Today’s New York Times features an editorial about the Bush administration’s use of terror for political purposes:
“It comes like a punch to the gut, at times like these, when our leaders blatantly use the nation’s trauma for political gain. We never get used to this. It never feels like business as usual.
“On Wednesday, when the administration already knew that British agents were rounding up suspects in what they believed was a plot to blow up planes en route to the United States, Vice President Dick Cheney had a telephone interview with reporters to discuss the defeat of Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut in a Democratic primary. Mr. Cheney went off on a rather rambling disquisition, but its main point was clear: In rejecting Mr. Lieberman, who supported the war in Iraq, the Democrats were encouraging ‘the Al Qaeda types.’ Within the Democratic ranks, the vice president added, ‘there’s a significant body of opinion that wants to go back — I guess the way I would describe it is sort of the pre-9/11 mind-set, in terms of how we deal with the world we live in.’
...
“Here is what we want to do in the wake of the arrests in Britain. We want to understand as much as possible about what terrorists were planning. To talk about airport security and how to make it better. To celebrate what worked in the British investigation and discuss how to push these efforts farther. It would be a blessed moment in modern American history if we could do that without turning this into a political game plan.”
Reminds me of President Andrew Shepherd’s speech in The American President, a 1995 film that led to NBC’s West Wing Shepard said:
“We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious men to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it.“
Seems we could use a strong, straight-talking, authentic, incorruptible leader…
Published on
08/10/2006 in
Notes.
“The only thing we have to use is fear itself” — Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter (while discussing Bush administration and politics on today’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann).
Update: Jeff Jarvis in Buzz Machine “We have nothing to fear but his lack of fear.”
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I shop at Amazon.com all the time. They’ve been using my purchases to suggest other things I might want to buy via email or when I visit “Bill’s Store,” made just for me. Every now and then there’s a suggestion that interests me, mostly a book or jazz I hadn’t heard of before.
Tonight I went to Amazon to order more Orville Reddenbacher’s Popcorn. After completing the purchase, I went to MY store and found a set of tags or categories. I click on a tag and it shows me the corresponding suggestions. Seems Ajaxian. Excellent!
I hover over a suggestion and shows me more info. I can purchase immediately. I can tell them I own it already and rate it.
All of this gives Amazon even more info about what I might like to buy. Given the news about AOL releasing customer search information, perhaps I should be worried. Instead, I’m really pleased:
Amazon is getting to know who I am and what I’m really interested in!
Do you have the right to sing the blues?
Well, I’m feeling kind a hongry,
There’s no food that I’ve ate,
Only one good thing about it,
Probably won’t be gainin’ weight…
Yes, I’ve got the blues…
Well, I thought I had the blues. Apparently, even though you could call me Willie, I break too many of Lame Mango Washington’s rules.
How about you?
I’ve fallen in love with the stories and the quality of the writing in Karen Walrond’s Chookooloonks blog. A small example of musical phrasing from her post about connections:
“For the rest of the flight, we did. not. stop. talking.”
And then there’s this hilarious birthday tale: thirty-nine, or the case of the flapping hoo-has.
Highly recommended!
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Something’s wrong. I can’t find orange sorbet anywhere. Used to buy Häagen-Dazs but they don’t make it any more. I recall eating Ben & Jerry’s version, but no luck there either. There’s no orange sorbet in the stores. I can find lemon and raspberry, but orange sorbet is … just … gone…
Where did orange sorbet go? Was I the only one eating it? Was there a run on oranges?
Well, I can always count on Friendly’s. They never made orange sorbet in the first place, but their orange sherbet is great. And now the only way I can get a little orange to go with my butter pecan ice cream.
Another reason to take a trip back east!
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I spent part of my Sunday in Gilroy, CA, avoiding Garlic Festival traffic and looking for landscaping ideas. We’re nearing completion of our renovation project and want to add a “water feature” to our back yard. Didn’t have much success on that score as everything we saw at Grass Farm Garden Accents was too big, too opulent or just not our style. But I was amazed at the variety of pots.
Pots for flowers. Pots for trees. Blue pots. Green pots. Red pots. All kinds of pots.
Too much green??
Great texture!
Alas, way too many to choose from on a first visit. The good news is, next time I’m in Gilroy, there will be less traffic and I’ll get to the try the garlic fries…
More photos available at Zooomr.
