because he is not the threat of the week.
Bush keeps changing the threats to the US to cover up his & Cheney's lies. On top of that, this gives more money to different government agencies and corporations to fight these new threats.
When will this madness stop?
Pretty soon everyone will trust no-one and the North American societies will fear everyone else.
Compare the EU responses to threats to the US responses.
Everywhere we look is a threat and there is no discussion. (Thank you Bush and Company.)
In the EU they look and talk and have discussions and slowly (sometimes very slowly), there is progress. Except when Bush and Co. is involved.
Go figure.

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

...in the fullness of time (and lost or secret documentation that might prove otherwise), to a new 9/11 conspiracy theory....

That being: Bush, or administration functionaries, colluded with Osama with the aim of seizing power in the American government. 9/11 was the major act of terror to frighten the American people and Congress, turning them into scared children that the Great Father could step before and announce that he'll be their Protector.
************************
(I don't for a minute believe this. My imagination, though, sees this as a possible future outcome. Count on it being brought up elsewhere by people who might actually believe it.)

-5.75,-4.05 "The invisible hand of Adam Smith seems to offer an extended middle finger to an awful lot of people"---George Carlin

...with his thumb in a big, ugly dike.

That may sound bad, but it's nothing compared to the toxic, stinking mess that sleazy Bush got us into.

"Death before being dishonored any more." - Col. Ted Westhusing

You got it wrong. He is the decider!

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

I agree with all that you said, but the issue is that the American people have allowed a small, insecure, waste of skin and space man to take over our country and its foreign policy. It is ultimately our fault and our responsibility. Yes, neither you nor I voted for him, but if we have any sense of national cohesion or responsibility then none of us can refuse to accept part of the blame.

By example this: Did any of us lie down in the street in front of cars or tanks to protest what we KNEW were falsehoods put forward by OUR government? Have any of us risked our lives or security or families to work against what we have all KNOWN to be bullshit reasons for OUR gov to kill upwards of 60,000 noncombatants in Iraq? We have no MLK or Ghandi who is willing to stand up to speak the truth, only we who lurk in the blogosphere do so, and only haltingly so because of our fear of NSA surveilance. The American people have no impetus to complain, we are fat, drunken or stoned or too involved in screwing someone to make money, and happy to not be bothered.

I am pretty effing disgusted with our entire nation, starting with myself, because we have been silently aiding and abetting this abortion of a government by not being brave enough to die or be imprisoned for making a stink by speaking the truth in such a way that people can't ignore it. I suspect our forefathers would sneer at us and tell us we deserve what we have reaped.

Not upset at you, just sick to death of what I see in America today...S

"I beseech you in the bowels of christ think it possible you may be mistaken."

You put it right on the head.
You get what you vote for!
Check out the meaning of Fascism.
The US is now a fascist state.
By the way, so is Canada!
And they (Bush & CO) call everyone else fascists.
If you tell everyone else they are wrong, you are just like the terrorists.
Check out: www.bendib.com/

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

you're right....he's the great Decider....all bow before the Decider!!

ScottM....While I sympathise with your disgust, I personally tend to go more with a quote from Lazarus Long: (top paraphrase) "Some men have said that it's better to be a dead lion than a live jackal. I've always thought it's better to be a live lion....and usually easier" ....yeah, poor quote, but I think you get the idea.

I'll wait for the right moment to make the move. It makes good reading, hearing of those who stood before the tanks, but in the end, *they died*. I prefer to live, find the right time to make my move, then make the change. It might take years, but if I can survive, I'll get 'em in the end.

That's the way I see MLK and Ghandi fighting their battles. Beat the opposition (mostly) within the system, by turning the game against those who made the rules. you might have to go outside the rules once in a while, but if you're sure in your cause, you won't let a few losses deter you....keep turning the game around, and one day you'll be surprised that your game is starting to win....right?

-5.75,-4.05 "The invisible hand of Adam Smith seems to offer an extended middle finger to an awful lot of people"---George Carlin

How I heard your comment. Translated into English.
I would rather be a King in Shitland than a shit in Kingland.
Same difference!

_{repressive governments mix administrative clumsiness & inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.}

For a lot of months now, on various threads and in different forums, all of us here have been saying essentially the same thing. And, as has been pointed out above, we've let it happen. Has the jugggernaut become too large to stop? Is there anyone out there who can throw a broomstick in the spokes of this machine?

Yeah we all hate it, yes we know what wretches run our country, but y'know, pessimistic me thinks that unless some tectonic change takes place, the 2008 election is going to exactly mirror the 2000 and 2004 events--and their results.

My late father used to say that we get the government we deserve. I used to say "bullshit." Now I'm wondering.

"Lord! What fools these Mortals be!"

Every time a great piece of writing like Olberman's comes out, I hope that it will resonate loud and long outside the left-wing blogosphere. It doesn't. That a coherent and comprehensive summary and assessment like his--and like many that have been posted here and elswehere--hits the wall and dies 24 hours later is symptomatic of the Big Problem.

"Lord! What fools these Mortals be!"

Word of suspicious activity that would lead to the impending 9/11 attack was in the intelligence pipeline and passed up the chain. Someone sat on it. I believe it will eventually come out that it was Cheney. He and Rummy have been biding their time for decades and finally they were able to play GW, who is really just kind of a waste of time (as noted by Scott).
I was plesantly surprised by the reference of Lazarus Long. I have long said that one should never trust anyone who has not paid their dues reading the essentials of science fiction (Heinlein, Asimov, Clark, Herbert, Pournell, Niven, a few others) as otherwise the person has insufficient background to understand the present unfolding of events.
We can take some comfort in the fact that GW Bush was looking very uncomfortable at the press conference, today, with the president(?) of South Korea. GW failed as a manager in all of his businesses prior to entering politics. The businesses were good, but going downhill under his leadership. In each case a friend of his fathers showed up to buy the business, probably paid a little more than it was worth out of respect for GHW Bush, and then led the business back to effectiveness and profit. GW sitting there today looked to be thinking of all of his father's friends that he might call on to bail him out and fully realizing that there was no way out this time. Cheney and Rummy, two father figures who showed up to help him reshape the nation, have led him down the rosey path of delusion to self-destruction.
Now the bill where he wanted to be able to set aside part of the Geneva Convention has been scuttled in committee and a different version will be sent forward. Key Republicans participated. We can watch with satisfaction as more and more Republicans abandon ship until GW is left with just the hard core of old Southern hard liners and suffering more and more isolation. If the majority in the House becomes Democratic, talk of impeachment is sure to follow. When that happens, there may well be several hundred individuals in deep envy of Bill Clinton wishing that their transgression could have been only a blow job.

Channing
Ventura CA USA

I'm sure that they agree in Halliburton and in a couple of oil companies.

-- Happy fishing in ocean of noise!