BERLIN — The young anarchists, middle-aged peace activists and established left-wing politicians here have at least one thing in common: none bothered to keep a six-year tradition alive by organizing a protest against President Bush’s arrival here Tuesday.

President Bush arrived in Germany on Tuesday, where he was greeted by Chancellor Angela Merkel but, oddly, no protesters.

“Bush is not even popular in the role of the enemy anymore,” wrote Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.

(NY Times via Think Progress)

For the purpose of telling him to go away, I’m going to try and keep President Bush in my sidebar for as long as I can stomach it (yes, you are correct, it makes absolutely no sense).

I’m getting sick of seeing that same picture, so I welcome anyone who wants to doctor it.

If you wish to provide me with a picture, please adhere to a few simple rules:

1) Use the pic above as the starting point for your picture.
2) Don’t change the dimensions or size of the original pic – it has to fit in my sidebar.
3) Don’t obscure the yellow lettering (I don’t want people thinking I support the man, for crissakes).

There are some bloggers out there who are also sporting “Go Away, Bush ” sidebar items, and I’m sure they would appreciate your contributions just as much as I.

I actually have a couple doctored pics ready to go, but it won’t be enough to last me through the remainder of the Bush presidency.

America needs YOUR HELP.

Thank you, and God Bless The Blogosphere.

UPDATE:

p0nk has contributed two pictures to the Bush sidebar cause!

I’m especially enamored of this one, referencing one of my favorite mugshots from The Smoking Gun.

Falwless has made some solid contributions as well.

Some Guy has given the world this unholy union:

Blaniage (my brother) has provided several wonderful pics, including this very disturbing one (Bush without pancake makeup!):

Another unholy union! This time Cheney and Condi get some face time, thanks to DGuzman:

Tim has joined the fray:

As has Jess!

Ed has joined the “Go Away, Bush” Army!

Manx has provided some “Go Away, Bush” goodness:

Blaniage has provided several more wonderful pics, including a mashup of my adopted actor’s breakout role from The Warriors (this explains Bush’s foreign policy quite well, I think):

Germaine Gregarious has given us someone I can tumble for — Boy George Bush!

Beckeye submitted this well-crafted addition:

Another stellar contribution from Germaine Gregarious:

Gifted Typist has found this exciting new species:

More goodness from Beckeye:

One final pic from my brother::

Thank you Beckeye for Cletus Bush!

You may or may not have noticed, but I’m updating the bottom of the Go Away, Bush page with any contributions I get.

I saw a couple people’s posts on Memorial Day, and I was thinking about doing my own.

The thing was, the more I wandered around the Internets, the less solemn I got. I just got more angry with each little article I read. I watched a Keith Olbermann editorial (talking about Bush’s disastrous interview with Politico).

After some more articles, I didn’t want to be reflective. I was pissed, plain and simple.

So, I posted nothing.

Today, I came up with a stupid little idea, but one which made me feel better. I know a lot of people have countdown timers on their blog, marking the time before Bush leaves office.

That’s fine and all, but something too passive for how I am feeling. I wanted to tell Bush to go away — go away RIGHT NOW.

So I made a little webpage:

The GO AWAY Bush Hit Counter

It’s a simple page, with a very simple idea. Each unique visit to the page increments a counter. The counter represents the number of times Bush has been told to “GO AWAY”.

A person can have any number of reasons to visit the page. Perhaps it’s the high cost of gasoline. Maybe it’s someone still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Maybe a mother or father lost a child in Iraq, fighting in a war this president started. Maybe a mother or father lost a child when a bomb hit their village, or when a Blackwater soldier gunned them down. Maybe it’s because Bush can’t pronounce the word “nuclear”.

Whatever the reason, you can tell Bush to GO AWAY now. It’s okay. Go ahead. And you can tell him again, and again, and again, until he really does go away.

It’s my gift to you.

In case you were wondering.

UPDATE! (11:45am)

Yep, still stupid and still evil.

UPDATE! (1:00pm)

George Bush To Appear On “Deal Or No Deal” – this qualifies as stupid, doesn’t it?

UPDATE! (2:58pm)

No news about Cheney. But rest assured, he’s still evil.

I only have recently heard the term “POTUS” (an acronym for President of the United States), but now every time I hear it spoken or read it in print a certain image is conjured up for me — one of a disinterested, slack-jawed moron that got to his unearned position through powerful connections and money rather than through hard work, dedication, and intellectual honesty.

So, here’s to you, POTUS!

Hi,

A blogswarm basically consists of a whole bunch of bloggers who decide to talk about a topic at the same time, in order to draw attention to the topic and discuss different aspects of it.

Today, there is a blogswarm about the 5 year anniversary of the Iraq War, which seems to have its homebase here.

Though I don’t really post that much about politics, I decided at the last minute I’d make a contribution to this blogswarm.

I am basically just including a few videos to highlight some of the people that should be held personally responsible for the horrible carnival ride so many people have been thrown onto these past five years.

It’s an awful ride for Iraqi civilians, whose loss of life and suffering quietly continues, largely unreported in the Western media. It’s terrible for US soldiers, dying and being stretched thin, walking targets dropped in the middle of a foreign land that did not attack us. It’s much easier for Americans sheltered from the news from the war (hey, I’ve a got a $600 check headed my way, even!), but that doesn’t mean bad things aren’t spinning out of control, with huge amounts of money transferred from taxpayers to enrich a few corporations, to the detriment of social programs and future generations of Americans.

Misery, death, sadness, horror, debt, torture, loss.

There are people responsible for this.

Here are three of them.

Dick Cheney on Iraq (1994)
You have probably already seen it before, but you should watch it again.

Saddam and Rumsfeld (1983)
Video, with no audio.
Keep in mind that this meeting occurred after the killings of 148 Shiites in 1982, a crime for which Saddam was sentenced to death and executed.

Bush, Smoking Gun In The Form Of A Mushroom Cloud
Whipping up the appropriate cloud of primal fear to catapult this nation into war.

Thank you, Bush Administration!
Thanks for everything.