Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Miscellaneous Meanderings

I’ve mentioned (in passing and otherwise) that I think the current Apple ad campaign (PC vs. Mac) is clever. Well, now…it turns out that the ads aren’t quite as original as I thought; they’re just a variation on an 11-year-old theme. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose!

If you check out the link…that’s me on the left back in 1996, for all intent and purposes. Except I’m better looking.

So…is it just me, or is anyone else revolted by all the Anna Nicloe krep? Fox News is the absolute worst when it comes to this story. I quit watching Greta van Susteren along about the time she took up residence in Aruba (not that I ever watched her a whole lot to begin with), but now I see she’s hurried on down to Florida, the better to get “on the scene” coverage of the flap over the disposition of Anna Nicole Smith’s body, fer God’s Sake. And the ANS flap was the lead story on “Hannity and Colmes” last evening.

WHO THE HELL CARES? I mean, really… Sometimes it seems we have no dignity left as a culture. Sheesh.

Immediately after muttering a few epithets in the general direction of the telly last evening, I flipped the channel to C-SPAN to see what was going on and struck pay dirt. Tony Snow was moderating a roundtable discussion featuring White House correspondents, and it was pretty good. Interestingly, Snow was seated right next to David Gregory. You may have heard there’s a bit of friction between these two guys. But, Hey! Let’s let bygones be bygones…

Not surprisingly, Snow's first question went to David Gregory, who has earned a reputation as an outspoken showman in the Bush White House. Snow asked Gregory how often he wishes he could have a do-over at the end of the day. Gregory replied that he never wants his reporting to be personal and added that tempers tend to flare unintentionally in the heat of the moment. Gregory's diplomatic response set the tone for the evening—it would be a friendly, not contentious, discussion.

And so it was (friendly, not contentious), and quite entertaining, too. Snow and Gregory managed to laugh at each others’ jokes and generally seemed to get along rather well. For two guys who hate each other, that is.

One little gem: “Crawford is the best-kept secret in Washington.” That’s according to Sheryl Stolberg of The New York Times. That lil bit was revealed when she was talking about how “everyone” always feels sorry for her when she mentions she’s going to Crawford during Dubya’s annual vacation. The rejoinder, from an off-camera participant: “Yeah, except for the fact it’s always 400 degrees down there…” Well, Hell. It’s Texas! In August! What do you expect?

Ed Morrisey, on Tony Blair’s announcement about Brit troop withdrawals from Iraq:

While Blair will allow the British forces to reduce through the end of fresh rotations into Basra, the US has started to send three times as many troops into Baghdad than what the Brits have in the entire country now. The progress in Basra will get overshadowed by the surge and the battle where the sectarian insurgencies meet in the Iraqi capital.

This is the natural denouement of the Iraqi campaign, however. As the Iraqis can take over security responsibilities for their provinces, the Western powers will pull back and pull out, although the British forces will remain in smaller numbers to provide assistance to the Iraqis. The US will do the same when Baghdad and Anbar come under better control. The Brits have succeed (sic) in their mission, and they now can shift their forces accordingly. (emphasis mine)

What he said. Basra is not Baghdad nor Anbar. Blair is only doing what he can (and should) do, and what we will do, once we’re able. We’ve never said anything else.

New target for the netroots nutroots: California Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher. Right off the bat, let me say I don’t particularly care for Ms. Tauscher…simply because she voted “yes” on the non-binding resolution condemning the surge. Which, if you think about it, is reasonably “progressive,” nu? But not enough for the nutroots. Here’s a sample of the reaction to the WaPo article from one of the blogs conspiring to overthrow Tauscher, aka the reality-based community….you know, the diversity crowd:

This morning Juliet Eilperin and Michael Grunwald delievered a Valentine's box of confections in a nice Washington Post wrapper to Ellen Tauscher and, nevermind the date; it was very timely. A number of Bay Area-based activists and bloggers are determined to challenge one of the Democratic Party's most egregious corporate whores and Bush enablers in 2008 this side of Joe Lieberman.

[…]

Starting on October 10, 2002 with Roll Call 454 on H.J. Res. 114, the final resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq, Tauscher didn't vote with Nancy Pelosi and other progressive Democrats– and the majority of Democrats in the House; she voted with Tom DeLay and Roy Blunt and the worst reactionary, warmongering scum in the Congress to give Bush the authority to do what he's done in Iraq.

“Corporate whore.” “War-mongering scum.” Keep it up, guys. I just love it when you talk dirty. So does the rest of America. Not. (Don’t believe me? Connecticut. 2006. Who’s your Daddy?)

And so it goes…

7 comments:

  1. Darn! I wish I'd caught that Tony Snow round table. I really enjoy him, although that David Gregory sets my teeth on edge.

    Speaking of teeth on edge, the Anna Nicole thing has been driving me nuts, too. That is, until I happened to catch a snippet of her mom on the stand today. Her mom thinks the boyfriend murdered AN and AN's son? Yikes. It's going to turn into more of a circus than I'd thought. Greta must be hyper excited by now.
    I do wish Fox wouldn't stoop to that stuff nonstop, though. It's so tawdry and pathetic. But then we've always been into that stuff in this country. Fatty Arbuckle comes to mind. Human nature, I suppose.

    Tony Blair's statement made perfect sense to me. I'm sure it comes across as ingenuous to those on the left, but it IS what we've been working for. And if the time really is right (or as right as it will ever be) then the Brits are merely making the move they were planning to make all along. Only time will tell if it will work.

    And yes, Buck. You are much handsomer than the dude on the left!

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  2. Lieberman delivered a resounding bitch slap to the Dem party in CT - I should know, it's where in New England I live. I'm no Democrat, but Lieberman is a man of principles and he's not afraid to take the unpopular view and stick to his guns. He's well-respected here, despite the Ned Lamont fiasco last year.

    As for the Anna Nicole thing - I feel sorry for her daughter. But should it be the lead news story on every major outlet for weeks? Absolutely not! But trust me, it's about to be replaced with all things Britney Spears...so get ready to change the channel again.

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  3. Interesting link, Bec. Back in the 20's, I am sure Fatty Arbuckle's scandal was big news. People were newly fascinated by the Hollywood crowd and newspapers were were having a hayday. But in today's society, I am not sure why Smith is so newsworthy. The coverage of Smith seems to be glorifying a destructive lifestyle. I am about as interested in her life as I would be any drug addicted prositute off the street. Anna Nicole Smith could've been great, but instead, she blew her life away with sex, drugs, etc. It makes me sick.

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  4. The Arbuckle link is great, Bec. We Americans have always been wrapped up in Hollywood scandals of one sort or another, ANS is just the latest. Robert Mitchum is another Hollywood guy "tainted" by scandal, what with serving time for pot. It didn't seem to affect his career all THAT much, though. One of my favorite Mitchum quotes:

    When Mitchum, who served time for marijuana possession, was asked what it was like in jail, he replied, "It's like Palm Springs without the riff-raff."

    I think you need to make an appointment with your optometrist, Bec...re: "And yes, Buck. You are much handsomer than the dude on the left!" But I appreciate the compliment!!

    Kris said: But trust me, it's about to be replaced with all things Britney Spears

    Aiiiieeee! I KNOW you're right, Kris. It's already begun...

    Lou said: ...she blew her life away with sex, drugs, etc. It makes me sick.

    Moderation. A lesson rarely, if ever, learned. And why everyone is fascinated with ANS is beyond me, too. I just don't get it.

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  5. The AN thing is a perfect example of why we are in the mess we're in now. If people spent as much time momitoring what their elected officials were doing instead of drooling over who's not wearing underwear the POL's would be more careful. I cannot understand why, in this great country, only halve the citizens vote, why we are not overwhelming the mail system in Washington with our opinions, and why we do not recall those who do not perform. All this crap we are forced to undergo is our fault because the elected are not afraid of us as they should be. We know more about the personal lives of misbehaving hollyweird jerks than our own Gov. Sad state of affairs when the top selling newspaper is the National Enq. I say its time to take back control of our government with our vote and our letters. IOP.

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  6. Dan said: I say its time to take back control of our government with our vote and our letters. IOP.

    Well, the moonbats obviously pay attention, coz they just "took back" the Congress, more's the pity. The thing that seriously pisses me off about that lil fact is all the hoo-hah I heard about republicans "sitting out" the last election because they had a fit of pique over Dubya's this, that, and the other. And look what happened...

    But...on the whole I agree with ya, Dan. I'm doing my bit and getting those boilerplate "thanks for your letter" mamby-pamby responses from my rep. But I AM on the record...

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  7. Buck says,
    I think you need to make an appointment with your optometrist, Bec...

    I saw my optometrist a couple of months ago, Buck. :)

    Dan says,
    Sad state of affairs when the top selling newspaper is the National Enq.

    Couldn't agree more with you and Lou. Where is all that college education going? Never mind.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.