Why do I want to start every post with, "Sigh ..."? Probably because the Bushies are simply phenomenal at acting like a bunch of jackasses. The latest is the administration wondering if they could reclassify hamburger flippers as manufacturing jobs to boost numbers in a struggling business sector. Motherfuckers.

Last week the Bush administration predicted 2.6 million new jobs by the end of the year. I guess someone actually punched that number into a calculator and figured out how truly insane that prediction was- now they're backing away from it. Though they have discovered "job related program activities," and that's almost as good... right?

Press Corps getting feisty:

Q But it would appear, though, that people very high up in this administration didn't have a whole lot of faith in the forecast of the report that went up to Congress just a week ago in terms of the job creation numbers.

MR. McCLELLAN: Again, it's an annual economic report that is put out by the administration based on the economic modeling and the data that's available at that point in time.

Q Can you answer the specific question, though? Was this report -- was the prediction of this many jobs, 2.6 million jobs, vetted prior to publication by the entire economic team?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's an annual report, David. It goes through the usual -- it goes through the usual --

Q That's not the question. Was it or was it not vetted by the entire economic team?

MR. McCLELLAN: It's an annual report. It goes through the usual --

Q So you don't know, or it was, or it wasn't?

MR. McCLELLAN: Can I get -- can I finish that sentence?

Q When you answer the question. Let's hear it. What's the answer?

MR. McCLELLAN: The answer was, it is an annual economic report and it goes through the normal vetting process. And if you would let me get to that, I would answer your question.

Q -- the full economic team vetted the prediction --

MR. McCLELLAN: It's an annual economic report. It's the President's Economic Report. But again, the President --

Q Just say yes or no --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- it goes through the normal -- it goes through the normal vetting process.

Q So the answer is, yes. I'm not done yet, I've got another one.

MR. McCLELLAN: Okay.

Q Why -- if you're suggesting that people will debate the numbers, that's kind of a backhanded way to say, oh, who cares about the numbers. Well, apparently, the President's top economic advisors do, because that's why they wrote a very large report and sent it to Congress. So why was the prediction made in the first place, if the President and you and his Treasury Secretary were going to just back away from it?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, one, I disagree with the premise of the way you stated that. This is the annual Economic Report of the President and the economic modeling is done this way every year. It's been done this way for 20-some years.

Q So why not -- why aren't you standing behind it?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think what the President stands behind is the policies that he is implementing, the policies that he is advocating. That's what's important.

Q That's not in dispute. The number is the question.

MR. McCLELLAN: I know, but the President's concern is on the number of jobs being created --

Q My question is, why was the prediction made --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and the President's focus is on making sure that people who are hurting because they cannot find work have a job. That's where the President's focus is.

Q Then why predict a number? Why was the number predicted? Why was the number predicted? You can't get away with not -- just answer the question. Why was that number predicted?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been asked this, and I've asked -- I've been asked, and I've answered.

Q No, you have not answered. And everybody watching knows you haven't answered.

MR. McCLELLAN: I disagree.

Kerry beats Bush by 12, Edwards beats Bush by 10.

The poll, taken Feb. 16-17, indicates that if the election were held today, Kerry would be chosen by 55% of likely voters, compared to 43% for Bush. In the last polling, Feb. 6-8, Bush held a 49-48 advantage.

Edwards, Kerry's sole remaining major rival for the Democratic nomination, holds a 54%-44% advantage, the poll indicates. The question has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Wow- two candidates that could kick Bush's ass. That's very nice.

OverSpun Exclusive!
Indisputable photographic evidence shows that the former leader of Germany, Adolf "Fucking" Hitler was not only alive and well after World War 2, but he was in attendance while John Kerry testified before Congress in 1971!


Then, later in the same hearing Jane Fonda arrived and flashed the "solidarity" sign:


Then she left:


High level sources say several national magazines weren't not not investigating the Kerry/Fonda/Hitler link for some time, this space can now reveal!

Previous to this publication there's been a dearth of documentation linking war hero John Kerry with evil madman Adolf Hitler, now this space can breathlessly report about our breathless reports!

Developing... /drudge

Dan Froomkin has the scoop on the president's recent scramble for photo ops to replace the misfire of the king of all photo ops:

Yesterday, at Ft. Polk in Louisiana, the backdrop was spectacular: thousands of rowdily cheering soldiers yelling "USA!" and "Hoo-ah!" Nothing staged about that, was there?


Well, as William Taylor reports this morning in the Town Talk of nearby Alexandria, La.: "Before President Bush landed at the airfield here Tuesday, Command Sgt. Maj. Iuniasolua T. Savusa gave the troops permission to break protocol.

"'Forget it for this one day,' he said.

"Instead of coming to attention at the sounding of 'Hail to the Chief,' they were encouraged to cheer.

"They even practiced yelling, but the practice wasn't nearly as noisy as the real thing once Bush was introduced by Fort Polk commander Brig. Gen. Jason Kamiya."

And just when did the White House plan this trip, anyway? Before or after the recent controversy over Bush's National Guard duty?

"There's no relation to recent events," insisted press secretary Scott McClellan, who added that the White House had been in touch with the Pentagon for a couple of weeks, although he couldn't vouch for when base officials were brought into the loop.

The print pool reporter for the day, Maura Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times, asked one of the base spokesmen, Samantha Bingham, when they learned of the president's impending visit. "She said they received official notification on Saturday, and heard rumors of it perhaps three days before that. Definitely not more than a week."

Link

Here are the comments of James Moore, the author of "Bush's War For Re-Election"

but first in this clip is Bill Calhoun, who claims he saw George W. Bush pulling guard duty in Alabama months before Bush was transferred there. Bill tends to wander, so that's why the talk with him skips around.

It sounds like the President's military records are very murky for the last half of his National Guard commitment, but one thing they do prove is that John Calhoun's story doesn't hold together:
(via Josh Marshall)

John B. Calhoun, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Alabama National Guard, said Friday he remembered seeing Bush throughout the summer and fall of 1972 at Dannelly Field. Calhoun was a flight safety officer there.

He said Bush was assigned to him to perform nonflight status duties as a temporary transfer from the Texas Guard.

"He came in his uniform and sat in my office reading training manuals and safety reports," said Calhoun, 69, an Atlanta contractor.

"We didn't have F-102s (the aircraft Bush trained on in Texas), so he couldn't fly. He just made his drills in my office," he added.

But the documents released Friday indicated Bush's transfer to the Alabama squadron wasn't approved until September 1972, months after Bush's presence as recalled by Calhoun.

Link