President Bush has betrayed his office and the trust of the American people. Congress is finally beginning to act like they realize he’s only human and should be called to account for his misdeeds. What’s really interesting is that the herd is beginning to turn; the American people are slowly waking up, to smell the longhorn stew that’s been simmering in the crock up on Pennsylvania Ave.

Check out this post at the Post.

The overall results were written up in Tuesday’s story by Richard Morin and Claudia Deane: 45 percent of respondents said Bush should be censured or reprimanded for the warrantless wiretapping program while 53 percent said he should not. The response was more decisive on impeachment, with just one in three voters supporting such a move.

See? One third of Americans polled believe Bush should be impeached. That’s Amazing. Fewer people said Clinton should be impeached when his illicit affair was first revealed. [Link]

If Congress actually had the balls to hold hearings, this president would go down. And lest we forget, his crimes are far from victimless.

It’s not easy to find photos of Iraqi children that look like normal children. Mostly, they’re standing around corpses, climbing on disabled tanks, or lying in hospital beds, bleeding or with their skin burned off. Don’t believe me? Google away!

The war on Iraq never made any sense. It was not necessary. And now we’re facing far more real concerns, and our defenses are weakened, stretched thin. Our treasury has been drained of untold billions, for nothing but to get revenge on Saddam Hussein for trying to kill Bush’s dad. Isn’t this basically what ended the empire of Rome?

We have met the enemy, and we have elected him.

“… President Bush is denying he’s planning an air strike on Iran, and you know what that means. He’s planning an air strike on Iran.”

— David Letterman

I received this e-mail from California Senator Barbara Boxer:

Dear Friend:

I am pleased to let you know that the Senate’s Commerce Committee has agreed to my amendment that would expand privacy protections for cell phone users. This is very good news for consumers who want to keep their numbers confidential and who do not want to receive or use valuable cell phone minutes on unwanted calls.

Incorporated into a larger consumer telephone record protection bill, my amendment prohibits the listing of cell phone numbers in a wireless directory without the subscriber granting permission. It requires cell phone companies to give consumers clear notice on their right not to be listed and prohibits carriers from charging customers for keeping their numbers private.

There are more than 180 million wireless subscribers in the United States today. Without the protections provided in my amendment, the cell phone numbers of millions of Americans could be at risk. Subscribers not only could face annoying calls and higher bills, but could also have their privacy and security violated by unwanted calls from stalkers or other criminals. As this legislation moves forward, you can be assured that I will keep working to protect consumers.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

I absolutely support this legislation. I’m surprised that cell phone companies would treat us any other way.

I’m going to offer you a bit of free advice. Take what you like …

If you avoid seeing one movie in 2006, make it Derailed. Whatever it takes, don’t see this film. Don’t succumb to the alluring cast, which includes Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. Don’t be drawn in by the plot, which is really as hard to swallow as barbed wire coated in cough syrup. If you see it in a video store or on netflix, slam your hand in a drawer to ease the temptation to rent it. If you want to see violence for its own sake, at least have some fun doing so, and see Kung Fu Hustle instead. At least it won’t leave you feeling the need for a cold shower to snap you back into reality.

Update: To be honest, I left the room about half way through. The movie was making me very anxious. In retrospect, I probably would have actually liked it if I’d been watching it home alone, where my viewing habits are much different. I like to watch a movie in two or three sittings, over a few evenings, along with other activites. Derailed is so intense, and the protagonist is such an unbelievable victim, that I got overwhelmed that I wanted to line up the screenwriter, director and producer/s, and mow them down with a studio golf cart.

Well I haven’t posted in several days, but my readers seem to be taking it in stride. Good for you! The family has gathered at brother Joe’s chalet, far north in the cool and drippy woods, for nephew T’s 5th birthday kidstravaganza. The main event was yesterday, down a road a fur piece, at the nearest Chuck E Cheese. I came out a bit over-stimulated, but since I didn’t eat anything I’m recovering nicely. Pizza is evil for me.

I’ve got a bunch of pictures on the handy camera, but I won’t post anything for a couple of days, after I get back to el condo del cielo. I know you’re all jonsin’ for my erudite effluent, but you must be patient. So in the mean time, I highly recommend this poem, Patience by Katherine Larson.

I’m really worried about the landslide area in La Conchita, which is just a few miles from here, and where there was a terrible and deadly landslide 14 months ago. It’s been raining a lot lately; the past two days, it’s been almost constant.

Think happy thoughts so that hillside stays where it is. Mean time, Gov Schwartzengroper has set aside a puddle of money to study the problem for a year or so. Whew, that’s a relief.

Did Shakespeare die of a rare cancer? [Discovery]

Bill Maher’s closing monologue a few nights ago:

“Mr. President, this job can’t be fun for you any more. There’s no more money to spend — you used up all of that. You can’t start another war because you used up the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your term has become the Bush family nightmare — helping poor people. Listen to your Mom. The cupboard’s bare, the credit cards maxed out. No one’s speaking to you. Mission accomplished.

“Now it’s time to do what you’ve always done best — lose interest and walk away. Like you did with your military service and the oil company and the baseball team. It’s time. Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or space man? Now I know what you’re saying — there’s so many other things that you as President could involve yourself in. Please don’t. I know, I know. There’s a lot left to do. There’s a war with Venezuela. Eliminating the sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over to the
church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae. Giving embryos the vote.

“But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why? Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You’ve performed so poorly I’m surprised that you haven’t given yourself a medal. You’re a catastrophe that walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty president, but even he never conceded an entire city to rising water and snakes.

“On your watch, we’ve lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon, and the City of New Orleans. Maybe you’re just not lucky. I’m not saying you don’t love this country. I’m just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side.

“So, yes, God does speak to you. What he is saying is, ‘Take a hint.'”

Bill

My Mom sent me this by e-mail this morning. Handed me a laugh.

Gotta Love The Irish

This is the transcription of the actual radio conversation between the British and the Irish off the coast of Kerry Ireland October 1998. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-98

IRISH: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

BRITISH: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

IRISH: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

BRITISH: This is the Captain of a British Navy Ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

IRISH: Negative. I say again, you will have to divert YOUR course.

BRITISH: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER HMS BRITIANNIA! THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE BRITISH ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. DEMAND YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. I SAY AGAIN, THAT IS 15 DEGREES NORTH OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

IRISH: We are a lighthouse…………….Your Call.

If you don’t read anything else today, don’t miss this assessment of Iraq in the NY Times.

Iraq is becoming a country that America should be ashamed to support, let alone occupy. The nation as a whole is sliding closer to open civil war. In its capital, thugs kidnap and torture innocent civilians with impunity, then murder them for their religious beliefs. The rights of women are evaporating. The head of the government is the ally of a radical anti-American cleric who leads a powerful private militia that is behind much of the sectarian terror.

Ever have insomnia? I mean all night, not just a few hours. Me neither, until last night. I took a dose of Tussin CF for a cough, and the damn stuff kept me awake all night. And it’s so nasty to start with, I can barely gag it down. I recommend you live the rest of your life more happily by avoiding this evil goo. I dozed a little before lunch, but had to cancel my biathalon training.

Here’s something to ponder, found while otherwise minding my own business, on the back cover of this month’s Poetry magazine.

Does it seem cruelly inadequate that, out of all those hours these poets spent in solitude and silence, and given all the life they sacrificed for the sake of their work, only a handful of poems, maybe nothing more than a stanza here and there, persist in the consciousness of a later generation?

At Night

I am more human
at night. I smell soft beings
in the wind, and move
carefully through the house
alone.

Sometimes in halfsleep,
I hear my Mother’s voice
call my name, just that,
and I remember the laughter
of dogs.

There is not so much left of
me as you might imagine
from my size,
but I am a man when the sun
is gone.

Let’s go out in the dew
and the soft snore of the freeway,
and I will conjure you owls.

© 2001 by Kyle Kimberlin