Who do you blame most for making * President?

[El Supremo]

I mean other than the voters (ignoring the stolen elections).

My choice would be Texan Tom Hicks. His inflated purchase of the Texas Rangers made * rich. That allowed * to become Governor and gained him the national recognition to run for President.

I really dislike this guy Hicks. He ruined an oil company (Coho) that was my biggest client. He set the record for a baseball contract (A-Rod) He is a board member of my old school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hicks

[featherman]

1. Mainstream media, without a doubt.

[BrklynLiberal]

23. I AGREE ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!

WIthout their abdication of their responsibility to this nation, none of the others could have accomplished anything.

[Iwasthere]

26. I agree...It's the media

irresponsible, negligent, criminal

[fishwax]

36. great answer

:applause:

:grr:

:grr:

[Nozebro]

2. Corporate media is who I blame the most. EOM

nt

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Katherine Harris and his brother, Jeb

The last six years of horror would not have been possible without them.

[survivor999]

27. Yup.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

4. The religious right

In that them turning up gave visual justification for the altered numbers at the polls.

[magellan]

5. SCOTUS

[DFLforever]

11. I'm with you - SCOTUS

[sakabatou]

19. I third SCOTUS

[Stardust]

28. 4th for SCOTUS

[susanna]

29. Straight up SCOTUS.

I'm in your camp.

Everyone else just made it "likely." SCOTUS cemented it into what will likely become a repulsive history lesson.

on edit: clarification

[magellan]

31. Exactly my reasoning

SCOTUS was the last line of defense. They failed by allowing themselves, through the first of many RW manipulations of the judicial system, to be inserted into a process that should have been remedied in-state by the FL SC.

[susanna]

40. Yep.

Their "reasoning" shocked me more than anything else I've seen in politics, and that's saying something. :-(

[we can do it]

6. Lazy Amurkins Who Would Rather Watch Sorvivor and AmurknIdull than Think

[rubberducky]

7. Media!

[spindrifter]

8. Cheney and his neocons

who needed a "likeable" guy who also "happened" to have name familiarity. They knew he had no intention of questioning them and would give them free run of the WH and every other place they could leverage their slimeball butts into. At worst, they thought, he would commit the occasional gaffe.

[SharonAnn]

9. Sandra Day O'Connor. She knew better than to vote for him.

[Erika]

12. True

She chose to be partisan.

[xultar]

10. I blame us for thinking it was in the bag enough that we could be

lazy and not work the streets and get out the vote.

[Thickasabrick]

13. Ignorance. There has to be a way to inform the middle class

and poor people of what is going on. The republicans would always lose if they were faced with an informed public.

[samdogmom]

14. Supreme Court, hands down! n/t.

[UTUSN]

15. Democratic LT Gov Bob BULLOCK, who gave him a boost for governor

BULLOCK was an arrogant, old style wheeler dealer, powerful. He made state agency personnel tremble. When Shrub was gearing up to run for governor, he paid obeissance to the old bastard and got his blessing, plus who know what else. So BULLOCK worked against a fantastic Dem governor, Ann RICHARDS, in favor of Shrub.

[w4rma]

16. Nader!

:sarcasm: just kidding. He deserves *some* blame, but he has been only an unwitting cog in the machine.

I blame big media. The lion's share of the fault for this catastrophe should fall upon the owners, executives and editors of big media.

[EST]

17. The culprits are legion!

One must allow for the fact that weasels in pursuit of power have infiltrated everything from the pervert party to the religious structure, to the media.

So, imo, barely human crooks, willing to prostitute anything and anyone for power and riches, elected or appointed to positions they should not occupy, are responsible. They should be in jail, instead of non violent pot smokers, rather than be looked up to and referred as "honorable."

[BlooInBloo]

18. Why ignore the single biggest flaw in the American political system?

Oh - I get it - because there are other "sexier" things to bitch about, rather than deal with the true problem.

Sheesh.

[barb162]

37. what is the single biggest flaw in your opinion

[nevergiveup]

20. Lieberman

He was worthless and his debate with Cheney was a joke.....also Gore for ignoring his home state and Ralph Nader and SCOTUS and the American voter, not for ignoring the stolen elections, but for being suckered in by someone who was so obviously a total loser. Sorry I couldn't narrow it down to one.

[Mist]

21. Tossup btwn Harris/Jeb, and the SCOTUS. Actually, the whole thing

was a perfect storm of evil crap: disenfranchised voters, corrupt Sec'ys of State, Diebold, the Supremes, Jeb, a compliant corporate media.

[Monkeyman]

22. Rove

[man4allcats]

24. I don't think the voters' role can be ignored

in answering the question. Many people knew Bush was wrong for the job; so many in fact that he lost both elections. He's only in there because like everything else in America today, American elections are dishonest. That fraud would not have worked; however, if so many ignorant sheeple hadn't voted for the little son of a bitch in the first place. It is true that the MSM is corrupt, but corrupt or not it is still the responsibility of the electorate to be well informed. Saying "I only acted on the basis of what I read in the mainstream media" is a bit like saying "I was only following orders." That excuse was tried on a large scale about 60 odd years ago in Germany. It didn't work then, and it won't work now.

We would all do well to remember the words of Ben Franklin:

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 18, 1787, a Mrs. Powel anxiously awaited the results, and as Benjamin Franklin emerged from the long task now finished, asked him directly: "Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic if you can keep it" responded Franklin.

[rusty_parts2001]

25. Rove

[savemefromdumbya]

30. His daddy

(and his mommy)

[lies and propaganda]

32. Supreme Court, Diebold, Florida, Katherine Harris,Ohio & dumbfucks

pretty much in that order. Their are a few more that are too mean to mention ;)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. Sorry, I Find This Premise Extremely Faulty.

In order to become president, you have to have elections: You have to have votes. In fact, that's the ONLY thing in the end that it takes to become president, when otherwise eligible. If you are saying we can't talk about the voters, SCOTUS or Diebold, then this entire conversation is pointless.

[Phredicles]

34. Let's not leave out the Electoral College.

Not a person but we have here tangible proof it's bad for this country.

[Keepontruking]

47. Electoral college

I totally agree the idiots of the electoral college...wasn't
the american public!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Circus Girl

[Bluebear]

35. Sandra Day O'Connor

[barb162]

38. Nader in 2000

[Raine]

39. Nader nt

[Initech]

41. Surprised no one has said this one yet: Oil companies

Bush is their bitch. He does not have anything to do with Christianity, he is a slave to the oil companies.

[PurityOfEssence]

42. Gore. His guilt is undeniable

Spooked by the reactionaries' assaults on Clinton, he distanced himself from one of the best political fighters of our age. He went so far to distance himself from Clinton that he enlisted Quisling Joe Lieberman, the first prominent Democrat to undercut Big Bill. This was no accident: this was Gore deliberately distancing himself from Clinton by sidling up to a pantywaist moralist who'd made personal hay by decrying Bill's sex life.

Gore didn't refute the most nasty accusations during the campaign, seemingly being above the fray.

The recount was just plain stupid. By only requesting a recount in four counties (presumably from some misbegotten "politeness") he made it look like he was trying to pull a fast one. He should have DEMANDED a full recount of the entire state. Republicans don't look over their shoulders to make sure people "like" them. Had he demanded a full recount and pressed the point, there's no way Junior could have stolen it as he did. Even at the end, Lieberman prevailed to make sure that absentee ballots from "military personnel" were accepted even though they were way beyond the time limit. Forget the many precedents in Florida law that demanded that "intent" should rule; ballots punched for both Gore and Bush that then had "Gore" written in were dismissed. Felon cleansing helped, too. The Jacksonville two-page ballot was fortuitous. Then there's the butterfly ballot. Kathryn Harris' studious refusal to give various counties the parameters, then demanding instant counting was lots of fun.

Gore blew it. He blew it by conception by running away from the "immoral" Clinton. He blew it by not responding to spurious attacks. He blew it by not aggressively singling out these fucks as the scum they are. He blew it in the recount by trying to be "polite" to muggers.

He's one of the most wronged people in American political history, up there with Samuel Tilden and Aaron Burr, and although he was bushwhacked from every side, HE deserves much of the blame.

[flyarm]

43. apathetic Americans..we should not have allowed the scotus to do this! n/t

[Rowdyboy]

44. Ralph Nader played an enormously negative role and deserves

to be relegated to the dungheap of history.

[oasis]

45. Nader. (n/t)

[AlGore-08.com]

46. SCOTUS for 2000, the media for both 2000 and 2004

If the media had reported in a balanced, objective manner during the 2000 campaign, we'd all be working to keep him from being a lame duck right now.

But the SCOTUS deserves bigger blame for 2000 because they are supposed to be our last line of defense. They are supposed to be guided by law and issue rulings in the best interests of the nation, not be swayed by a single political campaign and issue rulings for partisan gain.

But once the SCOTUS had spoken, the MSM still could have kept Smirk from his second disastrous term by reporting in an honest, objective fashion. The things that they're reporting now - - the corruption and incompetence were there from day one. But they averted their eyes and reported everything as glorious successes.