WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush gave his farewell address to the nation Thursday night, defending his record and showing few regrets. Bush gave a rosy view of his "successes" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and explained how he made tough choices that were good for the economy.
Bush leaves office with the worst presidential approval rate since unindicted co-conspirator Richard M. Nixon. His supporters have dwindled to the ranks of the extremely dumb. Most have jumped ship. Can you blame them?
David Letterman has been collecting "Great Moments in Presidential Speeches." Watch this recent clip regarding Jews and Italians. I say this with all due respect: what an asshole.
Here is a compilation of past "Great Moments." Watch and laugh!
We're going to be celebrating January 20th when Barack Obama is inaugurated. We're not sure of the schedule, but at some point Obama will raise his sword and the Orcs will leave Mordor.
I'm just kidding.
Republicans are people, too. Dick Cheney may be evil, and Ann Coulter is certainly a heartless shrieking harpie, but they're still people. Technically. Let's be magnanimous enough to sympathize with their plight, just as we sympathize with the thousands of people who died as a result of the war they engineered, lied about, and profited from.
There I go again. Sorry, that's not the spirit of bi-partisanship we'll need in these troubled times. Troubled times the Republicans brought on with their greed and ignorance, I might add. Still, they're welcome to help with the clean-up of the mess they made of things.
Say Goodnight, Dick
After the plague in the 14th Century, survivors donned colorful clothing and danced in the streets. The inauguration will be more like that. The mead will flow and the music will play and people with good hearts will rejoice that the dark years have ended.
Republicans preparing to leave Washington, DC, January 20th.
Last night, in the East Room, while awarding the Kennedy Center Honors to this year's artists--president George Bush fearlessly kissed Barbara Streisand. And while the lion and the lamb didn't actually lie down together, we can't help wondering if this smooch signaled endtimes, a shift in the zeitgeist, or the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Probably not. Most likely it was just an impulsive mistake, an awkward moment in the ceremonial duties of an unpopular, outgoing president. Still, we'd like to think that for one brief sparkling moment there was love among the ruins.
Now that he expected nothing, the incident of the kiss, his impatience, his vague hopes and disappointment, presented themselves in a clear light. It no longer seemed to him strange that he had not seen the General's messenger, and that he would never see the girl who had accidentally kissed him instead of some one else; on the contrary, it would have been strange if he had seen her. . . .
The water was running, he knew not where or why, just as it did in May. In May it had flowed into the great river, from the great river into the sea; then it had risen in vapour, turned into rain, and perhaps the very same water was running now before Ryabovitch's eyes again. . . . What for? Why?
And the whole world, the whole of life, seemed to Ryabovitch an unintelligible, aimless jest. . . . And turning his eyes from the water and looking at the sky, he remembered again how fate in the person of an unknown woman had by chance caressed him, he remembered his summer dreams and fancies, and his life struck him as extraordinarily meagre, poverty-stricken, and colourless. . . .
Thomas Frank talks about his latest book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule. Frank is the author of What's the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America.
Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and President George W. Bush
"Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals. It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society. This movement is friendly to industry not just by force of campaign contributions but by conviction; it believes in entrepreneurship not merely in commerce but in politics; and the inevitable results of its ascendance are, first, the capture of the state by business and, second, all that follows: incompetence, graft, and all the other wretched flotsam that we've come to expect from Washington." -Thomas Frank
Frank spoke at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, and was filmed by PDX Justice; check out their site for a wonderful archive of political and social thinkers. To read an excerpt of the book, click HERE.
Randy Newman is back with maybe the best album he's done in a couple decades. For a while, it seemed he'd gotten sucked into the animation soundtrack whirlpool and we'd never again see the brilliance of "Sail Away" and "Political Science" and "Rednecks."
In the new album, "Harps and Angels," Randy takes on America. There are songs about the president, and immigrants, and the economy--politics mix with ballads, and stories are told by unreliable narrators. Entire states may not get this album. Irony and satire don't work in certain zip codes and voting precincts, but that's all right. We're hip. We knew he didn't really want to bomb the rest of the world ("Boom goes London, boom Paree") that he really wasn't an antisemitic redneck ("Last night I saw Lester Maddox on the TV show, with some smart ass New York Jew") and that he really didn't want short people to die ("short people got no reason to live..."). Or did he?
Maybe we're too dumb for satire. Maybe we're a little gun shy, sitting on this powderkeg with Randy Newman flicking lit matches at us.
I hope not.
For the New York Times review of the new album, click HERE.
Jonathan Swift, satirical bastard
For extra credit, read "A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children Of Poor People In Ireland Being A Burden To Their Parents Or Country, And For Making Them Beneficial To The Public" by Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) For Swift, click HERE.
Bush leaves office with the worst presidential approval rate since unindicted co-conspirator Richard M. Nixon. His supporters have dwindled to the ranks of the extremely dumb. Most have jumped ship. Can you blame them?
