Jeb Bush: GOP needs to set up ‘a shadow government.’
By on Dec 1st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Jeb Bush: GOP needs to set up ‘a shadow government.’
In an interview with the conservative online publication Newsmax, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party,” and recommended that Republicans create a “shadow government” to work on its own agenda. Claiming this is still a “center-right country,” Bush urged Republicans not to move towards a “Democratic-lite” agenda.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Bachmann
Boehner
Bush
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
DADT
Economy
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Global Warming
Guantanamo
Hannity
Health Care
International Relations
Iran
Iraq
Justice
LGBT
Limbaugh
Liz Cheney
McCain
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Rove
Sanford
Sotomayor
Steele
Supreme Court
Terrorism
ThinkProgress
Tiller
Torture
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
Call Dick Cheney, Jeb, he's your man.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:30 pmi do believe what jeb bush is proposing is treason. i guess the traitorous genes were passed from nazi prescott to jebbie
December 1st, 2008 at 3:31 pmToo late, we're already at the mercy of a "shadow" government, smart-guy.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:31 pmme too, bozo...
my first thought: um, treason?
December 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pmIs this man for real? Is he actually endorsing treason?
December 1st, 2008 at 3:35 pmFlorida Gov. Jeb Bush said the GOP must broaden its appeal to avoid becoming “the old white-guy party,”
- - Umm Jeb, that train left the station about, oh....1980.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:36 pmA shadow government???? You mean, like the French Resistance? Is Jeb equating a party power switch voted by the people to a hostile Nazi takeover? Wow -- not even the thought of Bush and Cheney running the country motivated the Democrats to suggest such a thing.
These remarks could be taken as revolt, mutiny, sedition, and/or treason. But I suspect they are more likely just plain idiocy committed in the act of trying to keep the GOP base rabid and snarling. Maybe somebody should explain to Jeb just what a "shadow government" really is.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:38 pmJeb bush just needs to shut up and disappear from the public eye.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:38 pmjeb seemed to have missed the ronnie raygun years...that's when the repukelican party was transformed from the party of rich white guys to the party of evangelical white trash and rich white guys
December 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pmI guess the Republicans are only flag-waving, flag-pin-wearing, America-love-it-or-leave-it jingoists when THEY'RE in power. I guess their love of country is rather conditional and fickle.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pmJeb Bush; traitor to the Constitution.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pmWhat's with dipshit Repukes and their Goddamn retarded names????????
December 1st, 2008 at 3:40 pmmiss molly,
December 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pmi guess grampy mclame's slogan "country first" was a cartload of happy horseshit. it's always been party first with these cretins.
Jeb can't find Dick. Dick's in his "undisclosed location" hunting with (for) Karl. Treason obviously runs in this family. "Center-Right"? Jeb's off his meds again. Maybe Bill Frist can prescribe something that will help him make "the voices" silent.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pmBetter yet, it would sure be nice to see some of these thugs investigated, incarcerated and incinerated. After a fair trial of course.
Jeb and W are alike in many ways. W ignored the Constitution of the United States. Jeb ignored the Florida state constitution.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pmHey jeb, pray to your 'old white-bearded-guy in the sky' to save your 'old white-guy party'.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:42 pmAfter all, didn't your brother get some solid advice from him ?
‘The party should establish a loyal opposition and “organize ourselves in the form of a shadow government” that would address key issues, providing the public with “a loftier debate about policy” rather than mere partisanship.’
It’s official. Jeb Bush has gone insane. When does the exodus to Alaska begin?
December 1st, 2008 at 3:48 pmA "shadow government"? How very terrorist-like if you Jeb Bob.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:50 pmDelusion seems to be common denominator for these wingnuts. Look at the numbers, dimwit, and you will see that we are a center left country because of your failed center right administrations. Get a clue, morons.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:52 pmThe repukes are working themselves into a frenzy over their lose of power and the realization that MOST of America knows what total pieces of crap they are...
...immoral, traitorous, corrupt, fascist, subhuman, war criminal, scum sucking, neanderturds, who deserve to be driven to the very corners of a civilized country.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:52 pmThe name 'Bush' will be used as a term of derision for eons to come. Historians will constantly and continually point to the name 'Bush' as a way to describe an absolutely mis-guided approach to governance and unity. No matter what you bring to the table, if your name is 'Bush', you will be considered noteworthy for your abysmal failures and corruption.
The name 'Bush' - to America and the world - will be used in the same way Hitler and Stalin are referred to today. If you hear the name, you know the man. Nothing more needs to be said about the man.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:53 pm"Jeb Bush: GOP needs to set up ‘a shadow government.’"
lol Dick Cheney is the man for the job!
December 1st, 2008 at 3:53 pmI didn't think vampires showed any shadows? Is this new?
December 1st, 2008 at 3:54 pmGreat idea Jebbie. Faced with the choice between the democratically elected president reaching across party lines to find solutions to dire problems and a collection of wingnuts (led perhaps by someone named Bush) pretending to be a government in exile by braying about every move the real government makes I can only imagine how the voters will react. Just think of the money the RNC will save when its next convention can be held in one of the mens room stalls of the Minneapolis airport.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pmWill they have a cool secret knock and handshake?
December 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pmSpeaking of knocks. Before I knock AbleCluster and the stupid privacy center I might note it's gratuitous use of LOL. I guess that help fill out the trite comments designed to hawk the crap.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pmI hope you bastards stick to your guns......the country and the entire world has swung to the left and you are out in the cold. The recommendation by jebbie will put them into the permanant minority opposition.....where they belong.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:59 pmclusterphuck; FLAGGED!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:02 pmShadow government . . . sort of like placing political appointees in career civil service positions and ensuring that only loyal Federalist Society members gets choice spots at various federal agencies.
The GOP has done fine over the past 8 years enriching and positioning itself. The one thing it wasn't very good at, however, was that whole governing thing.
Simple mistake, of course, because the GOP was never about governing, only power -- particularly outsourcing it to the private sector and apparently other countries.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:04 pmThe Repignofascist Party simply does not get it do they? The thorough thrashing they received on November 4 makes these idiots think they need to burrow even further into the failed Rovian practices that got us in the current mess. Well, bring 'em on, Repignofascists. How soon can you nominate Caribou Barbie to be your candidate for 2012? Tomorrow works for me. Please??
December 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pmI have the Perfect secret password for them: "I Know Nothing.". It's so very approprpiate, and so very, very Republican! Jeb and Tundra Barbie can be the nucleus around which the Republican party forms a political black hole. No politician who gets too near will never escape!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:12 pmI know you shouldn't mock crazy people, but I just Can't pass on this one. What next, he'll announce that the Rapture is imminent, encourage people to give away their possesions and head for the mountain tops for more convenient pickup?? Do None of the Bush Brothers have the brains they were born with or are the voices in their heads argueing too much???
Impeach, There's Still Time!
Shadow Govrnment my ass!! Why can't you become Americans for once? Get on the same page as barack Obama? Are you that jealous? republicans should be tried for treason!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:17 pmWith the last name of Bush, that will get you a lot of cred these days in politics. Just go away, Bible Spice will take care of all things republican, dontcha know by golly
December 1st, 2008 at 4:25 pmWhy? So they can be exposed as totally incompetent when Shadow Katrina makes landfall?
December 1st, 2008 at 4:25 pmWhy reinvent the wheel? Just fire up PNAC, the Federalist Society, and the RW think tanks.....
Cheers,
December 1st, 2008 at 4:29 pm“We can’t be Democrat-lite. We can’t just ‘get along,’” he told Newsmax. “We have to actually be proposing solutions to what appear to be intractable problems as it relates to education, healthcare, infrastructure."
Well Jeb, maybe if your party had shown more of an ability to actually come up with "solutions" to education, healthcare and the infrastructure your party would have won the election!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:29 pmWhen the SCOTUS handed George Bush the presidency in 2000, Democrats and liberals were very upset and very disappointed.
But we didn't suggest setting up a "shadow government".
So Obama wins an election, in a landslide, fair and square. And the GOP wants to set up a "shadow government". Well, I guess that will be easier to do now that so many Republicans have lost their seats in Congress - I mean, there are only so many cushy think-tank jobs to go around.
I think that Jeb Bush would do well to sit down, shut up and pray that by 2012 Americans' memories of the past eight years aren't so fresh. Someone needs to tell Jeb that his brother has already ruined any hopes that he or any other member of the Bush Crime Family has ever had of serving as president of this country.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:31 pmAnd how do they go about setting up that "shadow government"? Last I saw we only have one government, that being Congress. Perhaps Jeb and some others should take the red south and secede. That would make me happy. They are nothing more than a drain on the American economy, taking much more than they give back.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:32 pmCrap! They're more delusional than I thought.
"Country first" my fat jiggly asss.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:37 pmI'd love to see the shadow government. For starters, how about:
December 1st, 2008 at 4:37 pmNewt - President
Limbaugh - Press Secretary
General Jerry Boykin - SecDef/Christian Crusader Commander
Bill Kristol - National Security Advisor
Tom Tancredo - DHS Chief/Head of Immigration
Saxby Chambliss - Head of VA
Sarah Palin - Secretary of State
Bob Lutz GM Pres/Hummer - EPA Chief
Leftside Annie Says: "“Country first” my fat jiggly asss."
That's hot!
December 1st, 2008 at 4:38 pmCan this video be found elsewhere? The Mickey Mouse server they have is locking up. Well maybe it's not so much the server capacity as large numbers of people wanting to see such an outlandish proposition as a "shadow government" being spoken about by the increasingly marginalized fascists in this country locking up the server.
This is not treason as defined in the constitution but scary as hell. It's not a new thing at all for the reich wing nut jobs, the CEO of Blackwater advocated the violent overthrow of the Clinton administration. Yep that's right, a coup-d'etat in America. These scum really believe they are the only rightful rulers of our country. I also read daily about the good Catholic church spewing garbage from the pulpit that should be stopped.
This country really needs to take strong action against these nut jobs, they really are destroying this country.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:39 pmdamn... it took so long to find, i hope you're still around...
bozo @ #9, reminded me of this, found via C&L commenter:
The GOP's McCarthy gene: "There may be assorted intellectuals and ideologues in the party, maybe even a few centrists, but there is no longer an intellectual or even ideological wing. The party belongs to McCarthy and his heirs -- Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Palin. It's in the genes."
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-gabler30-2008nov30,0,1009632.story
December 1st, 2008 at 4:42 pmBozo The Neoclown Says:
miss molly,
i guess grampy mclame’s slogan “country first” was a cartload of happy horseshit. it’s always been party first with these cretins.
December 1st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
----
I beg to differ. I don't think that it is "party first". I believe that it is more "Cronies first".
December 1st, 2008 at 4:44 pmI'll bet if the Democrats were advocating a "shadow government" like good ol' Jeb is doing, the Republicans would call it "an action resembling treason" or something like it and wanted them all thrown in Gitmo.
Why can't these "old-white guys" acknowledge that the country IS center-left, and moving that way more and more every year, and that the Republicans had their little fun for 8 to 14 years, and now the baton has been passed, and they are has-beens.
I'll bet these same guys put on their high school letter jackets (or try to around their expanding waist lines) and reminisce about the "good old days' and how they won the state championship - or would have if the coach had put them in to play.
December 1st, 2008 at 4:49 pmPretty sure we've been run into the ground by a shadow govenment the last 8 years. How come they didn't let Jeb in on it?
December 1st, 2008 at 4:50 pmI’d love to see the shadow government. For starters, how about:
"Newt - President
Limbaugh - Press Secretary
General Jerry Boykin - SecDef/Christian Crusader Commander
Bill Kristol - National Security Advisor
Tom Tancredo - DHS Chief/Head of Immigration
Saxby Chambliss - Head of VA
Sarah Palin - Secretary of State
Bob Lutz GM Pres/Hummer - EPA Chief"
Wait a moment. Should old SamJoe the plumber's gopher be offered up some plum position. Has Secretary of Absurd Made up Goofballs already been filled
December 1st, 2008 at 4:54 pmSo he admits the GOP is treasonous. Unreal.
We need to grind conservatism and the GOP into the dirt until it ceases to exist. Absolutely NO quarter is to be given.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:00 pmDoes this have anything to do with right-wingers plans to secede red states from the Union? Or, are they just planning sedition from the inside?
Looks like there are two emerging factions in the right-wing.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:00 pmForm our own shadow govt - isn't that called sedition ?
Form our own shadow govt - don't the fundies hate the Masons because of the belief that they are a shadow govt / illuminati ?
Form our own shadow govt - could we lob cannonballs at Ft Sumter and succeded from the Union
December 1st, 2008 at 5:03 pmAnd to think Jeb was the smarter of the Bush bros. If Jeb is the smart one, just how stoopid is W? Can IQ points go into negative numbers? I guess so...
December 1st, 2008 at 5:06 pmHey Jeb,
How about "Loyal Opposition".
After all, Republicans have done their darndest to make all Americans Scared of their Own Shadows for 8 years.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:09 pm"Shadow Government" isn't that the forking CIA?
December 1st, 2008 at 5:16 pmrocks911 Says:
December 1st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Rocks,
December 1st, 2008 at 5:24 pmPrescott Bush proposed the same in the 1930's, I guess it runs in the family!
StratRat says --
"The name ‘Bush’ - to America and the world - will be used in the same way Hitler and Stalin are referred to today. If you hear the name, you know the man. Nothing more needs to be said about the man."
Let's put that in bold!
"The name ‘Bush’ - to America and the world - will be used in the same way Hitler and Stalin are referred to today. If you hear the name, you know the man. Nothing more needs to be said about the man."
Thank you for that StratRat.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:40 pmFound a couple of succinct definitions for "shadow government," (also known as underground government). Take your pick which one you think the ex-gov of MY state means.
A shadow government is a "government-in-waiting" that remains in waiting with the intention of taking control of a government in response to some event. (Like another "terrorist attack?")
An underground government is a government set up in a covert fashion, because it would be dangerous or impossible to do so openly. This is usually either in the course of a revolution, or in wartime, when a nation or territory has been occupied, and an existing government has been deposed by an invading army. (This would be if the case they actually see the Democrats as the "enemy." Which I think they do.)
December 1st, 2008 at 5:41 pmGet used to this nonsense. All the GOP will have in the future is to stand on the sidelines and jeer and boo Obama's attempts to fix Bush's very Republican mess.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:44 pmBozo the Neocon: "i do believe what jeb bush is proposing is treason. i guess the traitorous genes were passed from nazi prescott to jebbie"
It definitely runs in the family -
1933 - Prescott Bush plays a leading role in a coup attempt to forceably remove FDR from office.
1945 - Prescott's bank is closed by the Feds for providing banking services to the Nazis.
1963 - George HW Bush runs the Cuba operation for the CIA while JFK is murdered.
1980 - George HW Bush meets with Iranians to get them to hold American hostages longer in exchange for missles to help Reagan win (hostages magically released as Reagan takes office)
1992 - George HW Bush pardons three co-conspirators in Iran-Contra who are scheduled to testify in federal court as to his part in the scandal.
2001 - In what amounts to a "judicial coup", old friends of the Bush family on the Supreme Court halt the counting of ballots in Florida (The Keating Report would eventually show that if all ballots were counted, Bush would have lost under any counting standard)
Isn't it time Americans learned that the Bush family is a criminal enterprise.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:45 pmJeb is sooooo stuuuuupid...we already have a shadow government made up of RePugniScums and Corporate Fascists and Christianistas banded together and working everyday to kill this great democracry!
December 1st, 2008 at 5:50 pmIMHO, there are not enough viruses, infections, pollutants, chemicals and other deadly agents working hard enough, fast enough, or long enough to eliminate the entire Botch klan by natural causes or corporate pollution as soon as possible.
The Botch klan is evil incarnate!!!!!!
December 1st, 2008 at 5:54 pmI guess Jeb is another Bushie that gets all his news from Fox Propaganda. That is one delusional idiot.
December 1st, 2008 at 5:58 pmThe Bush family is apparently unschooled in the Constitution and democracy.
December 1st, 2008 at 6:06 pmWe have a democratically elected government and suggesting a "shadow government" is treasonous.
Hey Jeb... go for a dive with crocodile!
December 1st, 2008 at 6:46 pmJeb Bush is a retard. We've had a shadow government for 8 years already. It's time to call the exterminator.
December 1st, 2008 at 7:38 pmAt this rate, the republic party will be so small we'll be able to scoop them up and drown the remaining in a bathtub.
(this idea courtesy of Grover Norquist...a freakish republiCON)
December 1st, 2008 at 8:15 pmWouldn't that mean bigger government? Oh my gosh, what about my taxes...
December 1st, 2008 at 8:22 pmI'd like to know what Babs was taking that would lead to such a warped litter as this.
December 1st, 2008 at 10:12 pmNo doubt Jeb (such a good Confederate name) is talking about organizing all the right-wing militias in the country to act as a Fifth Column, committing acts of sabotage as well as mailing out even more powder in even more envelopes, in an attempt to undermine the Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.
I wonder if Bush family treason is genetic, or does Jeb just have to work really, really hard at it, like his brother George?
December 1st, 2008 at 10:30 pmFrom shady government to shadow government, huh, Jeb?
December 1st, 2008 at 11:15 pmONLY THE SHAWDOW KNOWS !!!!!
December 1st, 2008 at 11:57 pmHey Jeb - your baby brother and his minions already did that. Black Water, Abu Gharab, Gitmo???
Imprisioning people without charge or representation, denying people of the due process, torture - I think these all qualify as the actions of a "Shadow Government."
I am SO glad you're not the Govenor anymore.
Beverly S. Hill
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 amTallahassee, Florida
.
Wow...
... First sleeping with the separatists, now shadow governments.
What do these Fascists support, because it ain't America or Her Ideals.
But of course, it's family talkin' and we know how that works in the "ESTABLISHMENT", NO?
.
December 2nd, 2008 at 2:09 amLooks like Jeb has put on a few pounds, maybe trying to increase his own shadow. Please go away Jeb, and take your alcoholic brother with you. So sad that only in America, misfits from a dysfunctional family can as-send to such power, because of there last name?
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:14 amYep. Soul-searching is what you need, all right. Search for more Republicans who like soul food, soul music ...
Good luck with that.
December 2nd, 2008 at 6:37 amJeb DOES hear voices: he has mentioned "the mystical Chang", an ancient warrior spirit who has advised him and his brother.
really.
No, I mean, REALLY.
But, as others have stated, how is this NOT a treasonous statement? He did not call for a new political party: he called for a secret 'government', who, one must assume, would operate to rule the country in secret. How is that not traitorous? His implication is to upsurp the power of government from the "traditional" government of America. It is a call for a coup and a restructuring of government. If he meant to suggest forming a new political party, then he should have said so, but he said no such thing. Unless you claim that he is a complete and total idiot, he knew what he was saying, and he meant what he said. The republicans have been in total control with no accountability for their words or actions for far too many years, and now many of them feel that they are entitled to say and do whatever they please with complete impunity and immunity. And that may be true, unless LAW is re-established, and criminals, regardless of their wealth or political affiliations, are held accountable for their crimes. Their coup throough regular means failed -- and mainly because they had no ability to actually govern a country (had they applied sound governmant to the nation, they could have succeeded in their goal of permanent party rule of America: unfortunately for their plan, actually doing ANYTHING for Americans was never in their agenda, and it was that that finally brought them down. Their stern refusal to admit being wrong on anything at all will be their ultimate demise, and that to few tears).
Bottom line, Jeb should be being investigated by the FBI as a possible traitor and/or terrorist, as well as all of his friends and political connnections. Based on this statement. If some religious sect came out and made this precise statement, that is exactly what would happen to them (followed by arrests, probably involving tanks and automatic weapons). Wasn't it an attitude similar to this (or the feds belief that they held this attitude) that led to the Waco massacre? The feds didn't roll in there because they were a strange little sect: they were afraid of the politics that those people might have harbored (ideas of sedition, etc.). Calling publicly for a shaodw government (which is, in itself, insane) is on the same level: actually, moreso, considering the family to whom this former governor belongs to -- with the connections that he and his family have in government and private, this threat could VERY REASONABLY be assumed to be legitamite.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pmWhat, another one?
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 pmCageyCretin says
considering the family to whom this former governor belongs to — with the connections that he and his family have in government and private, this threat could VERY REASONABLY be assumed to be legitamite
This is very true and after reading The Family by Kitty Kelly whatever they do does not surprise me, nor should it surprise anyone else. They come from a long line of 'trouble' and, I believe, troubled people from way, way back. They do feel they have the right to whatever they want and will go to any lengths to gain that. This seems to be the mantra of the present day right wingers.
What bothers me in addition to those with power is the fact that their followers seem to think the exact same way. In their misquided thinking they apparently believe that they are the ones and that there has been a big mistake made somehow that Obama is President Elect. I really do not get it!
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm