4 posts tagged “politics”
The following is a transcript of a lunch at the G8 meeting in St Petersburg as reported in the Washington Post here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071700402_pf.html
The camera is focused elsewhere and it is not clear whom Bush is talking to, but possibly Chinese President Hu Jintao, a guest at the summit.
Bush : Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. Go to the airport, get on the airplane and go home. How about you? Where are you going? Home?
Bush : This is your neighborhood. It doesn't take you long to get home. How long does it take you to get home?
Reply is inaudible.
Bush : "Eight hours? Me too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country."
At this point, the president seems to bring someone else into the conversation.
Bush : It takes him eight hours to fly home.
He turns his attention to a server.
Bush : No, Diet Coke, Diet Coke.
He turns back to whomever he was talking with.
Bush : It takes him eight hours to fly home. Eight hours. Russia's big and so is China.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair approaches.
Bush : Blair, what are you doing? You leaving?
Now, the man is obviously an idiot. Who the hell makes a statement like "Russia's a big country and you're a big country" to the President of a country and then, so enamored with his intellect he decides that he needs to share that information with someone else. Someone who apparently he decided might not know that Russia and China are "big". I'm assuming that the someone had never seen a map and W knew this and was being helpful.
Really, this is not someone I would want being allowed to drive a car, let alone control nuclear weapons. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd go to a store that he worked in.
But this is really not news to the people who've followed this for six years already realize that they've been watching the natural successor to Jim Varney, this is Ernest goes to the White House.
There are certain days in a month when I am most happy. They tend to be Sunny, Warm, Friday and Payday all in one cute little package. That is an awesome day. Today is one of those days.
My drive into work is typically interspersed with a train ride but the last week has conspired to work against that and so I've been driving all the way in to downtown Seattle. As part of this, I've been spending more time listening to Stephanie Miller (www.stephaniemiller.com) on the local Air America affiliate. She's based out of California and her show is hilarious. If you have Sirius, Sirius Left re-runs her show at 6pm (pacific) each night.
OK, off to meeting #1 for today.
So this is what I am reading now, I'm actually re-reading this one. These books are actually considered children's books in the UK, but as I also read Harry Potter I am not daunted by that Stigma. BTW did you know that in the UK they release "Adult Cover" versions of the Harry Potter books that are not as colourful and obviously Potter books? As if people should give a crap what the guy next to them on the tube thinks...
Anyway, back to this series. They are a very heavy series, dealing with religion and the church's encroachment into people's lives as well as the fantasy stuff. My 13 yr old has read them and liked them fine, but complained they took longer to read than Harry Potter or the Artemis Fowl books.
Next up for me is this book by longtime (nearly 40 years) White House correspondent Helen Thomas. Helen is best known right now for being the last person that Tony Snow or Dubya wants to call on in a press conference. It got to the point that they changed the age old seating plan whereby it was done according to the seniority of the journalist and sent Helen instead to the rear of the room!
So this is her critique of the current Washington Press Corps. and their recent (last six years or so) refusal to be any more than the transcribing machines for the White House. Should be good I hope.
So, I admit it freely, I'm a liberal. I've had various different blogs and they all end up with me ranting uncontrollably about the right wing of American politics. I'll try to rein it in a little... I promise... That being said, here's the latest in the "Journalists shouldn't investigate and report when the Administration are being less than forthcoming" series of features:
John Negroponte... the man, the myth, the leg end.
Patriotic and Concerned? I assume you mean "Easily threatened" or "Part of Dubya's buddy list". Tell me how we undermine the security of our nation by finding out that our government is at best being shady with respect to oversight of these programs and at worst breaking the Constitution of the US into so many tiny pieces.
It's the same old thing, they think that by scaring Americans, the public will stop demanding oversight and insight into how the government works thereby making it even easier for them to ignore the Constitution. Bravo to the NYT, too often have they been lapdogs of the current administration, sitting on stories and refusing to investigate.
