So the United States has itself a bit of a budget problem. It seems we are running a record deficit.
But have no fear, for we have found a solution. It involves some fake Billion Dollar bills.
No Wait, really this can work...
March 14, 2006
Evil Twin
So Claude Allen, domestic policy advisor/shoplifter is circulating an "evil twin" defense. TPM has the details.
Bush claims that Iraq turning away from 'the abyss'
Back in reality, 86 bodies have been found in Bagdad in the last day. Is this what pulling back from the abyss looks like? And what's Bush doing, adminting that Iraq is on the edge of an abyss. I though all was well in Iraq, that freedom was on the march.
Maybe that was just Bush's evil twin giving that last speech.
Bush claims that Iraq turning away from 'the abyss'
Back in reality, 86 bodies have been found in Bagdad in the last day. Is this what pulling back from the abyss looks like? And what's Bush doing, adminting that Iraq is on the edge of an abyss. I though all was well in Iraq, that freedom was on the march.
Maybe that was just Bush's evil twin giving that last speech.
March 13, 2006
UberGeek
Season final of Battlestar Galactica was Friday. Really good. You can get shot of supergeeky political and sci-fi talk on the show from both the left and the right.
It seems Milosevic was messing with his own heart condition treatment in order to get out of the war crimes trial. It got him out, just a little more permanently than he intended.
Wesley Clark, who lead the NATO campaign against Milosevic, has a piece on him here.
It seems Milosevic was messing with his own heart condition treatment in order to get out of the war crimes trial. It got him out, just a little more permanently than he intended.
Wesley Clark, who lead the NATO campaign against Milosevic, has a piece on him here.
The Need for the Hard Men
The death of Slobodan Milosevic sent me back into the Slate archives to find this Dispach that Peter Maas filed from the middle democratic revolution that brought down Milosevic in October of 2000. Its tell the story of the men of Cacak, miners who brought a bulldozer and absolute commitment to Belgrade. These men go to the policemen who are protecting Milosevic's government and say
"This morning I kissed my family farewell. I hope you kissed your family farewell, too."
It turns out that the police weren't prepared to die. They flee and the regime falls, Serbia is now a democracy, and Milosevic spent the rest of his days rotting away in a cell. And it happened because of the presence of Hard Men, men willing to go all the way:
Who were these people? They were not the students and middle-class professionals who had marched against Milosevic, fruitlessly, for much of the past 10 years. Those protesters were out on the streets again last Thursday, of course, blowing their whistles and shaking their baby rattles and wearing their irreverent stickers ("Suck my dick, Slobo"). In the last decade, they had been the most well-behaved of protesters, so Gandhi-like in their nonviolent opposition that they might as well have worn sarongs. I do not want to suggest that they should have been violent or threatened violence; I just think it is interesting to note that they are a breed apart from the angry men of Cacak, who entered Belgrade as though entering the Colosseum in Rome. They even brought a bulldozer to crash through police roadblocks (which it did) and barrel into barricaded buildings (such as the headquarters of Radio-Television Serbia). The opposition movement had found its vanguard.
We always hold up Gandhi and Martin Luther King as the way to change societies non-violently. But there are societies that are brutal enough to remain immune to non-violent pressure. The Dali Lama's campaign to free Tibet, while inspirational, has been completely futile. Non-violent protest will not save Darfur. Some situations call for Hard Men. Men like Michael Collins:
Irish nationalism had always had a surplus of dreamers, poets, visionaries, rhetoricians, and idealists. What it lacked was bureaucrats. Collins became the indispensable man of the Irish revolution because he knew how to run things.
...
Romantic rhetoric might sanitize or even substitute for violence, but Collins intended to get on with the dirty business itself. This time there would be no heroic and dramatic failures, just cold instrumental killing.
...
"But what is your point, Mr. Russell?" It was a question that previous Irish nationalist leaders had tended not to ask. The struggle was its own point--merely to have fought was, in some mystical sense, to have won. For Collins, the point was simple enough: to force the British to negotiate their withdrawal from Ireland by any means necessary.
Expect a fresh round of looking at political violence this week. The movie V for Vendetta is coming out this week. The movie is the story of a future totalitarian Britain and the man working to destroy that system. Let's just say he's not taking Gandhi as his model.
"This morning I kissed my family farewell. I hope you kissed your family farewell, too."
It turns out that the police weren't prepared to die. They flee and the regime falls, Serbia is now a democracy, and Milosevic spent the rest of his days rotting away in a cell. And it happened because of the presence of Hard Men, men willing to go all the way:
Who were these people? They were not the students and middle-class professionals who had marched against Milosevic, fruitlessly, for much of the past 10 years. Those protesters were out on the streets again last Thursday, of course, blowing their whistles and shaking their baby rattles and wearing their irreverent stickers ("Suck my dick, Slobo"). In the last decade, they had been the most well-behaved of protesters, so Gandhi-like in their nonviolent opposition that they might as well have worn sarongs. I do not want to suggest that they should have been violent or threatened violence; I just think it is interesting to note that they are a breed apart from the angry men of Cacak, who entered Belgrade as though entering the Colosseum in Rome. They even brought a bulldozer to crash through police roadblocks (which it did) and barrel into barricaded buildings (such as the headquarters of Radio-Television Serbia). The opposition movement had found its vanguard.
We always hold up Gandhi and Martin Luther King as the way to change societies non-violently. But there are societies that are brutal enough to remain immune to non-violent pressure. The Dali Lama's campaign to free Tibet, while inspirational, has been completely futile. Non-violent protest will not save Darfur. Some situations call for Hard Men. Men like Michael Collins:
Irish nationalism had always had a surplus of dreamers, poets, visionaries, rhetoricians, and idealists. What it lacked was bureaucrats. Collins became the indispensable man of the Irish revolution because he knew how to run things.
...
Romantic rhetoric might sanitize or even substitute for violence, but Collins intended to get on with the dirty business itself. This time there would be no heroic and dramatic failures, just cold instrumental killing.
...
"But what is your point, Mr. Russell?" It was a question that previous Irish nationalist leaders had tended not to ask. The struggle was its own point--merely to have fought was, in some mystical sense, to have won. For Collins, the point was simple enough: to force the British to negotiate their withdrawal from Ireland by any means necessary.
Expect a fresh round of looking at political violence this week. The movie V for Vendetta is coming out this week. The movie is the story of a future totalitarian Britain and the man working to destroy that system. Let's just say he's not taking Gandhi as his model.
March 12, 2006
Love the Difference
I dig music that breaks rules. I love unlikely covers. I think Country/Hip Hop collaborations are great. I love an act that your first reaction is "What the hell?" and your second reaction is to hit replay. In that spirit, I present to you Matisyahu who is the first Hasidic Reggae artist I've ever seen. Feel free to put up your own music in comments. Just try and keep it a little different.
March 11, 2006
Saturday, Saturday
Slobodan Milosevic, genocidal former leader of the former Yugoslavia, died in his cell today in the Hague. He was on trial for crimes aganst humanity. The bastard died of natural causes and thus saved the world the trouble of hanging him.
In a completely bizarre event, Bush's domestic policy adviser, who resigned last month, has been arrested for shoplifting:
Police believe Allen would buy items, take them to his car, then return to the store with his receipt. He would select the same items, then take them to the store return desk and show the receipt from the first purchase. Using that method, he would receive credit for the second items on his credit cards, Burnett said.
Allen was allegedly seen Jan. 2 at a Target in Gaithersburg taking items off the shelf that he then took the return desk. He had a receipt for the merchandise, was given a refund and left.
This is a very Senior WH official, think Sam Seaborn or Josh Lyman on West Wing, or George Stephanopoulos in the Clinton White House. The guy is advising the most powerfully man in the world, making six figures, and ripping off the local target. Just bizarre.
In a completely bizarre event, Bush's domestic policy adviser, who resigned last month, has been arrested for shoplifting:
Police believe Allen would buy items, take them to his car, then return to the store with his receipt. He would select the same items, then take them to the store return desk and show the receipt from the first purchase. Using that method, he would receive credit for the second items on his credit cards, Burnett said.
Allen was allegedly seen Jan. 2 at a Target in Gaithersburg taking items off the shelf that he then took the return desk. He had a receipt for the merchandise, was given a refund and left.
This is a very Senior WH official, think Sam Seaborn or Josh Lyman on West Wing, or George Stephanopoulos in the Clinton White House. The guy is advising the most powerfully man in the world, making six figures, and ripping off the local target. Just bizarre.
March 9, 2006
Science Friday
The Cassini space probe has found evidence of liquid water on one of Saturn's moons. Water is erupting from underground pools. Its being described as similar to "Old faithful" in Yellowstone Park. Enceladus - destined to be the must-see tourist destination of 2081.
Scientists are working on methods of regenerating limbs lost in war.
Science gives.
Science Takes away:
There is a new breed of weaponry fast approachin —and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardwar, —perhaps more so than the atomic bomb.
Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea, and space warfare depends not only on using the electromagnetic spectrum, but also upon favorable political and budgetary wavelengths too.
Science can get just plain wierd:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the blue-sky wing of the Pentagon, has set yet another group of American scientists loose to create the basis for future red-in-tooth-and-maw Discovery Channel programs. In this case, they are planning to put neural implants into the brains of sharks in hopes, one day, of "controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling." In their dreams at least, DARPA'S far-out funders hope to "exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted."
Scientists are working on methods of regenerating limbs lost in war.
Science gives.
Science Takes away:
There is a new breed of weaponry fast approachin —and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardwar, —perhaps more so than the atomic bomb.
Directed-energy weapons take the form of lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams. Their adoption for ground, air, sea, and space warfare depends not only on using the electromagnetic spectrum, but also upon favorable political and budgetary wavelengths too.
Science can get just plain wierd:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the blue-sky wing of the Pentagon, has set yet another group of American scientists loose to create the basis for future red-in-tooth-and-maw Discovery Channel programs. In this case, they are planning to put neural implants into the brains of sharks in hopes, one day, of "controlling the animal's movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling." In their dreams at least, DARPA'S far-out funders hope to "exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted."
Damage control
The presence of a civil war in Iraq might be debatable, but the GOP Congress is in full rebellion:
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee essentially blocked the deal by voting 62-2 to insert an amendment into a $68 billion emergency supplemental funding bill for military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush can't veto the amendment without "hurting the troop" It really is fun to watch the President being roasted with his own rhetoric.
There is a move afoot for damage control. Sort of a face saving measure:
United Arab Emirates-owned DP World said Thursday it would transfer its operations of American ports to a U.S. "entity" after congressional leaders reportedly told President Bush that the firm's takeover deal was essentially dead on Capitol Hill.
"Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve that relationship ... DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations of P&O Operations North America to a United States entity," Edward H. Bilkey, DP World's chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The announcement did not specify which American company would be involved.
This proposal seems rather vague. It either means nothing, in which case the fight will still be on, or it effectively kills the deal and DP World doesn't take control of port operations
On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee essentially blocked the deal by voting 62-2 to insert an amendment into a $68 billion emergency supplemental funding bill for military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush can't veto the amendment without "hurting the troop" It really is fun to watch the President being roasted with his own rhetoric.
There is a move afoot for damage control. Sort of a face saving measure:
United Arab Emirates-owned DP World said Thursday it would transfer its operations of American ports to a U.S. "entity" after congressional leaders reportedly told President Bush that the firm's takeover deal was essentially dead on Capitol Hill.
"Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve that relationship ... DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations of P&O Operations North America to a United States entity," Edward H. Bilkey, DP World's chief operating officer, said in a statement.
The announcement did not specify which American company would be involved.
This proposal seems rather vague. It either means nothing, in which case the fight will still be on, or it effectively kills the deal and DP World doesn't take control of port operations
March 8, 2006
The Game
Tonight's game is Saw it Coming/Did not see it coming.
Congress declares war on ports deal.
I totally saw this coming. Right Here.
Yanni arrested after domestic dispute.
Did not see that one coming.
Barry Bonds did Steroids.
Ok, who didn't see this coming?
Iraqi Police Are Tied to Abuses and Deaths, U.S. Review Finds
Sadly, we saw this one coming.
British Tourist Marries Dolphin
Umm, No. However we did have a pretty good post about dolphins here.
Congress declares war on ports deal.
I totally saw this coming. Right Here.
Yanni arrested after domestic dispute.
Did not see that one coming.
Barry Bonds did Steroids.
Ok, who didn't see this coming?
Iraqi Police Are Tied to Abuses and Deaths, U.S. Review Finds
Sadly, we saw this one coming.
British Tourist Marries Dolphin
Umm, No. However we did have a pretty good post about dolphins here.
Rings True
I've come across a few conservative critics of the movie Syriana in my random web surfing. A pretty typical example is this Charles Krauthammer piece. Basically this these critics boil down to the contention that Syriana's vision of corruption and US foreign policy is just a Hollywood fantasy. Which brings us to the new TPMMuckraker, explorer of all things corrupt. One of the revelations: Mitchell Wade - the defense contractor who bought off Duke Cunningham, also set up an outfit called the "Iranian Democratization Foundation." Oh and it also appears that Wade was buying off people inside the CIA and White House for defense contracts. Syriana featured a shadowy "Democracy for Iran" group that seemed to consisted of nothing but well-aged white men. There is a pretty good reason that Syriana rings true, despite Krauthammer's protestations that US foreign policy is noble and incorruptible. That reason is called the news.
Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale, thinks he's gonna run this up the flagpole, make a name for himself, maybe get elected some two-bit, no-name congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here. No, I tell you. No, sir. "But, Danny, these are sovereign nations." Sovereign nations. What is a sovereign nation, but a collective of greed run by one individual? "But, Danny, they're codified by the U.N. charter!" Legitimized gangsterism on a global basis that has no more validity than an agreement between the Crips and the Bloods! Corruption charges. Corruption? Corruption ain't nothing more than government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.
--Syriana
Some trust fund prosecutor, got off-message at Yale, thinks he's gonna run this up the flagpole, make a name for himself, maybe get elected some two-bit, no-name congressman from nowhere, with the result that Russia or China can suddenly start having, at our expense, all the advantages we enjoy here. No, I tell you. No, sir. "But, Danny, these are sovereign nations." Sovereign nations. What is a sovereign nation, but a collective of greed run by one individual? "But, Danny, they're codified by the U.N. charter!" Legitimized gangsterism on a global basis that has no more validity than an agreement between the Crips and the Bloods! Corruption charges. Corruption? Corruption ain't nothing more than government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That's Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel Prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.
--Syriana
March 7, 2006
The Links of Fun
Michael Tomasky of TAP put together a political knowledge quiz that just kicked my ass and I'm a big political nerd. I went 10 for 25. Give it a try.
For Tyler: The Simpsons as live action.
Watch the people of the world shake their ass to latest Sakira song. Funny/Sexy/Ridiculous all in just 3:30.
Natalie Portman goes off.
You're paying extra for that high-speed connection. Time to get some use out of it. Download some video.
For Tyler: The Simpsons as live action.
Watch the people of the world shake their ass to latest Sakira song. Funny/Sexy/Ridiculous all in just 3:30.
Natalie Portman goes off.
You're paying extra for that high-speed connection. Time to get some use out of it. Download some video.
Intent, Results, Time, Dynamics, Polls, truth
Fascinated as I am by Bush's popularity and lack thereof. I found this piece of TAPPED analysis to be on target:
Plenty of liberal Dems might read this and angrily rejoin: "What the heck took everyone so long to realize that this bozo's incompetent?" The answer to that question is well worth considering, because it suggests not just the secret to Bush's success, but also a way to help ensure his continued demise.
I'd argue that a key to Bush's success has been his uncanny knack for keeping voters focused on his intentions, rather than on his performance. Bush's national security record is uniformly awful -- the Sept. 11 attacks happened on his watch; the Iraq war has been a disaster in countless ways; our policy on Iran has only empowered that country; the list goes on. Yet Karl Rove can brazenly declare that national security will be the key to the GOP's strategy in 2006. How can this be?
One answer is that Bush's political skills, combined with the GOP's relentless reliance on military stagecraft, has enabled him to come across as someone who really, really wants to kick the heck out of as many terrorists as possible, whatever his actual performance. The central conundrum for Dems has been how to get the electorate to focus on that performance. In 2004, just enough voters decided they'd rather overlook Bush's performance and vote for the guy who, they thought, seemed to have at least more of an inclination to be aggressive. To make that happen, of course, the GOP had to successfully tar John Kerry as lacking the stomach -- and hence the inclination toward aggression -- of Bush. Nominating a war hero seemed like a good way to keep that from happening. But the Swift Boat vets and John Kerry's effete manner raised just enough doubts about Kerry's inclinations to ensure that enough people decided it was safer to go with the guy who's intentions they thought they understood -- again, whatever his actual performance.
I'd argue that the key reason Bush's second term has been politically catastrophic is that it finally shattered this dynamic, perhaps permanently. The Harriet Miers nomination and Katrina focused the electorate's attention squarely on performance and nothing else. On Katrina, once the nation had been transfixed by the image of Bush's awful performance, no amount of parading around with firefighters amid the New Orleans wreckage -- a belated bid to convince us all of Bush's good intentions -- could change the country's conclusion. And unlike with Iraq -- where Bush's handlers successfully deflected his critics by refocusing attention on "the enemy" -- with Katrina, the only ready-at-hand enemy has been Mother Nature. There's been no escaping the electorate's verdict on his performance and nothing else.
I would argue also that part of this is simply a function of time. Results take time to form and become apparent. Long term, I can make the case that Bush's policies will make us less safe, but it will take time to prove me me right (or wrong)
So it is effective to argue intentions when the outcome of policies aren't apparent. But now its been five years of Bush rule and the headlines are filled with chickens coming home. Its now easily proved that Bush's policies are bad in a way that they weren't in say 2003.
Plenty of liberal Dems might read this and angrily rejoin: "What the heck took everyone so long to realize that this bozo's incompetent?" The answer to that question is well worth considering, because it suggests not just the secret to Bush's success, but also a way to help ensure his continued demise.
I'd argue that a key to Bush's success has been his uncanny knack for keeping voters focused on his intentions, rather than on his performance. Bush's national security record is uniformly awful -- the Sept. 11 attacks happened on his watch; the Iraq war has been a disaster in countless ways; our policy on Iran has only empowered that country; the list goes on. Yet Karl Rove can brazenly declare that national security will be the key to the GOP's strategy in 2006. How can this be?
One answer is that Bush's political skills, combined with the GOP's relentless reliance on military stagecraft, has enabled him to come across as someone who really, really wants to kick the heck out of as many terrorists as possible, whatever his actual performance. The central conundrum for Dems has been how to get the electorate to focus on that performance. In 2004, just enough voters decided they'd rather overlook Bush's performance and vote for the guy who, they thought, seemed to have at least more of an inclination to be aggressive. To make that happen, of course, the GOP had to successfully tar John Kerry as lacking the stomach -- and hence the inclination toward aggression -- of Bush. Nominating a war hero seemed like a good way to keep that from happening. But the Swift Boat vets and John Kerry's effete manner raised just enough doubts about Kerry's inclinations to ensure that enough people decided it was safer to go with the guy who's intentions they thought they understood -- again, whatever his actual performance.
I'd argue that the key reason Bush's second term has been politically catastrophic is that it finally shattered this dynamic, perhaps permanently. The Harriet Miers nomination and Katrina focused the electorate's attention squarely on performance and nothing else. On Katrina, once the nation had been transfixed by the image of Bush's awful performance, no amount of parading around with firefighters amid the New Orleans wreckage -- a belated bid to convince us all of Bush's good intentions -- could change the country's conclusion. And unlike with Iraq -- where Bush's handlers successfully deflected his critics by refocusing attention on "the enemy" -- with Katrina, the only ready-at-hand enemy has been Mother Nature. There's been no escaping the electorate's verdict on his performance and nothing else.
I would argue also that part of this is simply a function of time. Results take time to form and become apparent. Long term, I can make the case that Bush's policies will make us less safe, but it will take time to prove me me right (or wrong)
So it is effective to argue intentions when the outcome of policies aren't apparent. But now its been five years of Bush rule and the headlines are filled with chickens coming home. Its now easily proved that Bush's policies are bad in a way that they weren't in say 2003.
March 6, 2006
Free Lunch
So the Governor of South Dakota just signed a draconian anti-abortion law today. No exceptions for health of the mother. No exception for cases of rape or incest. Five years in prison for doctors performing an abortion. It's everything the most extreme anti-abortion activists want. And its completely unenforceable under Roe v Wade. Which is why they can get away with being so extreme. When you know that the law will be thrown out, why not give the anti- side everything it wants. It's not like there are any real-world consequences. No backlash. No need for the pro-choice forces to fight back politically, they just need to file a lawsuit to block the new law. Despite two new Bush appointees, there is still a pretty certain 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court in favor of Roe. So the anti-abortion folks get themselves a free lunch today.
March 5, 2006
Three 6 Mafia 1, Martin Scorsese 0
That seemed like a very fair Oscar ceremony. Now something like six different movies can cut commercials saying "And now the winner of two Oscars, including ____" instead of one Movie getting 12 Oscars. The Gay shepherds lost to Crash. Someone will attempt to spin how that means that gays aren't accepted in American or that middle America isn't ready for two guys getting it on in a tent. I will not be that someone. Keep in mind that Crash was a really preachy movie about race relations, so maybe that's the driving issue of our day. Or maybe it was just the better movie or maybe its attack ads were more effective.
But regardless of the issues that divide us, we can come together to celebrate It's Hard Out here for a Pimp winning for best song.
But regardless of the issues that divide us, we can come together to celebrate It's Hard Out here for a Pimp winning for best song.
Guns Under the Table
Let's say you're a Conservative GOP Congressman. You've backed the President on every single issue of the day, foreign or domestic. You've followed him willingly through a drug-benefit program that has proven neither popular or cheap and frankly the unpopularity of the President is scaring the crap out of you. Now, given the rules of modern politics, you can't go back and change position on old issues. That would be "flip flopping." What you need is a new issue where you can break with the President.
I present to you Duncan Hunter (R-CA) notable for being a San Diego conservative not going to Federal Prison, as well as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (I.E. a player). He was on This Week today and really let the administration have it on the Dubai ports deal. He vowed to kill the deal, which is a pretty serious marker to throw down. This isn't "I have some concerns" or "We should be taking a closer look at this" is this "I am going to kill this deal" Now President Bush has already put down his own marker to veto any attempt to block the port deal. Hunter seems to be set on a very serious attempt to block the deal. Which means Bush is going have a massive showdown with the GOP controlled Congress. Popcorn anyone?
I present to you Duncan Hunter (R-CA) notable for being a San Diego conservative not going to Federal Prison, as well as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (I.E. a player). He was on This Week today and really let the administration have it on the Dubai ports deal. He vowed to kill the deal, which is a pretty serious marker to throw down. This isn't "I have some concerns" or "We should be taking a closer look at this" is this "I am going to kill this deal" Now President Bush has already put down his own marker to veto any attempt to block the port deal. Hunter seems to be set on a very serious attempt to block the deal. Which means Bush is going have a massive showdown with the GOP controlled Congress. Popcorn anyone?
March 3, 2006
Friday Roundup
"Duke" Cunningham to be sentenced today. There was a Congressional Historian being quoted on the radio today saying that, dollar for dollar, Cunningham is the most corrupt representative in History. He took more money in bribes than any other Congressman. Ever.
I can only hope that Alba v. Playboy will someday make it all the way to the Supreme Court.
Is it weird that, in light of recent revelations, I'm starting to feel like Brownie got a raw deal?
Finally today's Rant of the Day comes from James Wolcott on the subject of "Hollywood Values" conflicting with "Heartland Values"
The heartland issue is such a crock, especially when it's taken up by pseudo-populist pundits who cling to both coasts and wouldn't move to the middle of the country unless the name of that middle was Chicago. Fuck the heartland. It doesn't exist. It's a metaphor for all the simple good things Americans would believe in if they flattered themselves by believing in simple good things. (Go reread Sherwood Anderson or Sinclair Lewis if you want to savor the loneliness and cultureless vacuity of so much of the bedrock America we insist on coloring with Norman Rockwell nostalgia.) It's true that more Americans than usual are unaquainted and uninterested in the Oscar pics this year, but how many Americans saw McCabe and Mrs. Miller when it came out? Or Mean Streets? Not that long ago, the Oscars noms were panned because for being an index of popularity, not quality; now quality prevails in the judging, tastes have improved even at the Golden Globes, and the kvetching chorus is complaining that the finalists chosen aren't commercial enough, and don't reflect the interests and values of average Americans. There's no such thing as an average American anymore (if there ever was), unless by "average American" you mean (as news producers and pundits seem to do) white, middle-aged, heterosexual Christian small-towners and suburbanites who won't even be watching the Academy Awards because it'll be past their bedtime and they have elk to milk the next morning.
I can only hope that Alba v. Playboy will someday make it all the way to the Supreme Court.
Is it weird that, in light of recent revelations, I'm starting to feel like Brownie got a raw deal?
Finally today's Rant of the Day comes from James Wolcott on the subject of "Hollywood Values" conflicting with "Heartland Values"
The heartland issue is such a crock, especially when it's taken up by pseudo-populist pundits who cling to both coasts and wouldn't move to the middle of the country unless the name of that middle was Chicago. Fuck the heartland. It doesn't exist. It's a metaphor for all the simple good things Americans would believe in if they flattered themselves by believing in simple good things. (Go reread Sherwood Anderson or Sinclair Lewis if you want to savor the loneliness and cultureless vacuity of so much of the bedrock America we insist on coloring with Norman Rockwell nostalgia.) It's true that more Americans than usual are unaquainted and uninterested in the Oscar pics this year, but how many Americans saw McCabe and Mrs. Miller when it came out? Or Mean Streets? Not that long ago, the Oscars noms were panned because for being an index of popularity, not quality; now quality prevails in the judging, tastes have improved even at the Golden Globes, and the kvetching chorus is complaining that the finalists chosen aren't commercial enough, and don't reflect the interests and values of average Americans. There's no such thing as an average American anymore (if there ever was), unless by "average American" you mean (as news producers and pundits seem to do) white, middle-aged, heterosexual Christian small-towners and suburbanites who won't even be watching the Academy Awards because it'll be past their bedtime and they have elk to milk the next morning.
March 2, 2006
Life of the Party
I would like to give a hearty Craigorian Chant endorsement to fine organization Drinking Liberally. A great gathering where you talk politics and drink. Really, is there anything better? There are chapters all accross the nation so go to the homepage and pick one out near you. I just back from a meeting of the Sacramento Chapter and had a great time. This could be the Guiness talking but that was a great bunch of people. Good Times.
Let's Go to the Video Tape
Everybody, including the President himself, knows that he is lying when he says stuff like "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" back when he was making excuses for the administration's Katrina response. Usually, it is difficult to call him on such statements. But now there has been a video tape uncovered of the President and top officials getting briefed before Katrina hit, and there are numerous mentions of the danger of the levees failing. It's on tape. All there for history and everything.
Buried
So took in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada a little Indie film directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones. The action revolves around the killing of the aforementioned Melquiades by a border patrol agent and Jones' quest to return the body to his home in Mexico and get a little justice. Let's just say we spend a lot of quality time with a dead body. Now the movie does have its highlights, Tommy Lee Jones with a gun and some one-liners is always good cinema and the overall story is compelling, as well as an epic downer. Lowlights include the worse sex scene I have ever seen on film. Seriously bad sex. Terrible. Also, it may be that I'm just the product of an ADD, MTV culture, but this movie was edited way too slowly. Every scene seemed to drag on too long or just just had 35 seconds of action/dialog but 55 seconds of film time. It runs an even two hours long but felt much longer. Overall, I would say its a worthy movie, if not a good one.
P.S.
Best Tommy Lee Jones-with-a-gun-one-liners
Number 1:
"I didn't kill my wife"
"I don't care"
The Fugitive
Number 2:
"You're breaking my heart cockroach, show me your face I'll cure all your ills."
Men in Black
P.S.
Best Tommy Lee Jones-with-a-gun-one-liners
Number 1:
"I didn't kill my wife"
"I don't care"
The Fugitive
Number 2:
"You're breaking my heart cockroach, show me your face I'll cure all your ills."
Men in Black
March 1, 2006
More Popular than ...
Looks like that 34% Bush approval number is really freaking the Republicans out:
The release of a new CBS News poll showing Bush's approval rating dropping to 34 percent, a low for him in that survey, sent tremors through Republican circles in Washington. Scott Reed, who managed Robert J. Dole's presidential campaign in 1996, called the results "pretty shattering." Most distressing to GOP strategists was that Bush's support among Republicans fell from 83 percent to 72 percent.
"The repetition of the news coming out of Iraq is wearing folks down," Reed said. "It started with women and it's spreading. It's just bad news after bad news after bad news, without any light at the end of the tunnel."
Bush shrugged off the poll numbers in an interview with ABC News yesterday. "If I worried about polls, I would be -- I wouldn't be doing my job," he said before leaving Washington for a trip to India and Pakistan. "And, look, I fully understand that when you do hard things, it creates consternation at times. And, you know, I've been up in the polls and I've been down in the polls. You know, it's just part of life in the modern era."
Yet at the White House, aides were decidedly downbeat, making dark jokes about the latest political trajectory and the Murphy's Law quality of life in the West Wing these days -- what can go wrong will go wrong. At least, some consoled themselves, Bush beat out Vice President Cheney, who was viewed favorably by just 18 percent in the CBS survey.
And the Vice President's staff consoled themselves with the thought that their guy is viewed more favorably than both Saddam Hussein and Cancer. There is always someone or something less popular. You just have to look hard enough to find it.
The release of a new CBS News poll showing Bush's approval rating dropping to 34 percent, a low for him in that survey, sent tremors through Republican circles in Washington. Scott Reed, who managed Robert J. Dole's presidential campaign in 1996, called the results "pretty shattering." Most distressing to GOP strategists was that Bush's support among Republicans fell from 83 percent to 72 percent.
"The repetition of the news coming out of Iraq is wearing folks down," Reed said. "It started with women and it's spreading. It's just bad news after bad news after bad news, without any light at the end of the tunnel."
Bush shrugged off the poll numbers in an interview with ABC News yesterday. "If I worried about polls, I would be -- I wouldn't be doing my job," he said before leaving Washington for a trip to India and Pakistan. "And, look, I fully understand that when you do hard things, it creates consternation at times. And, you know, I've been up in the polls and I've been down in the polls. You know, it's just part of life in the modern era."
Yet at the White House, aides were decidedly downbeat, making dark jokes about the latest political trajectory and the Murphy's Law quality of life in the West Wing these days -- what can go wrong will go wrong. At least, some consoled themselves, Bush beat out Vice President Cheney, who was viewed favorably by just 18 percent in the CBS survey.
And the Vice President's staff consoled themselves with the thought that their guy is viewed more favorably than both Saddam Hussein and Cancer. There is always someone or something less popular. You just have to look hard enough to find it.
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