On Bush's Watch

The Job Title "Bitch" Should Have Been a Clue

2007-11-20T15:43:00.000-08:00

"I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

Scott McClellan, former White House Press Secretary, on his involvement in the Plamegate scandal.

"Well, Scott, that's what happens when you prostitute yourself to lying assholes. You should have known better."

Me.

Post-Katrina Floodgates Provide 9% of Protection Advertised

2007-11-17T15:09:00.001-08:00

A series of floodgates constructed post-Katrina and advertised to provide 66" (5.5ft) of flood reduction will, in fact, provide six inches of flood reduction. Less than 1/10th the amount claimed by the government and promised to local residents.

Why? Because "a minus sign was used instead of a plus sign."

Now you'd expect that a responsible government -- meaning one of the people and for the people -- would immediately sound the alarm, right?

Big surprise! They didn't.

Instead the government and contractors hired to inspect the work quietly released a report on November 7th, buried the colossal mistake in the back of the report and kept their mouths shut. It wasn't discovered until a local TV station started digging.

Very nice.

Now all the people who trusted the Army Corps of Engineers and rebuilt in that area are screwed, possibly facing higher insurance premiums and the prospect of having to sue to Army Corp of Engineers to recoup their losses and costs related to the failure.

State Department Inspector General Investigating Blackwater Caught Lying

2007-11-15T00:02:00.000-08:00

Howard Krongard, A State Department inspector general investigating Blackwater Security over the killing of seventeen Iraqi civilians, denied that his own brother was on Blackwater's advisory board. Initially, Mr. Krongard described the allegation as "ugly rumors" and insisted he "specifically asked" his brother if he was a board member for Blackwater.

Only after being presented with irrefutable proof that his brother is, in fact, on Blackwater's advisory board did the inspector general recuse himself and was quoted as saying "I am not my brother's keeper, and we do not discuss our business with each other."

...which is amusing since he claimed a scant one hour prior that he'd specifically discussed this particular business with his brother.

Mr. Krongard...

When you are investigating the possible mass murder of civilians by a company for which your brother serves in an advisory role without disclosing it, when you describe these facts as "ugly rumors" and when you swear that you know the facts when, in fact, you do not, it's immediately clear that you can't take care of your own affairs, much less his.

I wouldn't trust you to keep goldfish. Douchebag.