Saturday Miscellany

I caught Bill Maher’s new documentary, Religulous, with two friends tonight. If you have a chance to see it (and if you appreciate Bill Maher) I think you’ll be entertained. I am not a movie reviewer, nor do I play one anywhere, but I will say that Bill, while not quite successful in his attempts to be "objective", does manage to capture a variety of interesting viewpoints. I do not think his interviewees will appreciate being the butt of his creative editing and "explanatory" captions. To the offended, I can only ask, “What were you thinking when you agreed to the interview?”






At dinner, I started thinking of George Bush, his sliding popularity rating (can I still say “sliding” when it drops below twenty?) and his last 100+ days in office. One would think he would quietly go about the remainder of his term, avoiding trouble, and savor the popularity bump for not doing anything particularly stupid.

But, no. No no no no no.

He felt compelled to conduct one more treasure hunt for his “base”. Exploiting the august powers of his Presidency, he has constructed a solid gold trough for his friends in the military-industrial complex, and de-fanged regulations that kept the greed of every sector in check. With the one hand, he has avenged the Mid-East insults visited upon his father with war, while creating unimaginable oil profits for his Mid-East “friendlies” with the other. Now, he has facilitated the biggest cash grab in this nation’s history with a bailout scheme that has more arms than the love child of a hydra and an octopus. And, he will ride unopposed and unpunished into the sunset. Can't he just cash in his chips and go now? Well, why should he?





Finally, shout-outs to Maryanne the artist, instructor and movie buff, and Bonnie-Ann (who Maryanne introduced me to tonight). Bonnie-Ann, I look forward to sharing writing with you! Also, I am so impressed to hear that your sending the Don’t Vote video to two people was instrumental in their registering. Your fortune cookie is right!