatic standing?

MR. STANZEL: Force protection operations like this happen all of the time, and we'll have more information as that investigation continues.

Q Do you have a date yet for the speech?

MR. STANZEL: No information on that front. After the first of the year.

Q -- rough drafts?

MR. STANZEL: Yes, you didn't get it? (Laughter.)

Q Given the rising death toll in Iraq, does the President feel a sense of urgency to announce his new strategy sooner, rather than later, in January?

MR. STANZEL: Well, the President spoke about this at the press conference, he's wanting to make sure that we give all consideration to all the options. It's important the forces -- our forces, coalition forces in Iraq are continuing to take the fight to the enemy, and the President will announce a new way forward when he's comfortable announcing that.

Q Do you have any comment on The Washington Times report that the President announced his intention to increase the end force of the military, under pressure from the Joint Chiefs and other military officials?

MR. STANZEL: I don't have any comment on that. And we've discussed -- you know, we've seen a lot of things appear in the papers, and I'll just leave it to the President to make his own announcement.

Q I don't know if you have anything on this. Ifax, a Russian news service, is saying that the United States detained a former co-owner of Yukos -- Leonid Nevzlin. Have you heard anything about that, or why or --

MR. STANZEL: I don't have any information on that.

Q You don't? He was detained as he tried to enter the United States.

MR. STANZEL: I don't have any information.

Q Now for the really important stuff, can you tell us what they gave each other for gifts, and a little bit more about their Christmas?

MR. STANZEL: I don't have any information on that. Did you not get that readout yesterday?

Q We got nothing yesterday.

MR. STANZEL: Okay. I'll see what I can do on gifts and the other thing.

Q How about New Year's plans?

MR. STANZEL: We'll have more information about his New Year's plans towards the end of the week.

Q Gaggling prospects?

MR. STANZEL: Eleven a.m. tomorrow, you all are welcome to sleep in.

Q Thank you.

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 20:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Q Will the meeting have cakes, or just punch and pie?

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Friday, 29 December 2006 20:16 (seventeen years ago) link

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/27/5458/4121

nuneb (nuneb), Friday, 29 December 2006 20:31 (seventeen years ago) link

Q Are you human or are you a cyborg/human mixture?

MR. STANZEL: I don't have any information.

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 21:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Q Well, did you have a mother or were you bred in a test-tube?

MR. STANZEL: No information on that front. After the first of the year.

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 21:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Q Gaggling prospects?

MR. STANZEL: Fuck yeah! Up the ass! Wait, no, I don't know.

scott seward (121212), Friday, 29 December 2006 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link

OMG WATCH OUT FOR SUCKA PUNCH!!!

Not For Use as Infant Nog (A-Ron Hubbard), Friday, 29 December 2006 22:27 (seventeen years ago) link

maybe this will change your mind

kingfish in absentia (kingfish), Saturday, 30 December 2006 02:24 (seventeen years ago) link

No seriously...Condi's hair. What's the deal?

Bimbler (Sourkraut), Saturday, 30 December 2006 07:00 (seventeen years ago) link

You're talking as though her hair is normal at other times. This is patent madness.

James Morrison (James Morrison), Monday, 1 January 2007 23:56 (seventeen years ago) link

twelve years pass...

do you personally swear much?

my mom has embraced late-stage cussin but it's not natural -- you can hear the quotes around the naughty words as she says them. i am better at it -- playing baseball is a crucible for majestic swears -- but generally prefer to keep my powder dry

in any case, there has been no more righteous or appropriate use of 'motherfucker' than rep. tlaib's, perhaps ever

mookieproof, Saturday, 5 January 2019 06:30 (five years ago) link

i'm a sweary one and i fully support the swear in question.

lxy, Wednesday, 9 January 2019 18:13 (five years ago) link


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