Bush Aide Says Abramoff Photos Coincidence

[G_j]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5564534,00.html

Bush Aide Says Abramoff Photos Coincidence

Monday January 23, 2006 1:03 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - An adviser to President Bush said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that.

``He doesn't have a personal relationship with him,'' White House counselor Dan Bartlett said of Bush and Abramoff, who recently pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his lobbying practices and has pledged to cooperate with government prosecutors.

``We acknowledge he (Abramaoff) attended some Hannukuah celebrations,'' Bartlett said in an appearance on NBC's ``Today'' show. ``Any suggestions by critics or anyone else to suggest the president is doing something nefarious with Abramoff is absurd.''

Bush himself has said that he doesn't recall meeting Abramoff.

..more..

[C_U_L8R]

1. Absurd lies

Abramoff was only there for Hannukah..... yeah right

[ixion]

2. Bush: the coincidence pResident

nothing is black and white, unless it's very complex and then it's black and white and the complexity is just a coincidence.

-- Neocon (ill)logic :crazy:

[Canuckistanian]

3. They can't dismiss FIVE pictures

I think that would show something a little more than just a "casual aquaintance".

[robbedvoter]

12. Why not? man stood in line 5 times - has a lot of time, ya know?

Why do you hate America so much?

[Canuckistanian]

31. I don't know

I guess I'm just an over-the-top Michael Moore.

[Ben Ceremos]

50. Actually,

the photos ARE coincidental. They coincide with the times Bush met Abramoff. I wouldn't call them a "coincidence"(as in accidental,non-essential), though.

[hyphenate]

4. Oh this is getting to be so much fun!

Coincidence, huh?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl:

[ugarte]

7. Jackoff kept going back through the line

like a kid at an amusement park.

[Tuttle]

16. It's like that urn in Baghdad...

remember Rummy said they kept stealing the same urn over and over again... zzz

Tut-tut

[0007]

20. I've told ya a zillion times to quit exaggerating.

It was a vase, not one of those expensive urn's.

[gordianot]

5. What you get when the irrational rationalize.

Double plus good duckspeak.

[LynneSin]

6. Yeah about as coincidence as the pictures of Bill & Monica

I may be blonde but even I'm not that dumb!!

[Straight Shooter]

24. Excellent rebuttal

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Anyway, Abramoff was no ordinary person. He was a Pioneer and a big player in D.C. How could bush not know one of the pillars holding up his corrupt structure?

[Arugula Latte]

32. Hey, Bush says he "did not have political relations with that man!"

How can you doubt him? :shrug:

[boobooday]

8. He went to Ann Richards' Hannkuah party first!

He just happened to be walking by when someone was taking a picture of Bush, and he jumped into the shot! Then he shoved his children, one by one, into the shot, and the photographer wasn't paying attention, and there they were!

:rofl: :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[sarcasmo]

34. Maybe Abramoff is Forrest Gump.

Sorry to make you cry MR Abramoff and Daughter.

[Roland99]

9. Just a coinkydink that Jack-off was at the Crawford Ranch, too.

[wordpix]

37. would love to see that photo---who has one? WH is burning them, I'm sure

[qanda]

10. That one man on CNN, I think he was from Time Magazine

Said that there was one picture of Bush, Ambramoff and an Indian Chief from one of the tribes Ambramoff was lobbying for. He said that he had talked to the chief in the picture and the chief confirmed that it was a small, personal meeting.

[robbedvoter]

11. Abramoff was part of his transition team 2000, but no relationship

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010501903.html
This careful judge of what it means to be an "honorable public servant" had reason to prefer the Bush administration's taste in appointees. After the 2000 election, Abramoff was named to the Bush transition team for the Interior Department, which regulates the Indian casinos that paid Abramoff his inflated fees.

Yup. That's the ticket!

[mom cat]

23. Yep..And all the money he gave Bush is just a coincidence!

[SillyGoose]

25. There's the "specific" question for Scotty at the next press briefing.

Was Jack Abramoff a member of Bush's transition team?

Has any of the press asked that question? Would be interesting to see how Scotty would tap dance his way around the answer to that question. Would be a catch-22 either way he answered it, no?. If he says no, its an outright lie that the questioner could rebut and if he says yes, that would open up a pandora's box of questions.

[wordpix]

38. we need to prepare some follow up questions to the "yes" answer

[mrcheerful]

13. I do not know Jack nor did I have sexual relations with him

just because you have photos of me kissing Jacks behind doesn't mean the photos are real.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Does this sound like the "Gannon defense"?

[LynnTheDem]

15. rotflmao!!!

"coincidence"...

:rofl:

[underpants]

18. By this afternoon Scotty will say "This has already been fully covered"

That's the MO

[LynnTheDem]

21. Yep...and when that lie is fully exposed and we all know bush &

Jack were closerthanthis, bush will use the very same bullshit he used about Lay; "oh ok I knew the guy but never actually liked him" crap.

bush's rightwingnut bots will simply chant whatever their bush-god tells them to anyways. After all, they have no integrity, no morality, and are the stupidest MFers on the planet.

[theophilus]

17. I guess it would be asking "too much" to get the pResident's phone

records? I mean, we could refresh his faltering memory.

[0007]

19. Does Dan Bartlett have any creditability?

I have one question for Dan. How does he know so much of junior's business. Is it because junior likes to hang loose with Indians and be close to Jack?

[Javaman]

22. Yeah, 5 conincidneces...

"there are no big conincidences, just conincidences"
-Seinfeld.

I think moron* may have conincidenced himself* in to deep shit LOLOLOLOLOL.

couldn't happen to a better prick*

[stevekatz]

26. Did anyone

Did Anyone even read the Time Article?

[rodeodance]

36. yes, i did.

[UpInArms]

27. Republican coincidence?

:rofl:

It was a "coincidence" that only Republicans got monies from Jack Abramoff - a "coincidence" that Jack Abramoff was buddies with Rove, Norquist, Reed, DeLay, Hastert, etc - and a "coincidence" that he was pictured with Bush while handing him $200,000 in campaign contributions.

ummmm.... right.... :sarcasm:

Take your "coincidence" theory and put it where the sun doesn't shine.

[wicket]

28. Yup, nothing to see here

Yeah right! :eyes:

[emad]

29. Bush should read "The decline and fall of the Roman Empire".

Might give him a few tips on effective lying in public.

[central scrutinizer]

30. Who is Jack Abramoff?

Oh, I may have heard the name, but I don't know what he does.
Oh, I may have heard that he is a lobbyist, but I don't know for whom.
Oh, I may have heard that he is a lobbyist friendly to Republicans, but I don't know which ones.
Oh, I may have heard that he knows Tom DeLay, but I don't think they are close.
Oh, he may be close to Tom Delay, but I have never met him.
Oh, he may have been at a White House party, but I was never introduced.
You can't prove that I was ever seen with him.
Oh, you have some photos but they were photoshopped.
Oh, they are legitimate, then it must be a coincidence that we are in the same photo.
Oh, you have FIVE photos, well I never worked with him
Oh, maybe he was at the White House 195 times as part of the transition team but I got advice from a lot of people.
and so it goes.............

Who is Ken Lay? Never heard of him.............

[Platypus]

33. Incredible

Yeah, it's just a coincidence that they had our hands in each other's pants. Just like it's a coincidence that Halliburton is there to suck up all those no-bid contracts (and then cheat on them anyway, as though they weren't getting enough already). It's just coincidence that Diebold machines are insecure and Ohio had a 30-point swing on election day. It's just a coincidence that Valerie Plame got outed right after her husband wrote an editorial critical of the administration. It's just a coincidence that everywhere you look in Bush's vicinity you find corruption, but somehow it's not a coincidence that Libya dropped its nuclear weapons program after the Iraq invasion or that there hasn't (yet) been a terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11. Snort. This is an even more ridiculous evasion that "depends what the meaning of 'is' is" was.

[rodeodance]

35. Bartlettspeak gets pretty boring.

[wordpix]

39. hahaha, Hanukah celebrations, that's a good one. Like * celebrates Hanuka

[onenote]

40. you're kidding right?

You must realize that chimpy lights a national menorah and hosts an annual WH Hanukah party, right? (In 2005, there were more than 25 holiday parties held at the WH).

The photos taken at the WH Hanukah parties aren't the issue. Its the one taken at the meeting with the representatives of Abramoff's Indian tribe clients. That's the one that undercuts Scottie's attempt to separate Abramoff from the WH.

onenote

[NashVegas]

41. He's Just Following the Footsteps of Woody Allen & Tom Hanks

Big fan of theirs.

[Demeter]

42. There's No Such Thing As A Coincidence!

Not in this misAdministration.

[Bob3]

43. that picture of them in the hot tub together - that's just swamp gas

- so when does someone say to one of these clowns after they let loose with a whopper like this - "pull the other one - it's got bells on it."

they really must thing everybody is an idiot.

[blockhead]

44. he doesn't remember someone who raised over 100k for him?. n/t

[savemefromdumbya]

45. I expect his relationship with Ken Lay (Enron) was a coincidence too?

pull the other one

[dflprincess]

46. If Rove gets indicted

I suppose that relationship will become a coincidenct as well.

[Auntie Bush]

47. Isn't it a coincidence that Kenny Boy wasn't his friend either?

[gordianot]

48. Blivet is a fair weather friend.

[Up2Late]

49. We need to get rid of the politicians who have this selective memory loss

problem! This "I forgot" argument is total BS!

[choie]

51. has anybody checked to see if Bush

received any campaign contributions from Abramoff when he was running for governor of Texas?

[Orsino]

52. "Doesn't have a personal relationship." DUH.

The professional relationship is all we really care about. It wouldn't much matter if they took long, hot bubble baths together.

[lovuian]

53. Everything is connected and There are NO coincidences!!!

Thats my siggie line...

[lakeguy]

54. okay, let's solve this once and for all...

just put * under oath! oh yea, i forgot, can't let the boy king do that, even after an event like 911.

[sakabatou]

55. Is there an actual quote of * saying he didn't meet with Jack?

[HuffleClaw]

56. you need hip waders for this stuff

my god, they are really getting desperate now. they can't keep this up forever.

[lebkuchen]

57. reminds me of Nixon and the tapes

Goldwater wouldn't play along.

Who in the GOP has that kind of guts anymore?

[katty]

58. pray with me condi!

[warrens]

59. Hardly knew Lay, never met Franklin, never heard of Cunningham

In the near future, expect "Yes, Mr. Rove worked in the White House, but a lot of people work here, and President Bush can't be expected to know them all."