I was in a government office today

Say you were in an office, say social security or IRS, and the examiner who would decide your case had, I kid you not, two photos of George and Laura, one of which had an autograph thanking him for his contributions to the Republican party?

I do agree he has a right to his politics and to speak out and don't think that he necessarily would deviate from application of the law fairly. And he can be appealed if he doesn't. But that takes time and expense.

But would it give anyone an uncomfortable feeling, especially as a Democrat, and if the case were denied, if the ground could not be established solidly, would you be more likely to appeal? Also, he would not know you were a Democrat unless you told him. Or you might fit his profile of what those damn liberals are like.

He still has the right to contribute to the Republican party, but at least he is being open about it. If he were not, he'd still be able to do it, of course.

in have pix of the P and VP.

the rethugs, and it was personal to him (with his name and everything.) So I was talking about that.

It's icky but logical for there to be an official portrait of Bush in a federal government office, but since government employees should be impartial, a photo of the president and the president's wife on a person's own personal desk seems pretty uncool, especially if it's a thank-you for a contribution.

Your point that he's at least being open about it is good, though. It's helpful that you know that certain subjects should be avoided if you want this guy to like you. Not to assume that he'd deny your case if he didn't like you, but still, I'd worry about that possibility if he's the kind of person who could still be a Bush supporter after all this.

thought about it, or he's still a major kool-aid drinker.

He was pretty good about following the check list for this type of case though. A real rule follower, which is no surprise. But he is left getting to decide something that requires a sort of forgiveness in the use of judgment, which I figure go with the hard line.

If I saw that this yahoo was serving up this advantage on a silver platter like that, I'd use it to my advantage. I'd gush: "Bush is the finest president this country has ever had the privilege of having rule us. Isn't it such a shame how misunderstood he is? Don't you agree that 100 years from now he'll go down in history as the most brilliant and courageous Commander-in-Chief our country has ever had?" He'd decide my case in my favor in a heart beat.

Some interview guest asked for asylum. Cincinnati didn't have anywhere to do that so they drove to Cleveland (I believe). Bureaucrat there totally unsure what do do and and the "official" pictures on the wall were from about 2 administrations before.

Social Security employees only job is to find some reason why they cannot pay you. When the Republicans are in terminal illness are always appealed once and disabling conditions are appealed for years.

I just helped my 70 year old Aunt apply for Social Security benefits. She refused before her stroke but the stroke took all her savings. It was quite an experience. One of the most bizarre things is that half the people barely spoke english and could not understand her because of her speech problem but they were the ones who refused to let me translate for them. The native English speakers had not problem with my translating. Some conversations took weeks. She would get copies of what they thought she had said and it wasn't even close and we would have to correct it mail it back and they would call again to verify.