by Mark Silva
Stephen Colbert has fun at other people's expense each night with "Tonight's Word.''
The word one night this week: "Powerless.''
He drew it from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino's recent response when asked how the president explains, at the seventh anniversary of 9/11, the failure to find Osama bin Laden.
"There are human limitations,'' Perino replied. "We don't have super-powers.''
Good point, said Comedy Central's Colbert, host of The Colbert Report -noting that the Republicans wish that Bush were "invisible.'' He doesn't have super-powers, Colbert said, "just extraordinary ordinary powers'' like unfetered war powers, executive privilege and signing statements that override the law.
"Get off the president's case,'' Colbert concluded. "We now know that Bush hasn't failed to catch bin Laden because of errors in judgement or policy decisions...
"It is bcause he doesn't have super-powers, and he has never claimed to be anything but a human being - chosen by God to fight an axis of evil and defeat a mortal danger to all humanity.''
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Comments
I am cracking up!
He looks dumb but he's not. Our troops paid the price. Nobody even cares about Bin Laden. Bush has the misdirection of David Blaine. And he is laughing all the way to the bank on this one.
Posted by: Keith Lifetime Chicagoan and Southsider | September 19, 2008 3:47 PM
I just saw a flying pig at http://www.boppoll.com. I think Bush does have super-powers when it comes to being invisible during this campaign. Neat trick that seems to be helping JM. Team Obama, McCain's number on the meter is still below 800,000. Was that lipstick on a......
Posted by: mgultch | September 19, 2008 3:58 PM
Nice try but in case you didn't notice, it was Bush who was pulling the strings to rescue the nation this week from the financial crisis created by Democrats Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Obama advisers Raines and Johnson at Fannie and Freddie. Frank and Dodd got favorable loans plus big contributions; Obama got huge campaign funds, and Raines and Johnson got millions of bucks. Bush through Treasury Sec Paulson just rescued the nation's economy, in case you missed the news on the Trib front page. Think this was bad, it would be nothing compared to having Obama in the White House.
Posted by: Derrick | September 19, 2008 4:47 PM
Didn't take derrick (bruce) long to find his scapegoats. Doesn't matter that the party that controlled the congress, the presidency, or both for 26 of the past 28 years has been telling us how great laissez-faire economics and deficit spending were. Now Bush is the great savior? Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.
Posted by: dt | September 19, 2008 6:13 PM
"Didn't take derrick (bruce) long to find his scapegoats."
Posted by: dt | September 19, 2008 6:13 PM
#
Nutjob, so how many posters do you think are actually Bruce in disguise? 10? 20? 50? Just curious.
Posted by: By the way, I'm not Bruce | September 19, 2008 9:53 PM
derrick-
10 would be a conservative guess. You can put the gun away now. And, "nut-job", yeah , if not wanting to vote for failed Republican policies for 4 more years makes me a nut, I'll wear the label proudly. BTW, Raines is not an Obama advisor.
CLAIM: John McCain co-sponsored a bill to address Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
VERDICT: True
Chuck Hagel's Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act
Cosponsored by Sen Elizabeth Dole, Sen John McCain, Sen John Sununu
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190
==================================================
CLAIM: Democrats shot that bill down.
VERDICT: FALSE
1) It was never voted on. 2) Republicans had a majority in the 109th Congress.
Chuck Hagel's Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act
Status: Introduce Jan 26, 2005. NEVER voted on
ALL ACTIONS:
1/26/2005: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S599-600)
1/26/2005: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
7/28/2005: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00190:@@@X
ALSO TAKE NOTE:
January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, the 109th United States Congress had a REPUBLICAN majority:
SENATE: 55% Republican, 44% Democrat, 1% Independent
HOUSE: 53% Republican, 47% Democrat
Doesn't sound like the democrats blocked anything.
=================================================
CLAIM: Sen Obama "profited from this system of abuse and scandal."
VERDICT: Misleading.
"The New York Times has published a separate list looking at contributions from "directors, officers, and lobbyists for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac" for the 2008 campaign cycle. That list — using figures from the Federal Election Commission — shows McCain receiving $169,000, while Obama received only $16,000.
Posted by: dt | September 20, 2008 6:15 PM