Jack & Jill Politics

The GOP would like to lay the blame for the jacked up economy, the wars, the economic bailouts of incompetent CEOs and the piss-poor global reputation of America at Obama’s feet by saying shyt like this:

You guys [Team Obama] own the economy at 12 o’clock eastern time today, correct? When Senator Obama announces his Treasury Secretary, announces the Larry Summers position. It is now Barack Obama’s responsibility on the economy, is that not correct?

No, jackass, the economy, and everything ELSE is still George Bush’s Eff-Up until January 20, 2009.  What, Obama isn’t supposed to be assembling a team of economic advisors to come up with a game plan until he’s actually sworn in?  Obama knows the only day he gets to savor and celebrate his accomplishment is JANUARY 20, 2009.  On January 21, 2009, at probably 7:00am, he will have to hit the ground running, or else the same pundits like Joe Scar will say Obama’s slacking on the job.  Never mind it would be his first day in office.

This is one time Chuck Todd needed to blow this pronouncement out his ass, but, he’s doing what he’s paid to do – start framing the “Blame Obama” meme.  Just like nothing on Dubya’s watch was actually his fault – hell, he kept trying to blame Bill Clinton for shyt until 2007.

However, Bush can do something about the economy, but is refusing to do so unless he gets his own way.  How well has stomping his foot like a five-year old worked for this country? Has anyone reminded him that he’s a Lame-Duck POTUS with no relevancy at all, except for pardoning criminals on his way out the door?

Mr. Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Mr. Bush has long fought, people familiar with the discussion said.

The Bush administration, which has presided over a major intervention in the financial industry, has balked at allowing the automakers to tap into the $700 billion bailout fund, despite warnings last week that General Motors might not survive the year.

Mr. Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders say the bailout law authorizes the administration to extend assistance.

Chuck Todd, Joe Scarborough and other GOP talking heads can GTHOH with that one.  I know a damned pattern when I see one.

That pattern is one of the GOP blaming everyone else for the major-league Eff-Ups they caused during the time they were in power, while leaving the shyt for someone else to clean up – and then blame them for the clean-up to take back power. And now, they’re trying to engage in framing the “Blame Obama” meme when shyt gets WORSE after Mr. Obama’s sworn into office in January. During this time of inward reflection by the GOP, I am calling them out to accept the truth that:

• They had control of Capitol Hill for nearly 14 years (some of you will insist it was twelve, but honestly, the repeated cave-ins of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi really made it seem longer than twelve years) and managed to start two wars, turn a surplus into a DEFICIT, and hijack what remained of credible journalists so we, the public, couldn’t notice just how big an Eff-Up the government and the country really is in.
• We saw oil prices jump from $50-60 dollars a barrel to close to $150 a barrel.  Then Obama wins the election, and suddenly, I’m seeing $1.90 a gallon gas at my local station, which makes me feel like I did during the rolling blackouts in California in 2001.  Then, I saw my energy bill jump from $60 one month; the very next month it jumped to $600 for the month, and my energy usage had NOT CHANGED.  I felt ripped-off then and I feel ripped off NOW.
• WALL STREET Bailouts.  Auto Industry Bailouts.  Yet the incompetent CEOs in these industries get to take home eight and nine-figure bonuses for failing to perform their job duties, while a hard-working brotha named Jdimytai Damour got trampled in a Wal-Mart stampede that I’m sure netted CEO Lee Scott more profit at the loss of one’s life.

What I’d like to know is how the hell can you blame Obama for this shythole and he hasn’t even taken office yet? Yet, Dubya has a pattern of royally Effing Up in running businesses, but the Traditional Media traditionally and conveniently ignores this pattern…the one of George Bush, that is.

It turned out his extensive family and social connections were as important as what he learned at Harvard, helping him stay afloat at crucial moments and eventually become a multimillionaire.

But now the way that George W. Bush used those connections is causing him political problems that could affect his credibility. His critics say that Bush’s business dealings before he became president form a pattern of questionable transactions that should be subject to new scrutiny in light of his calls for corporate responsibility.

Or this:

It was in 1975 that Bush, flush with a $20,000 family gift to get his start in business, left Cambridge and drove his Oldsmobile straight to Midland, Texas, where he hoped to emulate his father’s success in the oil business. By 1979, after a failed bid for a US House seat representing Midland, Bush had focused his efforts on an oil company he had formed named Arbusto, the Spanish word for Bush.

The company’s drilling strategy seemed flawed, and the firm seemed destined for bankruptcy until Bush got help from his uncle, Jonathan Bush, and reestablished Arbusto as an investment company that specialized in oilfield tax write-offs. Many of the investors were members of the Bush family and friends. Still, Arbusto was never prosperous, and a subsequent company, called Bush Exploration Co., did not attract enough investors to succeed financially. Bush Exploration was acquired by a company called Spectrum 7, which kept Bush on board as an executive. But that company too ran into difficulties in the mid-1980s when oil prices plunged.

Forget diversity and reaching out to people of ethnicity to rebuild the party.  The GOP has to own its own bullshyt first, and if Chuck Todd’s pronouncements are any indication, the GOP continues to deeply drink at the river of DENIAL.

Back to work, JJP readers.  Open for discussion, but with a challenge; name the Eff-UPs of the GOP from 1994 until NOW.  Yes, you can include Bill Clinton’s policies – NAFTA and CAFTA only laid down the foundation for Bush to push through Trade Agreements that benefit no one but the powers that be.