"People are sick of this Bush-bashing stuff."
-- Right-wing activist Mary Matalin, 4/13/08


"President Bush's job approval rating, at 28%, is the worst of his administration. It's just 4 points above Richard Nixon's lowest rating and 6 points above the all-time lowest approval rating in Gallup history, 22% for Harry Truman back in 1952."
-- USA Today, 4/11/08

Also of recent interest:

A scandal of misinformation in high-school texts by right-wing distortions.

And: "ADMINISTRATION -- IRAQI PARLIAMENT WILL VOTE ON LONG-TERM AGREEMENT, BUT CONGRESS CANNOT: Last year, President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a "Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship," which could help clear the way for the erection of permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters yesterday that the Iraqi parliament will vote on the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): "There isn't any hidden agenda here. This agreement will be transparent, it has to be presented to the representatives of the Iraqi people, the parliament, to ratify it," Zebari said. ButÊlast week, Amb. Ryan Crocker told the Senate that the SOFA was written within the United States as an "executive agreement," not requiring Senate approval, as traditional treaties do. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino confirmed the framework, suggesting that the White House "can't submit it to Congress," even though presidents in the past, including Ronald Reagan, have asked for congressional approval of SOFAs. Zebari said that parliamentary debate over the agreement would be "for Iraq's good," adding, "We need that continued engagement."


IRAQ -- CHENEY FALSELY CLAIMS AL QAEDA WILL 'ACQUIRE CONTROL' OF IRAQ'S OIL RESOURCES IF U.S. WITHDRAWS:Ê Last Thursday, Vice President Cheney appeared on Sean Hannity's radio show and fear-mongered about the consequences of withdrawing from Iraq. "[I]f al Qaeda were to take over big parts of Iraq, among other things, they would acquire control of a significant oil resource," he told Hannity. This claim appears to be emerging as an administration talking point about the dangers of withdrawal. On March 19, President Bush also warned that out of "chaos in Iraq" could emerge an "emboldened al Qaeda with access to IraqÕs oil resources." In reality, however, it's highly unlikely that al Qaeda would take control of Iraq's oil if the United States redeployed. First, the vast majority of Iraqis are Shi'ites, who want little to do with a fringe Sunni group like al Qaeda. Second, 70 percent of the country's oil is in southern Iraq -- e.g. Basra -- where there are strong Shi'ite strongholds.ÊDespite Cheney and Bush's claims, U.S. withdrawal would not mean that al Qaeda would suddenly be able to defeat at least three different powerful Shi'ite militias (Mahdi Army, Badr Organization, and Fadhila's gangs) to seize control over Iraq's oil."