Third Republican presidential debate
At the third Republican presidential debate in Boulder, CO, hosted by CNBC, Rubio responds to a question about criticism from the SunSentinel newspaper for missing many Senate votes while on the campaign trail.
I read that article today with amusement… This is another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and conservatives.
Jeb Bush jumps in, comparing Rubio’s lack of voting in the Senate to a French workweek, adding ‘You should be showing up for work… or just resign’. Rubio counters:
You said that you’re modelling your campaign after John McCain… I don’t ever remember you complaining about John McCain’s vote record… The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.
‘Bush should not say brother kept us safe’
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Wallace asks Trump about his comments on George W. Bush and 9/11.
Jeb [Bush] said ‘We were safe with my brother. We were safe.’ Well, the World Trade Center just went down. Now, am I trying to blame him? I’m not blaming anybody, but the World Trade Center came down, so when he said we were safe, we were not safe. We lost 3,000 people. It was one of the greatest — probably the greatest catastrophe ever in this country…I am extremely, extremely tough on people coming into this country. [If I had been president then]…there’s a good chance that those people would not have been in the country…I’m not blaming George Bush, but I don’t want Jeb Bush to say ‘My brother kept us safe’.
Bush responds:
Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things as though he’s still on The Apprentice. My brother responded to a crisis, and he did it as you would hope a president would do. He united the country, he organized our country and he kept us safe. And there’s no denying that. The great majority of Americans believe that.
Staffer tweets ‘F-you Bush’
In response to Bush’s statement at a New Hampshire town hall that ending property needs “stronger families,” Philip B. Richardson, a New York Times news assistant, tweets “F— you Jeb Bush”. The tweet is later deleted.
Tweets ‘black hand’ source pic
Right to Rise tweets the original photograph, showing Bush meeting a voter in an entirely different location.
Mysterious hand revealed. Meant to use Valencia. Fail. Not deleting it from our servers. pic.twitter.com/sczIMf1REx
— Paul Lindsay (@Paul_Lindsay) August 22, 2015
Takes Go Silent pledge
Bush tweets that he has taken the #GoSilent pledge for Memorial Day. He includes a link to the website of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America’s (IAVA) website.
Join me in honoring our nation’s fallen this Memorial Day
I took the #GoSilent pledge. Join me in honoring our nation's fallen this Memorial Day http://t.co/hQ3H3ZjC6c
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) May 25, 2015
Defends Patriot Act
Bush defends the Patriot Act and the permission it gives the government to collect phone records in bulk. Bush claims that such laws are essential for protecting their homeland.
There is ample evidence that the Patriot Act has been a tool to keep us safe…There is no evidence of anyone’s civil liberties being violated because of it.
Criticizes brother’s spending
Jeb Bush says that while he agrees with his brother George W. Bush on many things, he disagrees with his brother on other policies:
I want to share a little about my life, because apparently there’s a little confusion that all family members are supposed to be clones of one another
On budgeting and controlling spending, Jeb:
I think that, in Washington during my brother’s time, Republicans spent too much money. I think he could have used the veto power. He didn’t have line-item veto power, but he could have brought budget discipline to Washington, D.C.
On the Patriot Act:
There is not a shred of evidence that anybody’s civil liberties have been violated by it. t’s already been proven constitutional, and there is ample evidence that it has protected us
Not Constitutional gay marriage right
Bush opposes same sex marriage in an interview to The Brody File. He also adds that hat he does not believe the U.S. Constitution grants a right to gay marriage.
It’s at the core of the Catholic faith and to imagine how we are going to succeed in our country unless we have committed family life, (a) committed child-centered family system, is hard to imagine…So, irrespective of the Supreme Court ruling because they are going to decide whatever they decide – I don’t know what they are going to do – we need to be stalwart supporters of traditional marriage.
Wouldn’t have invaded Iraq
Bush says on the subject of Iraq:
Knowing what we know now, I would not have engaged, I would not have launched an invasion. We’ve answered the question now…That’s not to say that the world [isn’t] safer because Saddam Hussein is gone. It is significantly safer. That’s not to say that there [wasn’t] a courageous effort to bring about a surge that created stability in Iraq. All of that is true. And that’s not to say that the men and women who’ve served uniform and many others who went to Iraq to serve, they did so, certainly, honorably. But, we’ve answered the question now.
‘…nervous about the attacks on the NSA’
On the Hugh Hewitt Show, Bush says he is nervous about criticism of the NSA and he wishes Obama was better at defending government surveillance systems. Bush talks about the threat that “lone wolf terrorism” poses.
[lone wolf terrorism] is a serious threat in a world where we’re so connected with the rest of the world. We have people moving in and people moving out. …I think that this is an ongoing threat, and I hope that our counterintelligence capabilities are always vigilant. I’ve always been nervous about the attacks on the NSA, and somehow that we’re losing our freedoms by keeping the homeland safe. I think we need to be really vigilant about that.
He’s [Obama] actually enhanced the intelligence capabilities, in many ways, because technology has gotten better. But he never defends it. He never explains it. He never tries to persuade people that their civil liberties are being protected by the systems we have in place. If people knew that, I don’t think there’d be any doubt that they would want to have the ability to identify people from the outside that may be trying to coordinate with some people in the inside.
Releases emails
Bush releases emails from the two terms he served as Florida governor. Some of the emails released contain his personal information like his social security number.
I am posting the e-mails of my governorship here. Some are funny; some are serious; some I wrote in frustration. But they’re all here so you can read them and make up your own mind.