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We already knew that the President poops, but we didn’t realize how much he liked poop. In a birthday greeting Bush sent to Miers he wrote “P.S. No more public scatology.” So what is scatology? Merriam-Webster defines it as the “the biologically oriented study of excrement.”

Another theory: We all know Dubya suffers from what can charitably be described as a severe case of verbal dyslexia. We also know that spelling mistakes were really more of Dad’s running-mate’s bag. But what if the president — back in his sluicier gubernatorial days — simply left out the “e” and the “h” in this post script, in a mad pursuit of making what would soon prove to be a more characteristic observation?

Main Entry: es·cha·tol·o·gy
Pronunciation: “es-k&-’tä-l&-jE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -gies
Etymology: Greek eschatos last, farthest
1 : a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of mankind
2 : a belief concerning death, the end of the world, or the ultimate destiny of mankind; specifically : any of various Christian doctrines concerning the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, or the Last Judgment

Good ol’ Dubya. So is it end of days, or end of poop?

[via Wonkette]

The tax advisory commission appointed by George Bush will be recommending limiting the two most popular tax deductions, mortage interest and health care, when they present their findings in November.

With a mandate to develop an overall proposal for changing the tax system that is revenue neutral - meaning it neither raises nor lowers total tax receipts - the commission must find enough revenue to offset the amount now generated by the alternative minimum tax.

That is mainly what led to an examination of ways to modify the deductions for mortgage interest and health insurance, two of the largest tax breaks now available to individuals. Together, these two deductions will cost the Treasury about $250 billion this year, with the benefits going disproportionately to the most affluent taxpayers.

The commission members decided that another popular deduction, for charitable contributions, should be expanded rather than cut back. They are looking at how to give the tax break to taxpayers who do not itemize deductions.

President Bush has made no committment to adopt the policies outlined by the commission, but one thing is for certain, should these limitations be considered it will create an enormous political storm.

[via NY Times]

And God told him his was a moron, but he interpretted it as “go and wage war”.

Nabil Shaath told the BBC that in June 2003 he heard Mr Bush tell Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Prime Minister: “God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan’, and I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’, and I did.”

…

Mr Bush, once quoted as saying: “I believe that God wants me to be president”, is a devout Christian and makes no secret of appealing to God for strength, but denies using God to justify his decisions.

[via Times UK]

It seems as though that’s all George Bush Junior can do — declare war. First it was the War on Drugs, followed by the War on Crime, then the War on Terror, next the War on Nature (not really, but it might as well be) … and now Junior has declared yet another war, the War on Porn.

In a Sept. 20 story in the Washington Post, writer Barton Gellman revealed that the FBI has signed onto the Bush administration’s War on Porn by recruiting agents for a special anti-obscenity squad. And they won’t just be looking for child porn, either, but pornography for grown-ups, made by grown-ups, featuring grown-ups.

Critics say the specter of 10 G-Men hunched over video screens watching porn princess Raylene diddle the pool boy may not be the best use of the FBI’s time.

…

Of course, if porn really is such a danger to society, the effort might be worth it. The problem is, the research doesn’t support the worry. And if recent studies by Danish psychologist Gert Martin Hald of the University of Aarhus stand up, it’s not likely to.

Hald recently conducted a yet-to-be-published study on the usage of porn by men and women in Denmark that showed porn has become a part of the sexual lives of most people.

The FBI can really be referred to as Female Body Inspectors now … nice.

[via MSNBC]

Bill Maher to George Bush, “It’s time to go.”

It’s time, time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How ’bout “cowboy” or “spaceman”? … You are a catastrophe that walks like a man … On your watch we’ve lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, 4 airliners, 2 trade centers, a piece of the pentagon, and the city of New Orleans. Maybe you’re just not lucky! I’m not saying you don’t love this country, I’m just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side. So yes, God does speak to you, and what he’s saying is “Take a hint.”

Video: George must go

[via Crooks and Liars]

Just in case you didn’t know, click the image to enlarge.

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

[via AP]

In an unexpected move, President Bush accepted responsibility for the complete failure of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government,” [President] Bush said. “And to the extent that the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility.”

“I want to know what went right and what went wrong,” [President] Bush added. “I want to know how to better cooperate with state and local government, to be able to answer that very question that you asked: Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm?”

Interesting … I honestly thought the administration would play the blame and and pass the buck onto Mike Brown, the now former head of FEMA. This acceptance of failure was probably one of the smartest decisions made by the Bush administration in this disaster thus far.

[via NY Times]

Companies with ties to the Bush White House and the former head of FEMA are clinching some of the administration’s first disaster relief and reconstruction contracts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

At least two major corporate clients of lobbyist Joe Allbaugh, President George W. Bush’s former campaign manager and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have already been tapped to start recovery work along the battered Gulf Coast.

One is Shaw Group and the other is Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. Vice President Dick Cheney is a former head of Halliburton.

[Full Article]

In perhaps an attempt to quell a political fallout, Michael Brown, the director of FEMA, has been relieved of his duties in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Amid harsh criticism of federal relief efforts, Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff announced Friday that Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is handing over Hurricane Katrina relief duties to a Coast Guard official and returning to Washington to oversee the national office.

In addition to the strong criticism Brown received surrounding the horrendous federal response to the disaster, it was also reported last week that he had padded his résumé by claiming he ran “the emergency services division” in Edmond, Oklahoma, when he was really assistant to the city manager.

It appears as though Brownie wasn’t doing such a heck of a good job after all.

[via MSNBC]

The Bush-Katrina timeline as told by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart (paraphrased, watch the must-see video for the full version):

• Aug 27th: (Two days before the storm hit) President Bush was easing into week five of his summer break in Crawford, Texas.
• Aug 28th: (Katrina pours down on the Gulf Coast) The President stayed at the ranch, but urged Gulf Residents to listen to officials who were closer to the action, than him.
• Aug 29th: (Katrina hits) The President boards Air Force One and takes off immediately in the opposite direction to Arizona for a Townhall meeting on Medicare.
• Aug 30th: (Katrina’s waters break through the levees) Bush headed directly into the eye of … San Diego; for a ceremony marking the end of World War II.
• Aug 31st: President Bush makes a monumental decision to cut his vacation short.
• Sep 1st: President Bush makes an appearance on Good Morning America. There he stated “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” Anyone except the Weather Channel, CNN, most major networks, National Geographic, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and even a former levee engineer interviewed the Saturday before the storm hit.
• Sep 2nd: President Bush finally makes it to the disaster zone and in a speech remembers his druken days visiting the city. “I believe the town where I used to come, from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself — occassionally too much — will be that very same town.”

And in the face of inarguable evidence that the Federal response was bungled, bureaucratic and incompetent, the C.E.O. President turned to Michael Brown, the head of F.E.M.A., and let loose his righteous indignation at a tragedy compounded by mis-management, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

Must-see video: The Daily Show Bush-Katrina Timeline

More Timelines

• Think Progress
• Times Online
• CNN
• The BBC