Sunday, June 17, 2007

Budget Restraint!


From DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press, June 16:
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush warned Congress on Saturday that he will use his veto power to stop runaway government spending.

Some might say it was about time. Others would say "How can anybody's mind work in such a freakish way as to say such a thing after six years of absolutely giving away taxpayer's money to his war profiteer friends?"
Well, let us remember, "This White House creates it's own reality."
And it's definitely not the reality the rest of us are faced with.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Maybe It's Too Subtle?


Last week I went to see Pirates of the Carribbean - At World's End. I expected a fairly mindless but enjoyable comedy-plus-grotesque-creatures movie. Lots of computer graphics. Strange plot. Lots of action. Odd non-sequiturs; like the earlier Pirates. Instead, at the beginning of the movie, I saw the following:

Scene: A line of prisoners, assorted men/women; one child. Dirty and mangy; lined up; being marched to a five-station gibbet (five nooses, no waiting). Just the intro; nothing special. Setting the scene, as it were. But then!

Camera pans. Zooms in on British Soldier (Marine, actually, I think), reading a proclamation.
I guess nobody was paying attention yet. I haven't read or heard anything about this. What the proclamation says is:

"To insure the security of the royal colonies the following is proclaimed - 1. The Right To Freely Assemble: Suspended. 2. The Right To Freedom Of Speech: Suspended. 3. The Right Of Habeas Corpus: Suspended. 4. The Right To Trial By A Jury Of Peers: Suspended.

Who knew! George W. Bush was the scriptwriter for Pirates of the Carribbean!
Or, hmmm, maybe somebody just wanted to steal his best lines. See if we're paying attention. Apparently, nobody is.
Along the same line, here's a column by Eugene Robinson, one of the few, the coherent, the knowledgeable, the not shrill(I like that: Fleeting Glory in Albania (Washington Post, Tuesday, June 12)

Yes, George W. Bush, the man who, in a paraphrase of a famous saying from the Vietnam War had to destroy democracy in order to save it! He will, in fact, (direct quote here)...live in infamy.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

"Worrisome Situation"


"AP - ROME - President Bush, denounced by tens of thousands of anti-American protesters on the streets of Rome, defended his humanitarian record on Saturday to Pope Benedict XVI, who expressed concern about 'the worrisome situation in Iraq.'"

The president is wandering in the wilderness of Europe this week, looking for approval among his peers. If, that is, he has any peers.
Using the time-tested Bush Presidential Technique, he promised to Do Something about global warming, AIDS, Iraq, Iran, Putin, et. tedious cetera.
One notable thing: President Bush promised to send $60 billion to Africa to fight AIDS. Only two questions in my mind. 1. Will this money mostly (or entirely) go to good Christian organizations to teach chastity to the Africans? I'm pretty certain it won't go to provide free condoms. Those, we know, promote naughty sexual activity. Before condoms, nobody had sex except with their wife/husband. 2. Is this the same $60 billion the G-8 (for G - 8 read Rich) nations promised last year to fight poverty in Africa? Remember Africa Aid last year, featuring Tony Blair trying to find something to distract the voters from his disastrous Bush's Poodle image?

Looking again at the AP caption - Isn't it wonderful how Presidents and Popes and suchlike can find the mot juste? The Worrisome Situation In Iraq." Marvelous!