I'm Befuddled - How is there Any Confusion?

All these discussions and questions about why is Israel so aggressive and adamant about sticking it to Hamas and the Palestinians now. Their current aggression is so much more intense and also so much more enduring than before. There have been skirmishes before, but an all out invasion, and ignoring so much international urging for cease-fires and allowances of humanitarian support? Why now? Why so intense? Why for so long? I don't understand...

Really, are you serious?
Here, let me make it as clear as possible; Israel's window of unquestioning U.S. support may be closing. Under the Bush administration they have a blank check to do whatever they please, and they are not sure that Obama will be as unconditionally supportive (AKA: so one-sided). They believe that he'll support and help them protect themselves, but stand by as they kill about 300 children (and counting)?.. of this they're not so sure.

Seriously, think about it. Gaza and Israel have been trading pot shots at each other for a very long time. Suddenly, with days left in the Bush Administration they invade Gaza killing nearly a thousand people (as of typing this), almost a THIRD OF WHICH ARE CHILDREN. Further, Olmert has no qualms with calling Bush up on the phone and insisting that Bush direct Condi-Rice to vote against a UN resolution to force a cease-fire. He needs to make sure that the damage to Hamas is as permanent as possible, and that the message is as clear as possible; so he's buying more time for more killing.

Israel knows that George W. Bush will provide whatever support they ask (more weapons & blocking UN efforts). They are not so sure they'll enjoy such a get-out-of-jail-free card under an Obama Administration. So they're trying to send a message now, before they run out of time.



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List Under 'Accomplishments'

There are less than 20 days left in Bush's Presidency and we are in a unique position to summarize it's impact. On one hand we now have sufficient hindsight bias to begin identifying many of the results of his administration, but have not yet "moved on" enough psychologically to cease to care. These results are pretty interesting.

Bush is a lame duck unable to do anything to address the current crises, while at the same time he is unwilling to admit that they are the results of his failed one-sided policies. Over the next several months there will be more and more results of the Bush Administration published. The Drum Major Institute (DMI) was founded by Harry Wachtel, lawyer and advisor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The DMI is non-partisan and nonprofit public policy think tank. Here are some of the choice results posted in the "DMI Injustice Index: The Bush Legacy"

• Number of days during his presidency that Bush spent on vacation (including partial days off): 916
• Proportion of U.S. workers who have no paid vacations or holidays at work: 1 in 4
• Date on which a FEMA report warned that Hurricane Katrina “could greatly overtop levees and protective systems” in New Orleans: 8/27/2005
  
• Date of a second awarning, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, that Katrina would “likely lead to severe flooding and/or levee breaching”: 8/29/2005
  
• Date that President Bush told ABC “I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”: 9/1/2005
• Cost of the Iraq War through 2008: $567 billion
• Proportion of U.S. public schools that are failing to meet No Child Left Behind standards: 2 out of 5
• Change in the number of children with health coverage during President Bush’s tenure: -78,000
• Percentage of President Bush’s total vetoes that blocked expansion of children’s health insurance: 20%
• Date President Bush signed legislation phasing out the federal estate tax: 6/7/2001
• Increase in the number of U.S. millionaires since that year: 928,000
• Increase in the number of Americans living in poverty since that year: 4.4 million
• Change in the real median income of non-retiree households since 2000: -$2,010
• Estimated home equity lost by American families with the bursting of the housing bubble: $4 trillion

George Bush Made History Yesterday

Yesterday brought the announcement that George W. Bush has broken the record for having achieved the lowest public approval ratings of any American President... ever.

On the same day; so many reporters asked Barack Obama if he'd support an immediate short-term economic stimulus package that he had to politely remind them that we do have a sitting president, and that he, in fact, is not it.

CNN: Bush leaving office more unpopular than Nixon