06 December, 2008

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Have any of you seen Quantum of Solace? If not, save your funds. Unless, of course, you like your movies to contain nothing but exhausted cliches, fractured attempts at storytelling, and utterly predictable "twists" between explosions.

And the explosions weren't even all that good.

I'd expected more out of this movie since Casino Royale actually turned out very well indeed. Unfortunately, Quantum seems to have been written during the writers' strike by non-union writers who had, until that moment, been trusted with nothing more than fetching the coffee, and that only if they were closely supervised. Gah.

Quantum of Solace deserves your money just as much as Henry Paulson does:

Seriously, Paulson and the Treasury department are asking Obama for the rest of the TARP money, since they know that the Senate won't agree without Obama's ok.

Given how well they've spent the money so far—hiding who much of it is going to, getting lousy collateral in exchange for the money, not convincing banks to actually lend again or reduce interest rates (in fact some, Citi for example, are increasing credit card interest rates) and so on, it's hard to imagine why Obama would be willing to give this crew the money.

Considering that all Paulson seems capable of is throwing wads of cash into black holes, I think Obama would be wise to reserve what's left for his own presidency.

For those of you wondering if Bush will, once out of office, put his notoriety to good use to actually, you know, help the world instead of rape, pillage and then set fire to it, LithiumCola has a dare:

Name, I dare you, the last Republican ex-President from whom anyone had any interest in getting an opinion on world affairs, domestic policy, their view of the political landscape, or, you know, anything of substance at all.

If you said "Richard Nixon" you win a cookie, but eat it fast before his goons break into your psychiatrist's office to steal info on your sugar addiction.

Bush Sr.? No. He attended some ceremonies and made some ads.

The former president continues to make many public appearances. He and Mrs. Bush attended the state funeral of Ronald Reagan in June 2004, and of Gerald Ford in January 2007. One month later, he was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in Beverly Hills, California by former First Lady Nancy Reagan. Bush was also present in various ceremonies during the construction of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77), which is the last Nimitz class supercarrier of the United States Navy, and one of the few that are named after persons that are living at the time of the vessel's christening. Despite his political differences with Bill Clinton, it has been acknowledged that he and Clinton have managed to become friends.He and Clinton appeared together in television ads in 2005, encouraging aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Reagan? "Surely," and now I'll quote Charles Emerson Winchester III, a fictional character who would no doubt have voted for him, "you jest."

One begins to get the feeling that the oft-cited "tradition" of ex-Presidents not commenting publicly on world affairs in order to keep off the toes of the current President is in actuality a smoke screen to keep from everyone from noticing that Republican ex-Presidents tend to be too stupid or apathetic to have anything worth listening to. You'd have thought, wouldn't you, their opinions would be uniquely informed and valuable; and it's not as though in the further past ex-presidents haven't done things of note -- even Republican ex-presidents, before the party became an international intellectual joke.

Good for nothing in office, ditto out. Sounds about right.

Bush leaves us with an economy in tatters, two unwinnable wars, an international reputation so far in the toilet it's already halfway to the sewage treatment plant, health care rules that make it far easier for religious fucktards to force their piety on their patients, and an environment without protections. But hey, at least the bears will be armed:

Today, the Department of Interior overturned a Reagan-era regulation, permitting loaded firearms at 388 of 391 national park sites. The decision allows guns in parks in “any states with concealed carry laws, not just those that allow guns in their state parks as originally proposed.” While the Department cited safety concerns as a factor, the National Park Conservation Association notes:

According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, there were 1.65 violent crimes per 100,000 national park visitors in 2006—making national parks some of the safest places in the United States. The new regulation could increase the risk for impulse shootings of wildlife, and risk the safety of visitors and rangers. Despite the potential affect on national park wildlife and resources, the Administration did not conduct an environmental review as required by law.

My goodness, they drummed up totally baseless fear and broke the law? You don't say. What a shock. I am amazed. My sarcasm generator just broke down.

I'll have to get it repaired again before today's election in Louisiana's over:

Louisiana Secretary of State early election results show Democrat Paul J. Carmouche and Republican John Fleming in a close race, 48.44%-R to 48.07%-D with 302 of 640 precincts reporting.

The race was delayed because of Hurricane Gustav. This district was +19 McCain so a victory would be especially sweet.

In any case we forced the Republicans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend a "safe" district.

More like this please.

[snip]

Update 7:23 pacific: Fingers crossed, pups. 49.53-D, 46.44-R with 535/640.

So, ah... what was that about Republicons stealing the momentum back, again? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the schadenfreude.

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