Haha! Both Senator John Kerry and Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden accidentally called John McCain George W Bush in their speeches at last night's DNC. Aside from the first syllable, the two Republicans' names sound completely different from one another, but they're JUST SO DAMNED SIMILAR policy-wise, so it's easy to mistake one's creased, warmongering face for the other's.

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President Bush has approved the first execution of an American soldier in almost half a century. Private Ronald Gray was convicted of a series of rapes and murders 20 years ago, before being sentenced to death.

As commanders in chief, presidents have the final authority to approve capital punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, occasionally choosing instead to reject or commute the sentences to life in prison, as President Kennedy once did in 1962.

The last time a solider was executed was in 1961, following a 1957 order from President Dwight Eisenhower.

Just when we thought no one cared about George W. Bush anymore… In what was supposed to be a private speech to donors in Texas Friday, some rebellious attendee secretly taped Bush making interesting comments about Wall Street. The press is having a field day.

"There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk," Bush said at a private event in Houston on Friday. "It got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is, how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments?"

What's the big deal? All George W. Bush was doing was explaining our economic woes to a group of donors the same way his advisers had to explain it to him! Except they had to speak slowly and repeat themselves a few times.

[Source]

Our President with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the White House today discussing "Phillipine-Americans:"

PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office. We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that — in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the — of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.

PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.

PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.

Matt Lauer scored a money quote from John McCain on the today show earlier today, when the senator from Arizona said that bringing troops home from Iraq is "not too important." What's important, he said, is to lower casualties. Apparently, he doesn't quite understand the correlation. Of course, Democrats — notably Senators Joe Biden, Harry Reid, and John Kerry — are pouncing.

Meanwhile, George W. Bush said in Germany yesterday that he didn't regret invading Iraq at all. Oh, Republicans! Can't live with them… Can't live with them.

When black Republicans are accusing John McCain having an African American outreach that pales in comparison to George W. Bush, McCain's got major problems. Yvonne R. Davis, a former national co-chair for African Americans for Bush (really?), said that McCain doesn't seem to have the same interest in bringing blacks over to his side as Bush did. Perhaps he recognizes the futility?

Minus a couple of black folks seen with him on the campaign trail, you still don't see many in the room with McCain when he is meeting and greeting or standing in crowds.

What you see with McCain are packs of what Ron Heifetz in the Harvard Executive Leadership School calls older "silverback" white males. When President Bush was on the stump in 2000 and 2004, and later in the White House, African American Republicans often heard that President Bush strongly admonished his staff for inviting the same old white guys to everything.

WHATEVER. THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION NEVER LIES Scott McClellan, the former press secretary for George W. Bush, has included some damning information about the administration's unconventional outlook on candor and truthfulness in a new book, which Karl Rove says sounds like it was written by a "left-wing blogger" and not a former colleague. I guess that means we would like it? [CNN]

In Israel for the country's 60th anniversary yesterday, George W. Bush went on the attack, comparing Barack Obama and man in the Democratic party to Nazi appeasers. He's been blasted for the past 24 hours by analysts and Democratic politicians alike, who have questioned not only his presentation of the facts but the inappropriateness of presenting false, partisan attacks against American politicians on foreign soil. And also — Bush criticizing another's foreign policy? Please.

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What George W. Bush Said:

“I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”

What George W. Bush Meant:

"Laura told me it was bad for my image to keep playing golf, even though its my favorite thing to do. So then I asked Karl what he thought, and he agreed with Laura. So I quit golf, and no one has even noticed or cared! If I knew that I would make this personal sacrifice just for appearances' sake and 71 percent of the country would still think I was the worst president ever, I never would have thrown away my clubs. That's for damn sure."

"Hey fellow Americans, don't look at the New York Times or the Washington Post or turn on the news or check out my approval ratings. Don't think about the war or natural disasters. Just look at these nice, happy wedding pictures!"

ONLY IF YOU'RE WRITING THE HISTORY BOOK, DICK They stir a couple of spoonfuls of delusion into their morning coffee every day at the White House.

"And when the history is written, it'll be said that we lived in a safer country, and a more hopeful world, because George Bush was President of these United States."

– Vice President Dick Cheney

ANOTHER BUSH SUCCESS A billion-dollar-a-year education initiative, which our dear president insisted be included in No Child Left Behind, aimed at improving the reading skills of low-income children has not actually improved the reading skills of low-income children. Reading First "program did not increase the percentages of students in grades one, two or three whose reading comprehension scores were at or above grade level," according to a report mandated by Congress. Like most Bush initiatives, Reading First fell victim to typical cronyism. Perhaps it should have been called Cronies First, Reading Second. [NYT]

THIS IS IMPRESSIVE It is official. George W. Bush is the most unpopular president in modern history, or at least since we've been taking approval polls. A whopping 71 percent of Americans think Bush sucks. Just 71 percent? "No president has ever had a higher disapproval rating in any CNN or Gallup Poll; in fact, this is the first time that any president's disapproval rating has cracked the 70 percent mark," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director. Some perspective: During the Watergate scandal, Nixon's disapproval rating topped off at 66 percent. [CNN]

Thandie Newton is in final talks to play Condoleezza Rice in Oliver Stone's George W. Bush biopic, W. Odd choice for Condi, but the entire movie is an odd choice, if you ask me. Who's a better choice? I can see Angela Bassett rocking that hairdo like a pro. [EUR]