Thursday, September 30, 2004

Funniest Debate Moments

KERRY: Jim, the president just said something extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important in this debate. In answer to your question about Iraq and sending people into Iraq, he just said, The enemy attacked us.
 
Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaida attacked us. And when we had Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, 1,000 of his cohorts with him in those mountains. With the American military forces nearby and in the field, we didn't use the best trained troops in the world to go kill the world's number one criminal and terrorist.
...
BUSH:First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that.

Oh, really?

Or, perhaps it was when Bush spoke of the Iranian "myoolahs" we needed to talk to about "nyookular" weapons.

Or, when he accused Kerry of sending "mexed missages."

Or, when he insisted, twice, on reminding us of how much support we have received from the good people of Poland.

View the transcript.

OK - I couldn't resist debate talk

Thanks to Wonkette who came up with a drinking game for the debates, so I don't haaaaaave tooooooooo.
Finish the Bottle If:
Anyone challenges anyone to a duel
The moderator rips off his mask to reveal his true identity is Karl Rove

Nancy Drew -- My Heroine

I know, I should be writing about the debates, which are tonight.

But I thought I would have a little reminiscence about Nancy Drew. I LOVED Nancy Drew as a girl. Between the ages of 9 and 12, I think I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my mitts on.

Now, when I take my son to the library, and I hang out in the kid's section as he runs around playing with puppets and listening to music, I pick out a Nancy Drew mystery and read the first few chapters.

The one I just picked up was "The Bungalow Mystery," which I think is no. 3 in the series. Believe me, I used to know all the mysteries and their order. I believe my very first Nancy Drew was The Spider Sapphire Mystery. Gosh, just the titles of these books get me intrigued -- or nostalgic. Not sure which.

Skimming through the books, I've noticed the descriptions and the characters are both wholesome and pulpy. Everyone is defined by their body type, eye color, and clothing.

I've noticed that "class" is much more obvious in the books: I think perhaps 40-50 years ago when these were written, the fact that there were rich folks, middle folks, and poor folks might have been admitted to. Even though today we are much more divided economically, everyone thinks they are middle class.

There I go, getting into economics when I just wanted to praise Nancy Drew. Read Nancy Drew, girls! And not the newer, cleaned-up versions. Read the old ones. They're not quite so sweet, edited and "PC" as the updated ones, but what girl truly is?

Monday, September 27, 2004

Thoughts on the New Year

With the weather finally turning crisp, Saturday felt like a High Holy Day.

This is the first year in many that I was able to attend a full day of Yom Kippur services, with a fast until about 7 pm. What an interesting experience - the light-headedness, crankiness and fatigue that set in by the end of the day, but combine that with the sense of self-denial, of solidarity with other Jews around the world, and if only superficially, of the hunger and deprivation that many experience around the world.

Early the next morning, I suited up in my "Run Against Bush" t-shirt and ran 7 miles (still my longest run distance). I felt great; strangely empowered and dedicated to my goal. I definitely received more strange looks on the path, and one woman shouted at as she ran in the other direction, "Love your shirt!" I lifted my head, shouted back, "Thank you!" and felt my step get a little extra spring in it.

We then went to Synagogue and I learned more about Sukkot in 2 hours than I had learned in my entire life. Next year, a sukkah!

I have also started on my much belated path to a Hebrew Bat Mitzvah, scheduled for summer 2005. Block off your calendars. I'm brushing up my aleph-bet and basic prayers now.

Friday, September 24, 2004

The President Does Not Mourn

This is perhaps the most eloquent description of the President's "character" from E.L. Doctorow :
But this president does not know what death is. He hasn't the mind for it. You see him joking with the press, peering under the table for the weapons of mass destruction he can't seem to find, you see him at rallies strutting up to the stage in shirt sleeves to the roar of the carefully screened crowd, smiling and waving, triumphal, a he-man.

He does not mourn. He doesn't understand why he should mourn. He is satisfied during the course of a speech written for him to look solemn for a moment and speak of the brave young Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

But you study him, you look into his eyes and know he dissembles an emotion which he does not feel in the depths of his being because he has no capacity for it. He does not feel a personal responsibility for the 1,000 dead young men and women who wanted to be what they could be.

...

How then can he mourn? To mourn is to express regret and he regrets nothing. He does not regret that his reason for going to war was, as he knew, unsubstantiated by the facts. He does not regret that his bungled plan for the war's aftermath has made of his mission-accomplished a disaster. He does not regret that, rather than controlling terrorism, his war in Iraq has licensed it. So he never mourns for the dead and crippled youngsters who have fought this war of his choice.

Thanks to Eric Alterman for this link.

One Cartoon Says It All

Thanks to Josh Marshall for linking to this Danziger cartoon.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Bush Is In Denial

Here I thought I had this brilliant new insight into Bush's character: He's a dry drunk! He never received any treatment for his alcoholism, so he continues to exhibit the destructive characteristics of a drunk (impulsive, selfish, childish, egotistical, stubborn, fixated, etc.).

This most recent press-conference with Allawi hit home. Bush is addicted to his Iraq policy, and Allawi is a co-dependent enabler. They are both in denial. As Dr. Phil might say, "Get real!"

So I started to write my thoughts, and to augment them, I did a quick google on "dry drunk." Lo! and Behold! folks have been writing about this theory for several years!

Woops.

So anyhow, here are some more links on this.

Addiction, Brain Damage and the President by Katherine van Wormer
Is Bush Making a Cry for Help? by Alan Bisbort.
George Is Drunk by Bruch Schimmel

And, you be the judge yourself: A general definition of the Dry Drunk.

I ain't the first to have this theory - but I did come to it independently. (If you believe that...Would Franabanana lie to you?)

George, please go into recovery and don't take your addictions out on us.

Tribune Public Editor Feels He Has to Justify Kerry Coverage

Don Wycliffe, public editor of the Chicago Tribune, had an amazing column today. Not amazing in its content - but amazing that he felt he needed to address this issue at all.

Apparently a lot of rabid Bush fans from the Land of DuPage, including one Barbara Critton of Naperville, did not like the front page banner headline coverage in the Sept. 21, 2004, Tribune of Kerry's speech on Iraq. Wycliffe's column quotes this woman's phone message:
"Why would you possibly put [Kerry's speech on top] and a huge picture of him and a very small picture of our president who gave a wonderful speech in New Hampshire--why would he be below Kerry? ... Why aren't you fair and balanced like a newspaper should be?"
Anyone note the "fair and balanced" lingo? Mayhap her eyeballs are stuck to FOX News and her brain is leaking out her ears. If she read the editorial pages or John Kass at all, she'd realize that The Trib is on her side .

Wycliff's column continues:
Critton would have made CBS' apology for using phony memos in a story about Bush's Air National Guard service the lead story. Another caller agreed with her and voiced the suspicion that the CBS story, which appeared just below the Kerry story and above the fold, did not lead the paper because it was an embarrassment to the media industry.

Yet another caller felt the story of the beheading of kidnapped American Eugene Armstrong by Islamic militants in Iraq ought to have led the paper. (Incongruously, that same caller lamented all the "good news" stories we let go by.)

I am happy to say to these and all other readers who had a different notion of what should have led the Tuesday front page: You may be right.
He goes on to justify the wholly justifed coverage like this:
Quite simply, [Kerry's speech] was civically more important than any of the others, and the newspaper's civic role is paramount. The Democratic presidential nominee had made a frontal assault on perhaps the single most controversial policy decision of the Republican incumbent, in the hope of forcing the "great national debate on Iraq" that should have been had before the war began.

Come Nov. 2, many Tribune readers are going to have to perform the most important duty of their offices as citizens: They'll vote for a president. They'll be passing judgment on George Bush's decision-making on Iraq, either approving it by voting for him or disapproving by voting for an opponent.

Arguably, from now until Nov. 2, the Tribune and other serious news organizations have no weightier duty than to see that citizens are informed on the key issues of this presidential campaign. Without question, Iraq is one of those.

So there's my take on that Tuesday story and headline. And, I am happy to say, I may be right.

MAY be right?! Harumph! You are right, Don! Good God, the major challenger is addressing the incumbent on the key issue the incumbent is running on! The challenger will likely win the majority of votes in the city and the state (OK, but probably not Naperville). Don't we voters deserve to see this critical coverage dominate the news? After months of coverage in which the RNC and Bush has harped on Kerry's alleged flip-flopping on Iraq, not taking a stand, blah blah blah -- here is Kerry with his point of view. Wouldn't even Republicans in the deep dark bowels of Naperville be interested in that?

Nah - why challenge these folks devoted to "fair and balanced" with reality?
Note: Chicago Tribune links are up for one week. The Tribune requires registration.

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Steady Leadership? Me No Think So.

Thanks to MyDD and AMERICAblog for pointing out the many (still counting) reasons Nookleeyar George has given for going to war in Iraq.

Let me (that is, AMERICAblog) count the ways:

  1. War on Terror
  2. Prevention of the proliferation of WMD
  3. Lack of Inspections
  4. Remove Saddam Hussein regime
  5. Saddam Hussein is evil
  6. Invading Iraq would allow us to gain favor in the Middle East
  7. Example to other terror states
  8. Liberate the Iraqi people
  9. Broken Promises - Iraq had made commitments to the UN and the world
  10. Revenge for Iraq's attempt on the life of President H.W. Bush
  11. Threat Saddam posed to the region
  12. Because We Can - There would be little conflict or struggle, little price to pay for entering the country, the war would be easy.
  13. Cleaning up unfinished business in Iraq from the first Gulf War
  14. War for Oil - The US' oil interests in the Middle East and Iraq serve as a reason for wanting to invade the state and topple its leader.
  15. Sake of History - Pres. Bush claimed history had called on the US to take action against Iraq
  16. Disarmament - total elimination of ALL weapons in Iraq
  17. Safety of the World - Iraq as a terrorist nation could sell weapons to other terrorists and thus posed a threat to the entire world
  18. Commitment to the Children - America should give its children and the world's children a better future.
  19. Imminent Threat - The uncertainty of Iraq's weapon power and future plans.
  20. Preserve Peace - Iraq posted a threat to the peace of the world by its continued terrorist involvement and its increased tension in the Middle East
  21. Threat to Freedom - By oppressing its people and threatening the world with possible terror acts, freedom was prevention from spreading through the Middle East and was lessened in those nations that feared terror in their backyards.
  22. Link to al Qaeda
  23. Iraq Unique - Rumsfeld declared that Saddam Hussein in combination with the weapons potential in Iraq made Iraq different than the other "axis of evil" countries, and therefore a great immediate threat.
  24. Relevance of UN - The UN was put on notice that it would face illegitimacy if it did not support the cause of the United States.
  25. Iraq had broken international law - Colin Powell said that violations of UN resolutions broke international laws established in the UN Charter.

    I would also add 2 more that Bush announced in the past few days:
  26. Saddam "hopes" to "some day" get WMD (as compared to he "has" WMD).
  27. Saddam had an "ability to work with terrorist organizations" (as compared to actually "working" with terrorist orgs).

Maybe I could add a few myself:

  • Saddam Hussein smelled bad.
  • Afghanistan was not enough. We needed more WAR!
  • Just cleaning house for the rapture. Really. See Bill Moyers' article linked below.
  • Needed to destroy irreplaceable items of immense historical value.
  • Nothing like body counts to give you something to, well, count.
  • Oh, don't forget collateral damage. It's no fun unless you can euphemize away thousands upon thousands of deaths of innocent civilians.
  • Bush presidencies' (41 and 43) popularity only goes up in wartime. In all other times their incompetence is too noticeable.

Monday, September 20, 2004

Bill Moyers Is Bringing Me Down

I wish I could plug my ears and go, "Lalalalala, I can't hear you, Bill Moyers." But everything he has to say about Journalism Under Fire in Progressive News is heartbreakingly true.

I recently watched Moyer's NOW program on the Bush administration's (lack of) response to terrorism in the build-up and immediate follow-up to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I am sorry that Moyer's courageous voice will soon be lost. He is retiring at the age of 70, and I guess PBS reporting will be left to Tucker Carlson, John McLaughlin and the News Hour. Sigh.

Sopranos Put a Bullet in the West Wing's Head

All right! Finally, the best show on TV got an Emmy. OK, they got many Emmys. And not the lead actors this year (sorry Edie and Jimmy) - which is pretty shocking since they were both so good. But there were much-deserved awards for writing (Terence Winter, Long Term Parking), and acting (Michael Imperioli and Drea De Matteo, who tore up the small screen this year in "Long Term Parking").

Recognition also went to Angels in America - I think Jeffrey Wright was so good. I think I would like to have him over for coffee and thank him for just being so, well, good. Al Pacino was very Al-ish (over the top and annoying, but sort of hard to argue that he wasn't good) and Meryl Streep was best as Misguided Mormon Mom. But, Jeffrey Wright, you were really really really good. And I guess Kushner and Nichols deserved their Emmys too - without em, not much of a story or show.

Yes yes yes the Daily Show rocked and rolled over Dave, Jay and other stupid talk shows with really smart writing and just the bestest funniest on air talent.

And finally, finally, I completely blew off watching the Emmys this year. I not so fondly remember last year's Emmy telecast, when I groggily awakened in a puddle of drool after nearly 14 stultifying hours of boring speeches and clips. So this year, I just let the magic happen without me. And yes the show went on. And it just goes to show you, it doesn't really matter if I watch or not, because I would have been there, rooting for the Sopranos the whole time, hoping against hope that my rooting would affect the outcome. And lo! and behold! my presence in front of the TV was not needed.

Although the joy of seeing Drea, Michael and Jeffrey pick up their Emmys might have been worth waking up in a pile of drool. Oh well.

And I did miss seeing all those bony women in their fancy dresses. But I guess that's what US Weekly is for!

Friday, September 17, 2004

Why Gallup Is Wrong

Steve Soto at The Left Coaster gives a cogent reason why the latest Gallup poll numbers are way off, which show Bush-Kerry at 55%-42%. Apparently Gallup asked likely voters in the following breakdown:
GOP 45% of sample
Dem 33% of sample
Independent 28% of sample

Interesting that in the 2000 election, the breakdown of actual voters was:
GOP 35% of electorate
Dem 39% of electorate
Independent 26% of electorate

If anything, Gallup should be oversampling Democrats! Sheesh. If I were conspiracy-minded, I might think Gallup is trying to stack the deck. Soto suggests that it's not that off base:


The real problem here is that Gallup is spreading a false impression of this race. Through its 1992 partnership with two international media outlets (CNN and USA Today), Gallup is telling voters and other media by using badly-sampled polls that the GOP and its candidates are more popular than they really are. Given that Gallup’s CEO is a GOP donor, this should not be a surprise.


Read the details.

Run Against Bush

I just joined Run Against Bush. Yes, I am a complete whore for CoolMax t-shirts. But still. I figure that since I already run, and I'm trying to get better, this may inspire me to move my butt just that much faster. I'm running to lick Bush! Hee, yes I'm 12. So sue me.

Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Al Gore Lives on My Street

The New Yorker published a very moving profile of Al Gore by David Remnick in the Sept. 13 issue. Gore comes off as not so tortured as you might think, though clearly the mantle of Man Who Would Be President weighs on him. It weighs on me too. I know the rest of the blogworld is focusing on what to do to get Bush out, but this is a brief look back over our shoulder at what might have been.

The sweetest (maybe bittersweetest) part of a bittersweet profile is the song that Gore's neighbor, Bob Orral, wrote about him. Listen to the song; here are the lyrics:


Al Gore lives on my street,
Three-twenty-something, Lynwood Boulevard.
And, he doesn’t know me
but I voted for him. Yeah, I punched the card!
I don’t know how he lives with knowing,
That even though he won the popular vote
He still lives on my street, right down the street
From me.

One time, I had a bike
And I was a kid, and someone stole it from me
And still I’m mad about that,
Carrying anger, I just can’t let it be.
I need to be more forgiving, I know it,
’Cause even with the popular vote,
Al Gore lives on my street, right down the street,
From me.

Life isn’t fair, don’t tell me, I know it
’Cause even with the popular vote,
Al Gore lives on my street, right down the street from me [repeats]
President Gore lives on my street, right down the street from me.


Sigh.

Friday, September 10, 2004

LIAHS!

Thank you, Krugmeister! Paul Krugman's 9.10.2004 column highlights the lies our administration perpetrates; Krugman focuses on economics, which is his speciality. But you could easily take a look at many other categories: foreign policy, where Bush was on Sept. 11, Bush's opponents, or Bush's own military service.

I don't care how many times Bush's lackey stamps his foot and says, "But he did get permission to skip his physical and blow off his training. Really, he did. And he was honorably discharged. So he couldn't have done anything wrong."

From what I've heard from reputable sources (my Dad, who served in the Kentucky Air National Guard), if you didn't show up for your training, they sent the marshals after you. Unless you were the son of a well-connected Ambassador, I guess. Or maybe Kentucky was just tougher on their Champagne unit.

Also, it's not that hard to get honorably discharged if the Guard decides you're more trouble than you're worth. From his string pulling and leaping over the chain of command, I'm sure Dubya was a more attractive officer OUT of the guard than IN.

I am anxiously awaiting his next honorable discharge from service to our country, this coming November.

Edited to add: My dad clarified that the real scare if you didn't show up for your Guard training is that you be shifted to active duty and sent off to Vietnam. Guess this must have happened to a few guys, but not our Dubya.

Ali G Makes Me Squirm & Laugh

This full-blown trend of fake news and "Punk'd" has found its ultimate expression in The Ali G Show. Sacha Baron Cohen delivers wicked commentary on how far people will allow themselves to be pushed and pulled by an idiot. While my husband is partial to "Borat," an anti-Semitic Kazakh journalist with totalitarian leanings, I'm in love with the title character Ali G, who is so obnoxiously obtuse and stupid that I writhe in pain for those subjected to his interviews. Believe it or not, I haven't seen any episodes with Bruno, the Austrian model and expert on all things fashionable.

Respek!

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Dick Cheney -- Incompetent?

Yes, indeed. Thanks to Rolling Stone, who recently did a great profile on Bill O'Reilly as well. Read it and weep, veep.

Flip Flop is Crap Crop

I could use a break from the constant barrage of the "flip flop" talking point coming out of Dubya's campaign. It seems no matter what John Kerry says, Bush counters that it's a "flip flop." Nevermind that Kerry has been remarkably consistent in his attitudes toward the "War on Terror" and the war in Iraq. (Note that they are two different things. Wake up, world.)

So as far as I can tell, Kerry's positions have been:
1. We should have fought longer and harder in Afghanistant to take out Al Qaeda leaders and operatives
2. It was right to give the President the power to go into war against Iraq.
3. The way the President handled the war was wrong: lack of diplomacy, lack of a post-invastion plan, lack of leadership, lack of intelligence, lack of WMD and other justifcation for war.

Has he wavered from these positions? Nope. Has he explained them over and over. Yup. Are they a bit more complex than what Dubya communicates to the world? Yup. And there's the rub. Unfortunately for Kerry, who tends to think stuff through, Dubya is quite comfortable with black and white, and that comfort and simplicity is easy to communicate. So what if the War on Terror is being waged (incorrectly) in Iraq, which has been shown to have NOTHING to do with Sept. 11. So what if the rationale for the Iraq War was incorrect? It's all bad, and they're all against, so keep fighting.

Who's the real flip flopper? It's Dubya

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Why Franabanana?

I wish I could say something clever like, "because I'm yellow" or "my peel is dangerously slippery" or "I'm a tasty fruit that's worth 2 points on Weight Watchers." But really, I've been using "franabanana" as a log in name for several years now and I just like how it sounds!

I think "Franabanana" is far more whimsical and silly than plain old Fran Diamond. So here I am, ready to blog on the whimsical and the silly, maybe the serious and political, the media and the massage.

But right now, I have to pick my son up from his afterschool program.