I can’t stop watching (and laughing at) this video. The sincerity and enthusiasm of the local anchors, Brigham’s singing, Brigham’s life-size GWB cut-out, Brigham’s “I love George W. Bush, a lot,” that Brigham is named Brigham… Yes, I am a horrible person.
The horrible, insensate, shocking events at Virginia Tech’s campus today may have some benefits: it could be the only thing that saves Gonzo and Wolfie from being gunned down by the media this week. It’s too bad that this came a week too late to save Imus.
Also, what the hell is Dana Perino doing?
“He was horrified and his immediate reaction was one of deep concern for the families of the victims, the victims themselves, the students, the professors and all the people of Virginia who have dealt with this shocking incident,†White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said.
“His thoughts and prayers are with them.â€
“The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed,†Perino said, noting that Bush and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings held a conference on school gun violence last October.
“Certainly, bringing a gun into a school domitory and shooting … is against the law and something someone should be held accountable for,†Perino said.
In just under an hour the ceremonial first pitch of the 2007 Nationals season will kick off the last summer of cracker jack, draft light beers, and overpriced outfield seats at RFK. After the new stadium’s construction is complete and paid for, DC’s government will begin to tackle the failing public schools. Look for improvements starting in the 2028-9 school year. Note that W will not be on hand to toss out the first pitch for the curly W’s — today’s Post has a great front-page story about the history of Presidential first pitches. If like me, you can’t escape the office today to get to the game, fire up the Washington Post Radio at 1500AM (or 107.7FM if you must, but I think baseball sounds better on the AM) for what may be a very long and painful season (100+ losses?) followed by a steep hike in ticket prices at the new stadium next year.
(WP)
At an NRCC dinner Thursday night, President Bush received a warm welcome from House Republicans. The Washington Times notes the following quotation: “I’m optimistic about this country. You’ve got to know something about your president: I am some kind of optimistic about where we’re headed.” Seemingly there are a few dissenters from Bush’s optimism.
Two consecutive 14-hour days at the office leaves me with no choice but to throw a picture up here and call it a night.
If you take anything away from the SotU, let it be this paragraph:
Dikembe Mutombo grew up in Africa, amid great poverty and disease. He came to Georgetown University on a scholarship to study medicine — but Coach John Thompson got a look at Dikembe and had a different idea. (Laughter.) Dikembe became a star in the NBA, and a citizen of the United States. But he never forgot the land of his birth, or the duty to share his blessings with others. He built a brand new hospital in his old hometown. A friend has said of this good-hearted man: “Mutombo believes that God has given him this opportunity to do great things.” And we are proud to call this son of the Congo a citizen of the United States of America. (Applause.)
It was much more memorable than this paragraph:
Thank you very much. And tonight, I have a high privilege and distinct honor of my own — as the first President to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker. (Applause.) In his day, the late Congressman Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr. from Baltimore, Maryland, saw Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at this rostrum. But nothing could compare with the sight of his only daughter, Nancy, presiding tonight as Speaker of the House of Representatives. (Applause.) Congratulations, Madam Speaker. (Applause.)
But it wasn’t as attractive as this paragraph:
After her daughter was born, Julie Aigner-Clark searched for ways to share her love of music and art with her child. So she borrowed some equipment, and began filming children’s videos in her basement. The Baby Einstein Company was born, and in just five years her business grew to more than $20 million in sales. In November 2001, Julie sold Baby Einstein to the Walt Disney Company, and with her help Baby Einstein has grown into a $200 million business. Julie represents the great enterprising spirit of America. And she is using her success to help others — producing child safety videos with John Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Julie says of her new project: “I believe it’s the most important thing that I have ever done. I believe that children have the right to live in a world that is safe.” And so tonight, we are pleased to welcome this talented business entrepreneur and generous social entrepreneur — Julie Aigner-Clark. (Applause.)
Sadly, Aigner-Clark is married.
The NYT has a followup to an article from earlier this week about the faculty reaction at SMU to the future GW Bush library that may be constructed on or adjacent to their campus. Their primary concerns? Academic and religious integrity, terrorists, and infamy.
At a meeting on Tuesday, close to 150 faculty members raised concerns about the project and formulated what became 35 questions for the university president, R. Gerald Turner, on the relationship between the university and the Bush library and policy center. The questions included, “How would the institute affect the intellectual integrity of S.M.U.?â€
Faculty members voiced concerns that the policy center and the university could merge roles, giving administration figures like Karl Rove an academic forum.
Others said security was an issue, a theme that the community has aired in letters to the editor and blogs.
First you ask what effect the library would have on the intellectual integrity of your institution, then you fret that Rove or others might be given an academic forum? Doesn’t the latter question demonstrate that the intellectual integrity of your institution has already been surrendered? God forbid we actually have intellectual discourse and allow dissenters a voice.
Hysteria is spreading throughout the region:
A woman in Garland, Deborah Lewis, wrote The Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Dallas was already infamous for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy: “now it probably will be known for honoring the worst president ever.â€
“He’s, like, the worse president ever,” exclaimed the shrieking woman as she sold her house and departed in a U-Haul for Canada. Nine out of ten Americans probably couldn’t tell you that Kennedy was shot in Dallas, let alone do they hold a grudge against the entire city/state/region for the assassination. Has the Hoover Institute had an adverse effect on the reputation of Stanford (or the liberal bias of her faculty?) I didn’t realize that the point of academia was to surround yourself with people who never disagree with you. Enter SMU President R. Gerald Turner, and reason, into the debate:
But Dr. Turner in a letter to faculty, staff and students on Jan. 5 … said that through the Bush library, museum and institute “visiting scholars and dignitaries will be available for interaction who otherwise would not be in residence and accessible to our campus community.â€
Well how about that? The library might improve the academic reputation of SMU and provide benefit to the faculty and students. (NYT)
This is a few days late, but so be it. It’s been a long week. The NYT reports that the faculty of SMU has some concerns about 43’s Presidential Library being erected on SMU’s campus. Their whining amounts to first, a concern about the image of the university, and second, a potential constriction of the liberty of the faculty to engage in Bush-bashing. Let me be the first to say this to the faculty of SMU: Shut the fuck up. Open your mouths wide, take a deep breath, and swallow.
There, I feel much better. Should the library be built on the SMU campus, and it looks like this will happen, your civil liberties as residents of the ivory tower will not be impinged. You will be free to engage in as much partisan “scholarship” as the university permits you today. Look at every other presidential library (HW’s is pictured above). Your university will not be renamed after Bush. Your university will attract scholars and visitors interested in 43’s legacy and in poring over any documents made public there. This will not prevent you from your planned attacks on Bush’s legacy. Bush does not have a perfect legacy, but he has served as our president, and you should be honored that some portion of his public papers might be stationed within a quick jaunt of your liberally stocked (homonymous pun intended) bookshelves. Bush has not selected SMU as a location for his library because he thinks that by doing this he will be able to silence some professors there. Quit your bitching and be glad that your university potentially may have the honor to host the collection of papers of a past president of the United States. (NYT)
The Jan/Feb issue of Foreign Affairs includes an essay by Tony Blair. If you’ve just come of age in the US you might find it odd that a head of state is submitting essays to Foreign Affairs, but we’ll let that be. If one of your biggest pet peeves is the placement of adverbs at the end of clauses, you’ll find it odd that Tony Blair is the foremost representative of the Queen’s English, but we’ll also let that be (for now). Let us tear into Tony Blair’s essay:
In this month’s Foreign Affairs Blair, often portrayed as the lapdog to GW, re-presents his reasoning for the UK buying into this neocon war in Iraq. Don’t think of this as yet another meaningless essay to disregard, there are some interesting passages to be parsed. Allow me to quote Mr. Blair directly (with multiple ellipses), then proceed to parse his words a bit.
[on the “battle for hearts and minds”] Why are we not yet succeeding? Because we are not being bold enough, consistent enough, thorough enough in fighting for the values we believe in… We have to show that our values are not Western, still less American or Anglo-Saxon, but values in the common ownership of humanity, universal values that should be the right of the global citizen… This requires, across the board, an active foreign policy of engagement, not isolation. And it cannot be achieved without a strong alliance, with the United States and Europe at its core. The necessary alliance does not end there, but it does begin there. Let me be quite plain here. I do not always agree with the United States. Sometimes it can be a difficult friend to have. But the strain of anti-American feeling in parts of Europe is madness when set against the long-term interests of the world we believe in. The danger with the United States today is not that it is too involved in the world. The danger is that it might pull up the drawbridge and disengage. The world needs it involved. The world wants it engaged. The reality is that none of the problems that press in on us can be resolved or even approached without it.
HER. None of the problems which press on us can be resolved without her. Let’s first of all get that straight. The US, like any other state, should be referred to with the female singular pronoun, not with the awkward, sterile, PC “it.” Anyway, Blair is reiterating a fact that we must not overlook: the US is the/a superpower who must set the agenda of all other nations (cooperatively) so as to keep the global economy rolling smoothly. Should we disengage, the entire world, let alone the US, would suffer greatly.
Let’s jump to Tony’s conclusion:
In my nine years as prime minister, I have not become less idealistic or more cynical. I have simply become more persuaded that the distinction between a foreign policy driven by values and one driven by interests is wrong. Globalization begets interdependence, and interdependence begets the necessity of a common value system to make it work. Idealism thus becomes realpolitik.
We’ll again ignore Mr. Blair’s destruction of the English language (parallel construction, I pity your abandonment). I have no idea what a “common value system” is but I think that Mr. Blair is attempting to recognize the interconnectedness of our economic systems, which lies (somewhat) at the heart of our political systems. If Mr. Blair will permit me this summation of his essay, the continuation of our world order, of our general happiness, is dependent on our defense of this way of life militarily, when threats so arrange themselves. What constitutes a threat to our way of life? Well, that’s something that Mr. Blair does not address in this essay, but he soundly (if briefly and ungrammatically) defends our right to do. (FA)
In a Rose Garden speech yesterday, President Bush announced intentions to actually balance the budget this year in five years. This after working so hard to balance the budget for the past six years. Bush of course attacked earmarks as being the key to balancing the budget, because that’s the easy place to make cuts and it makes him look fiscally responsible. No word from Bush on reforming the entitlements system to relieve budget strain or mention of evaluating the defense budget. The Democrats immediately chastised Bush for announcing his intention to work with them on budget reform co-opt the results of their hard work.
Yesterday we chastised Harry Reid for climbing Machu Picchu whilst a former POTUS is lying in state in the Capitol. Today we wag a finger vigorously in the general direction of President Bush, Wall Street, Nancy Pelosi, and a handful of other members of Congress. Gerald Ford, like him or not, was one of 43 men who have been willing to step forward and lead our country. He deserves a bit of respect, and the full pageantry of a state funeral. Put aside your political agenda and planning for the next year, take a break from trading your stocks, and spend a few days giving the man the honor he is due. After all, New Year’s in DC isn’t all that bad.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/28/AR2006122801302.html
