He’s been a cheerleader for Dubya’s policies in the past, but even Alan Greenspan has his limits. Much to the delight of Dems, the Federal Reserve Chairman now says the proposed Bush tax cuts are potentially disastrous in light of exploding budget deficits. Hopefully, this means the beginning of the end of Dubya’s outrageous dividend plan.
Month: February 2003
Pardon the Interruption.
Forget the war on smoking – here’s a Quality of Life initiative I can really get behind. New York City bans the use of cellphones during public performances, including movies. Sounds like a great idea, of course, but I have to agree with Hizzoner – it’s pretty much unenforceable.
Look into your heart.
Good news for Coen fans: After giving us the high hat for years, Fox is finally releasing Miller’s Crossing (and Barton Fink) on DVD, although the release date is yet to be determined. These two join next week’s Fear and Loathing Criterion edition on my must-have-immediately list.
Repeat Engagement.
Marat’s Bathing.
Speakin’ in tongues, it’s still worth a broken lip. R.E.M.’s Murmur turns twenty. (Via Looka.) Unlike the cover bands of today (The VU Strokes and Interpol/Joy Division immediately come to mind), these four Athens lads put out a first record (Chronic Town E.P. notwithstanding) that still sounds original and distinctive two decades later, and we’re still reaping the rewards. Up the stairs and to the landing…
Put Out to Pasture.
So who else watched the NBA All-Star game last night? In case you missed it, the West defeated the East 155-145 in 2OT, after the East spent entirely too much time trying to get Jordan the last shot. In fact, I’ll go ahead and incur the wrath of Bulls fans the world over (a solid percentage of whom I’m sure are now avidly following the Lakers, since they’re the winning team these days) by saying the level of MJ-jocking last night was ridiculously excessive. It’d be one thing if the league hadn’t already said its goodbyes before the Wizards return last year. And it’d be another if this is the usual protocol for sending off long-time hardfloor warriors (Stockton, Malone, Olajuwon, and Ewing all come to mind.) But it seemed as if even Jordan got sick of all the kudos being sent his way by the end of the night. To say nothing of the fact that the East blew the game because Jordan had to take every game-deciding shot rather than T-Mac or AI. Look, I’ll be the first to admit that MJ was a history-making athlete, one whose only peers may be Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. But this will be his third retirement. Can we please stop treating him like the pope? Update: David Aldridge concurs.
License to Incense.
Dahlia Lithwick fills us in on the legal standing of the pro-life license plates sprouting up across the South these days. Hmmm. I assume these plates afford much better protection from random police stops than would, say, a “Jah is my Co-Pilot” bumper sticker. I’m curious as to what percentage of these license plate owners also drive easy-to-flip SUV’s. If you’re so pro-life there, fella, why are you driving such a pro-death vehicle?
Bradley WetWorks.
One of the many nice things about living in New York rather than DC these days is not having to listen to ex-Gore flunkies gleefully recite war stories from the 2000 primary. But, I must admit, the admission in this article sent to me by a friend brought all the Gore fear and loathing of 2000 (lI’m sure many long-time readers remember it well) roaring back like a mouthful of bile. Seeing that Bill Bradley was up in the New Hampshire polls, Gore ops created a traffic jam on I-93 to discourage Bradley supporters from voting. So, next time you hear some Dem flak blaming Nader voters for the results of 2000, remember it might just have been those same flaks purposely clogging traffic to give us Mediscare Al as our choice of candidate. Grrr…
Death from Above.
The depersonalized video game nature of modern war has been noted in a lot of places (Patriot Games, for example), but this video of a US raid on the Taliban from an AC-130 Spectre Gunship really drives it home. A fascinating look at the 21st-century military at work, although a bit unsettling once you realize the white dots fleeing in every direction are in fact enemy combatants.
Read the Fine Print.
Surprise, Surprise. It turns out Dubya’s budget doesn’t add up as advertised.