Month: January 2007

9:02: If your lawyer is sleeping, better give ‘im a nudge, everybody look alive ’cause here come the judge(s)!

9:03: Condy Rice looks nice. Hey, you know what this needs? Joan and Melissa Rivers offering fashion commentary on the carpet.

9:06: Red is a power color. Interesting, the women dressed in bright red outfits. They pop out at you in the group shots.

9:07: I think when Bush enters, he should be proceeded by a guy playing “Hail the Chief” on a kazoo. That would entertain me. And when he gets up to the podium, he should just toss aside the prepared text, step forward and shout, “You wanna piece of me?! C’mon!”

9:09: He’s wearing a blue tie. Blue=Democrats. Conciliatory?

9:10: It’d be cool if he kept shaking hands and then kept right on going out the far door, leaving everyone standing there going, “Wait? Huh?”

9:11; Still clapping. I wonder how long the ovation would be if his approval rating weren’t in the low 30s.

9:13: Nice touch, acknowledging “Madame Speaker.”

9:16: “Each of us is guided by his own convictions.” Including the criminal convictionst that plagued the GOP.

9:16: Oh, NOW he wants cross-aisle governing.

9:17: Yes, wages are rising…thanks to the Democrats raising minimum wage. 41 straight months of job increase? Can anyone back that up?

9:19: Yeah. Earmarks. That’s certainly something that presents a major concern to Americans.

9:22: Oh, geez, here we go with school vouchers again.

9:23: The quality of education, and the fiasco that has been “No child left behind,” isn’t exactly something I’d boast about.

9:24 Stony silence for the health care plan.

9:25: Ooooooo, that was embarrassing. Lots of people sitting on their hands for the health tax break plan. Could it be that they perceive it as, ultimately, a means of getting big business off the hook for health benefits while not at all guaranteeing that everyone can get health insurance?

9:26: Okay, good point about malpractice junk law suits. That’s just out of control.

9:29: Yes, we are too dependent on foreign oil. But “clean safe nuclear power” is a bit of an oxymoron.

9:31: And we’re going to reduce gasoline usage in the US how, exactly?

9:32: If we want to decrease gas usage, keeping the price of gas DOWN is the wrong way to go. You want to keep it high so that people will be motivated to use less gas.

9:35: Yes, by taking the war to the enemy, we can win the war on terror, just as we’ve won the war on crime and poverty and drugs and…

9:34: Okay, who had 9:34 in the 9/11 pool?

9:38: Terror terror terror terror

9:39: Who had 9:39 in the Iran pool?

9:40: in the six years since we were attacked? I thought it was five years?

9:41: If a fraction of the money spent on the war had been spent on education, the country would be in a lot better shape.

9:41: Terror terror terror terror terror terror terror

9:42: Was McCain asleep or taking notes?

9:43: Terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror terror

9:44: Of course, we wouldn’t even have to be thinking about breaking promises and leaveing friends if he hadn’t gotten us into the war in the first place.

9:45: Does he realize there’s a whole bunch of country outside of Baghdad?

9:47: Baghdad is NEVER going to be secure. He msut know that. It almost sounds as if he’s setting up framework for going into Iran.

9:50: No, they didn’t vote for failure, they voted for a military incursion that was intended to findd WMDs, based upon falsified information fed them by Bush.

9:54: Finally moved away from terror.

9:55: interesting that the SC justices don’t stand, not even for combating Malaria.

9:57: Plug a basketball player success story. There’s a slam dunk.

9:58: I think it would be funny if there was an orchestra who played him off if he went on too long.

9:59: The annual parade of people continues.

9:59: Yeah, okay, the subway car guy. That was one dámņëd heroic thing he did.

10:01: The depressing thing is that if this decorated Sergeant were a democrat running for President, there would be a GOP disinformation campaign organized to assert that he didn’t actually earn his medals.

10:02: Jon Stewart called it. He said the country would be blessed by God, and that Bush would say the country was “strong.”

Overall a very low key, sedate, even borderline somnambulant presentation.

I’ll be watching the State of the Union tonight and offering running commentary on the blog. Feel free to whip up some nachos and watch along.

PAD

So Hillary Clinton has announced that she’s forming an exploratory committee to look into running for president.

I have several problems with this:

First of all, when she ran for Senator, she swore it wasn’t to position herself for a presidential run, but rather because she loved New York and wanted to serve its citizens. If she’d been in that position through, say, 2012, I might be convinced she saw the gig as something other than a means to an end. As it is, I feel as if she were here for the minimum amount of time necessary to establish some political cred. That’s a touch too manipulative for me.

Second, she’s come across to me as too mealy-mouthed and–there’s that word again–manipulative on various issues. Even her announcement about running isn’t firm and positive: She’s announced that she’s sticking her toe in the water. Say you’re in, say you’re out, but make a decision. It makes me think of Mr. Miyagi telling Daniel something like, “You karate yes, fine. You karate no, fine. You karate maybe, you get squished like grape.”

Third, I don’t think she’s electable. I just don’t. I don’t think she’ll play anywhere outside of large metropolitan areas, and even in some of those. I’m not sure Barack Obama is, either. I don’t think he’s got enough experience and, frankly, I still think there’s sizable pockets of this country that don’t put a black man in office (hëll, I grew up in the 1960s where assassination was the order of the day, so I’m worried some white supremacist is going to pop a cap in his head.)

As crazy as it sounds, I’d almost rather see Al Gore take another run at it. Hëll, Richard Nixon came back from a loss, and that wasn’t even an election where he won the majority of the popular vote. Unlike everyone else in the field, he’s got a six year track record of being actively involved in something other than trying to get office and stay in office. He’s been sounding the alert about serious problems this planet faces while the administration had its ears covered saying “la la la, I’m not listening.” What’s wrong with electing a man who has demonstrably been ahead of the curve on one of the gravest problems these next generations will face?

PAD

This was posted by a close friend of Leah’s and I am passing it on to the group.

Sondra Leah Adezio, 46, of Lansdale, PA passed away January 16, 2007 at the Central Montgomery Medical Center.

Born in Newton, NJ, she was the daughter of the late Edwin and Marylyn Fogelson.

Active in many organizations as a young person, she graduated from Newton High School and then received a Bachelor’s Degree from Duquesne University and a Master’s from Clarion University of PA. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority.

Mrs. Adezio was a singer, an actor, and was a nationally known comic book artist as co-writer/inker of Ari of Lemuria, and was a member of Friends of Lulu. She loved to participate in Renaissance Faires and was a member of the International Wenches Guild, Local 9 of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire and Local 69 of the New York Renaissance Faire. She also was an avid fan of the New York Mets.

She was pre-deceased by her husband, David, her parents Edwin and Marylyn Fogelson, a brother, Scott Fogelson, and a sister Renee Fogelson.

She is survived by her sons, Stephen and Daniel Adezio, of Lansdale, a niece, Catherine Fogelson of Newton, and a brother, Brian Fogelson, of Frenchtown, NJ., aunts, uncles, cousins, and numerous friends.

Services will be held on Friday January 19, 2007 at 11:00 A.M. from the Irwin Funeral Home, 175 N. Main St., Spring Grove, PA 17362 – 717.225.1677.

Visitation hours are from 9:00 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. at the funeral home preceding the service.

Donations may be made for the children at 17 Senator Stout Road, Frenchtown, NJ 08825.

Please note the family has requested that no garb be worn to the viewing/funeral. Please keep this the solemn event that it is. The funeral will be a traditional Jewish funeral, short, sweet and to the point. (EDIT:short explanation here. Leah was a medieval recreationist as are a number of her friends. SCA members and medieval recreationists call their clothing “garb” to seperate it from their mundane clothing. Sorry I am so use to the term “garb” it doesn’t even register with me anymore)

I knew she was ill. I knew she had slipped into a coma. And at 4 this morning I woke up and knew of a certainty that she was gone. Now Kath got a call a few minutes ago confirming that Leah Adezio had passed away yesterday.

Leah was a wonderful fan, wonderful pro, wonderful friend, wonderful person. She lost a sister to an early death, a brother to a violent death several years ago, and then her husband passed away unexpectedly. And now she’s gone, liver failure followed by kidney failure.

Kath and I saw her last Friday in the hospital. I didn’t say anything until now because her brother, Brian, wanted to try and keep things quiet (Kath posted about it but only in the most general and anonymous of terms.) Her skin had gone yellowish green, stark against her red hair, and I was fortunate enough that she was still conscious, still had her mental faculties. We never uttered the words “Good-bye,” but we both knew. She was in and out of consciousness Saturday, but mostly out. I came by on Sunday, hoping to have a chance to talk to her one final time. She was breathing heavily, labored. She’d been sleeping since late the previous day and although I stayed for a bit, talked to her gently, she never opened her eyes. Finally I leaned over as I was about to leave and kissed her on the cheek. In her sleep, she reached up, touched her face where my lips had touched hers, and smiled warmly. But she never woke up.

She helped me through a very difficult period in my life, and she will never have the chance to see her two great sons start their own families or bounce grandchildren on her knee. It is bitterly unfair and I rage at the injustice of it all.

I will miss her terribly.

PAD

I don’t know why; I just thought it was hysterical.

When “Daily Show” correspondents do their presentations, they typically adopt a sort of faux arch attitude, leaving Jon Stewart looking bewildered (and I have to say, it is amazing to watch Stewart go from being joke-deliverer to straight man with such facility.) It is that archness that makes much of the material work, because what they’re saying is incredibly sarcastic, but it’s presented as if they’re unaware that what they’re saying is sarcastic at all.

Not so with Rob Riggle last night in discussing the Bush build-up.

Typically the DS comes up with nonsensical areas of expertise for their commentators: When Bush nearly strangled on pretzel sticks, it would be discussed by their “Senior Junk Food Hazard Analyst.” But Riggle is an ex-marine, so he really *is* something of an expert on military affairs, especially in discussing boots-on-the-ground tactics.

And boy, did he look pìššëd.

I think the audience sensed it. The laughter from what he said was more uncomfortable than it typically is. He came across to me like a guy who was absolutely incensed, doing his best to try and make it comically appealing, and not quite managing. I can’t blame him: This is a guy who, unlike the commander-in-chief and the VP, has genuine on-the-ground experience. He does not take life as cheaply or consider it as disposable as America’s leaders apparently do. And, to me at any rate, it showed.

PAD