Bad week in Bush World

Well first things first, I did go down to the Oregon Coast yesterday and I did promise you a picture. Well here it is. The weather was beautiful if you ignored the 40 mph east wind which made in impossible to even get out of the car. (click on picture for larger image)
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And now for the business. Although I have given up on the Cheney/Bush crime organization ever being held accountable for their multiple atrocities it was good to see more of their lies, deceptions and outright incompetence exposed this week. As Jazz reported Cheney Authorized Libby to Leak Classified Information, that's what Libby has told Fitzgerald and apparently King George knew Jack Abramoff a little better than he would like you to believe.

Apparently one high ranking CIA official, Paul R. Pillar, is faulting the use of intelligence on Iraq.

The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence and chaos after an invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade.

Pillar's entire assessment can be found in Foreign Affairs. It's a long read but it's nice to hear what we a suspected all along form an insider who was there.

The of course Michael (you're doing a great job Brownie) Brown decided he didn't want to be the fall guy after all.

Former federal disaster chief Michael Brown, the face of the government’s listless response to Hurricane Katrina, said Friday he told top Bush administration officials the day the storm howled ashore of massive flooding in New Orleans and warned “we were realizing our worst nightmare.”

More defiant than defensive, Brown told senators he dealt directly with White House officials the day of the Aug. 29 storm, including chief of staff Andrew Card and deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin.

He also said officials from the Department of Homeland Security were getting regular briefings that day. Administration officials have said they did not realize the severe damage Katrina had caused until after the storm had passed.

On the Senate NSA spying investigation Abu Gonzales did more harm than good and turned the event into a bi-partisan outrage.

It should come as no surprise that King George's SOTU message did not improve is approval ratings. If the democrats should suddenly decide they might like to come up with some policy alternatives to Bush World the Gallup Poll had some dandy suggestions.

• Energy policy: approve; 30%, disapprove; 61%
• The situation in Iraq: approve; 38%, disapprove; 59%
• Healthcare policy: approve; 27%, disapprove; 64%

But of course the Bush/Cheney cabal will not be held accountable and the Democrats won't come up with a coherent policy so life will continue it's sharp descent.