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George W. Bush Tone-Polices America, Pentagon Investigating Niger Ambush, Google Invests in Lyft: P.M. Links

Scott Shackford | 10.19.2017 4:30 PM

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  • President George W. Bush
    Dennis Brack - Pool via CNP/Newscom

    Former President George W. Bush spoke out against the direction American democracy has turned to under President Donald Trump, saying, "Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children." He did not, however, directly reference Trump.

  • Trump, on Twitter, suggested this morning that the FBI, the Democrats, and the Russians may all be colluding on distributing that "Steele Dossier" that alleged ties between him and the Russian government.
  • John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff (and a retired general whose son was killed in Afghanistan), has come to Trump's defense over how the president spoke to the widow of a Green Beret killed in Niger.
  • The Pentagon has launched a formal investigation into the circumstances of that ambush in Niger that ended in the deaths of four Green Berets
  • Trump also sat down with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosello and gave his own federal team a rating of 10 in how they responded to hurricane damage.
  • Crowds with various loudly expressed opinions on things (including police) have gathered at the University of Florida in Gainesville for white nationalist Richard Spencer's speech.
  • Ohio Republican Lawmaker Rep. Pat Tiberi is resigning from office come January.
  • Alphabet, Google's parent company, has just invested $1 billion in financing in ridesharing company Lyft. On its blog, Lyft notes that their services are now available to 95 percent of the American population.

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NEXT: Everything That's Wrong with Political Twitter in Two Tweets (Niger Edition)

Scott Shackford is a policy research editor at Reason Foundation.

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  1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Former President George W. Bush spoke out against the direction American democracy has turned to under President Donald Trump...

    "Miss me yet?"

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      Actually, i'm really enjoying his new career as an outsider artist.

      1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

        That one of the guy peeking out of the shower is amazing and I would pay upwards of 500$ USD to buy it.

        1. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

          Pervert.

          1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

            If you don't own his book you are unamerican.

        2. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

          The one on the left? An art therapist would have a field day with how tiny W painted himself relative to the bathroom fixtures.

          1. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

            There is a reason these two are shown side by side. It's like a comic strip. And that's not water in the right picture.

          2. Lily Bulero   8 years ago

            You know who else was a painter who was interested in showers?

            1. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

              Andres Serrano?

      2. lap83   8 years ago

        You know who else was an outside artist

        1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

          Daniel Johnston?

          1. BYODB   8 years ago

            Damn X, you are truly esoteric with that one.

        2. DEATFBIRSECIA   8 years ago

          Stan Herd?

        3. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

          Stephen Lynch?

        4. Libertarian   8 years ago

          There's, like, a bazillion of thpse guys
          And by the way , they prefer the term "plein air."

          1. lap83   8 years ago

            Ha

        5. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

          Grandma Moses?

        6. CE   8 years ago

          Monet?

    2. Tony   8 years ago

      I was nostalgic for Antonin Scalia for a brief moment the other day, and then I realized that the damage is already done.

      1. MarkLastname   8 years ago

        I know, you're basically already halfway to the work camps by now.

    3. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

      Hello.

  2. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Trump, on Twitter, suggested this morning that the FBI, the Democrats, and the Russians may all be colluding...

    Two out of the three who colluded to win Trump the White House!

  3. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

    These links are too many!

    1. CE   8 years ago

      Just getting the average back up.

  4. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff (and a retired general whose son was killed in Afghanistan), has come to Trump's defense...

    Well, that should end it.

    1. Lily Bulero   8 years ago

      What happened? Did Trump say that at least now she'll know her son has a good reason not to call her?

  5. jcw   8 years ago

    I'm interested in hearing what George W. Bush really thinks and what he meant by his comments. John? Any help?

    1. John   8 years ago

      Sorry I cannot fix stupid or get you to understand the English language

      1. jcw   8 years ago

        What a john-esque response. Lack any factual basis: Check. ad hominem attack: Check.

        Perfect!

    2. Hank Phillips   8 years ago

      Simple. The Obama party beat God's Own Prohibitionists after the asset-forfeiture crash and depression. Now Republicans (who cain't spel 2 good) are all hot and bothered to send men with guns to rough up Niger--on the other side of the planet as usual. To win this last election the GO-Pee had to copy the libertarian energy and gun planks--but not our foreign entanglements planks.

  6. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    The Pentagon has launched a formal investigation into the circumstances of that ambush in Niger that ended in the deaths of four Green Berets.

    They weren't patient enough to wait for the results of the informal investigation to come out?

    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

      We only care about the black tie investigation.

    2. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

      I am sure it had something to do with a YouTube video ...

  7. guy who doesn't care   8 years ago

    "Former President George W. Bush "

    don't care

    1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      I respect your strict adherence to your name.

      1. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

        You think he cares that you care that he doesn't care?

        1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

          As a libertarian I do because I choose to, not because others demand it.

          1. Lily Bulero   8 years ago

            When I was going up the stair
            I met a guy who doesn't care
            He didn't care again today
            ...and I lost interest in writing a line that rhymes

            1. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

              Nice one, Eddie.

              1. Eidde   8 years ago

                This Eddie person must be really crafty, hiding under hard-to-detect pseudonyms.

                I bet he's handsome, too.

                1. This Machine Chips Fascists   8 years ago

                  We got us another Tulpa here!

                  1. Eidde   8 years ago

                    I tried to register the handle "Eddie" but someone had already taken it.

                    So I did "Eddie" backwards. Really subtle, no?

                    1. Jimbo   8 years ago

                      on.

        2. MarkLastname   8 years ago

          You think he cares that you care that he cares that he doesn't care?

  8. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Trump also sat down with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosello and gave his own federal team a rating of 10 in how they responded to hurricane damage.

    Obama's went to 11.

    1. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

      Obama just painted it on with his "White-Out" pen and phoned it in.

  9. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Crowds with various loudly expressed opinions on things (including police) have gathered at the University of Florida in Gainesville for white nationalist Richard Spencer's speech.

    The world waits anxiously for which side Florida Man is going to come down on.

    1. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

      "Here, hold mah beer while I figger which one of these pansies I am gonna hit ..."

  10. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

    Trump, on Twitter, suggested this morning that the FBI, the Democrats, and the Russians may all be colluding on distributing that "Steele Dossier" that alleged ties between him and the Russian government.

    It's like an ouroboros of crap.

    1. Zeb   8 years ago

      Great, now even Trump is suffering from TDS.

  11. Tony   8 years ago

    Trump, on Twitter, suggested this morning that the FBI, the Democrats, and the Russians may all be colluding on distributing that "Steele Dossier" that alleged ties between him and the Russian government.

    Oh well this defensive lashing out obviously means Trump didn't engage in piss play with Russian whores.

    1. John   8 years ago

      And Obama wasn't using the FBI to obtain dirt on his political opponents.

      1. Tony   8 years ago

        You're right for once.

  12. Stormy Dragon   8 years ago

    Hey, do you own anything made of steel or aluminum?

    Japan's Kobe Steel has been selling questionable products to airplane manufacturers, others for more than 10 years

    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

      No, but how does this affect Kobe Beef?

      1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

        Still highly overrated.

      2. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

        Who is he feuding with now?

    2. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      Kobe Steel shares rose for a second day, gaining 3.1 percent to close at 853 yen, but still way below the pre-crisis level of 1,368 yen.

      Truly the Crisis On Infinite Earths ruined everything both at DC and the real world.

    3. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

      You know, I'm not expert but I thought all of the big manufacturers spot-tested all batches of raw steel sold to them.

      1. BYODB   8 years ago

        Sort of. They sprinkle jet fuel on them and if they burn they know it isn't steel.

        1. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

          LOL. Sick burn.

  13. Domestic Dissident   8 years ago

    Former President George W. Bush spoke out against the direction American democracy has turned to under President Donald Trump.

    I see he's still too fucking stupid and disconnected from reality to have figured out that he's about half the reason why American democracy has turned in this direction.

    Never change, bozo.

    1. Tony   8 years ago

      It was a kinder gentler time, when smearing political opponents over black bastard babies and winning elections by bashing gays was done in the background rather than from the president's own lectern.

      1. Rufus The Monocled   8 years ago

        Here to regale us with your stellar history knowledge today, Tony?

        1. Tony   8 years ago

          I am something of an expert on Republicans being evil.

          1. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

            Tony thinks this rule ---

            Politician? Evil

            -- only applies to Republicans.

          2. MarkLastname   8 years ago

            Plank, splinter, etc.

  14. colorblindkid   8 years ago

    So far we know that Russians gave Bill Clinton $500,000 and his foundation 135 million, and we know Russia spent about $100,000 on Facebook ads. This whole Russia-Clinton thing is at least as believable as the Russia-Trump thing. Throw them all in jail, I say. If we had an honest, non-partisan FBI, they would be.

    1. Tony   8 years ago

      The FBI will be nonpartisan as soon as it only targets Democrats and leaves Republicans alone, correct?

      1. colorblindkid   8 years ago

        I literally just said I want to see BOTH Trump and Clinton in jail. How are you so consistently obtuse?

        1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

          Partisans gonna party, son.

          1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

            Dang. Is that why I was never invited to parties?

            1. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

              I would invite you if I ever hosted a party.

        2. Tony   8 years ago

          Says the person who just farted out a conspiracy theory in order to manifest a false equivalency for the benefit of Trump.

          1. colorblindkid   8 years ago

            It is an absolute fact that a Russian firm gave Bill Clinton $500,000 while Hillary was SOS for a single speech. The Podesta group did work for a pro-Russia group in Ukraine from 2012 to 2014 that they forgot to report. That is also a known fact. The Clinton Foundation has also received over 100 million dollars over the years from Russian firms and oligarchs. Also a known fact.

            Yes, everything beyond that is conspiracy. I'm not saying it's certain. I'm just saying it is no less likely than Trump having some back-alley conspiracy with the Russians. If you were honest, you'd see that the Clintons are fucking scummy sleazy liars every bit as much as Trump is.

            1. Tony   8 years ago

              But Trump is president, not Hillary.

              1. Bubba Jones   8 years ago

                Lmao. It is the "we lost so we must not have been corrupt" defense they they have been using since Whitewater.

                1. MarkLastname   8 years ago

                  If you bribe a cop, it's not really bribery if the cop arrests you anyway. The Tony theory of jurisprudence.

        3. Finrod   8 years ago

          Tony's superpower is permanent obliviousness.

          1. Scarecrow Repair & Chippering   8 years ago

            No, no, he does know who the current Occupant is.

          2. HeteroPatriarch   8 years ago

            Tony's superpower is being the only person on the planet who can masturbate to Hillary Clinton.

  15. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Ohio Republican Lawmaker Rep. Pat Tiberi is resigning from office come January.

    Do ships sink slower without the weight of so many rats?

  16. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

    Alphabet, Google's parent company, has just invested $1 billion in financing in ridesharing company Lyft.

    Guaranteeing their place in the rapemobile market.

    1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

      Some day soon we will have driverless rapemobiles many times safer than current rapemobiles.

  17. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

    Time for the big fucking questions to be asked. WHERE'S CRUSTY? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIM SCOTT?!?!

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      He is gone where the woodbine twineth.

      1. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

        You locked him out of the house, and he is stuck in your backyard? At least he feels more at home now.

      2. Zeb   8 years ago

        You're not fooling anyone.

      3. lap83   8 years ago

        Woodbine Twineth was my nickname at Wiccan college

        1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

          Nice, I was Inkshadowblood.

  18. Rhywun   8 years ago

    It was nice of W to call out Antifa like that.

    1. Tom Bombadil   8 years ago

      You know, if W had shared some of his coke with Jeb, he wouldn't have come across so "low energy".

  19. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

    Ah, Schackleferd links.

    Fuck you, Sister Christian.

    1. Citizen X - #6   8 years ago

      Shacklington cares for us, it is known.

      1. Entropy Drehmaschine Void   8 years ago

        ... and Schczklfurnd did Alt-Text longer than Christian B.'s last three so-called Links combined.

    2. Chipper Morning, Mean Girl   8 years ago

      Christian is very adept at keeping all personality quirks hidden from us. It's like it comes very naturally to him.

      1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

        The one time I talked to him he actually gave me some pretty good advice, he said to me he said " Let them see what kind of a person I am. I'm not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching... they'll see. They'll see and they'll know, and they'll say, "Why, she wouldn't even harm a fly..."

        Seems wise to me.

  20. BYODB   8 years ago


    "Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children." He did not, however, directly reference Trump.

    No mention, of course, of how his policies directly led to the diminishment of our individual rights for non-existent safety and paved the way for the excesses of the Obama administration.

    Sorry, George, you're still worse than Trump. So far.

    1. ChipToBeSquare   8 years ago

      You mean to tell me that harsh rhetoric and crippling incompetence aren't as bad as destabilizing an entire region of the world for decades and creating the modern surveillance state?

      That's crazy talk. Dog whistling towards racists is definitely worse than slaughtering people

    2. CE   8 years ago

      Yeah, that 800 billion USD TARP budget adder from Bush became the new baseline for Obama. Gee, thanks.

  21. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

    On its blog, Lyft notes that their services are now available to 95 percent of the American population.

    The Gig Economy swamps America like a toxic red tide.

  22. Zeb   8 years ago

    We used to have tone police around here, but now all we get it fists of etiquette.

    1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   8 years ago

      The Tone Police, they are inside of my head.

      1. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

        Tonal police arrest this man
        He talks in quips
        And buzzes like a cuck

    2. Fist of Etiquette   8 years ago

      What a gyp.

  23. Juice   8 years ago

    "Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children."

    He then added that if you were against the Iraq War you were a traitor and Saddam Hussein supporter.

    1. Eidde   8 years ago

      ...and racist against Arabs.

      1. Juice   8 years ago

        Ha ha, right! Because you supposedly thought they couldn't handle democracy and freedom or something like that.

        And don't forget terrorist sympathizer, of course.

      2. ChipToBeSquare   8 years ago

        Ol' Dubya was so concerned about appearing racist that his administration added north Korea to the Axis of Evil so it wouldn't be exclusively Arabs. Georgie was such a nice guy that he was willing to antagonize Pyongyang out of nowhere in order to make sure he wouldn't spread Islamophobia

        If only our current president could be as diplomatic towards them

  24. BestUsedCarSales   8 years ago

    Oh, new South Park game came out this week. Check it out if you like RPGs or South Park. Looks pretty good so far.

    1. Finrod   8 years ago

      A South Park game with rocket-propelled grenades? Sounds awesome!

      1. Mickey Rat   8 years ago

        Time warping flatulence as well.

  25. PB defends rapist Weinstein   8 years ago

    Love the new Black Panther trailer.

  26. SOFL Hockey Fan   8 years ago

    TWO out of three?

  27. SOFL Hockey Fan   8 years ago

    TWO out of three?

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