I’m exhausted from another round-trip to Chicago, especially because I had Travel Nightmares in both directions. Total delay: 4 hours, 15 minutes. [I think you’ll think this one was worth it, though…] When someone accidentally deploys your airplane’s inflatable slide before you can board… well, it’s just not going to be a good day. Then again, I guess ANY deployment of your airplane’s slide, accidental or necessary, generally means your day isn’t going well.
But I wanted to get the ball rolling about this new classic:
“Declassifying information and providing it to the public when it is in the public interest is one thing,” McClellan told reporters during a combative briefing. “But leaking classified information that could compromise our national security is something that is very serious, and there’s a distinction.”
For one, when you think about it, the President does kinda have a Magic Wand of Declassification. But though this might sound appealing to World of Warcraft players [”Zap! You are now totally unclassifiable!”], it comes with a certain responsibility. Or it should, right?
So, when you decide to declassify information in order to provide it to the public when it is in the public interest (to coin a phrase), it oughta be detailed and, well, informative information. In this case, though, the Wand of Declassification was used thusly:
“Yipe! People are questioning how dangerous Iraq is! Dick, tell Scooter to tell Judy that the ultra-secret National Intelligence Estimate says that Iraq is totally dangerous!”
If anyone can explain to me how Bush selectively dribbling out that little splash of information serves any purpose other than, well, Bush’s… please do.
Still, I do need to pay the administration a compliment: The idea that the President cannot leak classified information because the act of the President communicating classified information in fact declassifies that information… well, that’s brilliant. It’s a koan of sorts, the sort of story that bashes you on the head with its serenely ridiculous completeness. And it also means this: So long as anything that was leaked to the press had as its source the President… well, then it wasn’t actually leaked at all.
And that’s a comfort.
Fanny Roborat
64 comments
Ann
April 7, 2006 at 6:14 pm
1There was a great discussion about this on NPR this morning. One caller made that clear distinction—when the president declassifies some information, he shares it with the world, because the point is to SHARE THE INFORMATION. When he leaks it secretly, it’s obvious that he has some other purpose…
cooper
April 7, 2006 at 7:11 pm
2Welcome back, Adam. If some yahoo is going to accidentally deploy the inflatable slide, it’s better to do that on the ground than in the air, that’s for sure.
On the topic of leaks, Diane Rehm’s first hour today was superb. I was especially thrilled by Congressman Neal Abercrombie’s call, which happened at approximately minute 18 of the program. Have a listen.
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/
Maximum Bob
April 7, 2006 at 7:18 pm
3Along with his other magic powers, does the president have the ability to bestow integrity and strength of character on himself? Because, you know, now would be a good time.
David
April 7, 2006 at 7:47 pm
4Very good, Maximum Bob.
I can’t get Diane Rehm on any of the area NPR stations (another distressing fact about life on the edge of the Green Swamp, sometimes referred to as Dumbassland). She and Helen Thomas are national treasures.
Scottie Mac’s press conferences are actually produced by Absurdist Entertainment, Ltd., aren’t they?
Lemuel
April 7, 2006 at 8:40 pm
5Hi, I’ve emailed this blog a couple of times by using a laptop that belonged to one of my uncle’s clients. My name is Lemuel. I’m emailing from my Blackberry as I am being driven down what has to be a badly rutted dirt road. I’m in the back of a pick-up truck, stuffed into a steamer trunk. There must have been another trunk also, with someone named Barry Mailer or Larry Naylor or something like that - I couldn’t hear him very well and he sounded like he had been drugged. He was babbling something about President Bush and humility and grace to feel ashamed of himself… It didn’t really make any sense to me, so I figured he was still kind of woozy. So am I. Anyway, we hit a big bump about 5 miles ago and his trunk bounced out of the back of the pick-up as we were going through one of the few south Texas desert towns. Talk about luck! His trunk split apart and I heard some of the townfolk shout in amazement as he stood up and brushed himself off.
I remember I was in the hospital in Austin; it seems that I had been attacked by some big mean dogs; dragged myself into a barn and slammed the door just before they attacked again; lights and sirens, we’re going fast on a smooth road like a dream; nice nurses - one was a pretty blonde - she gave me an IV line and injected something into the line and I slept and didn’t hurt anymore; someone pulling hard on my IV, I struggle, his shirt falls open, I see a gold chain and part of a tattoo on his chest - “…he Nec…” - he gives me a shot, but he’s a terrible nurse, but very strong I cannot fight he picks me up and I go black and I wake up in this trunk and Harry falls out and I’m still going down this rough road. Help me. Please.
Harold
April 8, 2006 at 8:01 am
6David, you can always go here:
http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/
(Accessed through http://www.npr.org/)
cooper
April 8, 2006 at 8:59 am
7East Coast afficianos of the Firesign Theatre, here is a rare opportunity to see your guys in person, as they perform a skit for the Library of Congress from “Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers” for preservation and posterity.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, April 11
WHERE: Members’ Room, first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. Enter the building on the ground level.
According to the press release, you can say you’re from Talon News and get in free to any event in the DC area, so give it a try.
They are still minus Phillip Austin, who’s being a bit of a poopyhead these days apparently. They’ll do the “Breakfast” scene and the “Porgy and Mudhead Jalopy” scene.
Shoes for Industry!
Lemuel
April 8, 2006 at 10:55 am
8Point taken, Mr. Felber. Apologies to the management. Future posts will try to keep creative thinking outside the box, but not over the line.
Hot Tub Tommy
April 8, 2006 at 12:12 pm
9Folks, Lemuel, after stealing the laptop, also stumbled onto the stash of brown acid made famous by the stage announcement at Woodstock (I have no idea where Jack got that, but his inprobable, clandestine friendship with the late Hunter S. Thompson is beginning to make sense). Lemuel is currently recovering south of the border, at a clinic of last resort.
Move on now, folks. There’s nothing to see. Move on. Keep moving, everything’s under control. All is well.
Tom DeLay, Citizen/Lobbyist
David
April 8, 2006 at 12:22 pm
10Harold,
Thanks for the link.
Adam,
A most unkindest cut for a Katie Couric prognostication. Still, congrats on a show that lived up to your advanced billing. And since my Gators were a Lightning Fill in the Blank item, life is good.
Did Tom DeLay pull off one of the wings and then watch the fly try to fly?
David
April 8, 2006 at 12:26 pm
11That should be Tom DeLay, Philanthropic Private Citizen/Public-Spirited Christ-Like Lobbyist
Sharon
April 8, 2006 at 2:53 pm
12WWDTM aired here in my corner of CT just over an hour ago, and I was delighted to find that I knew the answers to a lot of the questions, not by virtue of listening to NPR News so much as by hanging out here at FA.
Congratulations on another win, Adam!
hedera
April 8, 2006 at 3:06 pm
13I just listened to WWDTM too, and I have to take issue with Adam’s nasty remarks about sewage treatment plants. I concede there are a minority like this, but I’ve spent a couple of pleasant hours touring the Arcata, California sewage treatment plant, which is an honest-to-God swamp (wetland for the politically correct), with resident wildlife, migrating birds, etc. If properly set up, a wetland makes an extremely effective part of a sewage treatment plant. I believe more communities are considering this.
The only reason you can’t say, “The loons are back!” is because loons don’t come to California.
nigel
April 8, 2006 at 4:22 pm
14At the same time, the administration and GOP-controlled congress have made another koan more comprehensible: what is the sound of one hand clapping?
Old Mother Felber
April 8, 2006 at 5:39 pm
15“….The only reason you can’t say, “The loons are back!” is because loons don’t come to California.”
Respectfully disagree, Hedera.
After all, Adam’s there.
(tee hee)
(Snarkily said, yes. But I told him and told him to stay on the Right Coast. But who listens to a mother, right?)
cooper
April 8, 2006 at 5:44 pm
16bloggingheads.tv has landed its first woman diavlogger - Jacqueline Shire! For those suffering a rainy Saturday - http://bloggingheads.tv/ for a spirited discussion on Iran & India revving up their nuclear programs.
Adam Felber
April 8, 2006 at 6:57 pm
17Let’s have a great weekend folks! Relax, take a dip, let those shoulders drop a li’l.
Lemuel - I don’t know what you’re talking about. But, okay!
David - Katie’s colonoscopy was big news, and it’s gotta be fair game, right? I didn’t even think it was unkind - more of a reference, not a dig: where’s the insult?
hedera - once again, I don’t get it. Sewage treatment plants come in all shapes and smells and levels of toxicity. But even if they were ALL like the one you linked (where I’ll BE next week, by the way!), I wouldn’t think that Gale Norton should take credit for creating wetlands when she in fact presided over and abetted so much destruction. To quote an analysis of the claim:
“Neither the report nor the celebration kept natural wetlands like bogs, swamps, ponds, marshes and fens from suffering a steep decline. The nation lost 523,000 acres since 1997 — and that doesn’t include the devastation of coastal wetlands hurricanes Katrina and Rita left in their wake.
About 715,000 acres of decorative ponds at posh housing developments and water traps at golf courses accounted for the national milestone. Retention ponds to hold stormwater and sewage effluent also helped.”
Anyway, and mostly:
It’s all just comedy, folks, and off-the-cuff at that (even the Prediction is something we hear about 10 minutes before showtime…). At its best, it qualifies as satire. Maybe. I hereby pledge to keep saying things that might be off the mark or offend some people. It’s the only way I know to manufacture Funny.
Harold
April 8, 2006 at 7:58 pm
18Lemuel - may I call you Mr. Gulliver? - did you perhaps have an unfortunate encounter with Fannie the post-eating rat? I think we all have, at one time or another, had a particularly witty and lengthy comment get whiffed into non-existence by the anti-spam protections. ‘Taint notin’ personal, it happens to us all.
Lemuel
April 8, 2006 at 10:11 pm
19Harold, did you see my post yesterday? Did you actually read it? I thought I was hallucinating. It was there in the comments and then it wasn’t and then it was and now it’s not… I first thought Mr. Felber gave it the hook, but apparently not. Anyway, I think Mr. DeLay no longer likes me. Okay, I admit I’ve been pouring the dregs of my cappicinos into his 37 year old philodendron by mistake and now it’s dead, but, hey, these things happen. Besides, the planter didn’t have a warning sticker that says “Don’t pour coffee dregs here”, so how was I to know? Or maybe it was the fire.
Anyway, Mr. Neck says I need to stay calm and rest and he’s giving me shots that help alot. He says I’m at a spa in Oxaca and the armed guards are for my protection. Well, I certainly am relaxed, Ha, Ha, Ha. Maybe Mr. DeLay should go to a spa like this. He seems to be wound very tight these days. He must have a lot on his mind. I think some of what’s bothering him is he can’t find the passcodes to some sort of offshore accounts or thingies. Oh well, it’s sleepy time.
Harold
April 8, 2006 at 10:33 pm
20Lemuel, I’m sorry, I didn’t get a chance to see your post. So maybe you ARE hallucinating…
Lemuel
April 8, 2006 at 11:25 pm
21Oh - my - God… The post is back. Harold, does #5 still start with “Hi, I’ve emailed…” and say “posted by Lemuel” at the end? I swear that sometimes it’s there and sometimes not. Okay, no more StarBucks for me and whatever those little brown pieces of paper with the picture of Mr. Natural and wrapped up by that sheet of paper with all those series of numbers and letters are, I’m not eating them anymore, either. Now, I’m going to get a good night’s sleep and look again in the morning. Sweet Jesus, be there for me.
SeattleDan
April 8, 2006 at 11:29 pm
22Just maybe it was the brown acid,then,that HTT alluded to in his post.But Lemuel, I didn’t see your post either.In the time I’ve been here,I’ve never seen anything deleted or yanked by our most gracious host.I think your’s was lost to the ether…and is now in the AG’s email inbox.
Harold
April 9, 2006 at 12:27 am
23No, what I see for #5 is, in fact, a comment written by…me.
Perhaps #5 is a “magic” comment, which will always appear to have been written by the reader? Does anyone else see something different for comment #5?
SeattleDan
April 9, 2006 at 2:25 am
24Near as I can tell,Harold,you’re number 5.
David
April 9, 2006 at 8:34 am
25Adam,
No question that Katie’s colonoscopy was fair game, and I am the last person in the world who would want you to even consider reining in your wit in any way, shape, or fashion. If anything, just the opposite. But it was an unkind cut (to which she did leave herself open, so to speak). Hopefully, she would (or did) laugh at it - otherwise she could not survive in the public arena. I just went “Ouch” when you offered said prognostication.
David
April 9, 2006 at 8:38 am
26Off topic,
For any interested Felbernaut, here’s Sy Hersh (sp? dammit) on the gathering storm between Bush and the admittedly looney new Iranian president (Nuclear Tango for Two, anyone?): http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12645.htm
David
April 9, 2006 at 8:41 am
27Possible movie: The Madness of President George.
Lemuel
April 9, 2006 at 12:21 pm
28From: the Desk of Alberto Gonzales:
To: Vice President Richard B. Cheney:
Dick, I say we screen shit like this and keep it off the net for the time being. We have to pretend that Tom DeLay is a pariah, even though he gave you that great looking 12 gauge with the laser scope and the computerized satellite pen-raised avian tracking device. We have to do our part to run cover for him when possible.
Sorry, I can’t go trap-shooting with you this or the next 17 weekends, but do have a good time with Tom.
Sincerely,
Al Gonz the Att. Gen.
Hi, I’ve emailed this blog a couple of times by using a laptop that belonged to one of my uncle’s clients. My name is Lemuel. I’m emailing from my Blackberry as I am being driven down what has to be a badly rutted dirt road. I’m in the back of a pick-up truck, stuffed into a steamer trunk. There must have been another trunk also, with someone named Barry Mailer or Larry Naylor or something like that - I couldn’t hear him very well and he sounded like he had been drugged. He was babbling something about President Bush and humility and grace to feel ashamed of himself… It didn’t really make any sense to me, so I figured he was still kind of woozy. So am I. Anyway, we hit a big bump about 5 miles ago and his trunk bounced out of the back of the pick-up as we were going through one of the few south Texas desert towns. Talk about luck! His trunk split apart and I heard some of the townfolk shout in amazement as he stood up and brushed himself off.
I remember I was in the hospital in Austin; it seems that I had been attacked by some big mean dogs; dragged myself into a barn and slammed the door just before they attacked again; lights and sirens, we’re going fast on a smooth road like a dream; nice nurses - one was a pretty redhead - she gave me an IV line and injected something into the line and I slept and didn’t hurt anymore; someone pulling hard on my IV, I struggle, his shirt falls open, I see a gold chain and part of a tattoo on his chest - “…he Nec…” - he gives me a shot, but he’s a terrible nurse, but very strong and I cannot fight he picks me up and I go black and I wake up in this trunk and Harry falls out and I’m still going down this rough road. Help me. Please.
Posted by Lemuel on April 7, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Alberto Gonzales, AG
April 9, 2006 at 12:45 pm
29ooops…
Alberto Gonzales, AG
April 9, 2006 at 2:05 pm
30From: the Desk of Alberto Gonzales:
To: Vice President Richard B. Cheney:
Dick, I say we screen shit like this and keep it off the net for the time being. We have to pretend that Tom DeLay is a parriah, even though he gave you that great looking 12 gauge with the laser scope and the computerized sattelite pen-raised avian tracking device. We have to do our part to run cover for him when possible.
Sorry, I can’t go trap-shooting with you this or the next 17 weekends, but have a good time with Tom.
Sincerely,
Al Gonz the Att. Gen.
Hi, I’ve emailed this blog a couple of times by using a laptop that belonged to one of my uncle’s clients. My name is Lemuel. I’m emailing from my Blackberry as I am being driven down what has to be a badly rutted dirt road. I’m in the back of a pick-up truck, stuffed into a steamer trunk. There must have been another trunk also, with someone named Barry Mailer or Larry Naylor or something like that - I couldn’t hear him very well and he sounded like he had been drugged. He was babbling something about President Bush and humility and grace to feel ashamed of himself… It didn’t really make any sense to me, so I figured he was still kind of woozy. So am I. Anyway, we hit a big bump about 5 miles ago and his trunk bounced out of the back of the pick-up as we were going through one of the few south Texas desert towns. Talk about luck! His trunk split apart and I heard some of the townfolk shout in amazement as he stood up and brushed himself off.
I remember I was in the hospital in Austin; it seems that I had been attacked by some big mean dogs; dragged myself into a barn and slammed the door just before they attacked again; lights and sirens, we’re going fast on a smooth road like a dream; nice nurses - one was a pretty blonde - she gave me an IV line and injected something into the line and I slept and didn’t hurt anymore; someone pulling hard on my IV, I struggle, his shirt falls open, I see a gold chain and part of a tattoo on his chest - “…he Nec…” - he gives me a shot, but he’s a terrible nurse, but very strong I cannot fight he picks me up and I go black and I wake up in this trunk and Harry falls out and I’m still going down this rough road. Help me. Please.
Posted by Lemuel on April 7, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Alberto Gonzales, AG
April 9, 2006 at 2:46 pm
31EYES ONLY
From: Alberto Gonzales
To: Vice President Richard B. Cheney
Dick, I say we start screening shit like this and keep it off the net for the time being. We have to pretend that Tom DeLay is a pariah, even though he gave you that great looking 12 gauge with the laser scope and the computerized satellite pen-raised avian tracking device. We have to do our part to run cover for him, when possible.
Sorry I can’t go trap-shooting with you this or for the next 27 weekends, but do have a good time with Tom.
Sincerely,
AlGonz the AG
Hi, I’ve emailed this blog a couple of times by using a laptop that belonged to one of my uncle’s clients. My name is Lemuel. I’m emailling from my Blackberry as I am being driven down what must be a badly rutted dirt road. I’m in the back of a pick-up truck, stuffed into a steamer trunk. There must be another trunk also, with someone named Barry Mailer or Larry Naylor or something like that - I couldn’t hear him very well and he sounded like he had been drugged. He was babbling something about President Bush and humility and grace to feel ashamed of himself… It didn’t really make any sense to me, so I figured he was still kind of woozy. So am I. Anyway we hit a big bump about 5 miles ago and his trunk bounced off the back of the pick-up as we passed through one of the few south Texas desert towns. Talk about the luck! His trunk broke open and I heard some of the townfolks shouting in amazement when he got up and dusted himself off.
I remember I was in the hospital in Austin; it seemed that I had been attacked by some big mean dogs; dragged myself into the barn and slammed the door just before they attacked again; lights and sirens, we’re going fast on a smooth road like a dream; nice nurses - one was a pretty redhead - she gave me an IV line and injected something into the line and I slept and didn’t hurt anymore; Someone pulling hard on my IV, I struggle, his shirt falls open and I see a gold chain and part of a tattoo - “..he Nec…” - he gives me a shot, but he is a terrible nurse, but very strong I cannot fight he picks me up and I go black and I wake up in this trunk and Harry falls out and I’m still going down this rough road. Help me. Please.
Alberto Gonzales, AG
April 9, 2006 at 2:52 pm
32I forget. Which button do I push to e-mail the VP’s top secret website, Rosemary? Is it this one or that one? What, neither? Ah, Jeez!
Tippy-Top Secret VP HQ
April 9, 2006 at 3:19 pm
33Hello, this is the VP’s top-secret e-mail client. The vice-president can’t come to the computer at the moment, as he’s busily planning the war on Iran and subsequent “Mission Accomplished: This Time, For Sure” party. But if you leave your e-mail address and a short, supportive message, the vice-president will send you a canned response not unlike this one. And if it’s a non-supportive message, he just might go quail hunting, if you catch my drift.
cooper
April 9, 2006 at 3:50 pm
34Looks like our government is re-doubling its efforts again.
Adam Felber
April 9, 2006 at 4:11 pm
35David -
I hear that. And with the amount of cancer I’ve seen in my own life, among my own family, blessedly detected and tragically undetected, and being a doctor’s son… I’m a pretty strong advocate of early detection.
Still, if I hold to one guiding principle in my life, it is this: When a public figure has something stuck up their butt on national television, for whatever reason, it’s okay to make a joke or two about it.
Not an especially useful guiding principle in most situations. But you gotta stand by your beliefs when the opportunity arises.
siobhan
April 9, 2006 at 5:24 pm
36Playing catch-up after spending all day birding yesterday… Adam, do take a stroll through Arcata Marsh when you’re there. My dad and my husband, both civilians (i.e., non-birders) enjoyed it as much as I did. I agree that golf courses and landscape ponds shouldn’t count as wetlands, but I gotta tell you: many water/sewage treatment plants are great spots for waterfowl. Check the calendar of almost any Audubon chapter in the country and you’ll find trips scheduled to the local water treatment facilities during migration. Don’t dis our sewage ponds, man!
cooper
April 9, 2006 at 7:05 pm
37Adam, I say stand your ground on the colonoscopy flap. Katie chose to open herself up (so to speak) to praise for her courage to have the procedure done on TV but (so to speak) also, to the people of funny.
Lemuel
April 9, 2006 at 7:31 pm
38I’m on the back of a farm truck, loaded with chicken cages stacked five high, heading north towards the border. While I was asleep last night, the guards came into my room and ransacked the place, looking for any money I might have. Well, that added up to a big fat zero, since Mr. DeLay wouldn’t pay me after that last explosion and then he threw me to the dogs. The guards did find the Mr. Natural tabs and they ate them all and then went outside and emptied their gun clips into the night sky. Well, of course, I couldn’t sleep through all that but by the time I got outside, they had stripped off their clothes and were on all fours, sniffing the tires and each other’s butts. I put on a uniform, hopped into the nearest F-150 and drove as fast as I could, making sure to keep Polaris straight ahead in the windshield. I ran out of gas after 6 hours and got a lift from these farmers, who are going to Nogales. I should be stateside again by dark. Thanks for your best wishes and kind thoughts.
Maximum Bob
April 9, 2006 at 9:25 pm
39Still, if I hold to one guiding principle in my life, it is this: When a public figure has something stuck up their butt on national television, for whatever reason, it’s okay to make a joke or two about it.
People have started major religions on less.
David
April 9, 2006 at 10:06 pm
40Maximum Bob,
You win, hands down (or cheeks spread)…
ginny
April 9, 2006 at 10:18 pm
41Thank Lobster for the Sunday night re-broadcast. I’m sitting here freaking out about that Hersh piece, too. And the funny helps, but I’m still thinking if we ever really drop the Bomb on another city full of living, breathing human beans, I’m outta here. Global warming and an administration with a Messianic nuclear bomb complex make Canada more and more attractive.
waterfowler
April 10, 2006 at 5:32 am
42“Presided over and abetted so much destruction”??
I guess that’s just a “given”, since she’s not a lefty. Adam, I don’t buy the feds line either on net gain, but c’mon.
Also, the “devastation” of wetlands by the hurricanes is more than likely a “refresher”, just as fires are to forests and prairies. Sure, the influx of salt water did damage to fresh water marshes, but some of them had been so choked w/ foreign vegetation that they actually needed the enema.
Hedera, this is exactly what I’m talking about when I say we, “U.S.” do things right for the most part. Save the wetlands by contributing to D.U. That’s Ducks Unlimited, not the Dem sewer.
waterfowler
April 10, 2006 at 5:50 am
43How did we get so far from “the Monkey leaked!! He’s a traitor!! He should be hung!!”?
cooper
April 10, 2006 at 7:35 am
44David, my apologies. I had not read your post #24 before I wrote my colonoscopy piece (perhaps that’s not the best mental image). Mea culpa. You were first - that’s your joke.
Okay, boys and girls. Mark your calendar and then sit down. I agree with waterfowler - somewhat. I would vigorously argue that the lost of an ecologically diverse wetland that is thousands of years in the making, only to be filled in and paved over to build more seaside condos is a much greater loss that a water hazard on the par five 13th hole can be considered a gain. From what I read of fowler’s argument, he agrees with that line of thought. I, also, very much agree that hurricanes play a vital role in shaping the shoreline ecology. Fowler’s right about invasive species taking over native habitat - but as far as that goes, hurricanes both bringeth and taketh away. And finally, (Jees it hurts to say this) from the standpoint of a net environmental gain, he’s also right about your money going to Ducks Unlimited as opposed to any political party.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go purify myself with a 3 day fast, high colonics, and saunas complete with birch bow whips.
BTW, waterfowler, did you see this week’s Sunday “Non Sequitur” on the comic page? Mr. Bush is indeed a “yes” monkey to Mr. Cheney, who’s, quite fittingly, drawn as a mole.
David
April 10, 2006 at 8:31 am
45I gotta admit that a hurricane is far better for a coastline than the activities of entrepeneurs. Lobster was trying to tell us something with the hurricane three decades back that turned that motel on the beach into a fish reef. This is not to make light of the devastation to unprivileged folk living relatively unobtrusively along the Gulf Coast.
Waterfowler, sewer applies much more accurately to the national Republican than the Democratic Party, or are you not following the news?
Entertainingly written piece by Elizabeth de la Vega, with an intro by Tom Engelhardt, on the Leak that’s not a Leak:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=76008
David
April 10, 2006 at 8:39 am
46Then National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice appeared on NBC‘s “Meet the Press” on June 8 to rebut the charges, making her famous “maybe someone knew down in the bowels of the agency” comment about the CIA.
Adam,
You might have been on to something I overlooked with your Katie Couric prognositication. Perhaps when she becomes the CBS Evening News anchor, she’ll lead the way in exploring what can be learned by looking into the bowels of various federal agencies. Might even help Condi out in her efforts to get a clue.
Mary
April 10, 2006 at 9:20 am
47Ducks Unlimited does do a good job of protecting wetlands but not a single sewage plant near me is anything you would want to hangout near. The vats of churning sewage are NOT wetlands. Not any more than a water hazard or an ornamental pond is. Actually, less.
My money goes to the wetland preservation organizations. I don’t expect a politician to do that.
Adam- great job on the lightning round. You rock!!!
Steve
April 10, 2006 at 11:38 am
48I thought Adam’s Katie prognostication was amusing. I thought Mo Rocca’s was lame.
. . . And, Adam — miss one on the Lightning Fill in the Blank once and a while or Elliot Spitzer may start an investigation. You remember what happened to Charles Van Doren, right?
Oh, and while I’m at it — thanks for one of the best comments sections in all Blogsylvania, both in quality and in the neat “instant preview”. If you have any influence with Arianna Huffington’s HuffPo, you might help them out, since they have one of the worst user interfaces on the planet.
waterfowler
April 10, 2006 at 3:13 pm
49Mary, check up on Hedera’s sewage plant and get one started in your neck of the woods. Also, “preservation” is a lost cause, it’s impossible. Take away every human on the planet and you still cannot “preserve” the environment. “Conservation” is the only real solution.
My apologies Coop. Now you’ll probably get whipped @ Felberpalooza.
David, I swear you are probably my older sister. The Repugs are in power. That’s why they dominate the news. And don’t misread Repugs. While I’m not real happy w/ them, it’s because they get to D.C. and start acting like Dems. There must be some sort of castration agreement @ congressional orientations. Otherwise, we would control our own borders.
Adam Felber
April 10, 2006 at 5:36 pm
50I don’t really disagree with waterfowler about much of this either. Though I’ll stand by my criticism of what’s happened on Norton’s watch. Half a million acres of old wetlands being destroyed cannot be ameliorated by new ‘wetlands.’ Not all sewage and runoff ponds are Arcata, and a golf course is a very limited sort of “ecosystem.”
And fowler - don’t keep assuming that I’m a relentless party booster. Just because the guys in power are making a mess of things doesn’t mean I’ll be all “rah-rah” when the Democrats take over again. Wait n’ see.
siobhan
April 10, 2006 at 5:37 pm
51Google “birding sewage treatment ponds” and you get 800,000+ hits. One of the better birds to show up in California last year, a Baikal Teal, turned up at one in Lompoc. I love going to natural wetlands, and I’m glad they’ve preserved so many in our area. But since we gotta get rid of this shit somehow, it’s nice that something good can come out of it.
Okay, I’ll stop now.
David
April 10, 2006 at 8:46 pm
52I thought your colonoscopy comment fit right in with the flow of things. I knew you hadn’t read mine yet. I didn’t see nuthin’ wrong.
Waterfowler,
Your older sister? Must be a pretty cool individual (that’s my assumption, and I’m sticking with it since you suspect I’m she - she isn’t 64, a retired teacher, and living on the edge of the Green Swamp here in what is becoming godforsaken Central Florida as the bulldozers and the developers have their way with quite literally every square inch of the place, is she?)
Trivia note: seminal work on treating sewage in a three-stage process (our 1920s septic tank system at the family homestead was a tertiary system, interestingly) that produced effluent it was safe to drink was done at the University of Central Florida (formerly Florida Technological University, and known as the Golden Knights because the Fightin’ Buzzards lost in the student voting, dammit).
cooper
April 10, 2006 at 10:37 pm
53Hey David, I went to the University of Central Florida back in the 1970’s when it was called Mid-Florida Tech and we didn’t need no stinkin’ mascot. “Flesh Eatin’ Buzzards” would have won, I’m sure of it. Is this where you taught?
hedera
April 11, 2006 at 12:52 am
54Waterfowler, one of the few points on which I agree with you wholeheartedly is the good work done by Ducks Unlimited. I would agree with you more that “we, “U.S.” do things right for the most part” if Arcata’s plant and the one siobhan mentioned in Lompoc weren’t the only sewage treatment swamps I know of in the entire state of California, a place of which the entire south end of the central valley was once a wetland (ever hear of Tule Lake? It’s spelled “Bakersfield”…).
My favorite student mascot is the UC Santa Cruz banana slug - I refer you to their wonderful web site, www.goslugs.com. My favorite student mascot story dates from the time the management of the Leland Stanford Junior University decided that their long-term mascot, the Indian, was too too politically incorrect. To a man (generically speaking), the student body voted to call the team the Robber Barons; but the administration wouldn’t let them have it, and they ended up with the Cardinals, a bird that doesn’t even overwinter in California… at least not at low elevations.
siobhan
April 11, 2006 at 1:05 am
55Hedera, I can think of many other good water treatment plants… Lodi, always a champion; Blythe, Tiburon, Bolinas… blah blah blah I said I’d stop and now I really will.
But I think Tule Lake still exists, unless there were two. Well, there were two - there were many tule lakes in the state; but I don’t know if there was more than one called Tule Lake. There is still a Tule Lake up in the Klamath Basin. (You know, the place where the water is being diverted, killing off the salmon run, and thus creating havoc for salmon fishermen up and down the coast.) That’s a non-success story on water issues, so we’re back to where we started on this line of thought.
cooper
April 11, 2006 at 7:17 am
56hedera, where I went to school, the occasional soccer team (when enough players could be rounded up to actually play a game, and not forfeit it) was called the Goddard Gods. I have always admired the Banana Slugs, but the Robber Barons would have been right up there.
David
April 11, 2006 at 10:52 am
57Cooper,
Mid-Florida Tech was (still is) a different school (on Oak Ridge Road in Orlando). FTU, now UCF, is out east of Orlando near Oviedo (former celery capital of the world - the bank’s exterior sign featured a stalk of celery).
hedera,
Always loved the Banana Slugs. Didn’t know about the Robber Barons. That’s great. The trivia question I used to nail my colleagues with: Is the University of Southern California a public or a private university? I assume this is a mystery only east of the Missississippi River.
Meanwhile, huzzahs for our Leaker-in-Chief, who was just trying to get information out that the public needed to know, Lobster love his public-spirited essence (or did he just fart in our faces?)
David
April 11, 2006 at 7:40 pm
58Cooper,
I didn’t teach at UCF. A very close friend was a biology prof there, but I was up the road a piece at Lake-Sumter Community College in Leesburg (Florida, not Virginia).
cooper
April 12, 2006 at 9:06 pm
59David, since you’re on the edge of the Green Swamp and you taught at a school in Leesburg, might one assume that you live in that general vicinity now? My sister just moved back to Florida (DeBary) after 33 years as an elementary school guidance counselor in Gwinnett County, GA - north of HotLanta.
David
April 13, 2006 at 9:43 am
60Yes, Cooper. DeBary is over on the East-West and up I-4 and 17-92 about 45 minutes from Clermont (an hour if it’s close to the end of the month and the people with the blue light special interceptors are behind in their quotas).
Murray
April 15, 2006 at 6:48 pm
61If you leave picking a mascot up to the students, the next thing you know you’re the Trinity Trolls. (class of 74, my son, class of 97)
Murray
April 15, 2006 at 7:08 pm
62It’s a little hard to defend the administration’s attempt to REDEFINE wetlands. If every time you go somewhere your boot sinks into ankle deep muck, it’s easy to call it a wetland. On the other hand many wetlands are vernal (wet in the spring). They have wetland plants, insects, birds, and even mammals, they perform the same function as a wetland (even if it isn’t full time). So in the past these were classified as wetlands. This administration set the bar much lower and started to call most of these “drylands” - “Dick, fire up the grader”!
Murray
April 15, 2006 at 7:10 pm
63I saw my first banana slug in the Muir Woods on Thursday.
I would have preferred more banana and less slug.
David
April 16, 2006 at 11:05 am
64I would have preferred more banana and less slug.
Sounds like something a fellow member of the White House press corps might have whispered to the Hot Military Stud/Former Favorite of Scottie Mac.