Letters We Wish We'd Written - "He Kept Us Safe" Dept.

In today's once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle:

Would that there was a WASPish equivalent for the Yiddish word “chutzpah.” That term would nicely apply to Jeb Bush’s grossly tone-deaf claim that his brother George W. Bush “kept us safe” during the course of his presidency. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 financial crisis were the most destructive and harrowing assaults on U.S. domestic security since World War II. The Bush administration’s ineptness in each inflicted unprecedented levels of peril and loss on this country.

Perhaps the privileged dynast Jeb Bush felt safe during those times, but many Americans paid huge costs in blood and property and a sense of security. Anybody and everybody running against Mr. Bush for the GOP presidential nomination should make him convince us that he is, unlike his brother, someone we can trust with the security and well-being of our families.

Jon S. Ketzner, Cumberland, Md.

With all due respect, we don't think "J.E.B.!" will ever convince us that he's "someone we can trust with the security and well-being of our families."

Quote of the Day

“[George W. Bush] didn’t keep us safe or the people on those planes, those four planes, safe that day. He didn’t keep those safe, those men and women forced to choose between jumping from 100-story roof and being killed by the smoke and the fire. And he didn’t keep safe the hundreds of firefighters killed that day doing their courageous duty.” -- Chris "Tweety" Matthews, summoning some anger, unloading on Dumbya's brother John Ellis "J.E.B.!" Bush for the revisionist, nonsensical history that he's trying to peddle ("We were attacked & my brother kept us safe."). Most of the Republican-wired Beltway political media (and cowardly Dems) have been loath to bring up the warnings of an attack to Dumbya & Co. in the spring and summer of 2001, including the infamous "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." presidential briefing memo of August 6, 2001. Here's hoping Tweety (and yes, "Rump" Trump) will continue to hammer away as long as J.E.B.! tries to sweep it under the rug, even if his media colleagues think it "impolite" to do so.

How Blame Works To Republicans

The Nightly Show's Larry Wilmore explains how blame works to Republicans like "J.E.B."! Bush and Dr. Ben "On Meds?" Carson (via Crooks and Liars).  You know what? His impression of "On Meds?" in the voice of Droopy Dog is spot on.



A handy lesson to keep in mind on the eve of Hillary Clinton's appearance before the House Benghazi! kangaroo court.

J.E.B.!'s Deceitful 9-11 Amnesia

In an interview yesterday with Bloomberg News, bloviating billionaire Donald "Rump" Trump noted that the 9-11 attack had occurred "during the reign" of Bush dynasty heir John Ellis "J.E.B.!" Bush's brother, Dumbya.  Factual statement, no argument there, right? (Well, Stephanie Ruhle, the moron interviewing him, interjected "you can't blame him for that!" but that's symptomatic of today's Republican-wired press).  Taking the bait, J.E.B.! went to his Twitter machine and gave us this flatfooted retort:

How pathetic for @realdonaldtrump to criticize the president for 9/11. We were attacked & my brother kept us safe.

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) October 16, 2015

"We were attacked…" Well, yes, so brother Dumbya didn't really "keep us safe" did he? We were attacked after Dumbya and The Dick ignored intelligence warnings, particularly the one sounded by the CIA just 5 weeks before 9-11 in a briefing to Dumbya at his Crawford "ranch."  The August 6, 2001 "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in U.S."  presidential daily briefing memo outlined how the al Qaeda organization was planning to hijack commercial airliners and use them as virtual missiles against targets in the U.S. itself.  As the linked article notes, it's even worse than that:  earlier briefings to Dumbya and crew -- on May 1 and June 22 specifically -- sent the clear message that attacks on the homeland by al Qaeda were "imminent," so there were recurring warnings leading up to 9-11.

Dumbya "kept us safe?"  Except for those little incidents on 9-11, not to mention his reckless and unjustified war in Iraq which killed many thousands more.

BONUS:  The Rump parries:

No @JebBush, you’re pathetic for saying nothing happened during your brother’s term when the World Trade Center was attacked and came down.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2015

BONUS II:  Recall that J.E.B.! -- with no sense of the cruel irony -- actually tweeted this picture of his brother standing atop 9-11 rubble with the message, "he kept us safe." Clown.  Tell that to the dead under the rubble.