Bob Woodward has a new book released today titled The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008. The Politico has a lengthy review by Mike Allen. Bloomberg also has an early, less flattering, review.
posted on Sep 8, 2008 - View this thread

The George W. Bush Presidential Library : visualizations
posted on Mar 4, 2008 - View this thread

Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war.
posted on Mar 3, 2008 - View this thread

George W. Bush covers John Lennon's War Is Over (If You Want It) in a collaboration with Wax Audio. Another coverversion of John Lennon's God is included on the B-side of the new limited edition 45. On the other hand, Yoko sez, "Vote Kucinich!" (previously on Mefi)
posted on Dec 12, 2007 - View this thread

The Great Iraq Swindle: How Bush Allowed an Army of For-Profit Contractors to Invade the U.S. Treasury
posted on Aug 26, 2007 - View this thread

Bush Commutes Prison Term of I. Lewis Libby.
posted on Jul 2, 2007 - View this thread

Ladies and gentlemen, your bill to impeach President Bush is ready. Introduced by Cynthia McKinney.
posted on Dec 10, 2006 - View this thread

Bush Goes to Indonesia. Black Magic ensues. Ki Gendeng Pamungkas, stating that he didn't "hate Americans, but [he doesn't] like Bush," added that he "believed the ritual would succeed as, 'the devil is with me today.'" Well then, mission accomplished. While his intent was to place the Secret Service agents in a trance, causing the entourage to think they were under attack, it appears the curse was far more effective. The tally so far? While landing in Vietnam, the brakes and tires malfunctioned on Air Force One.. One Bush twin had her purse snatched and a Secret Service Agent was beaten in Argentina (on the largely unreported 43rd Anniversary of JFK's assasination, no less). One White House aide assaulted in Hawaii. One motorcycle cop from Bush's Hawaiian motorcade killed, and another badly injured in a traffic accident.
posted on Nov 27, 2006 - View this thread

Curious GWB lays it down for us, gangsta rap-style. [Yes, it's Youtube]
posted on Jun 2, 2006 - View this thread

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained eye.
posted on May 24, 2006 - View this thread

Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush Not much of this report from the Cato institute will be surprising to MeFites, but it is a great document [31 page PDF] that summarizes Bush's consistent disregard for the Constitution and drive for greater executive power.
posted on May 3, 2006 - View this thread

Taste's great! Less filling! So did "several former judges who served on the panel also voiced skepticism at a Senate hearing about the president's constitutional authority to order wiretapping on Americans without a court order" or did "FISA judges say Bush within law"? Just in case you doubted that different newspapers present news stories (even those with official audio coverage available!) differently...
posted on Mar 29, 2006 - View this thread

'He's God's gift to today's political cartoonist': Misunderestimating the President through Cartoons, an exhibition of the work of leading political cartoonists from both the UK and the United States focusing on their depictions of George Bush, opens today in London at the Political Cartoon Gallery. Watch the video report from Channel 4 and read essays on the history of political cartoons.
posted on Jan 26, 2006 - View this thread

The Bush administration is bracing for impeachment hearings in Congress. "A coalition in Congress is being formed to support impeachment," an administration source said.
posted on Jan 24, 2006 - View this thread

Bush Threatens U.N. Over Clinton Climate Speech Bush-administration officials privately threatened organizers of the U.N. Climate Change Conference, telling them that any chance there might’ve been for the United States to sign on to the Kyoto global-warming protocol would be scuttled if they allowed Bill Clinton to speak at the gathering today in Montreal,
posted on Dec 9, 2005 - View this thread

Bush and Blair slated by Pinter George W Bush and Tony Blair must be held to account for feeding the public "a vast tapestry of lies" about the Iraq war, writer Harold Pinter said. [Postroad: but then, what do artists know about politics?]
posted on Dec 7, 2005 - View this thread

Homecoming - anti-war movie from National Amusements featuring the ungrateful dead. This will possibly invoke some controversy.
posted on Dec 2, 2005 - View this thread

Finally, The Bush vs. Blair debate that we've all waited to see. Silly Friday-Flash. [Warning, contains profanity]
posted on Nov 25, 2005 - View this thread

BBC confirms the story That box on his back, that earpiece? He's never said exactly how God talks to him, only that He does ....
posted on Oct 6, 2005 - View this thread

At this challenging time for President Bush, let us reminisce about the system that elected him. Will the next election be different? Do you want it to be? What are you going to do about it?
posted on Sep 12, 2005 - View this thread

There has been much criticism, both in the US and world media, of the handling of rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina. However, the Washington Post ran a survey Friday evening (registration required - bugmenot ) and of American's citizens 46 percent -- approve of the way Bush has handled relief efforts while 47 percent disapprove, a result that might offer some cheer to beleaguered White House staffers who feared a stronger negative reaction.
posted on Sep 4, 2005 - View this thread

Bush: America Will Honor Fallen Soldiers ARLINGTON, Va. -- Quoting letters of the fallen from the war in Iraq, President Bush vowed Monday to a Memorial Day audience of military families and soldiers in uniform that the nation will honor its dead by striving for peace and democracy, no matter what the cost.

"We must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives; by defeating the terrorists," the president told a supportive crowd of several thousand people at Arlington National Cemetery.
posted on May 30, 2005 - View this thread

Whoa! I'm not a big fan of GWB or the Iraq debacle but that might be going a bit far. (found here) It does make me think how odd it is to have nuts on what you consider the correct side of an issue. Pedantic idiocy aside, it seems that in a broader sense the left and the right have to deal with their own nuts. At what point do the fringes sabotoge the main message?
posted on Mar 19, 2005 - View this thread

The Emperor's New Hump In the weeks leading up to the November 2 election, the New York Times was abuzz with excitement. Besides the election itself, the paper’s reporters were hard at work on two hot investigative projects, each of which could have a major impact on the outcome of the tight presidential race. One week before Election Day, the Times (10/25/04) ran a hard-hitting and controversial exposé of the Al-Qaqaa ammunition dump—identified by U.N. inspectors before the war as containing 400 tons of special high-density explosives useful for aircraft bombings and as triggers for nuclear devices, but left unguarded and available to insurgents by U.S. forces after the invasion. On Thursday, just three days after that first exposé, the paper was set to run a second, perhaps more explosive piece, exposing how George W. Bush had worn an electronic cueing device in his ear and probably cheated during the presidential debates.
posted on Feb 5, 2005 - View this thread

Guess what? Another poll (since MeFites enjoy them sooooo much)! This one is a take on how much the world trusts and loves Bush.
posted on Jan 20, 2005 - View this thread

Why Does Archbishop Desmond Tutu Hate Our Christian Moral Values? In an interview with MSNBC, the nobel prize winner slams George Bush. "I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the déjà vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]—vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view."
posted on Dec 30, 2004 - View this thread

Bush's suit bulge revisited: Originally it was thought to be a hidden radio prompter (that Bush laughed off in an interview). Others speculated it was a bullet proof vest, and maybe troutfishing almost got it right. So now, the latest theory is a portable defibrillator.
Is the president as healthy as they'd want us to believe?
(more inside)
via cryptome
posted on Dec 27, 2004 - View this thread

The War on Christmas. "What we are witnessing here are hate crimes against Christianity." Angered by perceived attacks on the Christ part of Christmas, Christians are taking a page from GWB and staging pre-emptive cultural strikes around the country. Or are they? Is this effort a bigger attack against Judaism and the rest of the nonbelievers/scapegoats, an honest attempt by Christians to "save" the holiday, or a media-manufactured controversy? (Air out your holiday spirit, but save your own personal grievances for December 23.)
posted on Dec 16, 2004 - View this thread

Bush Seeks Money for Abstinence Education President Bush's re-election insures that more federal money will flow to abstinence education that precludes discussion of birth control, even as the administration awaits evidence that the approach gets kids to refrain from sex. Congress last weekend included more than $131 million for abstinence programs in a $388 billion spending bill, an increase of $30 million but about $100 million less than Bush requested. Meanwhile, a national evaluation of abstinence programs has been delayed, with a final report not expected until 2006.
posted on Nov 26, 2004 - View this thread

Machine Error Gives Bush Extra Ohio Votes An error with an electronic voting system gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in suburban Columbus, elections officials said.

Franklin County's unofficial results had Bush receiving 4,258 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 260 votes in a precinct in Gahanna. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.

do the math.
posted on Nov 5, 2004 - View this thread

It's unOFFICIAL! yet again!
Bush wins re-election! And Nader nowhere to shoulder blame.
The consequences.
The deciding demographic? The Evangelical vote. (Interestingly, look how the vote went for Carter, born-again Southern Baptist, in the '76 election.)
So who's to blame? Personally, I point the finger at the PR. Because everyone should damn-well accept the fact that it's not about the issues.
Let the recount and litigation begin!
posted on Nov 2, 2004 - View this thread

Bohemian election. Just a little something to lighten the day. Bound to be a double post but can't find any signs, so apologies in advance if it is. Altogether now, My brother jeb has votes put aside for meeee...
posted on Nov 2, 2004 - View this thread

Going for broke. With four days to go before the election, Bush-Cheney '04 finally pulled the last stop and started sending out anti-Kerry mailings using images of the burning World Trade Center. The ads are paid for and officially endorsed by Bush's campaign.
posted on Oct 29, 2004 - View this thread

Someone finally gets around to lodging an attempt to prove to the standards of a court of law that Bush Knew about 9/11 in advance, among other evil deeds. Now what?
posted on Oct 25, 2004 - View this thread

Twenty-one reasons Bush took us to war Now in convenient chart form for those of you playing along at home.
posted on Oct 23, 2004 - View this thread

University Study - Most Bush Voters Are Extremely Stupid [Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format]
posted on Oct 22, 2004 - View this thread

Bush Relatives for Kerry grew out of a series of conversations that took place between a group of people that have two things in common: they are all related to George Walker Bush, and they are all voting for John Kerry. As the election approaches, we feel it is our responsibility to speak out about why we are voting for John Kerry, and to do our small part to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed President in 2000. We invite you to read our stories, and please, don't vote for our cousin!
posted on Oct 21, 2004 - View this thread

Vietnam Veterans for George W. Bush? "This web site was created and personally paid for by a Vietnam combat veteran as a service to his country and has no financial connection with any political party or campaign organization." ...and he does not pussy foot around!
posted on Oct 19, 2004 - View this thread

Protecting our civil rights? We've seen the free speech zones, the kicking and hair-pulling, and the loyalty oaths/essays - but did you think that just mentioning the protection of civil rights would get you thrown out of a Bush speech?
posted on Oct 17, 2004 - View this thread

Speaking in TonguesCode --Dred Scott and Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court and a President who signals his base in terms that fly over the heads of most of the country.
posted on Oct 11, 2004 - View this thread

Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration, 2001–2004 -- This very thorough report (PDF) finds that President Bush has neither exhibited leadership on pressing civil rights issues, nor taken actions that matched his words. The US Commission on Civil Rights presents something for everyone, from Gay and Lesbian Rights on page 129 to Voting Rights and the 2000 Election on page 40, to Faith-Based Funding on page 157...from page 9: In fact, the faith-based initiative’s only civil rights significance may be that it actually allows employment discrimination. ... this initiative reflects the President’s desire to recast civil rights in a manner that suits his narrow agenda and, as such, has been highly controversial.
posted on Oct 10, 2004 - View this thread

The resumé of George W. Bush, a carefully annotated curriculum vitae for the incumbent U.S. president, with a foreword and an ongoing errata section to keep it honest.
posted on Oct 7, 2004 - View this thread

Bush Remixed It almost reminds me of an early Steve Reich. Kinda hypnotic.
posted on Oct 4, 2004 - View this thread

An excellent WashPost primer on the lies each candidate is currently telling about the other, and how they hold up to reality. Also, enjoy the many euphemisms employed to avoid the "L" word: (Misleading. Inaccurate. Oversimplified. Exaggerated. Carefully selected. Unfair. etc etc) Who will be the first mainstream media outlet to state plainly that a politician has told a lie? Login: shutyomouf@hotmail.com - pw:shaftbaby)
posted on Sep 30, 2004 - View this thread

Sleeping with the president is not a good idea. Bush had no answers to big questions, such as 'what happens on the morning after.' The Daily Telegraph reports that documents show Prime Minister Tony Blair signed up to the U.S. policy of regime change in March 2002, a year before the conflict started... after he was warned that postwar stability would be difficult and the U.S. had few answers. Oh, no problem. This week, Bush said he is 'pleased with the progress' in Iraq.'
posted on Sep 19, 2004 - View this thread

Log Cabin Republicans Vote to Withhold Endorsement from President Bush.
posted on Sep 8, 2004 - View this thread

Bush's National Guard File Missing Records Documents that should have been written to explain gaps in President Bush (news - web sites)'s Texas Air National Guard service are missing from the military records released about his service in 1972 and 1973, according to regulations and outside experts. For example, Air National Guard regulations at the time required commanders to write an investigative report for the Air Force when Bush missed his annual medical exam in 1972. The regulations also required commanders to confirm in writing that Bush received counseling after missing five months of drills. No such records have been made public...
posted on Sep 5, 2004 - View this thread

1,000 Reasons to Vote Against George Bush. Reasons are in alphabetical order, by category. Last updated Friday, August 13, 2004, 5:18 PM
posted on Aug 13, 2004 - View this thread

Will Ferrell spoofs GWB for ACT ... "you caught me mending my fences, one of the many things i do on my ranch ..." (streaming QuickTime or WMV). i know it's partisan crap, but still pretty funny ... until the end.
posted on Jul 28, 2004 - View this thread

"I was stunned by its lyrical beauty and easy cadence. The tempo, the choice of words, and the layout on each page captured my imagination so much that it took me about seven minutes to recover my bearings." Amazon users review My Pet Goat. (via Sadly, No!)
posted on Jul 17, 2004 - View this thread

"Is [President] Bush a Homo?" Those are Betty's words... not mine. [via tinmanic]
posted on Jul 13, 2004 - View this thread

Bush Insists on Iraq-Al Qaeda Links Despite Report
Not knowing when to give up and admit that he was wrong, Mr. Bush is digging in his heels and insisting, in spite of the 9/11 commision's findings to the contrary, that Saddam Hussein and Al-Queda are linked.

Said Mr. Bush, "The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda."

I guess that'll be good enough for just under half the population.
posted on Jun 17, 2004 - View this thread

Remarks by President Bush Long, but worth it.
posted on Jun 3, 2004 - View this thread

The Most Important Press Conference of This (US) Election Cycle! (It's not quite Friday, but it's Flash. Really flash)
posted on May 6, 2004 - View this thread

How to Get Out of Iraq by Peter Galbraith

Much of what went wrong was avoidable. Focused on winning the political battle to start a war, the Bush administration failed to anticipate the postwar chaos in Iraq. Administration strategy seems to have been based on a hope that Iraq's bureaucrats and police would simply transfer their loyalty to the new authorities, and the country's administration would continue to function. All experience in Iraq suggested that the collapse of civil authority was the most likely outcome, but there was no credible planning for this contingency. In fact, the US effort to remake Iraq never recovered from its confused start when it failed to prevent the looting of Baghdad in the early days of the occupation.
posted on Apr 26, 2004 - View this thread

The coffins that George Bush doesn't want you to see. The Memory Hole filed a Freedom of Information Act request for photographs of American servicemen and women who died in Iraq. After an initial refusal, the request was granted. Over a hundred US troops have been killed in action in the last month alone.
posted on Apr 21, 2004 - View this thread

George Says Did the president fail to answer your questions tonight? Put the words right in his mouth.
posted on Apr 13, 2004 - View this thread

Bush/Cheney Poster Creator
Best use of web resources to reach the masses, or easiest.culture-jam.ever? You be the judge.
posted on Mar 10, 2004 - View this thread

Bush's campaign commercials feature footage from 9/11, but anger firefighters and families of victims. Is it disingenuous to defend the ads when you claimed just nineteen weeks after the tragedy that you would not use the disaster for politcal gain? If anyone should be able to use the event for political purposes, it would be Giuliani, who defends Bush's actions.
posted on Mar 5, 2004 - View this thread

Remarks by the President to a Press Pool. THE PRESIDENT: I'm ordering ribs. David, do you need a rib? Q: But Mr. President -- THE PRESIDENT: Stretch, thank you, this is not a press conference. So instead of asking questions, answer mine: Are you going to buy some food?
posted on Jan 22, 2004 - View this thread

Iraq Reconstruction Contracts Limited To Coalition Countries In a Determination & Findings[pdf] document dated Dec. 5, the Administration outlines why it is "essential" to national security to limit New-Texas reconstruction contracts to companies based in pro-iraq-war countries. As expected, the terrorist-led corporations of Canada, Germany, France, Russian and China are not allowed to bid. (Despite years of previous work in Iraq for many of these companies). Hello Halliburton, goodbye Schlumberger. Mr Bush, is this uniting or dividing?
posted on Dec 9, 2003 - View this thread

The Bird Was Perfect But Not For Dinner The bird is so perfect it looks as if it came from a food magazine, with bunches of grapes and other trimmings completing a Norman Rockwell image that evokes bounty and security in one of the most dangerous parts of the world. But as a small sign of the many ways the White House maximized the impact of the 2 & 1/2-hour stop at the Baghdad airport, administration officials said yesterday that Bush picked up a decoration, not a serving plate.
posted on Dec 4, 2003 - View this thread

blatantbush.com. Anti-Bush shirts by Superosity's Chris Crosby. Free plug because the O'Reilly shirt made me laugh.
posted on Nov 25, 2003 - View this thread

Dear President Bush, I'm sure you'll be having a nice little tea party with your fellow war criminal, Tony Blair. Please wash the cucumber sandwiches down with a glass of blood, with my compliments. Harold Pinter, Playwright. Some caustic open letters in The Guardian for the big state visit.
posted on Nov 19, 2003 - View this thread

Official Bush-Cheney '04 Blog Now Online, will offer breaking news, grassroots updates, and posts from the campaign leadership.
posted on Oct 7, 2003 - View this thread

Greenpeace obtains smoking-gun memo: White House/Exxon link Did conservative elements in the White House provoke an Exxon front group to sue EPA to suppress a report on climate change? That's the question that two State Attorney Generals have asked US Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate, after Greenpeace uncovered a routine email in a Freedom of Information Act request.
posted on Sep 11, 2003 - View this thread

Officials: Bush Administration Was Slow to Approve Drones to Kill Bin Laden I am not able to say how accurate this posting is, but I post it because it strikes me that if true, Bush is certainly not the strong and forthright Texan gunman he has been made out to be. Any one know more on this issue?
posted on Aug 12, 2003 - View this thread

Al Gore calls the Bush administration on their lies, says he won't run but will pick a candidate in the near future. Insightful excerpt: "Robust debate in a democracy will almost always involve occasional rhetorical excesses and leaps of faith, and we're all used to that. I've even been guilty of it myself on occasion. But there is a big difference between that and a systematic effort to manipulate facts in service to a totalistic ideology that is felt to be more important than the mandates of basic honesty."
posted on Aug 8, 2003 - View this thread

And thus, the new poster child for opposition to flag desecration amendments was born. (via)
posted on Jul 26, 2003 - View this thread

GOP Warns TV Stations Not to Air Ad Alleging Bush Mislead the Nation Over Iraq They claim that the ad itself is dishonest, and cite the obligation of broadcast outlets to be free of misleading information. “Such obligations must be taken seriously. This letter puts you on notice that the information contained in the above-cited advertisement is false and misleading; therefore, you are obligated to refrain from airing this advertisement.” Despite the implicit threats, only one station has refused to run the ad, a Fox station.
posted on Jul 23, 2003 - View this thread

The other shoe is dropping for the Bush administration. Yes it's old news, but relevant to recent events. Cheney ordered to name members of energy panel. Ken Lay, pack your bags!
posted on Jul 17, 2003 - View this thread

Bush: "a bottomless void"? Jon Carroll's Boston Globe op-ed asks whether it's ever possible to rid the world of evil, as W. claims is his ultimate goal, and answers in the negative. Is presidential rhetoric on good and evil helpful? Elaine Pagels doesn't think so.
posted on Jul 8, 2003 - View this thread

Bush dares Iraqis to kill U.S. soldiers "There are some who feel like that, you know, the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is bring them on," Bush said. "We got the force necessary to deal with the security situation."
Is it wise to goad Iraqis into killing Americans?
Is it an impeachable offense?
posted on Jul 2, 2003 - View this thread

"God told me to strike at al Qaida and I and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did..." does this kind of talk coming from our president and the most powerful man in concern you? - or reassure you?
posted on Jun 30, 2003 - View this thread

a little hint of things to come in 2004 from the bush team. slate link with popups
apparently they are still working on content for few areas, specifically: the environment and "more hispanic photos"
posted on Jun 24, 2003 - View this thread

Second study finds gaps in Bush tax cut. A new study has found that 8 million mostly low-income taxpayers will not receive any benefit from the tax law that Republicans have said for weeks was designed to benefit all those who pay income taxes. This in addition to the child tax credit already absent within the law.
posted on Jun 1, 2003 - View this thread

The keepers of the Bush image lift stagecraft to new heights. "We pay particular attention to not only what the president says but what the American people see," Mr. Bartlett said. "Americans are leading busy lives, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to read a story or listen to an entire broadcast. But if they can have an instant understanding of what the president is talking about by seeing 60 seconds of television, you accomplish your goals as communicators. So we take it seriously."
posted on May 16, 2003 - View this thread

Did Bush know? An article in today's New York Times (link to mirrored site with no reg. req.) pieces together data that the author claims proves that Bush and his inner circle were well-aware that they were using false "evidence" of Iraqi WMD. Sy Hersh from the New Yorker is also chiming in, as is Salon's Joe Connason and Katha Pollitt of The Nation. A pretty decent subsection of media is finally descending on this story. If Bush or Powell or Rumsfeld are proven to have been knowingly deceitful, will the American public be even half as angry as the rest of the world?
posted on May 6, 2003 - View this thread

Along the same lines of sites designed to get kids to eat more red meat comes the Presidential Prayer Kids website, which instructs the young on how best to support our leader through prayer. This week's lesson instructs the Bush Youth to be faithful, compares them to dogs. "They are showing their faithfulness by obeying the commands they are given and by doing exactly the job they were trained for."
posted on Apr 4, 2003 - View this thread

Michael Moore is making a deal with Mel Gibson's Icon Prods. to finance "Fahrenheit 911," a documentary that will trace why the U.S. has become a target for hatred and terrorism. It will also depict alleged dealings between two generations of the Bush and bin Laden clans that led to George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden becoming mortal enemies.
posted on Mar 31, 2003 - View this thread

Ground Laid for Historic Presidential Powers Push But as recently as March 4, Attorney General John Ashcroft was being coy about it, refusing to discuss any of the 86-page draft at a Senate hearing. Among the more extreme powers Patriot Act II would grant the executive branch: The ability to strip citizenship from an American who supports a group the feds label as terrorist. Secret arrests—the government could avoid revealing the location of, charges against, and evidence on someone it was holding. Far looser checks on search-and-seizure activities of law enforcement. And a DNA database for people deemed to be terrorist suspects. But with this "really cool war to watch on TV", who will even notice before it's too late?
posted on Mar 27, 2003 - View this thread

Unless you take long breaks from your busy internet-trolling schedule to read print media, you did not see this chilling litany of stupidity from Elsa Walsh's 3/24 New Yorker profile of Bandar bin Sul "The meeting was scheduled to last twenty minutes, but Bush and Abdullah talked for two hours. At one point, the Crown Prince handed Bush the photographs of the dead Palestinian children. Do you think it's right? he asked. Bush appeared surprised by the photographs and his eyes seemed to well up. One person familiar with the conversation summarized Bush's comments: "I want peace. I don't want to see any people killed on both sides. I think God loves me. I think God loves the Palestinians. I think God loves the Israelis. We cannot allow this to continue." At one point, Bush told Abdullah that he believed Muslims and Israelis were all God's children and that God didn't want to see children from either side die." (Link via Atrios)
posted on Mar 27, 2003 - View this thread

WSJ says war in Iraq really first step in grand scheme to remake the Middle East. Rumsfeld and Fleischer can still be seen on TV news implying "we just want them to disarm". More on What Makes W. Tick from The Atlantic.
posted on Mar 21, 2003 - View this thread

Thank you, Great Leader George W.Bush Paulo Coelho writes an interesting letter of praise to Prez Bush
posted on Mar 17, 2003 - View this thread

The first President Bush has told his son that hopes of peace in the Middle East would be ruined if a war with Iraq were not backed by international unity. via fox news Times Online.
posted on Mar 10, 2003 - View this thread

Get your Anti-War on! The definitive strategy guide for achieving everlasting peace. Amazingly, similar stuff is actually happening. Will Bush finally hear?
posted on Mar 5, 2003 - View this thread

Bush wants to deploy a new missile system - without testing it. Seems like a relatively bad idea, considering the numerous things that can do terribly awry with such a complex situation.
posted on Feb 24, 2003 - View this thread

The War Behind Closed Doors PBS' newest "Frontline" focuses on what has been happening behind the scenes within the Bush administration during the buildup to war against Iraq. Wolfowitz is seen as supporting a policy of US preemptive wars starting in 1992 and urging a US invasion of Iraq just four days after 9/11, Richard Perle says that "it was understood that Iraq had to be dealt with" in the earliest days of the Bush presidential campaign, and Colin Powell is shown as the only reason the US sought UN approval at all.
posted on Feb 21, 2003 - View this thread

A refreshing read With all the bad news and fear in the air lately, I found this article to be hopeful. I hope that merits a post.
posted on Feb 18, 2003 - View this thread

Bush will raise the national terror threat level today from yellow to orange (CNN). This means little to us here in NYC where we've already been at orange. (At least that's what I've heard, although orange looks like a brownish color on my TV screen and a sort of muddy green on my computer monitor.) What, if anything, will your town, city, state, company, family do in response to this heightened threat level?
posted on Feb 7, 2003 - View this thread

Powell's address to the UN. In a direct, long and rich presentation, Colin Powell has laid the cards on the table, and presented what's likely to be our most explicit case for war. While it's difficult to separate the larger issue of War on Iraq from just this presentation, I'm interested in other takes on Powell's speech. Anything substantially new? Truly irrefutable? Strong enough to justify immediate action? Does this have more heft coming from Powell (considering he's more trusted than Bush on this issue), or is he acting as a mouthpiece? Or, to be succinct, did Colin change anyone's mind? At the very least, he satisfied my need to know more about why our administration is acting so urgently.
posted on Feb 5, 2003 - View this thread

It's thoughtful, not angry or insulting. It appears to make sense and it doesn't upset me. Is this really how they think of themselves? Required reading for the liberal opposition: A Republican's View of George Bush, Compassionate Conservative. (NYTimes, free registration required)
posted on Jan 5, 2003 - View this thread

I found no post related to the kid in Bellbrook Ohio being persecuted by his classmates, the high school Principal, and then the Secret Service for wearing a "NOT MY PRESIDENT" T-shirt. The persecution began when he drew crosshairs on the forehead. You can support irony by buying one for $13.00 at Fat Wreck Chords.---I only post it now, three days later, as I see in my weblog's referer log that it's topical enough that that's how a few people found my site.
posted on Dec 14, 2002 - View this thread

The Commander in Chief commanding. But while Mr. Bush was waiting for the military, at his direction, the CIA led by George Tenet, was already on the ground buying Afghan warlords. Bob Woodward, reveals this an other behind the scenes activity in the Bush's Cabinet just after 9/11.
posted on Nov 17, 2002 - View this thread

The Homeland Security Bill. It has passed the House, on to the Senate where it is believed that it will pass. The President will sign it. Yet the text of H.R.5710 is unavailable to the American public.
posted on Nov 13, 2002 - View this thread

President To Author: Your Book Is Unpatriotic " "The letter began by thanking me for sending the book," Hudson said. 'Also, I'm from Austin, Texas, and the president touched on the fact that I was a fellow Texan, congratulating me on my book. But he was setting me up for the one-two punch. Because he called the book unpatriotic and ridiculous and just plain bad writing. Beyond that, I've been instructed not to talk about the contents of the letter for the time being.'"
posted on Oct 30, 2002 - View this thread

Bush skeptical of ballistic fingerprinting. This article talks about Bush's (and the NRA's) reluctance to set up a national ballistic fingerprinting system to trace bullets back to the guns which fired them. Some feel this technology could be helpful in finding the DC sniper. Apparently, legislation to set up this system has been in the works for about 2 years, but this is the first I've heard of it. Any MeFi people know more about this?
posted on Oct 16, 2002 - View this thread

“President Bush’s case against Saddam Hussein ... relied on a slanted and sometimes entirely false reading of the available US intelligence, government officials and analysts claimed yesterday.” Another article on the same subject says, “Rumsfeld’s recent remark that the United States has ‘bulletproof’ evidence of links between Al Qaeda and Hussein struck many in the intelligence community as an exaggerated assessment of the available evidence.” One paper explains the differences this way, “The C.I.A. has to maintain its credibility for objective estimates. The White House is mobilizing the public and preparing foreign nations for a potential American invasion of Iraq.”
posted on Oct 12, 2002 - View this thread

"And due to the flagrant violations of U.N. resolutions, we now order Israel, Turkey, Morocco, and most every other country to bow before us..." Otherwise known as 'things George Bush overlooked when planning his Cincinnati speech.' Numerous UN resolutions have been disregarded and have gone unpunished-Israel being one of the most serious violators. Who else believes that their most hard-assed university professors would fail them for using the rather weak, subjective arguments that have been popping up in political speeches lately?
posted on Oct 9, 2002 - View this thread

The 'Corporate Reform' President? Harken Energy, when run by George W. Bush used the practice of shifting troubled assets and large debts on a seperate set of books (like the much beloved Enron). Harvardwatch has memos (1, 2) right from where Bush personally took part in meetings authorizing the deal. Its good to see those Ivy League dollars at work.
posted on Oct 9, 2002 - View this thread

An Open Letter to Congress from the editors of The Nation. All the makings of a final plea.
posted on Sep 26, 2002 - View this thread

What do Prince William, Sir Winston Churchill and President George W. Bush have in common? They're all blood relatives.
posted on Sep 18, 2002 - View this thread

Bush is "skeptical" about Iraq's announcement to allow weapons inspectors unconditionally. As the administration prepares for war with Iraq, the rogue state led by everyone's favorite madman agrees to pretty much everything the U.S. has demanded. So, we're not going to invade, right? And the fact that this is an election year has nothing whatsoever to do with any of this, right? And Iraq didn't just agree to this to make the U.S. look stupid, right? Right?
posted on Sep 17, 2002 - View this thread

Bush By The Numbers... "Bush has spent a whopping total of 250 days of his presidency at Camp David (123 days), Kennebunkport (12) and his Texas ranch (115). That means Bush has spent 42 percent of his term so far at one of his three leisure destinations." More fun numbers about "43" in the story...
posted on Sep 4, 2002 - View this thread

The Bush regime is completely called out. (NYTimes) "If the White House wanted anyone to listen, it would not have staged eight separate panels simultaneously on a Tuesday morning in the dog days of August, assuring that complete coverage would be available only on C-Span."
posted on Aug 17, 2002 - View this thread

Room for rent. Similar to the Clinton administration that they heavily criticized, the Bush folks have opened a bed and breakfast up in that big White House with the cee-ment pond. Rates are steep but one thing many guests share is a membership in the exclusive Pioneer Club.

One of my favorites is Edward Rose, Mr. Rose is a staunch Bush supporter having donated more than 42,000 dollars in the past along with $2,000[1] directly. Then there is the Betts family, patriarch Roland was Dubyas frat brother and besides selling him the Texas Rangers has donated $19,000 along with another 4K[1] directly. For outright generosity it's tough to beat Brad Freeman, who opened his pockets to the tune of some 190,000 dollars.There's Joe O'Donnell ($9,250)and James Simmons ($27,550)... the list goes on but you get the idea. Aside from the Pioneer Club the only other thing these people share is great wealth and successful business careers, considering his choice in houseguests is this the right person to hold corporate America accountable?
posted on Aug 17, 2002 - View this thread

Earlier this week, Bush blocked $5.1 billion in emergency spending, which most visibly included denying a couple hundred million earmarked for firefighters and emergency services. While he claims the block was to curtail wasteful spending, the biggest waste that keeps getting quoted is the new insect collections room at the smithsonian, even though his office specifically requested the money for his budget request for fiscal 2003. If the only example of wasteful spending was something he requested previously, what was the point of blocking the funds? [more inside]
posted on Aug 16, 2002 - View this thread

Does invading Iraq require more than declaring Saddam Hussein "evil"? The New York Times reports public opposition from people not easily labeled Brie-sucking scared-of-war libyerals -- people like Henry "Bombs Away" Kissinger and Brent Scowcroft. Meanwhile, hawks argue that not attacking after all Bush's rhetoric would "produce such a collapse of confidence in the president that it would set back the war on terrorism." [registration required]
posted on Aug 15, 2002 - View this thread

The anticipation of war stirs uncertainty and puts people on edge, which is the way the country, already shaken by Sept. 11, is feeling these days. It is time for Mr. Bush to level with the nation about his intentions and to talk candidly about why he feels military action against Iraq may soon be necessary, and what the goals, costs and potential consequences of a war would be. (NYTimes, registration required)
posted on Aug 2, 2002 - View this thread

Is Fast Track Back? The House of Representatives voted 215-212 to give "Fast Track" trade agreement authority to W in the "early morning hours." Is this the return to all that 'globalism' stuff that was newsworthy before 9-11? And, most of all, what is the Senate going to do about it? Tell him to take a flying leap, or jump on the corporate bandwagon?
posted on Jul 27, 2002 - View this thread

Angered Bush to Give Speech on Corporate Reforms. Bush will devote his Saturday radio address to the subject of corporate responsibility and will travel to New York on July 9 to stress the need for better governing at the top level of American businesses.
posted on Jun 28, 2002 - View this thread

Bush's speech today revealed the basis of what the current administration believes is the roadmap to peace in the Mideast. After looking at the major points of the plan, I feel it's about as good of a deal as the Palestinians are ever going to get and pretty much the only way out for the Israeli's also. What do you think?
posted on Jun 24, 2002 - View this thread

Bush / Giuliani in 2004? Is this the team the Democrats will have to beat in 2004?Rudy Giuliani is still riding on the wave of popularity from his post 9/11 actions. Apparently he's got his eye on the White House, even if it breaks Dick Cheney's heart.
posted on Jun 9, 2002 - View this thread

I had trouble sleeping Saturday night because of a CNN story suggesting that "increased level of chatter and activity" indicated that "another al Qaeda terrorist operation could be in the works." The "warnings" have been coming ever since: Cheney said Sunday that future attacks were "almost a certainty" and FBI director Robert Mueller stated "we will not be able to stop it", with Ridge and Rumsfeld spinning similar tales today. Is there a new threat? Ridge hasn't changed the nation's security alert from "yellow," and AP reported today that "a top White House aide said last week's criticism prompted a two-pronged political response: Bush accused Democrats of playing politics with the issue as his advisers reminded voters that America is still a target."
posted on May 21, 2002 - View this thread

Bush's feminine side? This may or may not be funny, but it certainly is bizarre. (large flash movie with Cindy Lauper music).
posted on Mar 22, 2002 - View this thread

President Bush Signs Stimulus Pkg... Really?? Look closely. Friggin hilarious.
posted on Mar 9, 2002 - View this thread

Did I say devaluation? Nothing important, just another presidential blunder that caused a bit of confussion among Japan traders. Here in Europe it's been all over the place in the news and I am surprised that that little detail has been absent of the main USA media. I'm sure I didn't do my (online) homework well, could you please help me?

Maybe is that the European media jumps at every oportunity to ridiculize Bush? Or is the american media protecting Bush image inside the USA?

Could things like this controversial Pentagon plan be the beguinning of a New Media War? We begin by hidding the little things and then we'll go for bigger and bigger blackouts, and then even lies?
posted on Feb 20, 2002 - View this thread

A Time For Dissent This piece suggests that the Bush team has been riding high and mighty because of or since 9/11 and that it is time to ask specifically what has been gained and what lost. Leftist rant or spot on?
posted on Feb 14, 2002 - View this thread

Ye olde Axis of Evil turns out to be, really, just an exercise in getting rid of Saddam (registration required). Not that I blame W but shouldn't we get a few other countries to back us up in a potentially long, protracted war? Could North Korea be right?
posted on Feb 13, 2002 - View this thread

Presidential Makeover? Instant freelance political cartoons. Kind of like those games where you use a magnet to rearrange metal shavings into a guy's funny beard, only it's the Commander-in-Chief. (requires Flash)
posted on Feb 8, 2002 - View this thread

Obligatory link to the state of the union address. I'm surprised that there isn't a play by play thread yet. Comments?
posted on Jan 29, 2002 - View this thread

Bush Proposes to Add $48 Billion to Pentagon's Budget Next Year. Is this where all of this money should be going? Personally, I would have liked to have seen Bush make good on his promise to help New York. Besides, I've already lived through the Eighties.
posted on Jan 23, 2002 - View this thread

"It just hit me... they won't be contributing any more money, will they?" Abruptly changing his tone about a company that heavily contributed to his political campaigns, President George W. Bush now says that he was "outraged" that Enron Corp. misled its employees and investors, including his mother-in-law, who he said lost more than $8,000 when the energy firm's stock collapsed.
posted on Jan 23, 2002 - View this thread

President Bush seems to think that abortion is unconstitutional. Does anyone smell hypocrisy here? I would suggest that he examine the constitutionality of his own actions before throwing stones.
posted on Jan 20, 2002 - View this thread

Bush is an ignorant hick , with his racial slurs that are explained, but not apologized for. Mel Lastman, after a similar gaffe, said he was really really sorry. I think the President should apologize to the Pakistani people.
posted on Jan 8, 2002 - View this thread

Bush: Drug users=terrorist lackeys George W. Bush says if you just quit drugs, terrorism will go away.
posted on Dec 14, 2001 - View this thread

Bush decided only he should decide who should go before military trial for terrorism Why not>? He is our elected president and our leader, no?
posted on Nov 19, 2001 - View this thread

That didn't take long. Thanks to Paul Krugman; it's high time someone disagreed with Bush's wrongheaded fiscal ideas. Bush is going back to fuzzy math to justify another tax cut.
posted on Oct 7, 2001 - View this thread

Bush or Chimp closes shop. Another stalwart anti-Bush site has folded in light of recent events. The irreverent bushorchimp.com, dedicated to visual comparisons of the President and various look-alike primates has closed down. I understand that we're in the midst of a crisis, but is Bush now beyond criticism? Ok, maybe pictures that compare Bush to monkeys aren't exactly thoughtful criticism... Still, NOW where am I going to get novelty t-shirts for friends and family this Xmas?
posted on Sep 24, 2001 - View this thread

Blacklist! Bush is expected to issue an executive order labeling certain people as "terrorists", which will lock up their assets and generally make life miserable. Who needs checks and balances or due process?
posted on Sep 23, 2001 - View this thread

"How Bush should spend his windfall of political capital." Many links have been posted in the past 10 days to cheap political opportunism in the wake of 0.81- but this takes the cake: an op-ed calling for Bush to explicitly exploit this tragedy to pass bigger tax cuts, ANWR drilling, etc. Yep, another sickening WSJ effort; I'm sure the families of the victims will take heart in knowing their loved ones are, in fact, a "windfall of political capital" for Bush. (sorry for the two-front-page-posts-in-a-row, btw)
posted on Sep 21, 2001 - View this thread

"Islam is Peace" Says President - the text of his remarks at the Islamic Center of Washington today. Frankly, speaking as a critic of the man, he rose to the occasion.
posted on Sep 17, 2001 - View this thread

Okay, so I am a little biased against the Democratic Underground. Occasionally I may even laugh at some of their insults of dubya. I am sure this page was placed on their website early in the day of the attack without thinking. Maybe I am being just a little too sensitive about the tragedy, but I really think they should at LEAST change the date of this letter to santa.
posted on Sep 17, 2001 - View this thread

European leaders trying to bring balance to American response. "...Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has offered Mr. Bush his full support, insisted on Friday that any retaliation "must and will be based on hard evidence," and his spokesman has said that the support does not amount to a 'blank check.' "
posted on Sep 16, 2001 - View this thread

Bush's bullhorn speech The most genuine public show of emotion I think I've seen from the president. There has been a lot of criticism of his cue-card reading, but to me this was a refreshing change!
posted on Sep 14, 2001 - View this thread

Washington Post/ABC News Poll: Bush's approval rating at 87% - I wonder if that rating is going to go on a roller-coaster ride similar to his father's.
posted on Sep 13, 2001 - View this thread

"we will have no representative there, so long as they pick on Israel" (exact Bush quote) Is it better to just not show up, or to go there and talk? Then we may be skipping another U.N. conference because they mention "children's rights & abortion". This seems more like the kid taking his ball and going home as opposed to the most powerful country on earth...
posted on Aug 28, 2001 - View this thread

Legalization?!? Try "zero tolerance" taken to a whole new level

"Older Americans tend to give in to peer pressure," Lakewood said. "They just do what their doctor tells them because they want to 'be cool' or 'live,' and win their doctor's approval.

In my own defense, I got this via email rather than directly from the source, but I was four paragraphs in before the light went on. Is there any idea so unbelievable that you immediately know Bush wouldn't support it?
posted on Aug 24, 2001 - View this thread

Press sez "good", public sez "bad" I'm not posting this story to discuss Bush's EU tour (lord knows we've done that one to death), but rather to examine this line: "Mr. Bush's European tour, though it drew largely upbeat news coverage, did not appear to help him in the eyes of the public." I'm a pretty big believer that the media (oh, let's just go ahead and capitalize it: "The Media") plays a huge role is shaping public perceptions of politicians, and I too thought the coverage of Bush's EU trip was pretty positive -- certainly in comparison to the "he's gonna go over there and get suckerpunched" predictions they were running before his departure. And, still, his numbers go down. What do you think? How large an influence does The Media really have? Does the public just believe what Peter Jennings tells 'em, or is it possible that, *gasp*, they can think for themselves?
posted on Jun 21, 2001 - View this thread

Bush warned of G-8 terrorist threat Bin Laden's recruitment video shows them taking shots at a video image of Clinton, and possibly a link with the bombing of the Cole. Also, speculation on moving the summit.
posted on Jun 21, 2001 - View this thread

Who needs Clinton when you have Peeping Bush? Seems the President can't find his campaign when faced with a heaving bosom.
posted on Jun 17, 2001 - View this thread

Bush warns Europe of "new" threats
Question: What's the surest sign that your presidential honeymoon with the media is over?
Answer: When CNN starts putting your rhetoric in quotation marks.
posted on Jun 12, 2001 - View this thread

Oops! "Weren’t you supposed to watch him?" "Me? I thought you were watching him."

This is what happens when they let the Shrub pretend he is actually in charge.
posted on Apr 26, 2001 - View this thread

Bush to frisk toddlers at annual White House Easter Egg Roll. High school massacres aside, isn't this going too far? I doubt that a 2 year old could fire off several rounds on an AK-47, much less load one. Even balloons are banned becaue they'll be mistaken for gunfire.
posted on Apr 15, 2001 - View this thread

US Spy plane lands on Hainan after collision with Chinese jet. Bush wants the crew back. And the plane too, along with all the equipment, please.
posted on Apr 2, 2001 - View this thread

Bush laughs at himself A new approach: join the others in laughing at you and maybe they will come to think of you as "just plain good folks." My problem is not what he says or how it is said but what his policies portend. But I could be wrong.
posted on Mar 31, 2001 - View this thread

Palm Beach Butterfly Ballot Reportedly Cost Gore "The newspaper said the ballot confusion also hurt President George W. Bush; 1,631 people voted for both Bush and Buchanan, whose hole was directly under that of Bush"
posted on Mar 11, 2001 - View this thread

The Secret of W's Success. ....Could it really be this simple to stymie the Dems?
posted on Mar 3, 2001 - View this thread

Undervote Count Supports Bush Win I'd like to believe that this will put an end to the endless whining, but I'm not that much of an optimist...
posted on Feb 26, 2001 - View this thread

Man takes pot shots at Bush. It begins. I've heard lots of people joking about this. It looks like someone took it seriously, if incompetently. Is that old Indian curse true?
posted on Feb 7, 2001 - View this thread

Way to go, Mr. President. Hmm, odd. If you visit the White House's website and click on the president, the text is right, but the picture seems to be a little off... If it's been corrected, I grabbed a screenshot and put it on my server. I'm sure it's just a sign of the attention to detail to come over the next four years...
posted on Feb 5, 2001 - View this thread

Dubya wishes to end "discrimination" against churches. In regards to his recent faith-based services funding thing, Dubya speaks to the religous folks he's targeting. Apparently, he feels the separation of church and state is "discrimination." Is there any vacancy left in Canada for about four years?
posted on Feb 1, 2001 - View this thread

While George W. Bush is being sworn in... I, for one, am going to be chanting "MORON".
posted on Jan 17, 2001 - View this thread

Clinton: "They thought the election was over, the Republicans did. By the time it was over, our candidate had won the popular vote, and the only way they could win the election was to stop the voting in Florida". Give 'em hell Bill!
posted on Jan 9, 2001 - View this thread

Is Bush REALLY an animatronic robot? Or are these photos implying something else? Like maybe a few journalists/photographers took a few shortcuts? In any case, the article gave me a good laugh.
posted on Dec 30, 2000 - View this thread

V.funny tvgohome comment on Bush which contains sexual swearwords words and statements which some republicans may find offensive [slight troll for those of the starboard persuasion]
posted on Dec 30, 2000 - View this thread

Everybody knew it was about to happen. Ladies and gentlemen, it's a fact that George W. Busch blogs.
posted on Dec 23, 2000 - View this thread

Warning signs on the horizon... WARNING Political: Democrats and Repubs point fingers over who's to blame about current and future economic problems. Ok, who forgot that 5 weeks of political indecision has had a big, bad toll on the economy? Also, another in a long series of funny dubya pictures. Check the large hands. How'd they get so big?
posted on Dec 21, 2000 - View this thread

George W. Bush named Time Magazine Person of the Year Agree? Disagree? Due to the unique circumstances, it seems appropriate.
posted on Dec 17, 2000 - View this thread

FLASH: Gore Concedes. Ok, I guess *now* it's over. Bye, Alec...
posted on Dec 13, 2000 - View this thread

Bush, by a technicality. They've run out the clock. Oh dear. This could be messy.
posted on Dec 12, 2000 - View this thread

HEADLINE: Metafilter so jaded by the U.S. election that this post will draw zero comments.
posted on Dec 9, 2000 - View this thread

When headlines ... get academic? The Boston Globe chooses a novel way to report Sunday night's news. Even the URL reflects it.
posted on Nov 27, 2000 - View this thread

Whip it good with Bush and Gore. The Hampster Dance has made it into the White House.
posted on Nov 15, 2000 - View this thread

Who was that masked man? And what was he thinking when he put it on?
posted on Oct 30, 2000 - View this thread

The Complete Bushisms - Bush Quotables Lets get the daily Bush Bash started with a bang today. Some of these are just too much. "We want to promote families in America. Families is where our nation takes hope, where wings take dream."
posted on Oct 24, 2000 - View this thread

Former Russian Prime Minister Suing George W. Bush The irony is, Bush's statements were probably true
posted on Oct 12, 2000 - View this thread

The lead that Al Gore once enjoyed in most presidential polls in wake of the Democratic convention has all but disappeared, according to the latest Voter.com Battleground 2000 poll released Thursday. The survey reports that the vice president’s numbers are slipping and George W. Bush is back on top for the first time in weeks.
posted on Sep 14, 2000 - View this thread

Major league asshole: Y'all have probably heard about this already, but I'm thinking it'd make for good discussion. While I'm always happy to hear of dirt on Dubya, is this really all that big of a deal?
posted on Sep 5, 2000 - View this thread

"There's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times."
~George W. Bush
posted on Sep 4, 2000 - View this thread

Dubya is all talk, yes indeed. Did I mention that I hate my governor?
posted on Mar 22, 2000 - View this thread