Check out LFG for that knucklehead Maurice Hinchey’s claim that Karl Rove planted the CBS memos. This is pretty enlightening. Dems are way to concerned about Karl Rove and they are attributing their lack of a good plan or a good strategy to getting beat by omniscient Karl Rover. Personally, I don’t think Rove is a super star. He’s good, but I’m not sure he’s a great political operator.
George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush’s four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin’s crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed. If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. “Putin thought we’d fired Dan Rather,” says a senior Administration official. “It was like something out of 1984.”The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders’ joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration’s view that Putin’s impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides. (At a past summit, according to Administration aides, Putin asked Bush whether it was true that chicken producers split their production into plants that serve the U.S. and lower-quality ones that process substandard chicken for Russia.) U.S. aides say that to help fight against this kind of misinformation, they are struggling to build relationships that go beyond Putin. “We need to go deeper into the well into other levels of government,” explains an aide.
It is truly scary that the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world is this ignorant.
Bill Maher has a new show on HBO. In a recent diatribe on the show, he makes some good and a really lame, unsupported points. Here’s what he said:
MAHER: And finally, New Rule: Leave the children behind! At least, that is, until they learn something. A new survey finds that only half of America’s high schoolers think newspapers should be allowed to publish without government approval. And almost one in five said Americans should be prohibited from expressing unpopular opinions. Hey, let me tell you little darlings something: this is my livelihood you’re screwing with now! So either learn the Bill of Rights, or you don’t deserve Social Security.Now, to those of you who think I am over-reacting, yes, I understand that being in high school is still very young, and no one really cares what kids say anyway. It’s not like priests are dating them for their brains.
WILLIAMS: “The Pope’s on Line 2.”
MAHER: But the younger generation is supposed to rage against the machine, not for it. They’re supposed to question authority, not question those who question authority. And what is so frightening here is that we are seeing the beginnings of the first post-9/11 generation, kids who first became aware of the news under an “Americans need to watch what they say” administration, kids who’ve been told that dissent is un-American, and therefore justifiably punished by fine, imprisonment or loss of your show on ABC.
I agree with his thoughts that high school kids should think about the real point of the First Amendment. I have a real problem with his argument the Administration and others are saying that “dissent is un-American.” Where’s the proof Bill? This argument is left-wing crap. Show me the quotes. Show me the evidence. Until then I will continue to believe that you are an over-reacting loser.
Check out this trailer for A Scanner Darkly. It has a great look, it’s just too bad that Keanu Reeves, the worst actor of all time, is in the movie.
According to NME.com, Bob Dylan isn’t happy with the state of music today:
BOB DYLAN has launched a withering attack on contemporary rock bands in the programme notes for his latest American tour.“I know there are groups at the top of the charts that are hailed as the saviours of rock’n'roll and all that, but they are amateurs. They don’t know where the music comes from,” he wrote, adding,
I’m a big fan of Steven Raichlen’s books on grilling. A while ago I bought Weber’s Big Book of Grilling. The photography in the book is far superior to the photography of Raichlen’s books, but I haven’t found as many recipes that I like has much as Raichlen’s recipes. Today, however, I saw Weber’s new grilling cookbook–Weber’s Real Grilling. I need to buy this book soon. The photography is absolutely spectacular and the recipes look to be really good. Check it out if you like to grill.
I recently saw the movie Hotel Rwanda. The movie tells the horrific tale of genocide in Rwanda 10 years ago. Make sure to see the movie sometime. Nicholas Kristoff writes in the NY Times of the genocide occuring in Dufur, Sudan right now. Make sure to read his article.
The movie Hotel Rwanda is a good reminder that there is evil in the world. The same type of evil people are in Sudan right now killing people.