From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...
Fareed Zakaria makes some good points in his Newsweek cover story about how we can restore our good standing in the world after King George leaves office. But I take issue with this whopper:
The strongest nation in the history of the world, we see ourselves besieged and overwhelmed. While the Bush administration has contributed mightily to this state of affairs, at this point it has reversed itself on many of its most egregious policies---from global warming to North Korea to Iraq.
I'll grant you the administration is at least speaking to North Korea. But global warming and Iraq? Methinks Mr. Zakaria has spent too much time at the copier inhaling toner fumes.
The big "climate change framework" President Bush announced last week, says Dana Milbank of the Washington Post, "listed no concrete targets or dates, no enforcement mechanism and no penalties for noncompliance. It also wouldn't take effect until four years after Bush leaves office. It was, rather, a call to spend the final 18 months of the Bush presidency forming an aspirational goal." Whoopie.
But at least the administration is still committed to monitoring long-term environmental changes from space, right? Wrong. They're cutting back on funding for satellites. No big surprise, since NASA administrator Michael Griffin isn’t even sure global warming is that big a deal.
As for Iraq, we have more troops there than ever (not to mention casualties), and ABC News reports that our troop levels will stay in six figures for a wee bit longer:
"Plan one, which officials say [Lt. General Ray] Odierno is pushing, would start with a drawdown of one brigade (5,000 troops) every month starting in February, with a reduction in troops from roughly 150,000 at present to 100,000 by December 2008. [General David] Patraeus champions a slightly different approach that would cut the troops down to roughly 130,000 by the end of 2008..."
Meanwhile Dick Cheney continues to justify the invasion by citing 9/11 (although apparently the only way he can snag an audience these days is to lock a bunch of kids inside a gymnasium). And Bush's few remaining hawky hawk buddies are now shouting, "Fifty more years!" Doesn't sound very reversey to me.
Fact is, George Bush has run---and will continue to run---this country like someone operating heavy machinery after downing a bottle of NyQuil. He will always rule under the delusion that he is the perfect hybrid of Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Truman and Churchill, even as reality reveals him to be a Frankenstein's monster stitched together from pieces of Buchanan, Pierce, McKinley, Harding, Polk and his dad. A man whose self-described finest moment was catching a fish.
Bush reverse himself? reveN.
Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Note: Greg Palast was not harmed during the writing of this column.
-
By the Numbers:
Days `til the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago August 2-5: 57
Days `til Southern Maine Pride '07 events start: 4
Net worth of the presidential candidates from both parties: $500,000,000
Mitt Romney’s worth: $350,000,000
(Source: Washington Post via The Week)
Portion of Iranians who are under the age of 35: 60%
(Source: Harper's Index)
Number of hours in a day: 92
(Source: Club For Growth)
-
Mid-week Rapture Index: 159 (including 1 Scooter Libby sentence and a year's subscription to The Progressive). Soul Protection Factor 16 lotion is recommended if you’ll be walking amongst the heathen today.
-
Puppy Pic of the Day: Pure Evil.
-
CHEERS to judgment day. The "mainstream media" and the cowardly bloggers at Firedoglake won’t report what actually happened in the courtroom yesterday, but we will. From the official Scooter Libby verdict transcript:
Judge: I. Lewis Libby, I hereby sentence you to...death by hanging.
Libby: No!!!
Judge: Got ya! I jus' wanted to see the look on yer face! Ha! You were so funny! You were shittin' yer pants! You were like, Oh no, someone's gonna sneak in a cameraphone and I'll be swingin' all over YouTube like Saddam. What a pussy! Got ya! Haaaa! Okay, thirty months and...[snort!]...a quarter million bucks. You really are pathetic. What's for lunch?
For Patrick Fitzgerald, I'd say lunch is Libby...on a silver platter.
JEERS to dead air. Well, sonuvabitch...the weasels at Nassau Broadcasting pulled the plug on Air America here in Portland. The only upside is knowing that I'll never have to hear The Lionel Show ever again. File that under "World's smallest upside."
CHEERS to D-Day. The 63rd anniversary of the largest amphibious landing in history is today. Now that was an invasion based on good intel. But which DVD to watch tonight: all-star `Longest Day' or harrowing `Saving Private Ryan'?
JEERS to the opposing team. The Republic party's presidential candidates had another debate last night, during which they couldn't go 60 seconds without being either blissfully ignorant or deliberately deceptive. I know this will come as a shock, but...I'm still leaning Democrat.
-
-
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
This is another edition of The One Word Answer Man.
Logan over at Crooks and Liars asks: "Do all black people look the same to Fox News?"
Yes.
Now back to Cheers and Jeers...
Gong! Gong!! BuddaBuddaBudda... GONG!!!
-
-
JEERS to chores we hate no matter how easy they are. 96 years ago, the first washer/dryer combo went on sale. Followed by the first husbands to totally ignore it.
CHEERS to truth telling. The most intelligent thing said last Sunday on Meet the Press is republished here:
Republican strategist Mary Matalin: Rarrr!
Republican strategist Mike Murphy: Rarrr! Rarrr!
How can ya argue with that?
JEERS to hanging up the blue eyes. Agh, this is not acceptable: Paul Newman says he's retiring and he's only 82! His lame-ass excuse: "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention." Okay, but...maybe you could still do some voiceover work? On, say, South Park?
CHEERS to My Preeecious. 30 years ago, the first personal computer---Apple II---went on sale. In today's dollars, it cost about $3,000. Their original ads seem quaint today. Our favorite one stars Ben Franklin (he started the first kite blog). Go on...give your machine a smooch.
-
One Year Ago in C&J: June 6, 2006...
CHEERS to blue J's. In Montana's Democratic Senate primary, Jon Tester and John Morrison are vying for the right to beat the shit out of Conrad Burns in November. May the best man win...(wink, wink). [6/6/07 Update: He did! He did!]
CHEERS to strange bedfellows. How important is net neutrality to preserving the American way of life? So important that MoveOn.org and---are you sitting down?---the Christian Coalition have teamed up to ensure that the speed of internet access isn't compromised by the phone and cable companies. Meanwhile, Jerry Falwell and Michael Moore are teaming up to protest the rising cost of Twinkies. Well Kum-Bay-frickin'-Yah. [6/6/07 Update: Damn---they were this close to taking down Hostess. Thanks for deserting the battlefield, Jerry.]
-
And just one more...
CHEERS to getting away from it all. Just off the coast of Saco, Maine sits tiny Ram Island. It has no electricity. No phone service. No---gasp!---internet. No road. No fresh water. Also no spam, telemarketers, Jehovah's Witnesses, light pollution, deadlines, in-laws, Harleys, boom boxes or wailing sirens. Just a little cabin, a little nine-hole golf course, and a lotta peace and quiet. It's all yours for $550,000. A bargain.
-
Floor's open...what are you cheering and jeering about today?
-
Today's Shameless Testimonial:
"You likely would not find a policy anywhere in Cheers and Jeers that deals with bathroom breaks. Bill in Portland Maine as a rule just doesn't involve himself in that level of blog-management detail."
---Francisco Negron, general counsel
National School Boards Association