Stunning writing in Harper’s by Sam Smith, “The Revision Thing.” It’s a history of the Iraq war told completely in lies verbatim from the mouths of George Bush and his senior officials. (stolen from lies.com) Gathered together like this, it knocked me out. Brilliant.
Category: words mean things (Page 31 of 223)
Press conference update
When I was watching the Rose Garden press conference I wrote about earlier today, I noticed that when Bush was asked about the “Mission Accomplished” banner on the aircraft carrier again, this time he denied that the White House had anything to do with the banner.
“The ‘Mission Accomplished’ sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff – they weren’t that ingenious, by the way.”
That was a lie.
Funny how the little stuff can sometimes trip you up bigger than the big stuff, isn’t it?
Simpsons dialogue of the week
During the “King Kong” parody “King Homer,” as the ship nears the island…
Carl: I heard we’re goin’ to Ape Island.
Lenny: Yeah, to capture a giant ape. I wish we were going to Candy Apple Island.
Charlie: Candy Apple Island? Whatta they got there?
Carl: Apes. But they’re not so big.
Brainstorm
I had a great idea today for helping to pay for that $87 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. Every time an administration official mentions “9/11” (and all its permutations, the primary being “the lessons of September 11th”) when not actually *talking about* 9/11, they have to pay $10,000 into the federal treasury.
I’d make it retroactive too, but I don’t think the President has that much in his bank account.
Bullies
Watching President Bush give one of his rare press conferences on C-SPAN today, it was painful as usual. But I put up with bulging veins in my head because I think it’s important to know what he’s saying. Among his main points:
-Iraq is a main front on the war on terror.
-Lots of schools and other infrastructure elements are opening back up in Iraq. Electricity is almost back to pre-war levels.
-Terrorists promote a culture of fear.
-Terrorists end innocent lives, primarily 3,000 people on…wait for it….Sept. 11, 2001.
Listening to this, all I could think of was a bully pinning his prey to the playground blacktop, grabbing the geek’s hand and slamming it into his own face, while chanting, “Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!”
“28 Days Later” DVD
I think this is my first DVD review. But I was quite impressed with the DVD production of Danny Boyle’s non-zombie zombie movie. There are two alternate endings on the disc, each interesting in its own way.
There’s also another “alternate ending” that’s really a whole new second half, shown in storyboard and voiceover form, replacing the military compound section of the movie with something completely different. I thought the movie’s second half was much less interesting than the first part, where the survivors made their way alone – the military storyline was just a little too “haunted house” for my taste. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the alternate storyline either, but it was fun and engaging watching the storyboards.
Another thing I liked was the narration alongside the still photo galleries. I enjoyed hearing (from Boyle himself) the significance of the images I was seeing.
As for the movie overall, I enjoyed it more on DVD than I did in the theater. It felt more intense, somehow, on the small screen – just the opposite of what I expected.
Definitely recommended.
Footnote: Have you seen “Shallow Grave”? It was also directed by Danny Boyle, stars a young Ewan McGregor, and has razor-sharp dialogue and a fun creepy edge. Highly recommended.
Liberators. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Unfathomable
This article on The Smirking Chimp has me wondering about a prospective second term for Bush.
Here’s my question to you: Will Bush win the 2004 election? And why or why not? Let me know your prediction in the comments.
Attention Fawlty Towers fans: I have all 12 episodes of the brilliant John Cleese comedy series on VHS. Since I now own them on DVD, I’d like to give the tapes to someone who would enjoy them as much as I have. The only catch is, you have to come here and pick them up. First come, first served.