Bush Keeps Playing the 9/11 Trump Card - And, America is Slowly Realizing He Is a Crappy Bluffer

You can almost hear Karl Rove in Bush's brain saying, "Stay On Message".

We don't know what's worse... that Bush is using the 9/11 trump card, or the American publics rather slow realization of said trump card.

Link: ABC News: Bush Criticized for Linking 9/11 and Iraq.

"The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001," Bush told a national television audience and 750 soldiers and airmen in dress uniform who mostly listened quietly as they had been asked to do.

"Iraq is the latest battlefield in this war," he continued.

Bush said he understands the public concerns about a 27-month-old war that has killed more than 1,700 Americans and 12,000 Iraqi civilians and cost $200 billion. But he argued that the sacrifice "is worth it."

"We fight today because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand. So we will fight them there, we will fight them across the world and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won."

John Kerry in NYT: "Our troops deserve leadership equal to their sacrifice"

Link: The Speech the President Should Give - New York Times.

The reality is that the Bush administration's choices have made Iraq into what it wasn't before the war - a breeding ground for jihadists. Today there are 16,000 to 20,000 jihadists and the number is growing. The administration has put itself - and, tragically, our troops, who pay the price every day - in a box of its own making. Getting out of this box won't be easy, but we owe it to our soldiers to make our best effort.

From Memos, Insights Into Ally's Doubts On Iraq War

Jack Straw tried to warn Tony Blair...

Link: From Memos, Insights Into Ally's Doubts On Iraq War.

In the spring of 2002, two weeks before British Prime Minister Tony Blair journeyed to Crawford, Tex., to meet with President Bush at his ranch about the escalating confrontation with Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw sounded a prescient warning."The rewards from your visit to Crawford will be few," Straw wrote in a March 25 memo to Blair stamped "Secret and Personal." "The risks are high, both for you and for the Government."

ABC News: Court: No Ten Commandments in Courthouses

Thank God... so to speak.

Link: ABC News: Court: No Ten Commandments in Courthouses.

A split Supreme Court struck down Ten Commandments displays in courthouses Monday, ruling that two exhibits in Kentucky cross the line between separation of church and state because they promote a religious message.

ABC News: Court: No Ten Commandments in Courthouses

Thank God... so to speak.

Link: ABC News: Court: No Ten Commandments in Courthouses.

A split Supreme Court struck down Ten Commandments displays in courthouses Monday, ruling that two exhibits in Kentucky cross the line between separation of church and state because they promote a religious message.

Jeb Bush in lock-step w/bro W

Link: Wired News: Gov. Bush Eschews Stem Cells.

"I think taking of human life to create life is a huge contradiction morally," Bush said. "But ... there are other really bright people in this issue who share that view who are trying to find an alternative that would not retard the advancement of science."

Can you believe this guy? Merely days after talking about Terry Schiavo, he uses the word retard?

I'm outraged... must... call... for... prayer... group.

Abramoff drags down that Nut-Job Ralph Reed in to the same cesspool they both have been bred in.

Link: Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds.

Material released yesterday also appeared to undermine assertions by former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed, now a candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor.Reed has acknowledged receiving $4 million from Abramoff and Scanlon to run anti-gambling campaigns in the South. Reed has said he did not know where the funds were coming from, but e-mails suggest that he was aware that some of the money he was getting came from the casino-rich Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

ABP EXCLUSIVE: The Next Terrorist Bombings In Iraq

With out any hesitancy, and careful analysis of the terrain, along with the terrorist belief system, we here at the ABP have concluded where the next bombings will be in Iraq.... read on...

Link: Evangelicals Building a Base in Iraq.

With arms outstretched, the congregation at National Evangelical Baptist Church belted out a praise hymn backed up by drums, electric guitar and keyboard. In the corner, slide images of Jesus filled a large screen. A simple white cross of wood adorned the stage, and worshipers sprinkled the pastor's Bible-based sermon with approving shouts of "Ameen!"National is Iraq's first Baptist congregation and one of at least seven new Christian evangelical churches established in Baghdad in the past two years. Its Sunday afternoon service, in a building behind a house on a quiet street, draws a couple of hundred worshipers who like the lively music and focus on the Bible.

Massachusetts Democrat calls for Tomlinson to quit

Rep. Markey wins the Rep of the Week award!

Link: Massachusetts Democrat calls for Tomlinson to quit.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member of a House panel on telecommunications, called at a rally yesterday in support of public broadcasting for the resignation of Kenneth Tomlinson. %u201CIn his zeal to impose his own view of %u2018political balance,%u2019%u201D said Markey, %u201CKen Tomlinson has lost sight of his core mission %u2014 to protect the children%u2019s-television network of the Public Broadcasting System of America. And he should resign from his position as the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting%u201D (CPB).

Ahnold below 40% in polls

Link: Schwarzenegger's popularity plunges to new low over referendum: poll.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity has plunged to its lowest point following his decision to call a referendum to ram through disputed reforms, a poll showed. A survey conducted by the non-partisan Field Poll showed the action movie hero's once-towering approval rating among registered voters had plunged to 37 percent, compared with a high of 65 percent in September 2004.