1 I was done with him long ago.

2 I gave up almost exactly a month ago on the entire party. I am no longer a Republican, I am a Jacksonian in the tradition that Walter Russell Meade wrote about. It may be a party of only one (or two) but it's not the Demopublican Privilege Party.

3 I've been done with Bush every since he said, "A wall on the southern border? That'd cost 8 billion dollars!", then immediately supported another $40 billion for AIDS support in Africa.

AMERICA FIRST, BUSH! Stop pandering to the hispanic populace simply because mexicans are the new negroes!

That's right. I went there. Does anyone pay attention to history anymore?

4 I mean how much more does it take to give up on this bozo? Geez folks, we are $9Trilion in debt, running a $450B deficit, at an never ending war, our insurance rates have doubled, our cost for a higher education is up by 40%, we are not only disrepected around the world, we are ridiculed, there is corruption as far as we can smell.

Come on you guys! Pull your head out of your back end and smell the corruption!

5 Genuine criticism, not Kosbot crap please. I'm a principled conservative, but these are rather pathetic Democrat fabrications / talking points. Observe:

"Geez folks, we are $9Trilion in debt, running a $450B deficit, at an never ending war"

The National debt has only gone down five times since the 1940s. It is not relevant, and never was under Clinton (where it went up, up, up). We are beginning troop drawdown this year (I guess you missed that), starting with the recdcution of 30,000 starting in July. An indication of victory, not defeat.

"our insurance rates have doubled"

What insurance rates? There are literally thousands for all kinds of things. Auto, life, health (mine's gone down...), etc. Specify, and don't project hardships in your own life onto everyone else.

"our cost for a higher education is up by 40%"

Are test scores up? If yes, then it is working. If no, then it proves that spending more on the bill that Ted Kennedy wrote isn't going to fix the problem. Next.

"we are not only disrepected around the world, we are ridiculed"

Poor POOR us. Heaven forbid that not every scumsucking terrorist in the world likes the USA. Who cares, anyway? Do you walk around on eggshells to please every person in your life? What happens if you run afoul of somebody, and (gasp) they don't like you? Change yourself to accomodate them? That seems rather disingenuous, phony and juvenile. America has had enemies for its whole history. Maybe we should've just laid down and let the Brits run everything - they are wise Europeans, after all. Tell us news, not history.

"there is corruption as far as we can smell"

We? Speak for yourself. There has always been corruption in Congress - we just saw William Jefferson stash 90K in a freezer, and then refuse an FBI subopena for eight months. Allan Mollahan had to resign. Harry Reid took the same $$ from Abramoff clients that Hastert did. Throw in the Republican corruption that has actually been proven (not alleged), and you have corruption from both parties.

On the other hand, if you want higher taxes, a stunted economy, more bureaucracy and meddling in your life, more regulations, more race baiting, more pandering, more lying, then by all means vote for the Party of Clinton. If neither option is appealing, sit it out. There will be no third party victory. Good luck with the amazing alternatives.

PS - Bush isn't running in 2008, so don't worry about having to vote for him. :-)

6 John, the corruption I smell is labelled (D-Louisiana).

And I am not doen with the GOP -- not by a long shot. What I am done with a president who appears almost as adrift in terms of principles as his predecessor,

But in his defense, at least he has a personal moral compass, unlike his predecessor.

7 And as for some of John's specific criticisms, I'll echo Good Lt -- and add that it should not be the role of government to set or control insurance rates (there are actuarial tables and free-market forces that are supposed to do that) and higer education costs could be slashed if we did away with layers of excess administration (the same is true in most school districts -- I could cut the budget of our district by 15% if you let me into the admin building with a stack of pink slips).

As for being disrespected and ridiculed around the world, I'd like to point out that Fidel Castro and his Communist prison state in Cuba is highly respected. So is Red China with its religious persecution. Any number of third world piss-ant states ruled by dictators who rape their people financially and politically are also viewed as good citizens. On the other hand, the state of Israel , for decades the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, is riducled as a bad guy and targetted for extinction (and its people for extermination) by much of the world. And the US? We are expected to pay for and obey a United Nations that places the world's worst human rights violators in charge of human rights policies and can't see its way clear to enforce its own policies against any nations other than Israel and the US. My attitude towards such an international community is SCREW 'EM.

8 Rhymes,

While I'm clearly on the other side of the aisle from you, I too am troubled by Bush's interference in this case.

The article you referenced also states the Jefferson had filed a motion with the courts to have the materials locked up "to allow for full briefing and careful consideration by the court of the serious Constitutional issues and the unprecedented circumstances that give rise to this motion."

Why not let the courts decide?

9 Philip -- precisely my position on the issue. Let the branch that has the power and authority to decide on the matter of privilege do so.

10 I am less and less troubled with Bush's interference and more and more inclined to wait and see, given some of the stuff AJ Strata and macsmind are writing. There sounds like this could be a strategery for making sure the Jefferson imbroglio is kept seperate from the NSA story - 45 days brings us closer to the election for a big revelation. I know it's popular for conservatives to say "done with Bush..." and whatever - if that's what you need to do, so be it...but I think waiting and seeing might be prudent, here. :-)

11 But, sealing it also means that it will be 45 days closer tot he elections when they get all heated up about it. It will give William Jefferson, Democrat Louisiana, less time to fight before the election...

12 i think you're all overlooking an important point in this jefferson scandal. if you'll notice, most democrats are urging him to resign today. yesterday, even. we are almost unanimous on this point. he's on video taking cash. they found most of the cash in his freezer. he's done. the best he can hope for is staying out of prison.

but i know exactly what's coming here -- jefferson will be conflated with the false meme that abramoff also gave money to the dems so it's not only a republican scandal. nonsense.

abramoff would blow his own head off rather than give a dime to a democrat, and i think that republicans should be calling for the ouster of anyone with abramoff taint on them to resign today.

i think that all AMERICANS, whatever the stripe, should toss all of these crooks out in november and let the chips fall where they may. we need to let them know that we're their bosses every day, not just on election day.

to that end -- publically fund elections, provide free media access during campaign seasons (local, state, and federal), and get rid of any mechanical vote tabulators. if canada can do it by hand count, so can we. our democracy is worth it.

13 Actually, you've given us two lies in one post, dave. Good job!

1) Abramoff & his clients did give bunches of cash to Dems. It is public record. Look it up.

2) Dems called upon him only to resign from his committee seat, not from Congress. That is a big difference.

14 abramoff -- never. his clients -- some of them, sure. there is a difference.

and i'm more talking about democrats NOT in congress. i'm talking about pundits and folks on the street. we want this crap out now. on both sides of the aisle. i don't give a shit what pelosi says. i'm not going to even try to defend the democratic congressional leadership.

but it's nice to see your party finally speaking up for checks and balances. even if it's selective, it's a good start.

15 ueaz oshpv

16 zntry mwlb

17 snuab nbgcv kdlvp jdtkrpf