Sidney Blumenthal documents a lethal case for Dear Leader's bum year, yet omits mentioning Scooter, Fitzgerald, Wilson, Plame, De Lay, Abramoff and Frist. All of these players are capable of inflicting something more than collateral damage on the threadless emperor. No mention either of the Monkey King, as self appointed All American Spymaster. Guess Mr. B. had to save some of the good stuff for next year's "Impeachment Special" review.

I usually enjoy Mr. Blumenthal's articles. This one however seemed rushed and half-heartedly put together. The title promises much more than is delivered, this is just a cursory litany of Bush's problems which regular Salon readers are probably more than familiar with. I do appreciate weaving together the events with context and giving the perspective of time, I just wish there was more to this meal. One page to cover the year in politics? Salon did say there would be light posting til Jan 2.

Dear Mr Blumenthal:

Why isn't something being done? He steals the first election, so what do we do? Re-elect him for a second term. He lied about Iraq, so what do we do? We allow him to send our children to war, to kill, to die. And then he ships their bodies home in cargo holds. And he never goes to their funerals nor does he allow them to be shown on TV. He commits a truly impeachable offense (as if voter fraud isn't enough) allowing wiretaps, unchecked, unauthorized, illegal. What do we do? His approval rating goes up. We allow him and Dick Cheney - the most despicable person to walk the earth - to castigate us for simply telling the truth.

Something is really wrong here.

Bush has painted his presidency into a corner.

He can't leave Iraq and he can't win in Iraq.

He can't raise taxes or cut spending.

He can't change himself or get rid of Rove or Cheney.

The rest of his presidency will just be a series of frantic rattlings in his self-made cage.

This isn't to say he won't be dangerous. In fact he may become more dangerous.

It was a good read, but short. I got to the bottom and was looking for the 'next page' link.

"The Year in Politics" can be dispensed with in 10 paragraphs? That's not even one paragraph per month!

So, you hate Bush. Big deal. The same "cataclysm of disastrous disasters" could have been pinned on any of the last 10 presidents. How about some solutions, Mr. Blumenthal (viable, not laughable). How about some solutions that don't involve me paying for them.

It's is a good thing that you don't care whether I respect you or not. You are every millimeter as warped as the politicians you write about.

Poco

After this litany of problems, he only lost 9 percentage points of approval over the course of the year, and his approval rating is improving again (more than 5 points off its lows).

Quote: "After this litany of problems..."

Litany? Litany? Had this been the Clinton presidency, the article could have been 20 pages long, and left tons of material on the table. Don't get me wrong, I think Bush is just as corrupt as all the other politicians, and he's so doofy, he can't string three words together without a long pause...

But litany? I think not. Open your eyes and stare at reality for a while. There are a lot of reasons why the mindless electorate likes Bush. Not the least of which is that he appears to have some kind of primordial spine when it comes to facing an enemy (even if it is a make-believe enemy). Remeber when Isreal used to put the smack-down on anyone that threatened them? That's what the good ole' votin' boys like. Remember (oh, what short term memories we have) the days follwing 9/11. The country was furious, and said "you better smack someone, anyone. And make it quick!" The one thing I can say for Bush, is that for a few minutes, I had the same respect for him that I used to have for Israel.

Poco

I find the letters that claim Blumentahl must "hate" Bush to write such an article to be disingenuous, inarticulate, and obviously unaware.

This article sets forth the failures of the Bush Administration during the past year. The fact that these particular items are failures is not to be debated. They are, pure and simple, the failures of a president who is not interested in the welfare of the country he governs.

There is no "hatred" here - rather, Sid Blumenthal is merely applying Justice Holmes famous prescription for "Fresh Air & Sunshine". A prescription this corrupt and criminal administration badly needs to counter its paranoid obsession with secrecy.

Where's bin Laden?

For 2006:

Elect Democrats or progressive Independents and take over the House and Senate.

Repeal the Patriot Act or come up with one that ACTUALLY works.

Repeal these silly give-aways for the ultra rich and ultra rich corporations.

Tax the shit out of these oligarchs who've made tens of billions of dollars gouging the public for the price of gasoline and heating oil, OR make them contribute to those whose heating bills went through the roof this winter.

Indict Karl Rove.

Block Sam Alito's march to the Supreme Court by any means necessary. This man is just the kind of extremist the president likes and the rest of us should fear.

Let's see. What else?

Oh yes.

Investigate the charges that the president broke the law by ordering secret surveillance on US citizens without a warrant.

Investigate fully what role the president and vice president played in the outing of a CIA agent in order to discredit a man for questioning the claims for war in Iraq.

Indict Bill Frist on charges of insider trading.

Agree on a timetable for withdrawal of forces from Iraq. I'd like them out immediately or soon thereafter, but I am willing to accept consensus around this.

And finally...

Hold the president accountable for his crimes and approve articles of impeachment against him, the vice president, and any other co-conspirator.

Failing that, at the very least, make George W. Bush and his insane "imperial presidency" irrelevant for the next 2 years.

And you'll notice I didn't even mention pro-choice issues, civil rights issues, or other so-called "wedge issues" that seem to be dividing us right now. We can't really address those until we deal with the corruption in our midst.

Yes, this will sound like liberal blathering, but it would be nice to actually see our elected leaders DO THE RIGHT THING instead of the politically expedient thing.

This should keep us all busy for a while. Let's get to work.