Something to meditate on this weekend: Just how badly is Bush panicking? And will all this ruin his vacation? One can only hope.
Dick Cheney may be getting out of his cave more often lately, but he's still in hiding.
Contest Results: The votes have been counted. Okay, I did all the voting, but still... I got a slew of fine entries in response to my TIPS Acronym-Naming Challenge and I'm about to announce my favorites. (Pause here for drum roll.)
You don't know what I'm talking about? Here's the deal. Earlier this week, I proposed changing the name TIPS stands for from "Terrorism Information and Prevention System" to "Tattlers Inc. Prying Scheme." I also challenged you to create your own names.
Well, you came through for me with lots of great suggestions, and it was really tough to choose. But I finally managed to pick my Top Five Names plus some Honorable Mentions and ... well. ... you'll see. (Note: Several have terrific websites/weblogs whose links I've posted along with their winning entries. )
TOP FIVE NAMES 1. Top Idiot's Public Snoops ( Tony Sarrecchia)
2. Texan's Illegal Public Spies ( Derek Springer)
3. Totalitarian Incentives for Prying and Spying (Jim Capozzola )
4. This Idiot President's Stasi (Stephen Bates)
5. Twits Invading Personal Space (Victor)
HONORABLE MENTIONS (In no particular order)
Ten-thousand Idiots Playing Spy (Erik Deckers)
The Idiot Posse Sheep (Ron)
Totalitarian Information and Propaganda Services (Darryl Hill)
To Insure Prompt Subservience (Adam Magazine)
Tories initiate Public Snooping (Norm)
Totalitarian Information and Public Sensors (Darryl Hill)
Teamsters Insuring People Submit (Adam Magazine)
Treacherous, Incompetent, & Prejudging Scum (FW)
This Isn't Preventing Squat (Erik Deckers)
Terribly Insecure Public Snoops (Ron)
SPECIAL MENTION Lisa Kadonaga, a frequent contributor to Liberal Slant, gets a special mention for this technically non-complying, but interesting submission:
"TIPS" really doesn't sum up the whole spirit of this initiative. Perhaps the acronym ought to be "TITS", i.e. "Terribly Intrusive Twisted Suspicion", which would at least convey what a bunch of boobs the proponents are."
Congratulations to the winners! And thanks to everyone who participated.
If you have time to read only one article about how Bush is handling our economic woes, this is it. Here's the intro to whet your appetite:
WASHINGTON -- President Bush and his top advisors have decided to take a page from the Vietnam War era in their handling of the current stock market turmoil and economic jitters: They declared victory and went home.
In interviews Wednesday, senior administration officials made clear the White House thinks it has done all it can--and should--to calm the markets and buoy the economy.
All that's left is to convince people the results are a victory, something Bush's economic team fanned out to do in a burst of speeches, interviews and TV appearances. "Sound policy did the job that needed to be done," declared Lawrence B. Lindsey, the president's chief economic advisor. "Based on the evidence now before us, we've been successful in stabilizing the economy and returning it to growth."
Asked about the recent upheaval in stock prices, which crumbled for four months before rising Wednesday, Lindsey would only say: "The economy is doing well."
Chalk this Delay doozy, reported in Roll Call, up to the more-desperate-they-are-the-more-they-lie department:
"Gephardt has barely contained his glee as the stock market has tumbled," DeLay charged. He later added that Gephardt was engaged in a "cynical strategy to extend Americans' retirement misery."
Yeah...right. No doubt Gephardt celebrates each 10-point drop by high-fiving it with each of his evil compatriots.
Remember back in June when Dubya's staff was trying to pass Bush off as an intellectual? Well, they only have themselves to blame for
theseOniongems.
Joshua Marshall may well be the first to pronounce Al Gore the "big winner in all this." Among his reasons:
Gore ran on a people versus the powerful, anti-corporate-wrong-doing message. That sounds pretty good right now. And it would give Gore a strong 'I told you so' theme to go along with attacks on the various other ways Bush has run the country into the ditch.
I'm inclined to agree with Marshall and I just hope the next time around, Gore doesn't try so hard to hide his personality.
I still recall a Gore appearance a few years ago on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It took place on Gore's birthday and, though the details are fuzzy in what passes for my memory, I believe Jay called him at home. Whatever the specifics may be, hilarity ensued.
Seriously, folks, I remember Gore having me in stitches. People close to Gore often claim he's very funny when he loosens up, and that show certainly backs them up. I just hope we see more of that from Gore in 2004.
Brendan O'Neill went on a long rampage the other day about most blogs being littered with bad writing. Here's just a bit of it:
But most of the Blogosphere consists of bad, bad writing - not just clumsy sentences and neverending paragraphs, but also spelling mistakes. Actual, real-life spelling mistakes. How can a writer expect us to take his or her views seriously, when he or she can't even spell the word veiws? I have lost count of the number of times I have read something like 'I really disagree with that Brendon O'Neal...', and then stopped reading. In my petty opinion, if someone can't even spell my name correctly, then they can't possibly have anything articulate or interesting to say about my views on politics, war or whatever.
I have mixed feelings about his post. Sure, there's some bad writing out there in the Blogosphere, but I think he exaggerates the problem quite a bit. On the other hand, this fellow has the worst grammar and spelling I've ever seen.
I love this criticism of Bush's upcoming vacation from whatever it is Dubya does all day:
"It's clearly the wrong signal," said Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening, chairman of the Democratic Governors' Association. "In times of financial crisis and international crisis, the public looks for hands-on, confident leadership. What we're going to see is every-other-day photo ops from the ranch."
Not surprisingly, Ari didn't care for that quote, finding it "partisan" and "disappointing." Poor baby! Of course Ari would never stoop to being partisan.
In response to TIPS, someone's launched Operation TIPSTIR to give people "a formal way to report suspicious Bush activity." Always a worthy goal!
And speaking of TIPS, I've gotten some terrific entries in response to yesterday's TIPS acronym-naming challenge. Please keep them coming, and the best will be posted Friday.
Here's an amusing tip: S.E.C Chief Harvey Pitt thinks he deserves a promotion to Cabinet-level status. Sorry fella, but we have something more like a demotion in mind.
Alterman points out the silliness of the attacks on the new country music song by Steve Earle: "John Walker's Blues." Alterman says:
Breast-beating superpatriot types sure can be dopes sometimes. Steve Earle has written a sympathetic song about John Walker Lindh. It’s not as if any artist has ever tried to inhabit the character of a criminal or even a “traitor” before. Danny Goldberg, the president of Artemis Records, Earle’s label, says the song reminds him of “Nebraska.” Duh.
Even Dick Armey's opposed to TIPS. But Bush/Ashcroft wouldn't let a little thing like strong opposition from both sides of the aisle stand in the way of their "Tattlers Inc. Prying Scheme."
Okay, I admit it: Tattlers Inc. Prying Scheme is my name for TIPS. In real life, the acronym stands for Terrorism Information and Prevention System. But I like my name better, don't you? If you think you can one-up me on this, please send your name suggestions my way, and I'll post the best ones here Friday. (Or earlier, if I'm too excited to wait.)
Here's an entertaining and informative read about Bush's CEO-dominated Cabinet. The author notes that in Dubya's case CEO stands for "Ceremonial Events Officer." Sounds about right. But since I'm on this naming-kick, I offer these alternatives: "Clueless Executive Officer," "Connected Executive Officer," "Crass Executive Officer," and "Criminal Executive Officer."
How do you justify/rationalize something that's utterly disgraceful? Here's the GOP patented method:
1. Make up an inane argument against it, one that totally misses the point.
2. Disparage your own absurd argument.
Case in point: U.S. Civil Rights Commission efforts to justify internment camps for ArabAmericans. Read this and weep. (But do take care to keep your keyboard dry):
A member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission said in Detroit on Friday he could foresee a scenario in which the public would demand internment camps for ArabAmericans if Arab terrorists strike again in this country.
If there's a future terrorist attack in America "and they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights," commission member Peter Kirsanow said.
The reason, he said, is that "the public would be less concerned about any perceived erosion of civil liberties than they are about protecting their own lives."
And it gets even better. Here's where another commission member conjures up and knocks down a straw man:
Braceras, another Bush appointee, said: "There's no constitutional right not to be inconvenienced or even embarrassed."
Wow! That sure clinches it for me. Let the internments begin!
And these are the guys charged with protecting our civil rights. Boy are we in trouble!
From time to time, something I read will cause a severe bout of hysterical laughter, followed by a "Damn! Why the hell didn't I think of that?" That's exactly what happened when I read David Turnley's entertaining and insightful first draft of a recent Bush speech.
And while I'm at it, here's another piece I wish I wrote! Check out this terrific take on Bush's TIPS scheme.
It just occurred to me that TIPS is the first syllable of tipsy. Now keep that in mind as you read Bush's Birmingham speech -- the real one, notTurnley's version.
You don't want to read the whole thing? I can't say that I blame you. Okay, I'll save you the job and just point out that Bush betrays an odd obsession with binges and hangovers. Here's the paragraph I'm talking about:
As well, in order for us to have the security we all want, America must get rid of the hangover that we now have as a result of the binge, the economic binge we just went through. We were in a land of -- there was endless profit, there was no tomorrow when it came to, you know, the stock markets and corporate profits. And now we're suffering a hangover for that binge.
TIPSy? Hangovers? Binges? Just some food (or drink) for thought. Which reminds me -- I'm still waiting for the real scoop behind that pretzel choking incident.
So here I am getting seriously bummed because those funny pieces were written by other people. Fortunately, just as a severe attack of insecurity begins to hit, I'm rescued by a lovely pat on the back from The Rittenhouse Review, one of my favorite liberal blogs.
And thanks also to Dave Polaschek at Daves Picks. Why? Because Dave picked my Wall Street song. You never know what fun, quirky links you'll find at
Daves Picks.
Yay for the Post Office! Now there's a sentiment I never expected to express. But I have to give the Postal Service many kudos for standing up to Ashcroft pressure and refusing to participate in Bush's creepily menacing Operation TIPS. The AP reports:
The Postal Service has decided not to take part in a government program touted as a tip service for authorities concerned with terrorism, but which is being assailed as a scheme to cast ordinary Americans as "peeping Toms."
"The Postal Service had been approached by homeland security regarding Operation TIPS; however, it was decided that the Postal Service and its letter carriers would not be participating in the program at this time," the agency said in a statement issued Wednesday.
The project is promoted by the Justice Department as a means for workers whose jobs bring them in contact with neighborhoods, highways and businesses to report suspicious activities.
And check out this clever Tom Tomorrow Toon which satirizes the concept of spying on one's neighbors. Tapped speculates, tongue in cheek, that the cartoon was the inspiration behind TIPS.
Rumsfeld's food had to be cut for him at Wednesday's state dinner because his left hand's in a cast. Corrective surgery for arthritis? Or repairs on a certain overused finger. Hey, it's just a theory.
