No Sleep ’til… Whenever

Why does it sound to me as if President Bush wants a regional war going before he leaves office?

Supper was lots of fun last night and Jimmy hopped up and did the dishes before I could stop him - not that I felt any compulsion to stop him, you understand. We talked about some of the books we’ve read recently and our interests are surprisingly similar. I let him borrow my copy of “Shrodinger’s Ball” and he promised to bring me his copy of “A Pen Warmed Up in Hell”, one of Mark Twains later, more cynical books of essays, that I’ve never even heard of before and I feel like I read quite a bit of Twain’s writings. Like I said, Jimmy’s a genuine Vermonter, full of surprises.

Adam! OMG, this is so funny! How could I have not seen this before. I am watching the “best of” video and I can’t stop laughing. The Vegas sketch is hilarious, both here and in Vegas. I’m starting to download from itunes now.

And on a more serious note, today’s Supreme Court decision restores a bit of my faith in the checks and balances system. This quotation from Justice Kennedy’s decision actually made me teary-eyed:

The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times. Liberty and security can be reconciled; and in our system, they are reconciled within the framework of law.

I may light an extra firecracker or two this Independence Day.

Maybe this is Kennedy’s way of atoning for voting to appoint Bush prez in ‘00.

gillian, I’m in Vermont visiting friends this week. Weather today (eat your hearts out, my fellow Floridians I left behind for a week) is beyond gorgeous. Gotta love this place.

That is good one, It is Pat!! They, ja sure, look like that, you betcha!

I’m certainly glad that the meeting with Bush is over since it started off a little rocky. As we sat at a table and exchanged greetings, Mr. Bush said “Your Excellency, you’re looking finer than frog’s hair.” I could have sworn that Laura kicked his shin under the table. The beads of sweat on his upper lip and his tearing eyes told me she had, indeed, found the sweet spot. The official Vatican translator reported that President Bush had actually said, “You’re looking good.” After Mr. Bush recovered a bit from the blow, he pretended that his chair legs were uneven and asked if he could move to another chair, which he did; closer to me, further from Laura. We smiled and chit-chatted in front of the photographers, while they got their pictures of the meeting.

We took a walk in the Vatican Gardens and visited the Lourdes Grotto, where I told him I pray each day. He thought for a moment (or rather had a look of life threatening, painful constipation, which some people take as looking thoughtful) and said “Nah-uh, Pope. You didn’t pray here those days you was in Washington.” This time I kicked him!

Cardinal Anselmo kept the visit moving along, by suggesting that we exchange gifts. He gave me a picture of the fake Pope and him at the White House in April. I gave him a 4 volume book about Saint Peter’s Basilica. Mr. Bush looked rather uninterested in the books until Anselmo showed him that they were picture and pop-up books and then the President’s eyes lit up and I couldn’t get him to stop looking through the books. At this point, I excused myself from the President and Mrs. Bush, feigning a fearful case of the wind (May God have mercy on my soul!). I thanked them for their visit, wished them an enjoyable trip through Europe and left. Anselmo later told me that the Secret Service hustled away the photographers, so Laura could smoke a pack of cigarettes in peace.

Hi, Adam,

I enjoyed meeting you in Chicago Friday night. It was a blast to see all the “Wait…Wait!” panelists up on stage together. Check out biteandsmile.blogspot.com if you get the chance.

- Joe

I’m officially in vacation mode and won’t be worth a thing on Monday and Tuesday, because in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning I’m boarding the train to meet my niece, her husband and two boys (7 and 10) for Auntie Deena’s Grand Tour of Washington DC. None of them has ever been there, and I’m so looking forward to seeing it again through their eyes. First stop — the White House. We adults have a few choice greetings for the current occupant but we’ll try and keep it clean around the boys.

I’m sooooooooo excited!

cooper, it’s on the list, along with the Capitol, Museum of Natural History, the Spy Museum, all the monuments and the zoo. I don’t know if we’ll be able to pry my nephew, the journalist, away from the Newseum. AND the National Barbecue Festival is on the mall next weekend. That reminds me — must pack instant stain remover.

6-15-2008

Dear Diary,

Cheney told me about this before it hit the wire services. His take on it was less diplomatic than the AP report. I think it was more like - “If the sumbitches are already dead, well then we won’t be annoying them, will we?” We were in his office and he was buffing one of his higher caliber rifles at the time.

(AP) — Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

He slapped me on my back and said he was just joking, but I don’t know…

Dirk

I sure hope Baz got Adam a tie.

Since I’m working for McCain 2008 and this crowd of right wing patriotic hangers-on, I thought I’d do a little consulting on the side, so I started up an LLC - The Love it or Leave it Foundation. Marlene fronts the business - it gives her something to do while I’m at work. We turned our first job just the other day - some hot shot needed a new inflammatory invective for Iran. Marlene did the work on that one and really soaked him. She, like me, understands that if you don’t plan for an early retirement, it ain’t gonna happen. Marlene thought the mark looked familiar, but hasn’t placed him yet.