Monday, December 15, 2003

"Does Saddam's capture make Bush's re-election a sure thing?" This seems to be the question everybody is asking since we arrested the former Iraqi leader (looking very much like a drunken Santa Claus). The implication is that the answer is "yes" - may as well forget the election; Bush caught the bad guy, give him four more years to catch the other bad guy (remember Osama?)

I disagree. If the election were to be held next week, then this would guarantee four more years. But a lot can happen in 11 months. More importantly, there's a lot that probably won't happen. For example; the killing of American soldiers on a regular basis probably won't stop just because Saddam is gone. Another example; we probably won't have completely pulled out from Iraq.

Now that Saddam is out of the way - and because Bush put such an emphasis on the importance of that one man - the public is going to get more and more restless with each passing day that their sons and daughters are being fired upon in a foreign land, long after we've "freed" them. G.W. won't have Saddam Hussein to kick around anymore. So what excuse will he have to use to continue to justify our presence in Iraq?

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

From today's email - Just had to share.... (be sure to forward it to any geeks you may know)

WARNING ALERT

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney general John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like "x" and "y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns," but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

"As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle," Ashcroft declared.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.

"I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence," the President said, adding: "Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line."

President Bush warned, "These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex."

Attorney General Ashcroft said, "As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is certain of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks."

Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Big Al Gore has now officially endorsed Howard Dean for the Democratic nomination for President - if anybody cares what Big Al Gore has to say. So, does that help Dean or hurt him? It certainly doesn't help raise his stature in this household. Says Leslie, "You mean Dean isn't a Republican?" That's right - although everybody seems to be buying this new image of Howard Dean as the progressive choice, he's still a guy who can count on his 100% OK rating from the NRA.

Meanwhile, a few miles north of here in San Francisco, today is election day, with a run-off for mayor between a conservative Democrat and a Green. Big Al's old boss, Bad Bill, is in town today pulling for his party's boy. The national Democratic Party has been putting more of their attention on this election than the upcoming Presidential election, as if San Francisco were the last major battle ground for the hearts and minds of America. It isn't. It's a progressive city which should choose the more progressive candidate.

An article on the Common Dreams web site explores the question of partisanship over progressivism in relation to the SF race. In explanation of the above, the article states that, "Next year, Democrats will call on Greens and Green-leaning voters to abandon third-party politics in order to help beat George W. Bush. Many Green voters are likely to answer the call. But many others will ask why top Democrats always seem to demand concessions in the name of electing the more progressive major candidate at the national level but are not willing to make concessions in the name of electing the most progressive major candidate at the local level."

Twitter Feed