No more Clintons; No more Bushes

This is getting so rich!  From Talking Points Memo today:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Tuesday took a swing at President Obama and Hillary Clinton, arguing that by withdrawing troops from Iraq in 2009, Obama and his administration allowed the Islamic State to gain power.
"That premature withdrawal was the fatal error, creating the void that ISIS moved in to fill -- and that Iran has exploited to the full as well," Bush said during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., according to the New York Times.

He then blasted Clinton for letting the situation deteriorate in Iraq while she served as secretary of state.
"Where was the secretary of state in all of this? In all her record-setting travels, she stopped by Iraq exactly once," Bush said, according to the Huffington Post. "Who can seriously argue that America and our friends are safer today than in 2009, when the President and Secretary Clinton -- the storied ‘team of rivals’ -- took office? So eager to be the history-makers, they failed to be the peacemakers."
Bush stopped short of calling for more American boots on the ground in Iraq, but advocated for an aggressive approach to Iraq and ISIL.
"We do not need, and our friends do not ask for, a major commitment of American combat forces," he said, according to the New York Times. "But we do need to convey that we are serious, that we are determined to help local forces take back their country."
Bush's comments come a few months after he struggled to answer whether he would have authorized the Iraq invasion, knowing what he knows now. After initially saying he would have gone into Iraq, he backtracked and said he would not have authorized the invasion.

Gee, I wish I could remember how we got into this Iraq mess.  Lets blame Obama for failing to get us out of the shitfest initiated by JEB!'s brother quick enough to suit the "smart" Bush.  

And lets also discuss how Hillary is going to fix Wall Street, now that she's totally intertwined in it and dependent on it.  And who helped get us into that mess, with the deregulation of banking?  Maybe she should blame Obama for not fixing Bill's mess quick enough.

To Kill or Ignore the Messenger? the unquenchable thirst for self-affirmation

  I had a friend once who had trouble not only with the law but also with his short term memory.  He had gotten into it with some off duty police and his criminal case was languishing in the court system.  During that time, he had this bright idea that he would file suit against them for assault and violation of his civil rights.  I told him that was very bad idea because you can't back the popo up against the wall like that and they'd never let him walk from his criminal case.

  He wouldn't let go of it and I prepared the suit for him to proceed pro se (thank God it was in another state) but constantly warned him of how stupid an idea it was.  He filed it, and then couldn't believe that they wouldn't dismiss his criminal charges.  He'd call me at least daily with a new stupid idea and I'd try to explain, usually tactfully, the reason it was a bad idea.  He'd get mad, curse at me and hang up, only to call again in a couple of hours with the same idea, having wholly forgotten that we'd already discussed it.  He would always do the exact opposite of what I said.

  Once, exasperated, I asked him why he'd continually call me, ask for my opinion, then get mad when I gave him it.  He explained to me that "people like to hear things they agree with."

  A conservative friend  posted a link from a conservative site on FB today, the headline of which said, "(anonimous) Military Official blasts Obama on handling of ISIS in Mideast," or something like that.  There were maybe a hundred comments, all of which talked of haw terrible a commander/leader/president he is and how he won't let the army fight Muslims.  I posted a comment that, if he was indeed a military official and not an ex-official, he's insubordinate.  Some four hours later, no one has responded.

  When Clive Bundy was a Fox news hero last year, nobody on Fox would comment on the obvious fact that Uncle Clive was a moocher, having been grazing his cattle on government land for 10 years plus and not paying his fees.  The anti-government message was just tooooooooo good to look into the underlying facts.  It took his blatant racism for the Fox team to drop him like the proverbial hot potato, and had Clive learned the subtle art of dog whistle racism he'd still be on today.  Totally flawed messenger, so you ignore that particular fact as long as you can because ohhhhhh, do we like that message!.

  Conversely, when Senator Bernie Sanders says the least remarkable thing, like there is too much financial disparity, Fox will blast him as the "socialist" and all other sorts of silly name calling stuff.  They won't analyze his message because that would give it a platform, so they just kill the messenger.

  Fox News has made an industry of spoon feeding millions of its viewers exactly what they want to hear and who are not savvy enough to understand how they are being manipulated.  The mouthpiece of the GOP will engage in any and all kinds of sexist, bigoted and homophobic nonsense to pretend that it is just a counterweight to "liberalism," when, in fact, its just a counterweight to reason.