The Cronyism Continues…

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From Newsweek…

President Bush last week appointed nine campaign contributors, including three longtime fund-raisers, to his Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, a 16-member panel of individuals from the private sector who advise the president on the quality and effectiveness of U.S. intelligence efforts.

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The Cronyism Continues…

25 Comments

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25 Responses

  1. 2)
    des said on 11/3/2005 @ 11:29am PT: [Permalink]

    ah, so nice of you to join us, Newsweek. it has been obvious for quite some time, but better late than never, i suppose.

  2. 3)
    Savantster said on 11/3/2005 @ 11:32am PT: [Permalink]

    Well, being wealthy means they must understand how to treat others.. right? You don’t get rich by shitting on the masses and abusing your work force.. You only get to be rich by listening to others, taking ques from others, caring about what others think, being respectful, being honest, being open-minded, etc etc..

    Oh.. wait..

  3. 4)
    Dredd said on 11/3/2005 @ 11:34am PT: [Permalink]

    The dictionary defines cronyism as "Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications, as in political appointments to office".

    The "without regard for their qualifications" has been misunderestimated by the white house.

    Contributions to the political campaign is not a qualification in the free world.

  4. 5)
    yank had enuf said on 11/3/2005 @ 11:41am PT: [Permalink]

    http://www.cafepress.com/googlepnac

    "Can you please help spread this meme?
    "Project for a New American Century" is the think tank that created US government neocons. Get people Googling PNAC, and they will find out that this neocon agenda is hardly what they voted for, indeed is dangerous to American life and to the world. Write it, say it – and now WEAR this meme.
    Prices are marked very low; most profits will go to Crawford Peace House, Texas."

  5. 6)
    Phil said on 11/3/2005 @ 12:13pm PT: [Permalink]

    Wasn’t this the President that said his first priority was to keep us safe?

    Why do I feel like we are on the block at the market?

  6. 7)
    MrBlueSky said on 11/3/2005 @ 12:36pm PT: [Permalink]

    Does it occur to any of the rest of you that Bush and Co., knowing that next year’s election will be the end of their rule, are taking an "Eat Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We Die" attitude?

    Or is it just me?

  7. 8)
    des said on 11/3/2005 @ 1:19pm PT: [Permalink]

    actually, MrBlueSky (#7), i think that you may be giving them too much credit; they don’t give up that easily, not when there are still 12 months to go before the ’06 elections. can’t wait to see what political mischief they’ll think of next!

    on a related note, heaven help us as this country slides into 24/7/52 perma-campaigns.

  8. 9)
    jIM cIRILE said on 11/3/2005 @ 2:34pm PT: [Permalink]

    I know these guys are just unrepentantly Evil to the core, and simply can’t EVER do the right thening, ever, not even once, about anything.

    But sheesh, people are looking now. Paying attention. Shouldn’t they at least TRY to appoint a handful of qualified folks even if only to fire them later? That’s what they did that first term. Oh, yeah, but look where that got them. Yep, only loyalists.

    Amazing.

  9. 10)
    Robert Lockwood Mills said on 11/3/2005 @ 2:50pm PT: [Permalink]

    Bush has a Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board?

    That’s an oxymoron, considering he doesn’t trust foreigners, isn’t intelligent himself and uses bad intelligence to do unintelligent things, and doesn’t take advice except from people who tell him what he wants to hear.

  10. 12)
    MMIIXX said on 11/3/2005 @ 3:43pm PT: [Permalink]

    are ya feeling safe yet ?

    australia is bringing in new anti terror laws ,england already has and the u.s. started the trend and not one of these new laws would have prevented 911 WTF is happening .
    did the collective human IQ drop since 2000 ?

    BTW Nepotism is a relative advantage ,do you thing the idiot son would have gained the POTUS position if it wasn’t for dad ,stolen results or not .So cronyism is a natural progression ,surely.

  11. 13)
    MMIIXX said on 11/3/2005 @ 3:56pm PT: [Permalink]

    wait till 2012 jeb for prez, neil vp ,w drunk ,h in charge of CIA ,laura sec of state and the twins head the DOD and DOJ .then revoke term limit…then move the capital to Jupiter Island…

  12. 14)
    MMIIXX said on 11/3/2005 @ 4:13pm PT: [Permalink]

    In two Ohio precincts, even if all voters who did not complete exit polls had voted for Bush, the total Bush vote count would have been less than the official count. In a third precinct, all voters who did not complete exit polls would have had to vote for Bush to equal the official count. Unless Bush voters lied much more than Kerry voters on exit polls, or massive exit poll error occurred that was not detected by the pollsters, the results are mathematically impossible.
    The Gun is Smoking: Ohio Exit Poll Data Provides Virtually Irrefutable Evidence of Vote Miscount

  13. 15)
    big dan said on 11/3/2005 @ 5:38pm PT: [Permalink]

    Well, all I can say, is that the saddest thing of all are the rightwingers STILL making excuses for Bush and backing him. Don’t they care about this country??? What the fuck is wrong with them? They are blind-loyal idiots!!! This is why we’re screwing up in Iraq, screwing up hurricane relief, etc…because Bush appoints cronies, not qualified people. THIS…is what the rightwingers want???

  14. 16)
    big dan said on 11/3/2005 @ 5:41pm PT: [Permalink]

    Well, all I can say, is that the saddest thing of all are the rightwingers STILL making excuses for Bush and backing him. Don’t they care about this country??? What the fuck is wrong with them? They are blind-loyal idiots!!! This is why we’re screwing up in Iraq, screwing up hurricane relief, etc…because Bush appoints cronies, not qualified people. THIS…is what the rightwingers want???

  15. 17)
    NonyNony said on 11/3/2005 @ 5:43pm PT: [Permalink]

    Remember how much the Republicans pointed fingers and screamed about Clinton letting campaign contributors sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom?

    Seems kind of quaint now. I wonder how much you have to give to be able to set up your own foreign trade agreements?

  16. 18)
    big dan said on 11/3/2005 @ 5:47pm PT: [Permalink]

    Did everyone read comment #14’s smoking gun? Brad, you out to start a new topic on that. That is a blockbuster.

    Oh, I forgot to mention, Bush’s cronies had a good plan during 9/11: they let the planes fly around and hit things. While Bush read a fucking children’s book, and had a reaction that is consistent with someone who had inside information. I know that if I was reading a children’s book and someone whispered in my ear that terrorists just ran planes into my house, I’d continue to read the children’s book…but throw in an inbred-retarded look after hearing the news. But, I’d just sit there and continue to read the book. These are the actions rightwingers justify.

  17. 19)
    big dan said on 11/3/2005 @ 5:55pm PT: [Permalink]

    MMIIXX: I thought when I hit that PDF for that NEDA smoking gun, it said they withdrew their analysis. Is that correct?

  18. 22)
    Robert Lockwood Mills said on 11/4/2005 @ 5:42am PT: [Permalink]

    For MMIIXX: I smell a rat here. It’s certainly proper to admit a mistake. But for a matter this important, to say "We lack the resources to (fix it)" doesn’t ring true.

    I’d contribute to a fund to complete the analysis using proper methods. So would half the people on bradblog, I’d bet. There are hundreds of wealthy progressives out there who could fund it alone.

    This is just propaganda for those who belittle us as "conspiracy theorists" and "sore losers." I have a hunch Karl Rove or one of his disciples had a hand in this. Fortunately, the G.A.O. report (still a well-kept secret by the mainstream media) debunks the "conspiracy theorist" myth once and for all.

  19. 23)
    merifour said on 11/4/2005 @ 7:31am PT: [Permalink]

    #13 MMIIXX I have relatives all over the South Pacific, my mother having come from that area. I have many cousins there, most have visited here, always with excited anticipation that they were coming to this "Wonderful Country". My last visit was with a cousin who believed that bush was a good guy. That was in 2000. I was so astonished and wondered why on earth he would conclude that. I was vocal about my dislike for him and the stolen election. I was further amazed when I saw the list of the "countries that joined bush on this crusade".

    I sincerely hope the people in NZ, Australia, Fiji, are not on the same page as their governments. I don’t even want to think the rest of my relatives are happy about what the USA has done to us and them. I am so ashamed of this regime and hesitate to even speak about it to them. Isn’ t that sad. M4

  20. 24)
    jIMcIRILE said on 11/4/2005 @ 8:38am PT: [Permalink]

    Exit polls: We all know about the data. Back in May that uscountvotes.org study came out saying there was a 1 in 957,000 chance Bush won legitimately based on the exit polls. I sent that data to every major newspaper and magazine editor and never heard back shit.

    So the fact that we know something is bogus doesn’t mean diddly if the press is in bed with the NeoCons. That also explains why there has been no press analysis of the bullshit 9-11 story. And even worse, soon Knight Ridder may be bought out by a Republican-controlled entity. So lest anyone think we’re out of the woods, we most certainly are NOT.

  21. 25)
    Dredd said on 11/5/2005 @ 5:52am PT: [Permalink]

    As to cronyism

    Rove was asked: "Why do officials in the white house marry their first cousins?"

    Rove replied: "Because all of the close relatives were already married?"

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