This is the John McCain Loser's Gallery. As the news states, George Bush has hit all-time lows in popularity at 25%. Yet, John McCain is campaigning for a third term for Bush so that he can continue the McCain Doctrine of Perpetual Warfare. But in reality, John McCain and the Republicans are setting themselves up to be some of the biggest all-time losers in US history. With that in mind, here is the John McCain Loser's Gallery, with various losers who were only in it for themselves and never for others.

Scott McClellan's new book What Happened doesn't provide any new information but it does confirm many of our suspicions and beliefs with regard to Bush White House. McClellan says that the administration deliberately misled (lied to) the American people and sold the Iraq War like a product.

Sure, this is stuff we've said over and over but to have it said by McClellan, one of the original Texas insiders, is remarkable.

Follow me below the fold and I'll 'remark'.

This is from the blog, Last Kaul.

Distracted by the fun of watching the Obama/Clinton steel cage, death match in North Carolina this week, I almost missed the opportunity to celebrate the five-year anniversary of "Mission Accomplished."  Five years ago Thursday, George Bush dressed up as a fighter pilot and had a real one set him down on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.  All decked out in his costume, he paraded in front of the assembled crew and press, like a kid getting ready for Halloween, and then stood in front of the now infamous banner and told the nation, "Major combat operations in Iraq have ended."

On Saturday night, George W. Bush showed once again that his sense of humor, and not his dull eyes, provides a window into his soul.  It provides Americans with rare, fleeting glimpses into the dark and twisted character of a man who views with disdain the citizens he was elected to serve.  If Presidents Kennedy and Reagan turned to self-deprecating humor to charm the press and disarm critics, in Bush's hands the joke is both a weapon to attack enemies and a shield to fend off accountability.  His appearance this weekend at the Gridiron Club was no exception.

Washington DC "Shadow Senators", Sen. Paul Strauss & Sen. Michael Brown, have endorsed Barack Obama.  The endorsement was noted on page 9 of the print version of today's Washington Post, District local news section.  The shadow Senators are unpaid & elected by Washington "Taxation Without Representation" DC voters to lobby for voting rights & DC statehood.

In a column They Didn’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow, Sunday, January 6, 2007, New York Times columnist, Frank Rich wrote that the Iowa caucuses served as a lesson that change -- not experience -- is what voters value most in this Presidential primary

The Bush Administration's stunning managerial incompetence (at least on anything remotely related to effective governance) seems so broad and deep that it raises its own research questions:

1. Is it possible for such massive incompetence to arise in a natural manner?

2. Why do incompetents hire so many other incompetents? Why don't they mask their weakness by hiring competent people to cover for them?

Yes, Virginia, there is a science to incompetence. Like any other natural phenomenon, scientists can study it - and they have discovered a few interesting things about the way that incompetence actually works. Follow over the fold for the deeper truths.

Ever since New Orleans' levees failed, Louisiana has found herself in a nighmarish relationship from hell with the Bush Administration. It has kept Louisiana off-balance, on a nauseating emotional rollercoaster because she hasn't been sure what to expect. President Bush has hurt her very badly. And if Louisiana thinks she's earned Bush's kindness by voting Republican Bobby Jindal in as Governor, she'd better think again. Per an article in the Oct. 23 issue of the Times-Picayune, former Louisiana Sen. John Breaux said that

Louisianians can only hope that Jindal will be more persuasive with the Bush Administration than Democrats Blanco and Landrieu have been on key recovery issues such as more money for the Road Home program...and the water resources bill.

But Bush aides and the president himself have made it clear...that they intend to block what they see as excessive spending by Democrats...The new emphasis on fiscal responsibility by the White House could endanger some proposed assistance...

One of the hallmarks of Bush administration has been its steadfast commitment to rewarding its own incompetence, fraud and even criminality.  While Katrina fall-guy Michael Brown was quietly edged out, the leading architects of the fiasco in Iraq including George Tenet, Tommy Franks and Paul Bremer received Presidential Medals of Freedom.  Now in the latest example of President Bush's mantra that "nothing succeeds like failure," Harvey Johnson has escaped punishment for his bogus FEMA press conference on Thursday, while his PR flack John Philbin is moving on to greener pastures at the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

As reported earlier today by the Washington Post (and here on Daily Kos), at an October 23 FEMA press briefing on the California fires, deputy administrator Harvey Johnson took questions from 'reporters' who, in fact, were FEMA's own employees - public affairs officers, no less.  Word of the outrage has been slowly spreading across the Internet, typically sparking jeers and condemnation.

Now, FEMA has issued an apology - sort of. "Harvey Johnson, apologized for the error in judgment and promised to change procedures 'to ensure that all of our communications are straight forward and transparent,' " writes the Federal Times. However...

In response to additional questions about the incident by Federal Times, FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said, "We issued the statement and that’s what we’re standing by. We won’t be doing additional interviews." (Federal Times)

Two stories this week once again highlighted for Americans the Potemkin Presidency of George W. Bush.  Confronting Stephen Colbert's maxim that "reality has a well-known liberal bias," the Bush administration tried to pull the wool over the eyes of Congress and the media.  On Wednesday, the White House acknowledged it "eviscerated" the testimony of CDC Julie Gerberding on the health impacts of global warming.  And on Thursday, Bush's FEMA director Harvey Johnson staged a faux news conference about the California wildfires, complete with agency staffers posing as reporters.

Edition With Flashbacks To Katrina. Which I've been tormented by, with all the coverage of this new disaster and how it's being handled. In fact, the constant reminders of Katrina and the inevitable comparisions (which for me have all been negative) are the most Extremely Annoying thing about the California wildfires. They've been rubbing salt in the wounds. Not to mention the fact that ex-FEMA head Michael Brown of Katrina infamy has turned up like a bad penny. So he'll be on my list, doing a heckuva job.

But there's one person whose response to the fires has been so Extremely Annoying that because this is a Special Edition I'm going to break my own rule about not including what I call the "Usual Suspects" (people so Extremely Annoying they could be on the list every week, or be the subject of an entire diary--or even several) and put him at the top of my list.

And he's ready to consult on the fires.

Michael D. Brown, Former FEMA Director and current Director of Cotton Companies, one of the leading disaster preparedness and restoration organizations in the nation, is available for comment regarding the wild fires that are devastating Southern California.

Oh my.

Surprise! The White House is unhappy with the wording of the Government Accountability Office's report on the progress (or lack of) in Iraq.

See the whole story.

WASHINGTON - Stung by the bleak findings of a congressional audit of progress in Iraq, the Pentagon has asked that some of the negative assessments be revised, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said that after reviewing a draft of the Government Accountability Office report — which has not yet been made public — policy officials "made some factual corrections" and "offered some suggestions on a few of the actual grades" assigned by the GAO.

"We have provided the GAO with information which we believe will lead them to conclude that a few of the benchmark grades should be upgraded from `not met' to `met,'" Morrell said. He declined to elaborate or to spell out which of the benchmark grades the Pentagon was disputing.

Steve Novick is a committed progressive taking on Gordon Smith for the U.S. Senate. You can find out more at the fighter with the hard left hook at his website and help support his campaign at ActBlue.

On the anniversary of the day that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, I think it is important to recognize that the U.S. Senate shares responsibility for the failures to respond to Katrina and vow as a U.S. Senator to take all confirmation processes seriously.

Today, our hearts go out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, whose suffering continues. And of course we say, "Never again." But to make that wish come true, we must pause for a second and reflect on the fact that the blame for the Federal government’s mismanagement of the disaster does not lie solely with George Bush, but also with the United States Senate – and, I am ashamed to say, a Democratic Senate. For the Senate, through the confirmation process, was partly responsible for the elevation of Mike Brown, the failed director of an Arabian horse association, to a position of responsibility for which he was clearly unqualified.  

It's been two long years since a massive Category 5 Hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast after sliding over Florida causing devastation in Alabama, Mississisppi and Lousiana that had not been seen in over 40 years.

We are now two years past that event, but we can never afford to get past it's ramifications and lingering impact.

Sometimes words are simply not enough.

With the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Americans can expect an onslaught of grim retrospectives and even gloomier forecasts for the Gulf Coast.  Stories recalling the destruction of New Orleans, the calamitous response of the Bush White House, rampant corruption in the storm's wake and the proposals of the 2008 presidential candidates will flood the web, the airwaves and the printed page.

Here, then, is my look back on the Katrina disaster and the death of New Orleans with four pieces from 2005.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is coming back – but not for everyone. It's been a struggle every step of the way -- hamstrung by a do-nothing federal government and an at-best bumbling response at all levels. But, despite what you see on your TV, there has been some progress.  

Determined residents -- backed by nonprofits, community groups and more than 1 million volunteers -- have helped some poor and vulnerable residents succeed. Keep reading to find out where there's hope, and where "Hope Needs Help"