Month: May 2006

Bush III?

“I would like to see Jeb run at some point in time, but I have no idea if that’s his intention or not.” Like his father before him, Dubya tries to fire up the Jeb train. Yeah, right. As if this administration hasn’t made us look enough like a banana republic already, why don’t we add the president’s brother into the mix? Besides, Dubya’s poll numbers being what they are, I think it’ll be some time before a majority of the electorate decides to back another Bush family scion. In the immortal words of our current prez: “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me’ — you can’t get fooled again.“

Abramoff the Record.

Not a smoking gun just yet…The Secret Service logs obtained by Judicial Watch reveal only two short White House trips taken by Casino Jack, one in 2001 and one in 2004. “The White House said last week that the Secret Service’s logs documenting Abramoff’s entries into the executive mansion complex might not reveal all meetings. ‘I don’t know exactly what they’ll be providing, but they only have certain records and so I just wouldn’t view it as a complete historical record,’ spokesman Scott McClellan said.” Ok, then, I won’t.

Guilty by Suspicion.

“Officers are told to look for individuals who wear bulky clothing in the summer, pace back and forth, fidget with something beneath their clothing, fail to make eye contact, wear too much cologne, or have strange hair coloring. The indicators are also contradictory and inconsistent. Officers are told, for example, to look for individuals who are nervous and individuals who are calm, individuals who are overtly Muslim (those who mumble as if praying or who wear scented water for “ritual purification”) and individuals who seem to hide their Muslim identity so as to blend in. In sum, the guidelines are meaningless to officers who only have a few seconds to decide whether an individual constitutes a real threat before deploying lethal force.” A new report by NYU’s Center for Human Rights and Global Justice finds suspect racial profiling at work in police anti-terror initiatives that can — and does — lead to fatal error. “The identification of suspects cannot be based on confusing indicators, or on the assumption that all Muslims, or those perceived to be Muslim, are potentially terrorists…If people can be shot on the basis of these assumptions, mistakes are bound to be made.“

Hiding in Plain Right.

“Many of us are disturbed by the calls for investigations or even impeachment as the defining vision for our party for what we would do if we get back into office.” Concerned about the desire for possible investigations of Dubya (as well as calls for withdrawal from Iraq) among the party’s grassroots and left-wing, the Democratic hawks of the DLC make a case for running on national security issues. I dunno..at first glance, it sounds like the same-old stale brand of warmed-over protective camouflage that the DLC’s been pushing on us for years…first you’d have to convince me that calling Dubya out for his multiple civil liberties violations and breaches of the public trust, as well as putting the brakes on our badly mismanaged foray into Iraq, aren’t national security issues.

Punch-drunk poolboys & petrol-powered puzzlers.

In today’s trailer bin, nebbishy Paul Giamatti confronts water pixies and werewolves in the new trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water (after making two stinkers in a row, you’d think he take his name off the title card), over-the-hill Sylvester Stallone walks…very…slowly to the ring in a new clip from Rocky Balboa, a.k.a. Rocky VI (Note Paulie & hat), Pixar contributes further to our national oil dependency with another new trailer for Cars (ho-hum), and crossword puzzlers get their day in the sun in this first look from the documentary Word Play. (So that‘s Will Shortz.)

Don’t choose poorly.

“The Grail Stakeholder will be allowed one sip from the vessel of a beverage of the Grail Stakeholder’s choosing, which beverage to be provided by the Grail Stakeholder at the Grail Stakeholder’s sole expense. The Grail Stakeholder may thereby gain eternal life and the healing of all physical ailments. However, because the Grail Finders cannot be held responsible for the mysterious powers of the Grail and all that, the Grail Finders shall not be held responsible for any failure on the part of the Holy Grail to give eternal life to the Grail Stakeholder, or to alleviate physical ailments, and the Grail Stakeholder hereby warrants to make no claims of any kind against the Grail Finders in the event of such failure.” Looking for a long-term investment? Here’s your chance to own a 2% equity share in the Holy Grail, courtesy of punk rocker and Grail-seeker Rat Scabies. (As sent along by my friend Aimee.)

C-Span gets Truthy.

“‘We have had other hot — I hate to use that word — videos that generated a lot of buzz,’ said Rob Kennedy, executive vice president of C-Span, which was founded in 1979. ‘But this is the first time it has occurred since the advent of the video clipping sites.’” Kicking Youtube and iFilm aside, C-Span decides it wants to make some money on the Colbert Correspondents’ Dinner.

Hayden for a Fight?

Dubya officially nominates Michael Hayden to replace Porter Goss at CIA, despite bipartisan criticism of Hayden’s military background. “U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said, ‘This appointment…signals that we are not that concerned about having an independent intelligence community independent of the Department of Defense.‘” Nevertheless, some top Dems, including the House Intelligence Committee’s Jane Harman and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have indicated that they’re both ok with the pick and will, likely, avoid the NSA wiretaps issue like the plague during the hearings.