Posted on 11/25/2005 10:35:09 AM PST by kristinn
In scenes reminiscient of the Great Depression, Americans lined up early this morning outside stores across the country as word of shortages of Christmas gifts caused riots when the stores opened.
With the price of gasoline and heating oil having hit record highs this year, consumers waited in the freezing cold to be first in line when the doors opened at 5 a.m. to buy laptop computers and other essentials before supplies were exhausted.
Riots at stores from Washington, D.C. to Washington state and as far south as Florida were reported. Shocked mothers complained their children were traumatized by the violence. Many expressed fears their children would be afraid to open their Christmas gifts for fear of causing a riot.
Economists are blaming the Bush administration's hard line on tax cuts for the violence.
"George Bush has never had to get up at three in the morning to wait in line for Wal-Mart to open so he could get a $400 laptop for his children," observed Robert Rubin, former Clinton administration Treasury secretary. "Bush's irresponsible tax cuts have hurt working families. I haven't seen lines like this since the breadlines of Republican Herbert Hoover's Great Depression. The shortages of Christmas gifts at this time of year shows how much Bush has squandered the Clinton legacy of sound economic policies."
Republican adviser David Gergen agreed with Rubin, "President Bush has allowed himself to lose touch with the average American. He should have been first in line at the Waco Wal-Mart this morning rather than in his bunker at Crawford."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush wanted to go to the Waco Wal-Mart this morning, but the Secret Service was concerned that the people in line would have taken out their anger on Bush for their long wait in line and the shortages of Christmas gifts.
Believe me libs are hoping for disasters at home as well as abroad. They obstinately refuse to believe that tax cuts work. They cannot give up the idea that people know how to spend their own money better than the government does. I have lib coworkers who actually expressed fear that the economy would collapse because of the tax cuts. I could only look at them in disbelief. They truly believe that government creates wealth and not private industry.
That's about the point when I have a gastro-intestinal anomaly, roll over and go back to sleep.
I had to skip shopping this morning.
With all the pushing and shoving, I was afraid I might hurt someone!
President Bush is condemned no matter what happens on his shift. If there weren't prosperity he'd be blamed for a recession. If people weren't flocking to the stores he'd be blamed for that.
When they can't find anything to blame him for they makes up lies.
They're devils. Liberals are evil beings.
My local paper may just run that if they thought it WAS an AP story.
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Sad to say, there are folks who will believe this. That is, if they could read.
I saw it at $1.98 at a couple of stations here in NJ
Here in SW VA, gas is $1.87, diesel $2.20
Heard on the news today that some guy was in line at 3:00am while his wife and kids were in the parking lot asleep in the car....
LOLOL!
I should add we almost never watch the alphabet networks but wanted to hear the local weather forecast. We decided not to hang around another second.
This was hilarious! Great job.
Here are a few minor critiques:
1. I didn't see the word "Iraq" anywhere in the article. It should be in the paragraph that references oil prices. Bonus points if you mention protests or cite poll numbers.
2. "Christmas" is not permitted. The purchases must be referenced more sensitively as "holiday" gifts.
3. There really should be an interview with someone in line (preferably someone who can be verified by bloggers as a moveon.org donor) who says, "It's things like this that remind me how much regret having voted for Bush." [The obligatory I-regret-my-vote-for-Bush quote was actually used this week in snippets about Kerry's jury duty.]
George Bush has never had to get up at three in the morning to wait in line for Wal-Mart to open so he could get a $400 laptop for his children,"
Well, hell no he hasn't! If I were in his shoes, a lot of people would be getting the best things I could find from Harry and David's, and I'd call it good...
Thanks for the ping.
This was very funny! Miss you -- hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day!
It was great in Texas--especially since all is going well in CA!
Amazon/Toys R Us very kindly allowed me to shop the sale prices from my computer chair, and got a lot of free shipping on top!!
I hate crowds.....
I hope you had a big family gathering. We had 7 thanks to a couple of guests who have no family.
I tried for an hour to get through to a talk show who had a caller who was called Hurricane Harry. He was from north of Vero and south of Melbourne. We would have gladly had one more person and even could have provided transportation.
No luck reaching the "old" veteran, widower who had been eating alone for almost 20 years...asked for no pity...said he was always alone for holidays.
Sorry it did not work out!
Change of plans here and I will miss seeing you over the holidays...well there is next year!
I broke down and went to JoAnne Fabrics to get 1 item...not on sale... so the 50% coupon would be good!
It took an hour to find an item I wanted that was not on sale for the weekend. I just happened to find a few things I just had to have on sale. LOL
Christmas items were 60% off....imagine how over price-ticketed they must have been to offer that discount at the beginning of the season?
Sad, but true. Scott is a pathetic press secretary.
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