Saturday, August 28, 2004
You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows
Item: There is apparently an Israeli spy in the Pentagon, who may have been high enough in the councils of power to influence Bush Administration policy on Iraq and Iran.
Comment: Talk about a waste of effort. American policy is going to be favorable to Israel even without the slightest bit of manipulation, because Ariel Sharon has Bush's cojones in a jar on his desk. This is not the first time the Israelis have been accused of spying on the United States, either--remember the Jonathan Pollard case? If American-Israeli relations were a marriage, you'd send it to counseling. As it is, our friends sometimes wonder what the hell we see in each other.
Item: The number of Americans living in poverty grew by 1.3 million last year. The number without health insurance grew by 1.4 million.
Comment: The administration buried the numbers by releasing them in the pre-Labor Day doldrums instead of late September, when they are usually released, and when they would have exploded like a flaming bag of manure into the presidential campaign. If the Kerry campaign had a damn clue, they'd hammer these statistics through the whole week of the Republican Convention, and screw the tradition of the nominee going on vacation during the other party's convention. The numbers won't trouble the Repugs during the convention, of course. In their Bizarro World, the people who have slipped into poverty in the last year have chosen to do so, while the others decided to cancel their health insurance voluntarily. Admit no doubt. Our Maximum Leader has it all under control.
Item: The New York Post and Fox News reported that the '60s radical group the Weather Underground is planning a comeback in time for the Republican Convention. NYPD officials know nothing about it.
Comment: Jeez, I know we've had Vietnam on the brain lately, but give me a break. Of course, if I turn on the local Top 40 radio station and start hearing CCR and the Beatles again, maybe it will be OK.
Recommended Reading: Rolling Stone has an excellent piece about Dick Cheney and his rise to the top, showing how his political career has actually been one disaster after another, from torpedoing Gerald Ford's reelection in 1976 to his current stint. It's interesting to me how reportage on Cheney has shifted as the campaign has heated up this summer. Where he used to be portrayed consistently as the White House puppetmaster, several pieces in the last few weeks have described him as a barnacle on the ass of the powerful.
Quote of the Day: I have been a dedicated reader of Mark Morford's on SF Gate for over three years, although like a lot of writers (myself included, I think sometimes), his anti-Bush rants are starting to curdle. Still, this is a pretty funny paragraph:
Item: There is apparently an Israeli spy in the Pentagon, who may have been high enough in the councils of power to influence Bush Administration policy on Iraq and Iran.
Comment: Talk about a waste of effort. American policy is going to be favorable to Israel even without the slightest bit of manipulation, because Ariel Sharon has Bush's cojones in a jar on his desk. This is not the first time the Israelis have been accused of spying on the United States, either--remember the Jonathan Pollard case? If American-Israeli relations were a marriage, you'd send it to counseling. As it is, our friends sometimes wonder what the hell we see in each other.
Item: The number of Americans living in poverty grew by 1.3 million last year. The number without health insurance grew by 1.4 million.
Comment: The administration buried the numbers by releasing them in the pre-Labor Day doldrums instead of late September, when they are usually released, and when they would have exploded like a flaming bag of manure into the presidential campaign. If the Kerry campaign had a damn clue, they'd hammer these statistics through the whole week of the Republican Convention, and screw the tradition of the nominee going on vacation during the other party's convention. The numbers won't trouble the Repugs during the convention, of course. In their Bizarro World, the people who have slipped into poverty in the last year have chosen to do so, while the others decided to cancel their health insurance voluntarily. Admit no doubt. Our Maximum Leader has it all under control.
Item: The New York Post and Fox News reported that the '60s radical group the Weather Underground is planning a comeback in time for the Republican Convention. NYPD officials know nothing about it.
Comment: Jeez, I know we've had Vietnam on the brain lately, but give me a break. Of course, if I turn on the local Top 40 radio station and start hearing CCR and the Beatles again, maybe it will be OK.
Recommended Reading: Rolling Stone has an excellent piece about Dick Cheney and his rise to the top, showing how his political career has actually been one disaster after another, from torpedoing Gerald Ford's reelection in 1976 to his current stint. It's interesting to me how reportage on Cheney has shifted as the campaign has heated up this summer. Where he used to be portrayed consistently as the White House puppetmaster, several pieces in the last few weeks have described him as a barnacle on the ass of the powerful.
Quote of the Day: I have been a dedicated reader of Mark Morford's on SF Gate for over three years, although like a lot of writers (myself included, I think sometimes), his anti-Bush rants are starting to curdle. Still, this is a pretty funny paragraph:
So, let's see: Bona-fide war hero turned incredibly articulate, educated, gifted Vietnam War protester and respected senator on one side, alcoholic AWOL failed-businessman born-again pampered daddy's boy evangelical Christian on the other. Is this really the contest? Bush slugs gin and tonics like Evian while Kerry is accused of . . . what again? Not being incredibly heroic enough?My thanks to those of you who tried to keep things going on the "Talk Amongst Yourselves" thread. We'll try it again sometime.
