On the heels of what will be yet another month-long vacation for Dear Leader, unless he decides to cut it short this year (after all, he is the Decider), it is as good a time as any to point out that we are likely in for some other major disaster.

After all, pretty much every year, when shit met fan, Bush went AWOL (just like when he was in the National Guard).  Or maybe, Bush went AWOL and then shit met fan.  Either way, it is a very telling statement about this complete failure of a president and waste of precious oxygen and space when you look at his vacationing and complete disregard for the catastrophic events that seem to occur around the time that Bushie heads for the Crawford brush to play cowboy.

This may be the best insight into the priorities of the man who bears a tremendous share of the responsibility for this world teetering on the edge of Armageddon (or the raptureTM if you are a “true believer”).  And it shows how much of a cowardly charlatan Bush really is and how ill-equipped he is to deal with, well, anything.

It has been reported that Dear Leader has taken the most vacation days of any president ever, clocking in at nearly a full year’s worth of vacation less than five years into his prez-nitcy.  But it isn’t just the sheer amount of vacation days he has taken.  And it isn’t just the fact that he has taken all of these vacation days in an era where many people don’t get to take any vacation days.  Or when millions of people can’t even take a paid sick day.  All while, in many instances, having to work more than one full time job.  Without health care coverage.

No, it is the fact that during these 4 and 5 week long vacations, as well as the other times he spends a week or so at his “ranch”, it is generally at a time when major crises need to be dealt with, terror warnings are issued, natural disasters are occurring (with plenty of warning time as well) and arrogance or contempt is shown for anyone who dare suggest that maybe it isn’t such a good time to be ignoring the horrors created and going on around the globe.

We all know about the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing that was ignored, because the already-a-failure-of-a-president-eight-months-into-his-presidency Bush was too busy on vacation.  Of course, this essentially set the stage for the worst lies and fraud ever perpetuated on the American public, as well as the entire world.  Let’s look back to George Tenet’s testimony before the 9/11 Commission:

CIA Director George Tenet was on the stand. Timothy Roemer, a former Democratic congressman, asked him when he first found out about the report from the FBI’s Minnesota field office that Zacarias Moussaoui, an Islamic jihadist, had been taking lessons on how to fly a 747. Tenet replied that he was briefed about the case on Aug. 23 or 24, 2001.

Roemer then asked Tenet if he mentioned Moussaoui to President Bush at one of their frequent morning briefings. Tenet replied, “I was not in briefings at this time.” Bush, he noted, “was on vacation.” He added that he didn’t see the president at all in August 2001. During the entire month, Bush was at his ranch in Texas. “You never talked with him?” Roemer asked. “No,” Tenet replied. By the way, for much of August, Tenet too was, as he put it, “on leave.”

Mind you, this was the longest presidential vacation in over thirty years at the time.

During 2002 and 2003, Bush took basically all of August off again, and spent much of August 2002 campaigning around the country.  And what was going on during August 2002?  Well for starters, that is when Darth Cheney started his campaign to invade Iraq.  As for 2003, we now know that “operation treason by outing a covert CIA operative and her front company” was in full swing as well.  

Also in 2003, who can forget the blackout that knocked out power in much of the Northeast, at a time when much of the reality based community was still unsure of whether this was a terrorist attack on the national power grid.  And what did Bush do when word got out that FirstEnergy (a top Bush contributor) was likely at least partially to blame?  Just what he does best – nothing.

An Ohio-based energy conglomerate has been identified as responsible for the massive power blackout that shut down much of the Midwest and Northeast — but the Bush administration isn’t taking notice. FirstEnergy’s strong ties to the president may help explain why the company may be let off the hook for depriving millions of power during the blackout.

Top executives at FirstEnergy rank among the Bush campaign’s top fundraisers. FirstEnergy President Anthony Alexander was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 – meaning he raised at least $100,000 – and then served on the Energy Department transition team. H. Peter Burg, the company’s CEO and chairman of the board, hosted a June event that raised more than half a million dollars for Bush-Cheney ’04.

What about 2004?  Well, 2004 marked the 38th time that Bush vacationed in Crawford since he took office.  And in one of the most laughable responses to his many vacations, this was the defense:

The White House points out that even at his ranch, the president receives a daily national security briefing – and can confer with top aides back at the White House by way of a secure video hookup.

Oh joy.  He gets a daily national security briefing.  Just like in August 2001.  We know how much he paid attention to that one.  Of course, we can’t forget the horrific tsunami that dared to interrupt Georgie-boy’s December 2004 vacation.  And sadly, no matter how hard we try, we can’t forget the absolutely disgusting, piss poor, too-little-too-late effort to pledge aid, make a formal statement, or you know, actually be a friggin leader in a time that millions of people around the world rallied to help millions of people around the world in a time where one of the worst natural disasters ever occurred.  

Contrast that with the vacation that he gleefully (and with much pomp) cut short a few months later to sign the “Terry Schiavo legislation” in one of the most disgusting displays of a government shoving their noses into people’s private lives and decisions.

And of course, we have 2005, when we saw his 49th visit to Crawford as “war preznit” and at a time when things were really starting to go south quickly in Iraq and Afghanistan.  But not only did we have that pesky Cindy Sheehan camping out in protest, we also had that surprise of a Hurricane destroy the Gulf Coast (good pictorial over at thinkprogress.org) while Condi shopped and saw a Broadway show, Brownie and Chertoff completely fail in every way possible and Dear Leader decide to campaign for the dismantling of Social Security, eat cake with John McCain, play guitar and have a grand old time.

Of course, no one knew that a hurricane hitting New Orleans was a likely major disaster or that anyone could have anticipated a breach of the levees.

Which brings us to 2006.  Civil war in Iraq.  Afghanistan on the verge of anarchy, according to a UK general.  Israel and Lebanon trading rockets, bombs and missiles.  Hurricane season upon us.  Russia and Venezuela shutting the US out on oil deals.  Gas prices through the roof, despite record profits by oil companies.  A heatwave threatening much of the country and causing a large number of deaths.

Must be time for Bush to run off squealing like a stuck pig.  Just like the coward that he is.