Buy the trains, lay the track, and make the damn things run.
 

What's fucked up, is that I'm so clearly not the kind of black woman who'd get a boob job.

Ashcroft Lied
 

Ashcroft's statement was absurd on its face. Are you saying there were no covert snatches under Clinton (this one's yours, Hank. Go to town)? Mir Amal Kansi may disagree with you if you say there were none.

Buy the trains, lay the track, and make the damn things run.
 

You think that of me or Hank?

I'll tell you, there are days at this job when I start to think that being a whore doesn't sound like it would be so bad.

Buy the trains, lay the track, and make the damn things run.
 

Are you saying that if you were with this totally hot looking woman (great body, pretty face) and she just kind of layed there while you were doing it, you would think that was a bad experience?

Buy the trains, lay the track, and make the damn things run.
 

How can you make this post immediately after chastizing me for saying that the men I know think sex with a good looking woman is always good?

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

What I heard on the radio -- not all of it -- was just so awful. It's no wonder he doesn't do this more often.

9/11 is Gorelick's fault for setting up "the wall"
 

Did you even read the quote I posted from the NYT? It was about the wall between law enforcement and intelligence agencies (put in place in 1995) and how that impeded the transfer of information inter-agency (something many people think hurt our ability to protect ourselves from terrorists). Stay on point.

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

Worse than a B-?

Ashcroft Lied
 

Fred Kaplan, in Slate, writes about how the commission let Ashcroft off easy. For example:

• Ashcroft insisted that he added more money to the Justice Department's budget for counterterrorism than for any other function. This is patently untrue. It has been disputed by the commission's staff, several previous witnesses, and public budget-documents. Yet none of the commissioners called him on it.

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

Much. It was like he couldn't think for more than a sentence at a time. He would start somewhere, and then you could see how each sentence would kinda relate to the one following, but he'd end up somewhere that had nothing to do with what he started on.

But I only heard a bit of it, so maybe I missed the lucid parts.

9/11 is Gorelick's fault for setting up "the wall"
 

Do you know anything about this 'wall" other than what you read in the NY Times about Ashcroft's testimony? If so, please describe.

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

I saw the last half of it. He was...okay.

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

Here's a fine description that matches what I heard:

• The transcripts are just coming out, and there will be plenty to pull from George W. Bush's press conference to show that he's ignorant, clueless and an embarrassment to our country. For instance, Bush made the absolutely stunning claim that his administration was somehow successful in breaking up A. Q. Khan's "dangerous network," which is crazy considering that Khan's "dangerous network" is otherwise known as the government of Pakistan. It's a success to find out ex post facto that our supposed vital ally in the war on terror provided the means for North Korea to develop a nuclear weapon?
  
  Some of the press conference was a rerun of typical Bush behaviors. He suggested that criticizing him or our actions in Iraq sends a bad message to our troops and our enemies--i.e., dissent is treason. He also kept talking about the war on terror, as if it's still the shibboleth that signals to the press that he knows they're not going to ask uncomfortable questions. (Unless, of course, he's "got some must-calls," at which point the Washington Times' correspondent springs forth to give him a brief respite.)
  
  But this press conference was also different, in large part because of the reporters in the room. Bush approaches the world as if the good things that happen to him are the result of virtue and the bad things the result of environment, but with other people it's the exact opposite. We're all susceptible to that mistake. But with Bush it's reached a truly bizarre level, and makes listening to him an unsettling experience. When he's not questioned or challenged, or things are going swimmingly, he comes across as confident and resolute. But when the environment changes--like tonight, when even NYT correspondent Elizabeth Bumiller (!) asked a slightly pointed question, and the White House press corps showed signs that they're embarrassed about their performance over the last three years, Bush resumes smirking and becomes that smug jerk we all hated in high school.
  
  Whenever asked about the effects of his actions, Bush answered by affirming his virtuous motives. When asked about a situation or development, Bush answered by referencing himself, often with strange third person-like observations of himself. He failed to give even an approximation of an answer to all but a couple of the questions. And most damning, despite being given numerous opportunities, Bush showed he's constitutionally prohibited from accepting responsibility--not blame, responsibility.
  
  The problem of troop strength in Iraq got punted to Abazaid and Sanchez. The failure to anticipate 9-11 was because "I can't make good decisions if I can't get good information." (He surely failed to notice how that standard could be applied to the bad information he accepted on WMD and Iraq's supposed connection to 9-11.) Instead of demonstrating evidence or making an argument, several times he resorted to "I know." "I hope you have a sense of my convictions." "When I say something, I mean it." In short, for Bush it's all about his internal purity of purpose vs. the external threats to his success--and maybe even his salvation.

from here

The last thing reminds me of his father ("Message: I care.").

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

So I take it you are pretty happy that Cheney and Rummy run the show then.

Press Conferences are not his Forte.
 

So he's toned down a bit since announcing that he was pleased at the killing of the Americans a few days ago?