Over on Instaputz, TS notes that Krug Rulez, when he likens Bush’s statement that ?challenges remain in reducing the number of uninsured Americans? to Emperor Hirohito?s famous admission, in his surrender broadcast, that ?the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan?s advantage.?

Billmon’s Hirohito watch was a recurring feature, and even inspired us to occasionally take note of Bush’s Hirohitoisms.

Today’s Washington Post: Justice Dept. Probing Whether Gonzales Lied

The Justice Department’s inspector general indicated yesterday that he is investigating whether departing Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales gave false or misleading testimony to Congress, including whether he lied under oath about warrantless surveillance and the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

The disclosure by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine in a letter to Congress signals an expansion of the department’s internal investigations into Gonzales’s troubled tenure, probes that were not previously known to be focused so sharply on the attorney general and his testimony.

This is the same Fredo Gonzales Bush called “a man of integrity, decency and principle,? which shows how little Bush knows about any of those three qualities.

President Dumbshit tests the limits of full-of-shittedness on mulitple fronts these days. First, Bush on Iraq, painting a rose-hued picture of Mission-Almost-Accomplished:

Many Iraqis who once felt marginalized in a free Iraq are rejoining the political process, and now it’s the enemy of a free Iraq that is being left on the margins. . . . . Local officials are forming ties with the central government in Baghdad because these Sunni leaders now see a role for their people in a new Iraq. And in an encouraging sign, the central government is beginning to respond with funding for vital services and reconstruction, and increased security forces.

In other provinces, there are also signs of this kind of bottom-up progress. In Diyala Province, the city of Baqubah reopened six banks, providing residents with capital for the local economy. In Ninewa Province, local officials have established a commission to investigate corruption, with a local judge empowered to pursue charges of fraud and racketeering. These are signs that our strategy to encourage political cooperation at the grassroots level is working. And over time, see, and over time, as the Iraqis take control over their lives at the local level, they will demand more action from their national leaders in Baghdad. That’s how democracy works. And that’s why the encouraging developments at the local level are so important for Iraq’s future.

Now, the Government Accountability Office on Iraq:

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.

The strikingly negative GAO draft, which will be delivered to Congress in final form on Tuesday, comes as the White House prepares to deliver its own new benchmark report in the second week of September, along with congressional testimony from Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker. They are expected to describe significant security improvements and offer at least some promise for political reconciliation in Iraq.

The draft provides a stark assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S.-led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad. “While the Baghdad security plan was intended to reduce sectarian violence, U.S. agencies differ on whether such violence has been reduced,” it states. While there have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces, it notes, the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. It also finds that “the capabilities of Iraqi security forces have not improved.”

“Overall,” the report concludes, “key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds,” as promised. While it makes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that future administration assessments “would be more useful” if they backed up their judgments with more details and “provided data on broader measures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies.”

Next, President Dumbshit happily flies 35,000 feet over the ugly reality of a New Orleans, still largely in ruins and only marginally better protected from disaster 2 years after Hurricane Katrina, painting a happy if fictional picture of a recovering city and a viable federal response to a stricken city:

And so it’s — my attitude is this: New Orleans, better days are ahead. It’s sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a community all the time. Laura and I get to come — we don’t live here, we come on occasion. And it’s easy to think about what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane, and what it’s like today. And this town is coming back. This town is better today than it was yesterday, and it’s going to be better tomorrow than it was today. And there’s no better place to find that out than in the school system.

~~~

The citizens of this country thus far have paid out $114 billion in tax revenues — their money — to help the folks down here. And I appreciate the Governor. Last night we went to — we had a nice dinner here in New Orleans — by the way, have yet to recover. (Laughter.) Dooky Chase’s. If you want to eat a lot of good food, go there. But during that dinner, the Governor expressed her appreciation to the taxpayers of America. In other words, the taxpayers and people from all around the country have got to understand the people of this part of the world really do appreciate the fact that the American citizens are supportive of the recovery effort.

Of the $114 billion spent so far — and resources allocated so far, about 80 percent of the funds have been disbursed or available. And, of course, Don and I will try to work through the bureaucracy in Washington, just like folks down here are trying to work through the bureaucracy to make sure that there are adequate plans for the money. And so we’re working through this kind of collaborative effort of federal, state and local folks working together to make sure that taxpayers’ money is spent wisely on priorities.

But there’s been a commitment, and a strong commitment. A lot of people down here probably wondered whether or not those of us in the federal government not from Louisiana would pay attention to Louisiana or Mississippi. In other words, it’s one thing to come and give a speech in Jackson Square; it’s another thing to keep paying attention to whether or not progress is being made. And I hope people understand we do, we’re still paying attention. We understand.

Douglas Brinkley, on the reconstruction of New Orleans:

Two full years after the hurricane, the Big Easy is barely limping along, unable to make truly meaningful reconstruction progress. The most important issues concerning the city’s long-term survival are still up in the air. Why is no Herculean clean-up effort underway? Why hasn’t President Bush named a high-profile czar such as Colin Powell or James Baker to oversee the ongoing disaster? Where is the U.S. government’s participation in the rebuilding?

And why are volunteers practically the only ones working to reconstruct homes in communities that may never again have sewage service, garbage collection or electricity?

Eventually, the volunteers’ altruism turns to bewilderment and finally to outrage. They’ve been hoodwinked. The stalled recovery can’t be blamed on bureaucratic inertia or red tape alone. Many volunteers come to understand what I’ve concluded is the heartless reality: The Bush administration actually wants these neighborhoods below sea level to die on the vine.

New Orleans’ own paper, the Times-Picayune, pointing out the Wolkenkuckucksheim-ish nature of the “$114 billion spent so far” the Decider likes to talk about :

But Bush wasn’t seeing the same post-Katrina picture many others do. Again, the president sought Wednesday to refute the belief that progress isn’t being made by expressing empathy for those who have trouble seeing it.

~~~

Recovery math differs

Blanco was a smiling host for two days, letting Bush praise her as an “educational reformer” and pass on her thanks to U.S. taxpayers for contributing $114 billion to Gulf Coast relief. But Blanco’s administration has already made it clear that the Bush administration’s frequent use of the $100 billion-plus figure is misleading because it does not reflect how much money went specifically to Louisiana, and it also includes payments on flood insurance claims — on policies bought by Louisianians — and massive payments for emergency cleanup.

State officials have pointed to independent reports that far fewer dollars have gone toward permanent rebuilding. The Government Accounting Office in Washington estimates only $35 billion in aid has gone to the region for long-term recovery, and Louisiana officials estimate less than $30 billion will support rebuilding projects in their state.

And in an editorial, the paper points out on its editorial page that money which actually is being spent by the federal government is being pushed towards Republican Mississippi, instead of the denser-populated, more-heavily damaged — but more prevalently Democratic — Louisiana:

Treat us fairly, Mr. President

Despite massive destruction caused by the failure of the federal government’s levees during Katrina, despite the torment caused by FEMA’s slow response to the disaster, despite being hit by a second powerful hurricane less than a month later, Louisiana has had to plead to be treated fairly by our leaders in Washington.

President Bush and Congress have sent us billions in aid — from $10.4 billion in grants for housing and infrastructure to $95 million for higher education to $168 million in business tax credits.

This community is grateful for the help. But Louisiana’s losses were dramatically higher than any other state’s and thus deserving of greater compensation. In reality, Mississippi has gotten a larger share of federal aid.

~~~

Louisiana had three times more damaged homes and seven times more severely damaged homes than Mississippi. Universities in this state had three times as many students displaced and had four times the losses of Mississippi’s campuses. Louisiana fisheries suffered almost 75 percent of the damage done by Katrina, and our hospitals lost 97 percent of the hospital beds closed by the storm.

Yet in every case, Mississippi ended up with a disproportionate share of aid. Housing grants, for instance: Mississippi got $5.5 billion in Community Development Block Grant money for its 61,000 damaged homes. Louisiana, with 204,000 damaged homes, got $10.4 billion. If the aid were given out proportionately, this state would have gotten twice that much.

Just looking at Bush’s smirk during his Louisiana Photo Op yesterday, it looks as if he’s reveling in ihis ability to speak in unadultered bullshit, free from whatever concerns that it may flashback on his already crippled, discredited, and failed presidency.

This is why he can call Alberto Gonzales “a man of integrity, decency and principle” after Fredo’s bumbling, changing and blatantly inaccurate testimony to Congress on a variety of issues from dismissed attorneys to hospital bedside visits caused the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania to conclude, “I do not find your testimony credible.” Bush goes on to claim that “a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales [was] impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons” after Fredo dragged the Justice Department into the political mud by charging it with partisan purpose, and his incompetence shattered morale and efficiency at the Department of Justice.

Whether it is Bush’s unflapping ability to blame others for his own massive inadequacies or atrocious mistakes, or his dull, condescending arrogance telling him that history will vindicate his tenure as President, Bush is clearly past giving the slightest fuck whether people believe anything he says. He’s past even trying to temper, dilute, or sell the bullshit he’s spewing daily, or trying to connect to the people whose lives he has damaged in a myriad of ways. Whether it’s underfunding Veterans health care in an era where tens of thousands of seriously injured and emotionally scarred veterans are returning from foreign wars, or throwing around a mythical $114 billion dollars the way Army Group Steyner was launched in a decisive counterattack, he’s just past giving a damn about whether his statements have any relevance, credibility or relationship to reality.