Month: January 2004 (Page 2 of 6)

My friend David pointed out to me that they’re taking applications for “Average Joe 3,” with rejected bond trader Adam from the first series as the star. I’m sure he’ll be good at the helm, but the beautiful women who they’ll likely line up to compete over him already know he’s rich, and funny, so how different is that from “The Bachelor”?

David also pointed out that the application doesn’t specify gender. If the deadline weren’t in two days, I would seriously think about applying, just to see the reaction (if any) it would get. God knows I’m “average” enough. (The in-person casting goes through mid-March, but the video application deadline is Wednesday. Damn.)

Still, I’m sure I’m not the only one to have this idea. I wonder if legally they can’t specify women only? Hmmmmmm.

I had an idea yesterday for a words mean things subsite. What I would do is conduct e-mail interviews with interesting people on the web. *Not* weblog people, at least not A-list people. But people doing innovative, funny, useful, bizarre things on the web – especially people who aren’t already all that well-known. Sort of like the Onion’s A.V. Club, but about web people. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

When I was at the theater recently watching “Big Fish” for a second time (enjoying it more this time), I saw a giant poster for the Hugh Jackman “Van Helsing” movie. All I can hope is that Jackman can live up to the definitive portrayal of the vampire-hunting doctor, which critics worldwide agree was the performance by Adam J. Blust in the 1980 Richland Center High School production of “Dracula.” I’m not holding my breath, of course, but I wish Hugh the best.

“I don’t like Dean very much — he’s not crazy, rude, or short enough for me.”

-the estimable Henry Quinn, on the you-should-bookmark-this-site-immediately Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O’Reilly

Cool. Sometimes the good guys win. (link stolen from Atrios)

On The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart had a little riff on the State of the Union.

“Last January, Iraq’s only law was the whim of one brutal man.”

[back to Stewart, with inset photo of Cheney and Rumsfeld]
And now, Iraq’s only law is the whim of two brutal men. That’s a 100 percent improvement!

Do you ever talk back to the answering machine? I found myself responding to some messages as they played on my machine tonight, as if the person were in the room with me. And I realized that I probably do that fairly often.

And then I found five dollars.

The State of the Union was really just a stump speech, Bush’s first real campaign speech of 2004. Nothing really remarkable in that, although his straight face when he talked about “weapons of mass destruction-related program activities” was a triumph. Maybe it’s just me, but the smirk – Bush’s trademark facial expression – was almost atomic tonight.

My favorite part of the speech was the values/society section. Listening to the President, you’d think the main things preoccupying Americans were steroid abuse in sports, teen STDs, saving heterosexual marriage from the threat of activist judges, and stopping discrimination against faith-based charities.

Yeah, I know that’s what keeps *me* up at night.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Melissa of how fresh!, one of my favorite people on the web, has obtained a followup letter from Ashley to the President. It’s a must-read.

My friend and former colleague John Mosey has challenged me to back up my assertion that George W. Bush is a “failure by any objective measure.” Well, here’s some stuff for him, culled from just a few minutes of web research. There’s lots more, of course, and I left out a lot of stuff that strayed even a little bit into the “subjective” category (like the Plame outing, lies in last year’s State of the Union, etc.). But this is a good taste. Here we go.

UPDATE: I forgot approval rating, but Mr. Mosey reminded me. I personally think approval rating is pretty soft as “objective” measurements go, but according to CBS, Bush’s approval rating is at 50 percent, matching his lowest level ever. (His disapproval rating, 45 percent, *is* his highest ever.) The week after Saddam’s capture, it wsa 60 percent. The week after 9/11, it was 90 percent.

Economy
-Converting $127 billion budget surplus into $374 billion deficit in three years
-2.4 million jobs lost, making Bush II the first administration since Hoover to preside over an overall loss of jobs
-Tripled the discretionary spending increase rate of the Clinton administration (Clinton 3.4 percent annually, Bush 10.5 percent annually)
-If all Bush’s tax cuts stay in effect through 2010, the richest 1 percent of Americans can expect an estimated 17 percent tax cut; the other 99 percent, a 5 percent cut

Environment
-More than 200 major rollbacks of environmental law during his administration
-Bush’s EPA has halted work on 62 environmental standards; FDA has halted work on 57 standards
-At EPA, proposing eliminating 270 enforcement staffers, dropping staffing levels to lowest ever; inspections down 15 percent; criminal cases referred for prosecution down 40 percent
-“Clear Skies Initiative” actually weakens the Clean Air Act

Disengagement
-As of August 2003, spent 27 percent of his presidency on vacation; tied the 30-day record for continuous vacation time with Richard Nixon
-Held fewer press conferences than any other president since the advent of television
-Stated he rarely reads the newspaper, but instead relies on his advisors for news

Iraq
-Started pre-emptive war in Iraq, costing $100 billion and counting, losing 500 American soldiers’ lives so far, killing perhaps 8,000 Iraqi civilians and 10,000 soldiers, to take over a country with no credible ties to al Qaeda and no weapons of mass destruction
-His administration awarded Dick Cheney’s company, Halliburton, more than $2 billion in no-bid contracts in Iraq
-Impending Iraq war caused a record number of people around the world to protest simultaneously Bush’s policies (10 million people)

Education
-Underfunded his own “No Child Left Behind Act” by $9 billion in FY 2004, and $7.2 billion in FY 2003

More good stuff at:

Scorecard of Evil
The Bush Record
The Bush Legacy

(And yes, I know these are biased sources. But I don’t see a lot of Republicans keeping score on Bush.)

Wake me up in November

How about that Iowa? Huh? Wow. Yeah.

Not much else to say. For a long time politics was really getting me charged up. I relished the fight and found all the battles and back-and-forth invigorating. I watched “Meet the Press” faithfully every Sunday. I loved reading and responding to the vein-busting hatred of Howard Dean over at Dean Esmay. I read Smirking Chimp with relish.

Now, on the eve of Bush’s State of the Union speech, I just feel numb. And it’s not because of Howard Dean’s disappointing finish in Iowa. I’m sure he’ll work his way back, yada yada yada.

It just doesn’t feel fun anymore. I guess my optimism finally just collapsed under its own weight. Inevitable, really.

If anyone knows where I can get a hibernation shot that lasts, oh I don’t know, a year or so, let me know. I’m in the market.