Thursday, November 13, 2003
Check Your Head
Wesley Clark voted for Nixon, voted for Reagan, said he'd be a Republican if Karl Rove had returned his phone calls--and now this. Stalking horse for Hillary, my eye, as we used to say back on the playground. The guy's acting like a Republican in Democratic drag. It makes little sense to try and get the Democratic nomination by channeling John Ashcroft--unless you're fronting points for the Democratic Leadership Council, which can't be ruled out. "A smart man saying stupid things while pandering," as Joe Conason put it in the story linked above. Yeah, that's about right.
On NPR and other news outlets this morning, Republican senators are yakking up sanctimonious hairballs over the unfairness of the judicial confirmation process as their 30-hour talkathon continued through the night. This publicity stunt is designed to crank up the conservative base and, as a side benefit, make Mr. and Mrs. Ain't-Got-Time-To-Read-More-Than-The-Front-Page think that Democrats are petulant wackos. (Physician, heal thyself.) In Salon today, John Dean explains why the filibuster is necessary--to stop the sort of politicized court-packing the Bush Administration is engaging in right now. Dean says, "A super-majority (67 votes) represents the will of the people, while a one- or two-vote advantage simply jams the will of a slight majority down the throat of the minority." To get an idea of the kind of jurist Bushco is trying to ram down the nation's throat, click Tim Grieve's report, also in Salon today.
Christ, it's not even 7:30 in the morning yet and I'm depressed. Perhaps this will help: an unscientific survey in Britain picked the most impressive invention of the last 40 years. The winner was not the Internet, cell phones, cloning, compact discs, or space exploration--it was the device in cans of Guinness Stout that charges the beer with nitrogen as it's poured, giving it the necessary draft-style foamy head. The head is one of the most important attributes of Guinness, and many other English-style beers also require what's sometimes known as a "nitro pull." It gives the beer a smoothness that's almost surreal--you will not fully understand the beer term "mouthfeel" until you've had a nitro-pulled beer. You'll almost certainly have to buy a Guinness or visit a local brewpub to feel it, though. This is not something American macrobrewers are ever going to bother with.
Let's see, our brewpubs up here open at 11 for lunch…
Wesley Clark voted for Nixon, voted for Reagan, said he'd be a Republican if Karl Rove had returned his phone calls--and now this. Stalking horse for Hillary, my eye, as we used to say back on the playground. The guy's acting like a Republican in Democratic drag. It makes little sense to try and get the Democratic nomination by channeling John Ashcroft--unless you're fronting points for the Democratic Leadership Council, which can't be ruled out. "A smart man saying stupid things while pandering," as Joe Conason put it in the story linked above. Yeah, that's about right.
On NPR and other news outlets this morning, Republican senators are yakking up sanctimonious hairballs over the unfairness of the judicial confirmation process as their 30-hour talkathon continued through the night. This publicity stunt is designed to crank up the conservative base and, as a side benefit, make Mr. and Mrs. Ain't-Got-Time-To-Read-More-Than-The-Front-Page think that Democrats are petulant wackos. (Physician, heal thyself.) In Salon today, John Dean explains why the filibuster is necessary--to stop the sort of politicized court-packing the Bush Administration is engaging in right now. Dean says, "A super-majority (67 votes) represents the will of the people, while a one- or two-vote advantage simply jams the will of a slight majority down the throat of the minority." To get an idea of the kind of jurist Bushco is trying to ram down the nation's throat, click Tim Grieve's report, also in Salon today.
Christ, it's not even 7:30 in the morning yet and I'm depressed. Perhaps this will help: an unscientific survey in Britain picked the most impressive invention of the last 40 years. The winner was not the Internet, cell phones, cloning, compact discs, or space exploration--it was the device in cans of Guinness Stout that charges the beer with nitrogen as it's poured, giving it the necessary draft-style foamy head. The head is one of the most important attributes of Guinness, and many other English-style beers also require what's sometimes known as a "nitro pull." It gives the beer a smoothness that's almost surreal--you will not fully understand the beer term "mouthfeel" until you've had a nitro-pulled beer. You'll almost certainly have to buy a Guinness or visit a local brewpub to feel it, though. This is not something American macrobrewers are ever going to bother with.
Let's see, our brewpubs up here open at 11 for lunch…
