Acting Lessons

I have a question.

We know that Bush's recent chat with the troops was stagemanaged, a nice piece of manufactured reality.

I just have one question: with such care taken with the script, how come George W. Bush comes off as such a complete ignoramus, even with coaching?

Maybe acting can't be taught.

The Big Swoop

With all the talk about whether or not Harriet Miers is qualified to be the next Supreme Court justice, The Smoking Gun jumps to the head of the press pack and finds what many in Washington are unable to find...a paper trail of correspondence between Harriet Miers and the man she loves (or at least, likes a lot ), George W. Bush.

Reading this reminds me of the faux pas that Condoleeza Rice made when she accidentally referred to the President as "my husband". I figured it was just one of those mistakes you made when you don't have enough glucose in your brain.

However, reading the correspondence makes me believe that George W. must be The Mack to have all these women lining up after him. Some of these notes read like a 12-year old signing the quarterback's yearbook.

1. A belated birthday card, complete with picture of cute dog. "I'm Sorry I Missed Your Birthday" the note reads. Miers writes, "Dear Governor GWB, you are the best Governor ever -- deserving of great respect!"

Myself, I'd be wary about someone proclaiming me the "Best X Ever". The 12-year old Miers is slipping in, and I wonder if she'll be passing notes to Chief Justice Roberts proclaiming "you roXXorz!!"

2. Bush writes back. Or I think he does. His handwriting is more of a scrawl. He must have been tired. However, it clears up when he finishes the card. "P. S. No more public scatology" he advises. It either means the study of excrement or obscene language. Then again, who knows what Bush might have meant. This could be another Inigo Montoya moment for Bush -- "I do not think that word means what you think it means."

3. Bush sends back a typed letter to Miers wishing her a happy birthday. At the bottom, he handwrites, "and many more!"

4. Another card from Miers, this time without the cute puppy. "Hopefully Jenna and Barbara recognize that their parents are cool -- as do the rest of us." Apparently, Bush had written a letter for Miers and she wanted to convey her thanks.

The odd comment is that this letter is detailed to the "Harriet File" by someone. I wonder if the Harriet file is a large black Hefty bag.

5. Another classy card from Miers, thanking President Bush for the invitation to the Juneteenth celebration. She tells Bush that if she ever starts cooking again, she'll try some of the recipes. (Although I'm sure Bush is rolling his eyes. "It's not like I cooked it or anything.")

6. Miers, using her law office stationary, thanks Bush for two visits he made - one to her law office and one "on the plane". "Keep up all the great work. The State is in great hands. Thanks for you and your family's personal sacrifice". I chuckle at that "personal sacrifice" part.

7. On her personal stationary: "HEM". "Thank you for allowing me to travel back to Dallas and for all else you do." I suggest that if he had left her behind, she would have written, "Thank you for allowing me to stay in Dallas!"

This goes on. Tediously. I'm getting bored with it, so I'll stop.

Whether this says anything about Miers's qualifications to serve as one of the nine highest judges in America is beyond me. What I do suggest is that the law clerks at the Supreme Court had better buy a lot of Hallmark cards. And maybe some colored ink to go with them.

Small Government

Bush Administration officials rapidly get to work after Avian Flu outbreak.

From The Times of London (that left-wing rag that Rupert Murdoch owns):

A PLAN drawn up by the Bush Administration to combat a pandemic bird flu outbreak reveals that America is grossly unprepared to deal with what would likely be the worst disaster in US history.

The 381-page draft plan, leaked by health officials who claim that it contains fundamental failures, predicts that a full-scale outbreak could kill as many as 1.9 million Americans and put 8.5 million in hospital at a cost of more than $450 billion (£256 billion).

Hospitals would quickly become overwhelmed, riots would break out at vaccine clinics, civil unrest would sweep the country, and power and food would be in short supply, according to the plan, which has been years in the making. It calls for quarantine and travel restrictions but concedes that those measures “are unlikely to delay introduction of pandemic disease into the US by more than a month or two”.

Supposely a new alternate plan has come out that solves many of the problems of this earlier one. The new plan is exactly one page long:

"DON'T LET GEORGE BUSH OR ANYONE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE RELIEF EFFORT."

George oughta be happy. After New Orleans, he's got me believing in Small Government. Of course, there is the danger that he hasn't read the new plan.

Historical Magnitude

National Women's Hall of Fame Member 2005

National Women's Hall of Fame Member 2006

Senator Hillary Clinton has just been named as a member of the National Women's Hall of Fame. She will be inducted along with nine other women of renown.

It looks like the membership of the NWHOF is split into three groups:

a) women who actually DID something, and
b) women who were fortunate enough to be "the first (fill in the blank) ever"
c) people who would never have gotten the chance to do anything if they hadn't been the wife of someone important.

In category "c" I'd put Rosalynn Carter and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Mrs. Carter would have been a relatively unknown wife of a Georgia governor and Mrs. Lindbergh would have been a writer of some small renown. But the only way either would be in the National Women's Hall of Fame would be to buy a ticket.

As for Mrs. Clinton, if she hadn't met Bill, she'd probably still be in national politics -- but she would have been some advisor or working on staff in the White House for a Democratic administration. Was she a good lawyer? I can't say. But aside from being the Senator from New York, you'd be hard pressed to come up with some OUTSTANDING accomplishment that deserves national attention.

As for the idea that Hillary Clinton is the equal (in some sense) of Dr. Virginia Apgar, or Admiral Grace Hopper, or Sacajawea is nothing short of ridiculous. Maybe she belongs in the same category as Oprah Winfrey or Lucille Ball -- but even Ball was a television executive and Winfrey is the master of a billion dollar empire.

Frankly, Hillary is one of the weakest candidates for a Hall of Fame. (If she becomes President, then she's a shoo-in and she would DESERVE to be there.) Certainly, she was elected senator but so have other women. She was the wife of a president but Eleanor Roosevelt deserves more acclaim. Aside from the "two-fer" I can't think of other reason why she's there.

So why is she there? Probably because the NWHOF needs some publicity and attention. It's whoring out, pure and simple. I expect them to nominate Courtney Love next year, or Angelina Jolie for having "cans of historical magnitude".