Question

I don’t usually watch W under any circumstances, drinking game or no. But when I asked my hubby whether he wanted to watch this year’s SOTU, he said “With 28% approval ratings? You bet!” So that explains 2 people out of the marginal 4 million. And a bibulous time was had by all.

There’s a bit of the “knitting at the execution” feel to the numbers of viewers for the SOTU. We probably wanted to see if he would cry as he begged for support for his escalation of the war effort. It would have been entertaining viewing indeed if W had sqirmed and jiggled his change in his pockets while coming up with reasons to prove that *this time* he’s got a plan.

I think it is good so many people watched. Hopefully they were saying to themselves, “We can’t EVER let this happen again!” I know I watch because it is good to see and hear what the idiot/enemy is saying. I am better able to talk to his followers intelligently if I know what he really said.

I watched, but I didn’t get far.

When Bush said that he planned to “balance the budget,” my hand paused in mid-sip.

I don’t remember anything after his follow up statement, “and we’ll do it without raising taxes.”

So, I guess for me personally, watching the SOTUS was to have a valid excuse reason to “forget most of the address.”

Oh, and also to necessitate a good cleaning of my abode the next day, and to buy a brand new television. (do they make screens out of plexiglass these days?)

Dee, maybe you mistook this for the Oscars?

Isn’t it obvious? The ratings skyrocketed because everyone was playing the State of the Union drinking game.

In fact, we played the dual State of the Union/NHL All-Stars Superskills Competition drinking game, listening to the speech on the radio, with the TV muted. Sometimes it seemed like Bush was supplying play-by-play commentary, but that was after we’d played a few rounds, to be totally honest.

WF, we have the same bumper sticker in the Bay Area, only it’s missing the word “Savin’.”

Hmmm … what’s changed - why I believe the answer is right in that li’l ol’ paragraph … “… the newly Democratic-controlled Congress …” Maybe people’s anticipation of Cheney’s mug at having to sit atop the proceedings with Madame Speaker was just too irresistible.

Harold and Dale,

The duel is on? On the Plains of Grouseland? Does Murray have jousting cycles? Or will it be the Alexander Hamilton-Aaron Burr pistols? Inquiring minds and the designated best person want to know, especially if it is my duty to officiate the showdown for Lady Ann’s…uh…hand.

Adam,

Who the hell knows?

Wait, is this a contest over me? It’s just getting more and more confusing. My alter ego is about to swoon. And since Harold has never declared his intentions, while Dale and I are more or less betrothed, it just seems so unlikely.

Although I’m sure that gay marriage leads to group marriage in someone’s fevered imagination, so maybe that’s what we should be contemplating. Harold, gown or tux?

As for the SOTU address, I’m sure that people who didn’t watch Dubya previously because they were frustrated about being in the minority (”This guy’s a moron”) are watching him now because they feel vindicated (”See, I told you he’s a moron!”). I just wish he’d quit doing that lip-protruding thing. Looks like the salt monster from Star Trek.

I’m sure the religious right wouldn’t have too much of a problem with group marriage since it’s allowed in the old testament.

Of course the group marriage would have to consist of one man and as many women as is necessary to support his ass within his ability to support.

It appears that you three fit the minimum requirements. Masletov! (or however that’s spelled).

I think people watched out of shear fascination of what this guy is doing. Likewise the stakes seemed to be raised this year. Instead GW saying “stay the course”, it almost more of a “**** this better work or else were screwed” (in respect to 20,000 more troops)

January 25, 2007

Dear Diary,

Did you see who they had me sitting beside at the SOTU Tuesday night? Michael Fucking Chertoff. Mr. Personality, himself; and his breath - Sweet jesus, it would strip the varnish right off of a canoe paddle. Someone give him a breath mint. Whoa!

And Elaine Chou - What a bitch! Excuse me. What a B-I-T-C-H!!! Married to Rep Mitch McConnell, now there’s a couple. I bet their house pet is a feral wolverine and they keep a barracuda in their fucking fishtank. I can truthfully say those two deserve each other.

One interesting thing I learned in the last Cabinet meeting; Robert Gates can catch a fly - in flight - with his left hand. I wonder where that goes on one’s resume. That’s just the sort of parlor trick that would get W’s attention (for 15 seconds, at least). You don’t think that’s how Gates got nominated…. Nah, not even W would be that shallow, you think?

BTW, I got my official nickname from Bush today - “Ol’ Blue Eyes”. I’m not old, dammit! Of course I had to smile and take it gracefully, while the other yahoos, yes men, and brown nosers slapped each other on the back and rolled on the floor in feigned hysteria. Assholes. And these guys are running the country?!! Jesus. Running it into the ground, I’d say.

I’d better stop here. The boys in NSA won’t like it when they read this (and they probably will). No need looking for trouble.

Dirk K

Dale, Ann and Harold, I’d be happy to officiate a “group” marriage for you. But do we have to go to Utah for it to be official?

JJ, my congressman is McDermott. I think he’s probably already read McGovern’s book. But he might enjoy a good Aramaic grammar book.

Interesting, siobhan. Maybe the Scooter Libby trial will be more intriguing than I thought it would be.

Ann, while I’m sure I would fill out a gown quite nicely, I believe I’ll stick with a tux. With a veil, in deference to all. (Somewhere out there there’s video of me doing a drunken rant while wearing a friend’s bridal veil. I think I have it.)

And I was so looking forward to a Most Dangerous Game / Man With the Golden Gun -style running duel/manhunt on the grounds of Grouseland, with Thicket the Owl being allowed to dine on the loser. The rope swing down at the pond would provide a dramatic moment to be sure.

Dale, I’ve never put siding on a house, though I have painted a porch a lovely shade of blue.

Condoleezza as VP? That might explain the look on her face during the address, when it looked like she was trying to make someone’s head explode with the power of her mind. But whose? Was she trying to telepathically remove Cheney? Silence Bush before he could commit her to anything? Destroy Pelosi for getting to be so close to her husband?

siobhan,
Sure would help explain John McCain’s open attacks on Cheney. McCain/Rice ‘08? Wonder how that would poll both with R primary voters and in the general election. Rice does represent the ISG group, and though she is a neocon Vulcan, and essentially incompetent in every administrative position she’s held, as well as an incomptetent sovietologist, she is a slick political animal.

Clinton/Obama v. McCain/Rice? A very high profile shootout with all kinds of story lines for the press maw. And celebrity does trump everything. Just ask the Donald.

Harold,
Most Dangerous Game for Lady Ann’s alter ego? I like it… if I get filming rights. Have to see if Murray will allow Cheney rules and winner has to shoot loser in the face (you’d both have to dress as grouses). He might limit it to paintball (ooooh, the palette).

Harold, I really like it. We’ll go infrared for the battle of the nerves.

Everybody, hold a good thought for B.B. King, who’s been hospitalized at the University of Texas medical center in Galveston. Waterfowler, send as much Texas mojo as possible.

They’re similar, Cooper, but the main difference between Aramaic and Bushspeak is that there was a time when people understood Aramaic.

i’d like to think it’s because the public wants to make sure he knows that he’s our bitch and not the other way around.

I was temporarily dumbstruck by the idea of a SOTU speech where the figures sitting behind the president were both female. Even though I’m not fond of Condoleeza Rice, the image is sort of breathtaking for someone who accurately predicted the outcome of the King/Riggs game in 6th grade.

Of course they’d still be standing behind a white male; that made my eyes focus again.

But…I’d hate to be the cartoonist trying to figure out how to preserve good taste while indicate the presence of a puppeteer’s hand…

David, a prayer (or a toast, or a good thought) for B.B. and also for Molly. Though I’ve never agreed w/ her, she is in a class w/ Ma Richards and most of my aunts. It’s still yes ma’am / no ma’am.

Oh, I adore Miz Molly. She’s brilliant. And I’ve always agreed with her! Lobster bless her big ol’ heart.

Lobster bless Miz Molly and bring her through again, we need her.

Google News tells me that our Fearless Whatever has learned a little more English: he now says that he’s “the decision-maker”, no longer “the decider”… Chicago Tribune, today

Waterfowler, your comment about Miss Molly, Ma Richards, and your aunts is one of the great things about being born and raised in the South. Certainly it’s not exclusive to us - there’s a whole world of people in New Jersey I knew when I was there that the rest of the country appears to be unaware of - but it is one of the great things the South is about.

Lobster look over these two national treasures. Also, absolutely no objections from me for prayers for these two good people. I like the idea of a toast, a prayer, and a good thought.

Thanks to everyone to alerting us that Molly is ill. All our best thoughts are going her way. She is a national treasure.

I can relate, cooper. I was born in Kentucky to a mother who was a resident of Florida who went back up to Kentucky to have me, then retruned home to Florida, so I am an asterisked Floridian.

I toldeth my son to not playeth the loud souless songs of the New Heathens. I despised the thought of listening to all of this noise in order to separateth the wheat from the chaff. Now I don’t haveth to. Pastor Donnie Davies hath made up a list of “Bands to watch out for” to avoid the homsexually persuasive lyrics of this “music”. Cotton, listeneth not to these abominations:

* Scissor Sisters
* Rufus Wainwright
* Ravi Shankar
* Wilco
* Bjork
* Ghostface Killahs
* Cole Porter
* The String Cheese Incident
* The Grateful Dead (AIDS)
* The Doors
* Phish
* Queen
* Morrissey(?questionable?)
* Metallica
* Judas Priest
* The Village People
* The Rolling Stones
* David Bowie
* Frankie Goes to Hollywood
* Kansas
* Ani DiFranco
* John Mayer
* George Michael (texan)
* The Indigo Girls
* Velvet Underground
* Madonna
* Barry Manilow
* Indigo Girls
* Melissa Etheridge
* Eminmen
* Nirvana
* Boy George*
* The Killers
* Lou Reed
* Wilson Phillips
* Ted Nugent (loincloth)
* kd lang
* Frank Sinatra
* Nickleback
* Clay Aiken
* Red Hot Chili Peppers
* Elton John(really gay)

Now if I mightst only slippeth these band names past the rodent…

Pastor Donnie is a ‘reformed’ homosexual, doing the Lord’s work. You can visit his ‘list’ at: http://www.lovegodsway.org/GayBands

I’ve lived in the state of Washington for thirty years now, and some folk still will never let me forget that I’m a native Californian.

Well Coop, I mean I. Mather, at least we agree on the Indigo Girls.

A friend of mine, who also grew up in western Michigan as a repressed Calvinist, also got his masters at Michigan, who also left the faith, and then spent the last 20 years as a professional environmental advocate, died yesterday.

Bill was my kind of person, an odd duck, but passionate, intelligent, driven, and devoted entirely for the good of the poor, and the underdog. Bill named the Pike 2 Bike (www.pike2bike.org), and was its secretary/treasurer. Most of what I know of the trail I learned from him. He spent his life driving from Bedford to Harrisburg to Washington to advocate for clean waterways, bike trails and the environment. In mid December only a couple of miles from his place (he lived up the road from me) he flipped his truck. He told me that he had forgotten to put on his seat belt and was going to do so at the stop a half mile further. He broke his pelvis and vertebrae in his upper back. He was making progress but then yesterday had a coronary attack and died. It will be difficult to work on the Pike 2 Bike with out him.

Ditto to siobhan. People like Bill are gifts and treasures in our lives.

Murray, so sorry to hear about your friend. Not much else one can say…

May the games begin.

Gosh darn it, let’s try it the old school way - http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/28/iraq.main/index.html

Just one of many, cooper, one of many. I can just hear Jesus now: “Way to go, Dick ‘n George. I love carnage, and nothing does carnage better than the dogs of war. That’s why I said, ‘Damned are the Peacemakers…’”

January 28

Dear Diary,

Well I had a chance to stop over in the home state this weekend on the way back from Hawaii. (God, I’m glad there’s government land on Maui & I can see it’s going to require a lot of in situ, hands-on work this winter.) While I was in Boise, I heard rumor of a rather disturbing grassroots movement that’s taken hold. It was started by some malcontent in Post Falls and named “Take a Bullet for Bozo”. Here it is in a nutshell. I’m now often in close proximity to the President. Should an assassination attempt occur while I’m present, I’m to throw myself in front of W and take the bullet. If I am seriously injured or die, my family would get the fund. I started another rumor - “Save your goddamn money! That’s just not going to happen!”

There is a palpable fear out there of “Cheney in Charge” - ergo, the fund. Little do they know, he’s been in charge from the get-go. I simply didn’t have the heart to tell them.

Dirk

z man, coop and David, your links made our heads explode. But thanks.

Honest bumper stickers would have read Cheney/Satan ‘04 (Cheney being the chief administration architect of this madness).

My current favorite: Impeachment - It’s not Just for Blowjobs Anymore. Problem, of course, is that it is the VP who has to go. Hope Fitzgerald’s prosecution of Libby winds up bringing down Dick Vadar. Remember when the panel of federal judges gave Fitzgerald authority to force the journalists to testify because, in their view, Fitzgerald had presented evidence to them of crimes so significant that they trumped the press’s right to protect the identity of sources. What crime, or crimes, would have that effect on a panel of federal judges, one of whom clearly stated that he was predisposed to protect the principle of anonymity of sources? My own personal reaction: treasonous conduct on the part of the OVP in outing a CIA agent and destroying a CIA asset front company, along with all the other repercussions of such an outing.

May the Force be with Patrick Fitzgerald. Of course, the perfect way to totally change the subject and insulate the executive branch is to start another war, this time with a country that does have nuclear ambitions, regardless of the probability that Iran can be contained without a war that could be the 21st century equivalent of the one associated with the assassination of that duke.

Nucking futs is an entirely too gentle aspersion to caste at these homicidal bastards.