Politicians overwhelmed by their own presence... film at 11

Jeb Bush. You know, the responsible First Brother, the one who runs Florida. I have operated on the assumption that Jon Steward was right when he told Katie Couric that Jeb Bush had to be the angriest man in America, because he had been the smart, responsible Bush; then his brother sobers up and decides he wants to be president.

Well, it seems to me now that this anger has made him a little loopy.

I don't really have a position on the right to die, although I think that if I were in the position that Terry Schiavo is in at this point I'd be fine with somebody putting me out of my misery. My question for Gov. Bush and his people is why they feel like it's a good thing to be associated with every nutball "Right to Life" case. Does he have staff who exist just to look for such cases and make sure Governor Jeb can get his name attached?

Personally, I think her parents and sibilings are delusional, but that's probably par for the course in a situation like this one. In any case, I am creeped out once again by Jeb Bush and his desire to get in the middle of a family affair.

The other guy I contiune not to understand is Dennis Kucinich, the hard-core liberal who's running for president. His problem is that nobody is taking his run seriously; journalists forget him, and now he's all mad that Howard Dean's latest ads don't include a disclaimer that says Dennis opposed the war.

Whatever. Information about this is on the second page, the first page is all about how the Republicans plan to use "gay marriage" as a wedge issue in 04. Pardon me while I go give PFLAG some more money. Anyway, Kucinich has filed suit against television stations in New Hampshire to stop the ads from running. He wants free airtime to respond to the ads.

They're not mentioning you, Dennis, because nobody is taking your candidacy that seriously. Welcome to the "bottom third" of the race.

It's the movies, stupid.

In any case, John Kerry was on tonight. John Edwards was last Monday's guest, and apparently nobody from Kerry's staff was watching last week because Kerry fumbled the favotite movie question, too.

That's pretty lame, if you ask me. I do not believe that Animal House is Sen. Kerry's favorite movie. John Edwards seemed like he really couldn't remember the name of the movie he was talking about, which turned out to be The Shawshank Redemption, but at least I believe that he really liked it.

So, if I have any readers from the remaining campaigns--the ones that haven't yet sat down with Chris Matthews to talk about whatever-- take this friendly bit of advice: make sure your guy (and I mean that in a completely unisex way) has an answer for the movie question. It's not like naming the Prime Minister of Canada or anything; and besides, you know it's coming.

Pill Bill

Did I mention that as a kidney patient, I am a young Medicare recipient. All the press says "a drug plan for our seniors" but they're talking about me, too.

The House plan wants the whole thing administered by private insurance companies. I'm here to tell you that won't work. Know how much the prescription I filled yesterday cost a few months ago back when I had coverage through a private insurer--$67.

Sure, it's nice to save $22, but this is not as good a situation I had when my presription plan gave me a months supply of anything for $15. The good ol' days? Try 2002.

The House, led by PHRMA lobbyists, says that if a prescription plan for Medicare recipients is administered by the government, that would effectively create price controls, which every other industrialized nation seems to have. Naturally, PHRMA is against this.

Despite the fact that these price controls exist for a limited number of people, and that if one is not a Medicare recipient, one (or one's insurer) still pays what the market will bear.

It is entirely possible that nothing will pass, though. And then where will we be?

Amelia the Maine Coon Cat says hello, and she also says you should vote for Howard Dean. OK, no, really I said that

One of them also posts on the Wes Clark's campaign blog. Don't get me wrong; I'm not knocking either of these fine candidates (don't get me started on how John Kerry gives me the creeps unless you've got plenty of time) the people I'm making fun of are those strange beings who post on political blogs in order to get attention.

Aren't there less painful things they could do to make themselves feel terribly important?

I know I shouldn't make light of anybody who is participating in the process. I'm sure that not everybody involved with the Dean campaign has the world's purest motives, but it doesn't sound to me like the folks on Kerry's blog are having any fun. If you're going in for the self-aggrandizement, shouldn't you at least enjoy it?

Color me impressed

I know nobody reads Slate, (Does anybody read Slate?) but this columnist seems to understand what the Dean campaign is about, and who Howard Dean is. He manages this without sounding like a fanboy.

I like that in a journalist. Somebody with a serious readership should hire this guy. If he were on TV, I'd call him my New TV Boyfriend. But he's not on TV, so I don't have to do that.

I'm so thankful, because, you know, I hate to be 12. I know we're all 12 sometimes, but I think I like to admit it less than most people.)

The woes of a hardcore moderate

Mistrust of government is a healthy thing; dissent is a healthy and good thing, but if you insist that your "pure" tactics are the only correct way of expressing opposition, you're going to find yourself with nobody listening because they're sick of you whining about how much better you are than they.

While I was out in Colorado, my friend Scott told me a story about how he met his wife and what first impressed him about her. She and some other people were protesting at neighborhood markets in San Francisco for buying non-union produce back in the 70s. Ellen was protesting, but she always dressed nicely to do it, and she always treated the shopkeepers with respect.

That's the kind of peacenik I can get behind, because people are always more likely to listen to people who look like they do, talk like they do, and aren't calling them fascist pigs.

And in a related note, Dennis Kucinich is now officially running for president. Nothing against Dennis (except that he looks like a garden gnome) but I have to laugh at these guys official announcements when they have been debating since March.

Except Wes Clark. I expect he will officially launch his campaign some time in March of 2004. Monday before Super Tuesday, anybody?

To sum up, I left Indymedia thinking that peaceniks exist in a different headspace than I do. I left with the feeling that the left wing isn't any better than the right; but the right is where the power is right now, and unless the left changes its tactics, that's were it is likely to stay.

Which is why sometimes I feel like I have to fight them both from the center.

The woes of a hardcore moderate

Mistrust of government is a healthy thing; dissent is a healthy and good thing, but if you insist that your "pure" tactics are the only correct way of expressing opposition, you're going to find yourself with nobody listening because they're sick of you whining about how much better you are than they.

While I was out in Colorado, my friend Scott told me a story about how he met his wife and what first impressed him about her. She and some other people were protesting at neighborhood markets in San Francisco for buying non-union produce back in the 70s. Ellen was protesting, but she always dressed nicely to do it, and she always treated the shopkeepers with respect.

That's the kind of peacenik I can get behind, because people are always more likely to listen to people who look like they do, talk like they do, and aren't calling them fascist pigs.

And in a related note, Dennis Kucinich is now officially running for president. Nothing against Dennis (except that he looks like a garden gnome) but I have to laugh at these guys official announcements when they have been debating since March.

Except Wes Clark. I expect he will officially launch his campaign some time in March of 2004. Monday before Super Tuesday, anybody?

To sum up, I left Indymedia thinking that peaceniks exist in a different headspace than I do. I left with the feeling that the left wing isn't any better than the right; but the right is where the power is right now, and unless the left changes its tactics, that's were it is likely to stay.

Which is why sometimes I feel like I have to fight them both from the center.

As opposed to The Dims

See, the Brights are trying to make a political force out of agnostics and other people whose worldview is not religious. That's all fine and well, but when you consider that the second definition of "agnostic" is one who is doubtful or noncommittal about something it seems like creating a political constituency out of people who don't really beleive in much of anything will be an uphill battle.

On the other hand, I believe this is a huge group of peo+ple, the underrepresented majority, that has lost its collective voice in the din of various radical factions demanding to be heard.

I am not a joiner. Sure, I joined the Dean campaign, but that's almost a first. They're trying to get the non-committal to commit. I hope they manage; I really do.

Just for once, I'd like to see a candidate pander to people like me, who really only want sensible government that they don't have to worry about.

The world is full of freaks

I love that in the space of an hour, this blog gets hits from search engines on these phrases:

Cartoon Frogs
Injured by OxyClean
What is a pulse-ox meter?
Glitter eyeshadow
Skipping jury duty. (That one was in all caps, even!)
Refinishing a dresser

Recall Madness

But the "lot" that's not over is at least snoring on the couch right now, so I can take a minute to reflect on the California Recall.

The anti-establishment take on the results does very well for my guy, Howard Dean.

Given that the candidates running from Congrefs have no chance of painting themselves as outsiders, and that General Clark is using his image people to try to make himself look like an insider--figure that one out yet? I can'--but that leaves my man Howard as the only viable outsider candidate.

Now, I don't think for a second that Howard Dean, who was chairman of the National Governors Association back in the 90s, is a true outsider. On the other hand, his campaign is not about establishment politics.

He's essentially a Rockefeller Republican running Jimmy Carter's campaign. And I happen to beleive in the strategy. I can't see how any other candidate benefits from this. Perhaps that's short-sighted of me, but if Clark continues to look and sound like Washington-as-usual; Dean is the only thing on the menu that looks any good.

Well. How did I get here?

Gregg used to cut my hair. He's an exceptionally talented hairdresser, but he's had some personal problems; and some health issues, and a bit of a drug habit.

He showed up looking lost and kind of scared, so I fed him some home made chicken noodle soup and sat him down to tell his story.

Gregg said he spent last night on top of a construction trailer outside the Museum of the American Indian, and the night before that in the lobby of the 14th floor of the J.W. Marriott hotel downtown. That, obviously, was preferable because there was a buffet. If anybody asked what he was doing, he would say he was waiting for somebody.

It has been unseasonably cool the last two nights, so I told Gregg that, although I didn't have a lot of room, I could certainly find a place for him to sleep. He said he just couldn't go back outside, and that if I hadn't been home he would have gone up to Dupont Circle looking for drugs.

I told the other person who's camped out in the living room that he was getting a roommate for the night. (That's my dad, for those of you who don't know. I can't remember if I said anything.)

So there will be two people sleeping in my living room tonight. They are both able-bodied white men who are generally gainfully employed productive members of society. But right this minute, they have no place else to go.

I would try to say that my life can't possible get any weirder, except that I know it can. Because whenever I make the mistake of saying something stupid like that, I end up being wrong. I want to make it absolutely clear that I know my life could conceivably get weirder.

I think this is another one of those things that falls into the category of "what people do."

The jaws that bite; the claws that catch

Tigers are wild animals. They have no place in Las Vegas, and while I'm grateful for the chance to see them sort of up close in zoos, I wouldn't approve of keeping them in captivity except for the breeding programs that help ensure their survival.

I really don't know if Siegfried and Roy have done anything to help tigers in the wild. I hope they have; they've certainly made enough money from them.

If Roy succumbs to the injuries sustained in the tiger attack, part of me will be saying "good kitty."

They purr like house cats, tigers do. Did you know that?

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