Friday, July 23, 2004
Runaway Day
I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it's absolutely glorious here in Wisconsin today. This week's heat wave (only the second one this summer worthy of the name) broke last night, and this morning is cool and bright and completely conducive to taking the rest of the day off. Which makes it all the more depressing to note yesterday's Progress Report from the Center for American Progress. The Report is absolute must reading for everybody who wants to keep an eye on the Bush disaster, and as such it's rarely a fount of good news. But yesterday's report was utterly breathtaking, and not in a good way--a record of political failure, hypocrisy, shameful neglect, and outright thievery that should have the villagers marching on the castle with torches. And the presidential election is in a dead heat? C'mon.
One of the ways Democrats are rationalizing the fact that John Kerry has yet to run away with the race is that he hasn't really introduced himself to the nation yet. Hard to believe for somebody who's spent something like $56 million on TV ads so far, although most of those have run only in a handful of targeted states. Kerry will make his biggest splash at the Democratic Convention next week. Jack Beatty of The Atlantic has written the acceptance speech Kerry should give next week. He won't give it, of course--but if he did, the splash would be approximately equal to what I'd make by cannonballing off the high dive. (Not that anyone needs to see that.)
Recommended Reading: Salon has four pages of letters, pro and con, in response to Patrick Smith's "Ask the Pilot" feature earlier this week about Annie Jacobsen, the woman who had a scary experience on a plane full of Syrian musicians. Here's a sample, from reader Ernesto Perez:
And finally, as befits a summer day when you might choose to go outside and do something to skin your knee--whatever happened to mercurochrome, the all-purpose antiseptic familiar to most people over age 30 and unknown to people under? Just ask The World's Smartest Human. And have a nice day.
New on The Hits Just Keep On Comin': Friday Top 5: Days Gone Down.
I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it's absolutely glorious here in Wisconsin today. This week's heat wave (only the second one this summer worthy of the name) broke last night, and this morning is cool and bright and completely conducive to taking the rest of the day off. Which makes it all the more depressing to note yesterday's Progress Report from the Center for American Progress. The Report is absolute must reading for everybody who wants to keep an eye on the Bush disaster, and as such it's rarely a fount of good news. But yesterday's report was utterly breathtaking, and not in a good way--a record of political failure, hypocrisy, shameful neglect, and outright thievery that should have the villagers marching on the castle with torches. And the presidential election is in a dead heat? C'mon.
One of the ways Democrats are rationalizing the fact that John Kerry has yet to run away with the race is that he hasn't really introduced himself to the nation yet. Hard to believe for somebody who's spent something like $56 million on TV ads so far, although most of those have run only in a handful of targeted states. Kerry will make his biggest splash at the Democratic Convention next week. Jack Beatty of The Atlantic has written the acceptance speech Kerry should give next week. He won't give it, of course--but if he did, the splash would be approximately equal to what I'd make by cannonballing off the high dive. (Not that anyone needs to see that.)
Recommended Reading: Salon has four pages of letters, pro and con, in response to Patrick Smith's "Ask the Pilot" feature earlier this week about Annie Jacobsen, the woman who had a scary experience on a plane full of Syrian musicians. Here's a sample, from reader Ernesto Perez:
Patrick Smith's story nails the current racism-disguised-as-caution attitude that most media channels seem to avoid touching on. I nearly laughed at [Jacobsen's comment saying] "My advice would be to deplane as soon as I counted 14 Arabs as passengers." Anyone following that sort of thinking should also run away anytime they see two white guys in a Ryder truck since that certain template of race and behavior has proven to result in terrorist acts. While I understand that people may feel the need to cautiously observe their surroundings and take note of "suspicious" behavior, people like Annie Jacobsen and, more important, the media channels opting to disseminate their views, should practice more restraint in flaming the fires of paranoia and, essentially, racism.Earlier this week I wrote a bit about the fact that almost any criticism of Israel in the United States is politically incorrect. Almost on cue, the indispensable ICH News dug up an article from 2002 written by former Illinois Congressman Paul Findley, explaining where this attitude of critical smackdown came from. It's another one of those things that mystifies non-American observers--how the Beacon of Liberty can be so blind to abuses we would condemn if countries other than Israel perpetrated them.
And finally, as befits a summer day when you might choose to go outside and do something to skin your knee--whatever happened to mercurochrome, the all-purpose antiseptic familiar to most people over age 30 and unknown to people under? Just ask The World's Smartest Human. And have a nice day.
New on The Hits Just Keep On Comin': Friday Top 5: Days Gone Down.
