My last quote for this month isn't even a quote, yet may be the very best of all: Karl Rove, my friends, a/k/a "M.C. Rove," dancin' and rappin' at You Tube. I found the link through Slate, bless them.
I admit I'm easily moved by anything to do with animals. But when I say that these are "breathtaking" I mean, literally, that they took my breath away. So often the work of the photographer/artiste just causes me to grimace and say "whatever," but these photographs by Nick Brandt, like the landscape photographs I linked to a few days ago, strike me as not only astounding in and of themselves but as intrinsicially valuable. They are a record of the world, and if the worst should come to worst, the record will be there of what we had and what we lost. Read more here....
About this recent poll, reflecting the GOP's plummeting popularity with the American public, and discussed by Gary Kamiya at Salon....
Sure, it's good news by all of those who got shit-scared when the "swing to the right" which we were assured was heralded by Bush's two narrow victories turned out to be a swing to the far right (and by the mainstream press's failure, pre-Katrina, to speak up about anything).
But I don't know if the Dems should be strapping on their dancing sandals just yet. I'm a Dem myself and I'm only just marginally less sick of them than of the GOP. I hope they work out that disliking what the Republicans have become and leaning toward opinions on health care and care for the elderly etc. that are consistent with the goals of Democrats is not, per se, an endorsement of the Democratic party. There are still plenty of ways for them to lose it all. For example, we could all be so disgusted that we all just stay home.
Man, poor Kyle Sampson. He is the consummate example of the essentially well-intentioned man brought low by too much loyalty.
"I don't feel sorry for him," said Nick. "It's the Nuremberg defense."
No, it isn't because he's not trying to deny responsibility for the outcome.
What's really sad is that nobody in charge at the DOJ seems able to distinguish between "performance as a prosecutor" and "performance as an arm of the Executive branch." The transcript I read of a portion of the hearing suggests that he really doesn't known the meaning of "political" (as an performance) and "partisan" (ditto). And Michael Scherer's article at Salon was downright poignant. Read more about the Senate Judiciary Hearing at Versus/Reversus.
Those who appreciate the nuanced, finely calibrated sensibilities of the Geico cavemen will want to visit their digs. Check out---and envy!---their taste and technology.
But can they make the leap from advertising icons to prime time television?
Bonus link! The article from Slate where I found the link (contains actual caveman footage as seen on TV!) Read on at the Flatland Chronicles...
It probably shows my essential frivolousness that I can be disarmed by a joke. I did not vote for George W. Bush. I voted for Gore and then I voted for John Kerry (because John Kerry was what the Dems offered me). I have been critical of Bush long before I felt it was quite safe to do so. I thought he was wrong from the beginning about almost everything, unimpressive on 9-11 (what was it that so amazed my mom and others? I did not see it), and scary scary scary later on, way before the press were all over him. Katrina broke my heart.
But I can separate the man from the office, and though I detest W as president, I imagine I'd find him likable as a person. In fact, I do. Is that the least you can say about him? Is it also the most? That is the enigma of George W. Bush, beloved of Christopher Hitchens (who is anything but stupid)---and also my younger brother (ditto), who is a somewhat prominent Republican in his own sphere. When I e-mailed my younger brother about this or that disastrous Bush position, he wrote back, "I love W. I will vote for W. And I refuse to discuss it any further."
Love? Well, yes, you----by which I mean "I"--- can see how some people would find him lovable. I grew up among Republicans, some of whom I love. I have often tried to see W from their perspective. And I like a man who can make a joke at his own expense. He's good at making jokes, by the way. Even the BBC reporter was evidently impressed. Read more at Versus/Reversus.
Garrison Keillor, the man from Lake Wobegon, on Bush bushed. Poignant!
JUST THE SLANG ONE NEEDS TO KNOW.
Fans of BBC America and of British comedy generally will thank me....
Read more....
In honor of this diverse and glorious meme, I made 13 little separate bits of digital artwork (or "artwork"; I'm an amateur) celebrating the many aspects of the Thursday 13.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
Daisy
Angela Giles Klocke
Malinda777
Osman
Maricar
To me, the essence of "compassionate conservatism" would mean laying aside ludicrous prejudices about which drugs are worthy to be used to alleviate the pain of the chronically ill and dying. So I am happy that former hard-line "drug warrior" Bob Barr of Georgia has allowed his thinking to evolver.
