The Big News is Obvious,

Hey folks,

Good to be back, again. Hope you all had a great Holiday season and a happy New Year Eve. I know I have a hectic week coming, but we’ll be back to normal soon.

So I start scanning the news this morning, and all I can really find is the obvious. Tomorrow is Thursday's Iowa caucuses. The first look at what some say is a must win for those wanting to be serious in getting the Party’s nomination. All the candidates are doing everything they can to encourage voters to turn out. Duh.

Story after story is all about what this one is saying and that one is saying about getting people out to vote. Restating their positions, which ever they may be yesterday, so on so forth. But this one article caught my attention.

From the AP - Clock running down on Bush presidency By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Mon Dec 31, 6:06 PM ET

Just the title of this is a reality check for some of the Candidates. Seriously folks, I have been saying this for nearly two years. Bush is OUT. Forget Bush. Tell us what you are planning on doing to make this country better. Boy did they ever. Socialism, tyranny, and it is that simple. But you know, some in the Mass Media only have less than a year to take shots at him. Look for more stories like this one.

President Bush's final-year agenda is a stripped-down list of what he can realistically hope to get done, since the clout he once touted is fading away.

Bush will venture to four other continents, get more involved than ever in trying to forge Middle East peace, and continue to command two wars that assure his relevancy to the end. As Iraq improves, he must now deal with renewed violence in Afghanistan and upheaval in Pakistan.

At home, Bush will try to extend two domestic achievements that are dear to his legacy — the No Child Left Behind education law, and tax cuts that otherwise expire in 2010.

Long gone are the big ideas of Social Security and immigration reform, which collapsed on Capitol Hill. His final State of the Union speech in late January is expected to reflect today's policy reality, eschewing new initiatives in favor of unfinished proposals.

WAIT a second. So now we are blaming Bush for the KILLED countless attempts of Amnesty? He couldn’t get it done? Thank God, but I thought the talking points was HE killed it. {Sigh}

As at any time, Bush has forces pushing against him. But the ones in 2008 are stronger.

A hostile Congress awaits the president as he returns from fishing, cutting brush and clearing trails at his secluded Texas ranch. Bush and the Democratic Congress clashed all year on the war, spending, health care and tactics for interrogating terror suspects.

Just like he was waiting for them to come back from vacation that they took before doing NOTHING. Passing NOTHING. Like spending bills, supporting the troops, running the government. You know, those annoying little things that get in the way of their BDS, constant political shows, and attacking the President.

"It's going to be a year of angst and struggle — more of '07," said James Thurber, an American University political scientist who researches relations between the two branches.

In political terms, Bush's last year in office is really less than 12 months.

The attention of the nation and much of the world has shifted to those who want his seat in the Oval Office. The Republican nominee for president could be settled by the multistate primaries on Feb. 5, meaning someone else will be the unofficial head of the party.

As happens EVERY election.

The opportunity for legislation in the election-year will be short, too, as little is expected to get done after Congress adjourns for a summer break. Democrats are gunning for the White House and the bigger majorities they need to govern Congress as they want.

Socialism.

Bush's year begins with a nine-day trip to the Middle East, a hands-on peacemaking venture that could shape his legacy — a word that Bush and his senior aides don't use.

I hate to break this to you Libs out there, President Bush could not care less about a legacy. He truly believes, as do many of us, that history will see him in quite a good light. He is doing what he truly believe is right, regardless of polls or popular opinion. That takes a certain, and rare, kind of person. Some cannot understand this, because their whole career is controlled by polls and a quest for a legacy. Ask Bill.

Starting Jan. 8, the president is scheduled to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The trip is exactly the kind of process-driving diplomacy that Bush has avoided in the past, said Jon Alterman, a Mideast expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. It reflects how his presidency has gone, Alterman said, as Bush once talked of bold transformation but now tries to shepherd more incremental progress.

Let’s see, maybe because he is constantly fending off idiocies of those who are obsessed with his destruction?

The latter approach is favored in the Middle East, but Bush's waning power will follow him, Alterman said. Some leaders don't want to give concessions to a short-term president.

"Friends and foes in the Middle East at a senior level have almost no curiosity about what the last year of this presidency holds," Alterman said.

{Sigh} Do I, a mere Layman in foreign affairs, really have to explain that? Seriously, this is NORMAL. It is NOT “this Presidency” it’s EVERY Presidency. Foreign Leaders are always more cautions and less willing to deal with ANY President in their last year. They are ALWAYS more interesting in who’s next. It’s a smart policy.

If I was the President of Petertopia, and I am attempting to deal with the President of the USA, I would be more concerned with the next one, in the last year. I could cut a dream deal with this one, but what happens in 12 months? Will the next President continue and honor our agreement? If not, why should I bother dealing with this one? This is normal.

The Mideast trip sets the tone for a busy year of foreign travel.

In February, Bush is expected to visit Africa to promote the global fight against AIDS, and highlight the United States' role in that effort.

He will also go to Romania in April for a NATO summit; to Japan's Lake Toya in July to meet with leaders of industrialized countries; to China in August for the Summer Olympics; and to Peru in November for the annual summit of leaders of Pacific Rim nations.

It is common for presidents to head abroad in their final year as the domestic consumption of their message diminishes. But Bush's aides say most of his trips would have happened in any year, and the narrative that Bush is escaping overseas is overstated.

Completely ridiculous as well.

Bush's State of the Union will be one of his final times in command of a prime-time audience. He is expected to use it to rally support for unfinished items, such as expanding the domestic energy supply and health care options, as opposed to last-minute policy ideas.

"We understood after immigration reform failed that this is not a Congress that's likely to pass big things," said Ed Gillespie, the president's counselor. "Once they adjourn for the Fourth of July, it's hard to imagine they'll do much beyond appropriations bills. That's a realistic assessment, and the State of the Union will likely reflect that."

Bush invoked his veto power like never before in 2007, with effectiveness. But it may have erased what little chance was left of broad, meaningful compromise with lawmakers.

You can not compromise with complete insanity. Most of those things he vetoed, were that, insanity.

Lots of key items remain to be done, including terrorist surveillance legislation.

The president is also likely to stick to economic themes in 2008. He is aware that the public is frustrated and restless, which could sink Republicans in the next election.

Wishful thinking.

His message is that his administration is trying to help people deal with their mortgage crises, energy bills and education concerns.

"The underpinnings of our economy have proven strong, competitive, and resilient enough to overcome the challenges we face," Bush said Monday in his end-of-the-year message. It is just that kind of rosy picture that leads his Democratic foes to say Bush is out of touch.

Not if you look at the numbers.

Still looming, as always, is the fate of the war in Iraq.

Another key milestone comes in March with an update to Congress by Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador there.

Bush remains the decider on when, and whether, U.S. troops will return home.

"It may be the tone for the entire year is set by events he cannot control," Thurber said. "The biggest unknown, of course, is what's going to happen politically in Iraq, and he can't control that, even though they have pushed and cajoled. It is a tricky situation."

Folks, you can look for more and more stories like this as time DOES tick by for President Bush. Even more and more attempts to show Bush, AKA ALL Republicans, are failures and incompetent. The only way to bring change is vote Democrat. Forget their real intent, what they have actually told you, and what they have already been caught doing. Illegal contributions, starting websites as attack machines, Amnesty, Pork, threats to the media, ETC. Just vote for them, they ain’t Bush. Hey, it worked on 06.

However, look what we have gotten since.
Peter