WSJ's Washington Wire treats us to the news that the White House has a new pastry chef. His name is William “Bill” Yosses and I must admit, he has an impressive culinary resume. But the best part is, the man who'll be whipping up Dubbya's Strawberry Shortcake and Creme Brulee is also the co-author of--wait for it--
Desserts for Dummies.
Too perfect.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
State of the Union
Latest Newspaper Column:
The State of the Union address has gotten to be like the Oscars for me: I tell myself not to watch it. It'll just make me nuts, plus it'll keep me up too late.
But when the time rolls around, there I am, eyes glued to the screen, muttering darkly at each new atrocity that unfolds before me. This time, however, I had my trusty laptop open in front of me. That way, instead of cursing and throwing things at the TV, I could take out my aggression in a healthier and more productive way.
Anyway, my thoughts on the State of the Union address, logged as it happened:
* "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States!" The president comes in, everyone stands and applauds until he's introduced again by the speaker, at which point everyone stands and applauds again, as if they'd totally forgotten who he was.
* Dubbya begins by offering a spirit of bipartisanship to the people his party has been demonizing as traitors for the past six years. He claims he's proud to introduce a female speaker after saying that "terrorists win and America loses" if she and her party won. This proves Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a better person than I am. If anyone else had tried that hypocritical sucking-up to me after six years of calling me a terrorist sympathizer, I'd have dumped my water pitcher on his head.
* President Bush announces that balancing the federal budget is suddenly a priority, after not submitting a balanced budget or vetoing a spending bill for the past six years.
* Bush on "earmarks" in the budget: "You did not vote them into law. I did not sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice." Apparently, Dubbya has just discovered earmarks now that the Democrats are in control of Congress. How convenient. But I'll agree with him on this. Things that weren't voted for but that have the force of law are bad. Let's get rid of them. And while you're at it, why don't you end the signing statements where you say you don't have to obey any congressional enactment you don't agree with? No one voted them into law either.
* "For all other Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs." Spoken like a man who hasn't had to deal with an insurance company in his entire privileged life. Bush and most of the people in the room have great health insurance through the guvmint. Sorry, though. The rabble can't have it.
* "For too long, our nation has been dependent on foreign oil." Which is a real problem now that we've ticked off every oil-producing country in the world. Left out of the speech: "I know I've mentioned energy independence a lot before, but this time, I'm talking about reducing consumption by actual numbers, so you can believe me this time. Really. We just have to figure out a way to do it when Mr. Halliburton sitting behind me isn't looking." Well, at least mentioning ethanol made the Iowa delegation happy.
* Bush refers to "the serious challenge of global climate change." A challenge which he's been denying even existed.
* "We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terrorist cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean." None of these terrorists, we might add, came from Iraq. Looks like we're fighting them over there AND over here. So much for that talking point.
* On sectarian violence in Iraq: "This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in." We're in it, Mr. President, because we didn't plan for it. Or, more accurately, you didn't plan for it.
* "Iraq's leaders know that our commitment is not open-ended." Like it was before the election.
* "And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure." But that's what we got, thanks to the total chuckleheadedness of you, your vice president, and your secretary of defense, who thought we'd walk in, kick Saddam out, then the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds would all join hands and sing "God Bless America" followed by "Kum Bah Yah," after which we'd just pack up and go home to rest up for the invasion of Iran.
On the whole, though, it was a more conciliatory and reasonable speech than we've come to expect from The Decider. But this new reasonable Bush never fails to remind me of a line voiced by the character of The Misfit in Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find": "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Bush might have been a better president if he'd been facing a Congress who'd hold him accountable every day of his life.
The State of the Union address has gotten to be like the Oscars for me: I tell myself not to watch it. It'll just make me nuts, plus it'll keep me up too late.
But when the time rolls around, there I am, eyes glued to the screen, muttering darkly at each new atrocity that unfolds before me. This time, however, I had my trusty laptop open in front of me. That way, instead of cursing and throwing things at the TV, I could take out my aggression in a healthier and more productive way.
Anyway, my thoughts on the State of the Union address, logged as it happened:
* "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States!" The president comes in, everyone stands and applauds until he's introduced again by the speaker, at which point everyone stands and applauds again, as if they'd totally forgotten who he was.
* Dubbya begins by offering a spirit of bipartisanship to the people his party has been demonizing as traitors for the past six years. He claims he's proud to introduce a female speaker after saying that "terrorists win and America loses" if she and her party won. This proves Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a better person than I am. If anyone else had tried that hypocritical sucking-up to me after six years of calling me a terrorist sympathizer, I'd have dumped my water pitcher on his head.
* President Bush announces that balancing the federal budget is suddenly a priority, after not submitting a balanced budget or vetoing a spending bill for the past six years.
* Bush on "earmarks" in the budget: "You did not vote them into law. I did not sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice." Apparently, Dubbya has just discovered earmarks now that the Democrats are in control of Congress. How convenient. But I'll agree with him on this. Things that weren't voted for but that have the force of law are bad. Let's get rid of them. And while you're at it, why don't you end the signing statements where you say you don't have to obey any congressional enactment you don't agree with? No one voted them into law either.
* "For all other Americans, private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs." Spoken like a man who hasn't had to deal with an insurance company in his entire privileged life. Bush and most of the people in the room have great health insurance through the guvmint. Sorry, though. The rabble can't have it.
* "For too long, our nation has been dependent on foreign oil." Which is a real problem now that we've ticked off every oil-producing country in the world. Left out of the speech: "I know I've mentioned energy independence a lot before, but this time, I'm talking about reducing consumption by actual numbers, so you can believe me this time. Really. We just have to figure out a way to do it when Mr. Halliburton sitting behind me isn't looking." Well, at least mentioning ethanol made the Iowa delegation happy.
* Bush refers to "the serious challenge of global climate change." A challenge which he's been denying even existed.
* "We stopped an al Qaeda plot to fly a hijacked airplane into the tallest building on the West Coast. We broke up a Southeast Asian terrorist cell grooming operatives for attacks inside the United States. We uncovered an al Qaeda cell developing anthrax to be used in attacks against America. And just last August, British authorities uncovered a plot to blow up passenger planes bound for America over the Atlantic Ocean." None of these terrorists, we might add, came from Iraq. Looks like we're fighting them over there AND over here. So much for that talking point.
* On sectarian violence in Iraq: "This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in." We're in it, Mr. President, because we didn't plan for it. Or, more accurately, you didn't plan for it.
* "Iraq's leaders know that our commitment is not open-ended." Like it was before the election.
* "And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure." But that's what we got, thanks to the total chuckleheadedness of you, your vice president, and your secretary of defense, who thought we'd walk in, kick Saddam out, then the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds would all join hands and sing "God Bless America" followed by "Kum Bah Yah," after which we'd just pack up and go home to rest up for the invasion of Iran.
On the whole, though, it was a more conciliatory and reasonable speech than we've come to expect from The Decider. But this new reasonable Bush never fails to remind me of a line voiced by the character of The Misfit in Flannery O'Connor's short story, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find": "She would of been a good woman if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Bush might have been a better president if he'd been facing a Congress who'd hold him accountable every day of his life.
Friday, January 26, 2007
How We Just KNOW the Iraq 'Surge' Will Work
Because the Decider Says It Has To:
In an interview, Pelosi also said she was puzzled by what she considered the president's minimalist explanation for his confidence in the new surge of 21,500 U.S. troops that he has presented as the crux of a new 'way forward' for U.S. forces in Iraq.
'He's tried this two times — it's failed twice,' the California Democrat said. 'I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.' '
Asked if the president had elaborated, she added that he simply said, ' 'I told them that they had to.' That was the end of it. That's the way it is.
Oh, well then. Guess that settles everything. I feel MUCH better now.
Is there anyone who can get within a hundred yards of this idiot with the courage to convey to him the old adage: HOPE IS NOT A PLAN?
"I told them that they had to?" Jesus Christ. This is Hitler-in-the-Bunker level delusion. Next he'll be ordering non-existing units to deploy.
In an interview, Pelosi also said she was puzzled by what she considered the president's minimalist explanation for his confidence in the new surge of 21,500 U.S. troops that he has presented as the crux of a new 'way forward' for U.S. forces in Iraq.
'He's tried this two times — it's failed twice,' the California Democrat said. 'I asked him at the White House, 'Mr. President, why do you think this time it's going to work?' And he said, 'Because I told them it had to.' '
Asked if the president had elaborated, she added that he simply said, ' 'I told them that they had to.' That was the end of it. That's the way it is.
Oh, well then. Guess that settles everything. I feel MUCH better now.
Is there anyone who can get within a hundred yards of this idiot with the courage to convey to him the old adage: HOPE IS NOT A PLAN?
"I told them that they had to?" Jesus Christ. This is Hitler-in-the-Bunker level delusion. Next he'll be ordering non-existing units to deploy.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
They Have Rehab For That?
Grey's' Anatomy Star is in treatment :
Normally, I couldn't care less about what goes on on the set of Grey's Anatomy, I show I don't watch and probably never will. The recent kerfluffle over Isaiah Washington calling T.R. Knight a "faggot" barely registered on my radar. Or maybe the problem is he used the word "faggot" in denying he ever called Knight a faggot. I'm really not sure, because, as I said, I really haven't cared about a pissing match between two overpaid hack TV actors.
But now something has happened that just redlined my bullshit meter. According to the Associated Press, Washington is "in therapy for his use of an anti-gay slur against a castmate." He released this statement:
"'With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling. I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again,' Washington said in a statement Wednesday. 'I appreciate the fact that I have been given this opportunity and I remain committed to transforming my negative actions into positive results, personally and professionally.
Hey, Isaiah? I have your test results back. They say you're not sick, you're just an asshole. You don't need therapy, you just need to stop acting like an asshole. Hope this helps. You'll get my bill in the mail.
Normally, I couldn't care less about what goes on on the set of Grey's Anatomy, I show I don't watch and probably never will. The recent kerfluffle over Isaiah Washington calling T.R. Knight a "faggot" barely registered on my radar. Or maybe the problem is he used the word "faggot" in denying he ever called Knight a faggot. I'm really not sure, because, as I said, I really haven't cared about a pissing match between two overpaid hack TV actors.
But now something has happened that just redlined my bullshit meter. According to the Associated Press, Washington is "in therapy for his use of an anti-gay slur against a castmate." He released this statement:
"'With the support of my family and friends, I have begun counseling. I regard this as a necessary step toward understanding why I did what I did and making sure it never happens again,' Washington said in a statement Wednesday. 'I appreciate the fact that I have been given this opportunity and I remain committed to transforming my negative actions into positive results, personally and professionally.
Hey, Isaiah? I have your test results back. They say you're not sick, you're just an asshole. You don't need therapy, you just need to stop acting like an asshole. Hope this helps. You'll get my bill in the mail.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
More Trouble for D.A. In Duke Lacrosse Case
MSNBC.com: RALEIGH, N.C. - The state bar has added ethics charges to a complaint filed against the prosecutor who brought sexual assault charges against three Duke lacrosse players, accusing him of withholding DNA evidence and misleading the court.
The new charges by the North Carolina State Bar against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong were announced Wednesday and could lead to his removal from the state bar, according to a copy of the updated complaint.
Nifong’s office arranged for a private lab to conduct DNA testing as part of the investigation into allegations three men raped a 28-year-old woman hired to perform as a stripper at a party thrown by the lacrosse team last March.
Those tests uncovered genetic material from several men on the woman’s underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player. The bar complaint alleges those results weren’t released to defense lawyers in a timely fashion and that Nifong repeatedly said in court he had turned over all evidence that would potentially benefit the defense.
Nifong’s actions constitute a “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion ... prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the complaint read.
If he actually did withhold exculpatory evidence, I hope he does get disbarred. The rules are very clear:
A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate; the prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.
Commentary to NC State Bar, Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.8, "Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor."
Rule 3.8 itself says:
The prosecutor in a criminal case shall:
***
(d) after reasonably diligent inquiry, make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information required to be disclosed by applicable law, rules of procedure, or court opinions including all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense, and, in connection with sentencing, disclose to the defense and to the tribunal all unprivileged mitigating information known to the prosecutor, except when the prosecutor is relieved of this responsibility by a protective order of the tribunal.
These are not "technicalities". The people grant extraordinary amounts of power to a prosecutor. If that power gets abused to up the D.A.'s conviction rate or make them look good during an election, then fry their ass.
It's just a pity this sort of abuse only gets noticed when the Defendants are rich white kids.
The new charges by the North Carolina State Bar against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong were announced Wednesday and could lead to his removal from the state bar, according to a copy of the updated complaint.
Nifong’s office arranged for a private lab to conduct DNA testing as part of the investigation into allegations three men raped a 28-year-old woman hired to perform as a stripper at a party thrown by the lacrosse team last March.
Those tests uncovered genetic material from several men on the woman’s underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player. The bar complaint alleges those results weren’t released to defense lawyers in a timely fashion and that Nifong repeatedly said in court he had turned over all evidence that would potentially benefit the defense.
Nifong’s actions constitute a “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion ... prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the complaint read.
If he actually did withhold exculpatory evidence, I hope he does get disbarred. The rules are very clear:
A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an advocate; the prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. This responsibility carries with it specific obligations to see that the defendant is accorded procedural justice and that guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.
Commentary to NC State Bar, Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.8, "Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor."
Rule 3.8 itself says:
The prosecutor in a criminal case shall:
***
(d) after reasonably diligent inquiry, make timely disclosure to the defense of all evidence or information required to be disclosed by applicable law, rules of procedure, or court opinions including all evidence or information known to the prosecutor that tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense, and, in connection with sentencing, disclose to the defense and to the tribunal all unprivileged mitigating information known to the prosecutor, except when the prosecutor is relieved of this responsibility by a protective order of the tribunal.
These are not "technicalities". The people grant extraordinary amounts of power to a prosecutor. If that power gets abused to up the D.A.'s conviction rate or make them look good during an election, then fry their ass.
It's just a pity this sort of abuse only gets noticed when the Defendants are rich white kids.
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