Leaving town on the next thing smoking.

The Bush administration is packing up and looking for the next flight out of town.

Most can't wait.

Apparently, most of them are finally conceding to themselves what the rest of the country - and the world - have known for some time now. They are in a rush to put anything associated with the two Bush administrations and the last eight years behind them.

That's with the possible exception of president George W. Bush himself and his wife Laura of course. Bush's White House office has issued a two page letter of instructions to cabinet members telling them to emphasize the 'successes' of his presidency.

Successes? SUCCESSES?

The Bush White House - at taxpayer expense of course - established a formal 'Bush Legacy Team' to work on the official 'Bush Legacy Plan'. The White House sent a 2-page memo with 'talking points' to cabinet members and other high ranking administration officials entitled, "Speech Topper on the Bush Record".

The reason?

To burnish the official record of a president with the lowest approval rating on record - 24% and still falling. "What we have in mind with these documents is we feel the president's many accomplishments haven't been given the attention they deserve and in some cases have been purposely ignored," explained Carlton Carroll, a White House spokesman.

Accomplishments? ACCOMPLISHMENTS? Apparently self delusion knows no boundaries!

The memo totally fails any mention of the colossal and record setting FAILURES of the Bush administrations:

An illegal war costing upwards of a trillion dollars and many thousands of lives;

The illegal denial of habeas corpus and detention for hundreds of people without charges for upwards of seven years;

The Abu Garaib (and other) torture scandals;

The illegal wiretapping without warrants of American citizens;

The wholesale attacks on the US Constitution;

Unprecedented attacks on environmental laws and regulations on the books for decades, in favor of giant corporations;

Tax breaks for the very richest people in the country while ignoring the needs of the less fortunate - including returning veterans of overseas wars;

The most devastating damage and destruction of the economy of the United States and the entire world since the Great Depression;

The list goes on and on - but you get the drift.

The president's wife Laura Bush has also been enlisted in the effort, and appeared on a ABC's 'Nightline' and loyally championed her husband saying, "I think the history book says he's a very, very strong president."

Maybe so. But, methinks not.

Perhaps there's no more iconic and illustrative example of the ineptness of Bush et al than the loss of the Bush Library's web site domain name 'WBushLibrary.com.' The name had been purchased from a private citizen who had foreseen its value and reserved the name. The Bush Library Foundation paid $3,000 for it just last year. However, through oversight, it was allowed to expire, was grabbed up by an alert 'cyber squatter' and the foundation was then forced to repurchase the domain name - this time for $35,000!

No one can deny some serious burnishment was not sorely needed needed for a president who was not even allowed to attend his own party's national convention in September! Neither was his Vice President, who, along with Bush was avoided like the plague by other high party members.

Sad really.

"Towards a More Perfect Fascist State"

‘Muchrakers’ is the term used for those looking through garbage for dirt on others. Generally, muckrakers are looked down upon by others in the news media. But, sometimes a muckraker does turn up something of real importance. Several of the more seedy Washington, DC area newspaper reporters employ others to literally look through the garbage bins of prominent personages in the hopes of turning up an important nugget of importance.

Suppose such a find appeared today in print in one of the more ‘yellow’ yellowsheets found around the city.? A muckraker strikes pure gold hunting through cans of rubbish left for pickup outside the Karl Rove residence. Rove is normally very careful about leaving incriminating written evidence lying around so the find was a surprise. Speculation is that perhaps Rove was distracted by the possibility of molesting a teenage boy or some other similar neocon joy. Nonetheless there it was, scrawled in longhand on yellow legal paper. We quote it here in it’s imagined entirety (spelling & syntax corrected of course!) :

“Towards a More Perfect Fascist State:

I. Convince the masses - any means that works. (First, you must get your man in office!).

A. Use any group that is easily convinced - like rednecks, simpleminded, militia groups, gun owners associations, etc.

B. Get the religious crazies working for you.
(Reward groups with taxpayer grants, educational funding, etc.)

II. Use fear. Fear is a great weapon. It causes people to stop thinking rationally. If you can convince people there’s something to be afraid of and you can ‘protect’ them, you are 3/4 of the way home.

A. A common threat is good.

B. Fabricate information to introduce fear. It is helpful to ‘doctor’ intelligence information if it doesn’t fit your view.

C. Shout down opposition - slam anyone who tries to get the actual truth out.

III. Use dirty tricks.

A. Blame the opposition for exactly what you are doing yourself.
(Example: say they are in control of the media!)

B. Use malicious propaganda. The truth won’t matter when you’ve won.
(See control the media below)

C. Fabricate outrageous stories about the opposition. (See the ‘truth doesn’t matter above)

D. Employ personal attacks on any opposition possible - these need not be based on fact as rumor and insinuation are often as good and sometimes even better.

E. Control the blogosphere for your side. Set up multiple ‘dummy’ sites staffed and controlled by your own operatives.

F. (For 'frig 'em!) - masquerade as the other side playing dirty tricks back on your side - insuring that they are found out of course! (This is a great, time proven tactic!)

IV. Gain control the media.

A. Encourage consolidation of media outlets under a few large companies under your control. (Not a big deal if you are in a position to dispense legislative favors!)

B. Control the media with threats against individuals - imprisonment if need be.
(Order actual imprisonment when needed - hold victim incommunicado, identity as ‘terrorist threat’, etc. This has the distinct advantage of silencing that entity.)

C. Encourage large corporations to pressure the media on your behalf.
(Use tax breaks, grants as rewards when needed. It's only taxpayers’ money after all)

D. Introduce misinformation to support your view whenever possible. Use your controlled blogosphere freely. Be lavish with the funding for this as it will pay off handsomely.

V. Guarantee continuity or your side.

A. “Dumb down” the constituency by reducing funds for public schools.
(Works hand in hand with funding religious crazies who will be promoting for your side!)

B. Control the vote counting apparatus.
(If called to account, throw up smoke screens, lay blame, excuses, etc., but importantly, accept zero responsibility. It helps to have a controllable court system!)

C. Cover up any unpleasant news for your side.

D. Blow out of proportion anything against the opposition possible. Manufacture bad news for the opposition if none available.

D. Claim the reverse of fact - i.e., ‘black is white’ tactics.

E. Constantly reiterate the threats to ‘public’ & ‘National Security’.
(Create out of whole clothe when needed)

Properly employed, the tactics above will guarantee success for your Fascist programs - even to the point of the 'huddled masses' cheering for your side!