Tuesday July 18th, 2006

Oh, The Duplicity
I read these neocon pundits, their books and their columns, and even though, so far, I find their rantin’ and ravin’ baseless and coarse, I stillg et nervous that it’s only their lack of temperance that keeps them unreadable. What if someone who was actually good at the written word where to make the same allegations? What if a gifted writer where to pen an essay about what a horrible president Clinton was, what a patriotic man Bush is, how noble is the Cheney, how froglike the Gore, how wonderful the Nixon and flaccid the Carter? Would I be swayed? Would they convince me to impeach my own convictions?

So I play catch-up. Today I read all about White Water and Lewinskeygate. These are things I had heard of, of course. And in the course of reading, I discovered things I had not heard of. I had not heard that Kenneth Starr, the very man hunting Clinton game in the DC park at a cost of $80 million in taxpaper money, was charged with violating federal rules of criminal procedure (he leaked grand jury information to the press). I also discovered that though he denies it. George H. W. Bush probably had a long affair with aide Jennifer Fitzgerald, based on considerable evidence.

They chances of my appearing on Sean Hannity’s show is less than one tenth of a percent, but if I were, I would be afraid, because the man is a bully, and I don’t know enough, have enough names and facts roiling around, I am not quick enough on my feet yet such that the few words I’d be able to get in edgewise would have enough merit to sustain me. Yes, given the time to write things down, and based on the way I’ve seen him write so far, in a written forum I’m pretty sure I’d clean his clock, wipe the floor with him, and other household chore maintenance metaphors. But more people watch TV than read, so for now, he could make me look like the buffoon.

That’s part of why I’m doing all of this. By writing about this stuff, it gets lodged in me noggin, and I am able to spit it out more quickly. They: "Clinton, bad, Lewinsky!" Me: "Bush, worse, Fitzgerald!" Actually, it’s all irrelevant, but that’s the nature of punditry, and, necessarily, anti-punditry.

Blame It On the Rain
I know this is bad, but whenever I see our future ex-president doing actual presidential work, I feel like I am watching The Office. There are occasional scenes where you see boss David doing actual work, staring spreadsheet printouts or clicking figures into his computer. They are infrequent, as they are not the point of the show, and actually lend themselves to contrast for all of the non-work going on which establishes the characters. Bush was, until yesterday, at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, discussing energy, security, and education.

Blame the press, maybe, for only ever deigning to report on el presidente when he’s doing something spectacular like taking another vacation or blowing up an Iraqi village. Blame the pundits (and me) for only feeling like talking about controversial things, not things that are, merely, news. Or, blame Mtv for make 15 minutes of fame the only fame worth watching.

Oh, the title of this section? Russia spent about $750,000 to seed clouds, forcing it to rain the night before the summit, to eliminate some of the humidity for the visiting dignitaries.

Another Tsunami
A tsunami has struck the coast of Java, thanks to a 7.7 (other reports say 6.8) earthquake several hunded miles away. The wave was over 9 feet tall, and the death toll is at more than 300 as of my reading of it, which may later rise as the fate of several fisherman-at-sea is still unknown. All eyes on Java, now. The real tragedy with any natural disaster is the lack of triumph. Let's compare the tsunami that hit coasts in the Indian Ocean in 2004 with hurricane Katrina. Let's compare the armbands that where sold for each. Let's compare the moneys celebrities raised for foreign relief, and our very own FEMA. History repeats itself, they say, so let’s see what we’ve learned about the future.

Stem the Tide of Cell Research
Tuesday the Senate is supposed to vote on HR810, which has passed the house, and will allow for more stem cell research. Bush has said that he will veto it, and most think there won’t be enough votes to overturn the veto. I don't think I've had occasion yet to write about the abortion issue, to which this stem-cell issue is intimately linked. I think neocons like the stem-cell debate because it take the women's rights perspective out of abortion entirely. You can't chant "get your government out of my body" when the issue is not choice, per se, but the embryo cells themselves. For my money, this is a non-issue, meaning politicians use it purely for the emotional response. It's a red-state winner, and nothing more. The sanctity of human life? The president wants to preserve the sanctity of human life? By sending soldiers to shoot at and be shot at by other soldiers? Yes, that's an oversimplification, but if we're going to be emotional, let's be emotional.

Forget your Xbox 360; WWIII for the WorldStage System
It's not quite official, but what else are you supposed to think when the Iranian Foreign Minister visits Syria, bearing a letter from the president of Iran, no less, to discuss supporting Lebanon against Israel. Don't believe me? Let's discuss it over dinner. There you are, some sweet tea, some falafel... careful, there's Rice in that. Yes, you heard me, Condoleeza Rice is due to visit the Mid-East to address the "conflict." That's a great word, by the way. 11 more Lebanese soldiers dead today, and we still call it a "conflict." At any rate, where do you think ol' Condi is going to go, Beirut? Gaza? Maybe she'll go to one Baghdad and shout at them both over a bullhorn.

Joe Biden Looking Presidential (vs Newt Gingrich)
The Distinguished Gentleman had a "joint interview" on MSNBC (which is nicey-nicey for "informal debate" a few days ago, and the scuttlebutt is that the loquacious Joe took the Newtster to task on a few issues, including Iraq and taxes. You can't blame the Newtron, though, as he was a fish out water, where fish means "platform republican" and water means "Fox News." But Joe looked presidential, they say, and he keeps saying he intends to run in 2008, so keep him to the list. The list? Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel, a whole mess of others including interesting choices such as Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, and Al Sharpton, and for my money, Joe Lieberman.