Prediction: Bush will seek third term - here's how

I fully expect some sort of terrorist attack in either '06 or early '07. The neocons keep saying "see how Bush is protecting us? We haven't been attacked since 9-11". What they don't tell you is that before that, we hadn't been hit since '93. Now whether Bush "allows" the terrorist attack to happen is up for debate (although I wouldnt put it past him). But it will allow him to grab emergency powers. He'll bring up FDR as an example, saying how the country needs continuity, how we can't afford to change leadership in the midst of this crisis. He could simply declare martial law, then postpone the '08 elections indefinitely (until the war on tayorism is over). Which we all know is bullshit, terrorism has been around for thousands of years.

Once Bush has solidified his hold on power, then he can pretty much do whatever he wants. Anyone remember your history lessons? Remember how Thomas Jefferson tried to pass the Alien & Sedition Acts? Well, with a friendly Supreme Court, what would stop Bush from bringing those back? Any dissent will be crushed - after all, we simply can't have these liberals demoralizing our troops and giving aid and comfort to the enemy, can we?

And god forbid the neocons win in the '06 elections. How hard would it be for the repugs to get an amendment to the Constitution passed, repealing the two-term amendment? If the repugs control Congress and 3/4 of the state legislatures, it could sail through very easily - just in time for the '08 elections (assuming they even go on).

....he's a puppet.

he reads the scripts, that's all.

newsflash: he didn't mastermind 911, he didn't blow up the levees, he didn't plan either war. he's a clown. he reads the speeches the give him, he says what they tell him to say, and they let him think he's president.

he's out of the loop.

because he is content in his role. He is happy to be the puppet. And that makes him just as bad as his masters.

just like the kid who delivers the bag of drugs for $25 from the dealer to the buyer.

my point is that he's not really in charge. the repuke party learned their lesson after nixon. the corporate masters pick the most malleable dipshits to be their frontmen.

for example reagan (he had no clue)
bush number 1 (he was a yes man, even nixon said so)
next in line was dan quayle (another empty headed puppet)
this time they learned another lesson and realized they needed one of their own in the vice presidency to keep the puppet under closer scrutiny. remember, bush did not pick cheney as his running mate, cheney picked himself. that was a decision made in a boardroom somewhere.

bush is out of the loop. he wasn't around for cheney's secret energy meetings. they had him tucked away reading about a pet goat while 911 happened and then whisked him away to the other end of the country. during katrina, he was off in california.

the only input bush has on any speeches is the worthless crap like steroids in baseball. i also assume that bush actually picked harriet myers because cheney, libbey and rove were too preoccupied with trying to escape impending indictments and they left the shop unminded for a few days.

Bush is a grown man who supposedly graduated from Yale and supposedly earned a Harvard MBA.

He is no victim.

He may be their patsy, but he is very willing in his role.

if he's a model graduate from those schools, would you consider them fine institutions? we know they are great institutions....that brings into question his graduation from them. he majored in skull and bones and alcohol and cocaine. he was pushed through the system because of affirmative action....or maybe, reverse affirmative action. he's about as sharp as the patsy that delivers a bag of drugs for the dealers.

yeah, he's willing in his role. but he is so out of the loop it isn't funny. he only sees adoring crowds of paid partisans. he's kept away from critical news stories. he doesn't read anything. he can't explain a single one of "his" policies.

yeah, sure, he's guilty. but he's not making any decisions or running the country. if it weren't him in there, it would just be some other puppet that would have been inserted in front of mccain in the 2000 primaries.

yes, he needs to be impeached. that's obvious. but if you want to cure the cancer, you have to get at its roots. he's just on the surface. get rid of him and another clown will take his place. the powers that be love it that their puppet takes all the heat while they continue to operate behind the scenes scot-free.

:hi:

And, he is disturbingly out of touch with the public...

Because officially he's been elected only once.

Officially, the Electoral College elects the president. Officially, Bush was elected twice.

Forgive this ignorant Canadian.

...which would have given Florida's electoral votes (and the presidency) to Gore. There is quite a bit of belief that the Court's decision was politically-motivated, rather than a legal decision.

It was a de facto "appointment" by the Supreme Court, rather than a de jure appointment, which the Supreme Court cannot technically do.

Makes you glad you guys have a Parliamentary system, huh?

I feel a little smarter today.

The Professor

He doesn't usually hide the jokes like that, does he?

Franken, in explaining his use of "" when Bob Jones III writes to bush about his "reelection," indicates in a footnote:

"Bush wasn't "elected" in 2000. Thus, he was "elected" to his second term, not "reelected," and is entitled to run again in 2008. That's the downside of holding this postion."

Now, I've seen in this thread that Franken may well be incorrect in his reasoning, but I don't see at all that he's trying to make a joke.

to survive this term. His own party is doing their best to distance themselves from him. Every one he campaigns for looses. I don't think Bush will make it past the mid-terms if a balance of power is achieved in the Congress. True he has thumbed his nose at the Constitution for the past five years, but I don't then even he could pull off a third term.

If there's another attack, Bush won't need to worry about his popularity or winning another election. He's proven that the Constitution means nothing to him, why wouldn't he simply declare martial law and postpone the election?

For the record, I don't think he planned 9-11, or even knew about it. But he sure as hell taken full advantage of it.

This time, people will say, "there was no excuse". He treated himself to warrantless eavesdropping. He and Cheney have endowed themselves with all sorts of unconstitutional powers. And there's STILL an attack??

anyone who disagrees with THE LEADER during WARTIME is a traitor, and thus any debate dies, even when a vast majority disagrees (like now) They still have control of everything.

complicit in 911, but he certainly was derelict. His first reaction was to do nothing but stare into space, then he ran and hid. 911 happened on his watch.

I see no way he can circumvent the law and make a bid for another term. It simply won't happen. If we are attacked again, then it will be the second failure of this administration to protect the country. And martial law, no way. For one thing he has spread out military so thin that he can't even keep up sufficient troop numbers overseas, much less right here at home. We face a greater threat from our broken borders than we do from our own populace.

Sorry friend, but I think Bush and his minions are toast. Another attack would only seal their fate as the party that couldn't even DEFEND their own country. We should be concentrating on defense rather than offense.

georgie has been used for what he was needed for. His job is done.

But the way things are now, I think the powers that be in the Republican Party would rather have an equally vacuous, but more acceptable, president. Regardless of how Bush may feel about it, they'll cut him loose in '08 and offer up someone who is more or less a carbon copy.

So, while I don't think Bush will have a third term, I do think that, if a Republican is elected, Bush's policies will. In a sense, there would be "continuity" -- a new Republican president will offer the exact same programs, or lack thereof, of the Bush administration. And I think you'd see a lot of holdovers from the Bush administration -- people like Rumsfeld, Rice, etc. will still play active roles.

At least, that's my prediction -- assuming they win in '08, of course. And let's hope that's not the case.

and Jefferson who threw them out?

It was sometime around the founding of this country that someone tried to make disent illegal. Whether it's Bush in '08 or not, I wouldn't put it past them to resurrect these laws. Of course, they'll call them something different, give them an updated spin, and have their newly packed SCOTUS declare them constitutional.

country will invade us and remove him from power, and then even give us... elections!

Bush is done. I see brighter days ahead for the Democrats and it won't happen too soon....

anymore. It's boring now. It isn't any fun anymore. Time to move on to something else. I just don't see him as passionate enough to ever put himself out that way.

grab emergency powers

What emergency powers allow Bush to do something like this? The Senate, Congress, the courts, the people in the country, would never stand for it.

Nothing short of a police state would allow this to happen.

I think he's next in line to be selected as president.

this new world order and has orchestrated his maneuvers to effect the poor and middle class. In my opinion is B@sh will somehow keep his power going. He will not give the power up. I am not sure how but it could be to put Jeb in office or George himself to stay. But if this happens, the big dog will step in and win the popular vote for sure if B@sh seeks a third term by changing the laws on this.

And will not after next November.

3 years ago, this is a plan that had potential. The American people were still giving W the benefit of the doubt. Approval rating would dictate that the American people would extend his "benefit of the doubt" standing.

This is no longer the case. The American people are indicating that they are not happy with the way things are going. We gave you a chance, Mr. pResident, and it did not work out anything like you said it would. Why should we trust you again ?

The American people (and even a majority of politicians), are beginning to stand up and say "enough is enough". His mandate (cough cough), has not only been exhausted, but is running a pretty huge deficit.

I think an attack (which I do NOT believe is being planned by this administration), would be the death blow for AWOL. I think it would rip deep into the credibility (the scraps that are left) of this administration. It dissolves the notion the "We have not been attacked because of our efforts".

I think it will be a miracle if AWOL and his corrupt administration finishes the term unscathed. Forget about a continued AWOL presidency.

Cheers
Drifter

If he makes through 2006 it will be a miracle.

But will it be to allow the chimp to retain power or to allow them to avoiding the transfer of power to the Democrats?
I can see where they will try to use an attack to further their reign of terror on the American public and further destruction of liberties.

Weren't the embassy and the US Cole attacks between those two dates?

nt

the property on which it sits is considered US soil. Same for any other nation.

in Israel is that considered Us Soil?

Just wondering is all

Yes i'm a sarcastic twit.

What I said is true, though. Anywhere inside the perimeter of an Embassy is native soil of the nation that occupies that Embassy. Let's say you're a US citizen who is a tourist in a foreign country. If you visit the US Embassy where you are at, you are on US soil.

....they have about the same nutritional content.

....my point was that they were terrorist actions that took place in locations where our government doesn't have the kind of control they have in the states.

a low count poster was saying that there were 2 more terrorist acts during clinton's admin after the wtc bombing. i was pointing out that it didn't happen here where we have control. clinton was actually instrumental in stopping the millenium bomber.

the low count poster has failed to mention the countless suicide bombings that have taken place in iraq, killing and wounding US soldiers during bushco's reign.

that is all.

is the important issue here. I get the picture.

Also, as another poster mentions, the attack on the USS Cole could have been prevented by it's Captain taking proper security measures. I agree with this poster.

If they do, they should have hanged the captain of the Cole from one.

The Cole was clearly the Navy's fault. Aden was, at the time, probably the most hostile port the Navy used. They drove the Cole into this port, then left her undefended during replenishment operations. They may as well have hung a sign on the side that said "free shot!"

A Seaman and a Petty Officer 3 in a lifeboat with a Mk.19 grenade machinegun could have stopped the Cole attack. Why there wasn't one out there, I'll never know.

That would have never happened on Clinton's watch. Clinton was well respected around the world.

would result in a new American Revolution. I'm hoping he doesn't make it through 2006.

I asked Santa for it.

Olafr

You wrote: "Remember how Thomas Jefferson tried to pass the Alien & Sedition Acts?"

Actually that's a bit backwards. The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by John Adams and the Federalists to try and destroy Thomas Jefferson and his political party.

See: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h463.html

if Bush makes any attempt to hold onto the Presidency at the end of this term, some sort of action will be taken by someone to guarantee he could never be President again.

They would need to ammend the constitution to do that, and I just don't see it happening, especially with his level of "popularity". For that reason alone, I don't see enough Republican legislators backing a constitutional ammendment, if for no reason than to save their own political hides from *'s unpopularity. We've had many changes in administration during wartime, and this current war is no WWII no matter how you try to spin it.

The scary fact is that they don't need him to maintain continuity of neocon rule. He's just a figurehead anyway, and to the real neocons, rather an inept one. I expect they will take advantage of the next election to get a far more competent and ideologically committed neocon administration in power.

Li'l Georgie will be tired after eight years of this stuff anyway.

state legislatures to get a Constitutional amendment passed. It takes 2/3 of both houses of congress to get an amendment sent to the states; then, 3/4 of the state legislatures to pass it. As for starting ion the states, they would need to call a new Constituional COnvention. No ne knows what might come out of that.

I'm not aware of any emergency powers that allow bush to postpone the elections indefinitely. Do you know of a law or Executive Order that permits this?