ESPN & TO: An unhappy marriage

God, I'm already so damn sick of the whole T.O. fiasco. I've stopped watching ESPN for the time being. It seems like whenever Terrell Owens has so much as a hangnail, it's front page news, not only in the sports world, but national media as well.

As if that's not bad enough, ESPN has been out of freakin' control over the whole deal. Now, don't get me wrong - I flat out love ESPN - I've been watching it for many, many years. I remember as an 11-year old, when my parents got one of those ancient cable boxes on top of the TV, which had this weird network that ran sports 24-7. It didn't take me long to become a fan.

However, lately, my opinion of ESPN has changed a little, and not for the better. It seems that the network is turning into the marketing arm for the National Football League, and it's getting annoying.

As the leading sports reporting network in the United States, ESPN not only reports sports stories big and small, but it's responsible for determining what is news, as well.

Remember this bullshit? I do, quite well. It's that idiot TO, doing sit-ups in his driveway in front of a drooling and ga-ga press corps, and ESPN was right in the middle of it all.

Why am I bringin' all of this up? On the way to work today, I was listening to ESPN Radio, and Chris Mortensen was on, talking about the latest TO saga. In short, Mort stank up the joint.

"TO has been holding ESPN hostage," said Mort, referring to TO's thirst for media attention, specifically the latest story on his alleged suicide attempt (which now looks to be bullshit), and his antics of the last 2-3 years.

I screamed out "What?!?" to no one in particular, since I was alone in my car on the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

What fucking balls on this guy. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Mort - he is, hands down, the best information man in the NFL. His reports on NFL Countdown are top notch, and he rarely gets anything wrong. This guy has won more awards than Tom Hanks - he's the only sports writer to win a Polk, ever, and he was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in his journalism days in the 1970s. But, when I heard Mort blurt that out, I couldn't believe my ears.

If anything, ESPN has been holding its viewers hostage, reporting on all of this TO nonsense seemingly every day. The network just feeds into all of this crap; TO knows that if he sneezes, he makes the 6 p.m. show, and he'll probably be the lead story.

It's a double-edged sword - as the country's premiere sports network, ESPN has a responsibility to report the TO mess, especially an alleged suicide attempt, but when it's making a big deal out of this asshole doing situps in his driveway? That's a bit extreme.

Later on in the interview, Mortensen dropped a bombshell. Referring to Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Bill Parcells, Mort had this to say:

"While with the New York Giants, Parcells had to deal with Lawrence Taylor, but he's never had to deal with anything like this TO situation."

Really, Mort? Hyperbole cop, pull over!

TO is not school boy, but he isn't a coke head, either. Like Owens or hate him, this man isn't a criminal. While it appears that LT has cleaned up his act (Bravo, LT), this man has had repeated run-ins with the law, including narcotics convictions.

Owens may be an asshole, but that's not against the law. By comparing TO to Lawrence Taylor (and calling TO worse), Mort not only damaged his own credibility, but of the network he works for. It's outrageous, but of course it goes largely unnoticed, and unreported.

The bottom line, ESPN (and Mort) - you can't feed into the media frenzy, play a large part in creating the media frenzy, then bitch about the media frenzy.

Wake up and smell the sweat socks, Mort. You're better than that.

Cool register to vote vid

Yea, it's corny, but I like it. Call me crazy. But, it contains a pretty powerful, poignant message, and that's to get registered to vote on November 7.

Every two years, we are constantly bombarded with messages and cliches, most notably that "this is the most important election in our lifetimes," etc. But, it seems like every two years, that particular cliche just might be true.

Anyway, no matter your candidate, register and speak loud and clear with your vote on November 7. There's still time to register, but you are running out of time; most states require you to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote.

Get going!

BEST commentary so far this century

This is, by far, the best political commentary I've heard yet this century. I will keep this clip at the top of the my blog for the next few days, at least, and all new entries will be put underneath. You've just got to take a listen to this.

Keith Olberman is, hands down, my new favorite political commentator, having supplanted Al Franken. Sorry, Al, but when you start churning out gold like this, you may make it back to the top spot.

I can add very little to what Olberman already says here other than to say that I love how he takes the viewer down memory lane. Most of the American public has a memory of about six months, so Olberman's piece strikes a particular chord with me. I not-so-fondly remember GOP leadership coming after Clinton with a vengence, not only for getting a blowjob, but also for going after bin Laden right in the middle of the Lewinsky witch hunt. Many made "Wag the Dog" references.

Keep calling bullshit, Keith. Some of us are listening, and taking action.

Bill Clinton outFOXes journalistic jackass

Here's the much ballyhooed interview between Chris Wallace and former President Bill Clinton. I'll put all three parts on here, and comment below. Above is part I - part II to follow...



Above is part II



And part III.

What a sad commentary on American, um, "journalism." In short, Chris Wallace is nothing short of a fucking hack - dispatched to bully Clinton with Fox's right-wing agenda. This entire interview was staged to get to Clinton; to rile him and to get him to lose his temper. Mission accomplished, Fox News, and Rupert Murdoch.

But, I'm not criticizing the former president. I'm offering lots of praise for his reaction. These mother fuckers deserve the scorn the president so rightfully heaps on them - Clinton has been castigated by the right-wing media for years - since long before he was elected in 1992. My only crit of Clinton is this - it's about time, Mr. President. You should have done it long ago.

Seems like a million years ago when the worst this country had to worry about was whether Bill Clinton had an affair with Ms. Lewinsky. We should be so lucky now. And it's a good time to once again briefly bring up this inconvenient GOP fact - the Republicans who were out to get Clinton were every bit as hypocritical as Clinton - Henry Hyde, Bob Livingston, Newt Gingrich & Tom DeLay, to name a few (the first three all having had extra-marrital affairs of their own).

Thank you, Mr. President, for trying to get bin Laden. I love it that Clinton mentions how he tried to get Osama after the African embassy attacks, but was accused of diverting attention away from his own troubles. I also enjoyed his references to Richard Clarke - if you haven't yet read his book, Against All Enemies, I urge you to do so. It's as relevant today as it was nearly three years ago when it was released.

And lastly, I applaud the president for publicly calling bullshit on the strategy that Rove and Co. will employ this fall to try to retain power in Congress - trying to scare the living shit out of us all. It certainly won't work with me, but the unfortunate thing is that it will work for millions of Americans who would rather make the "safe" choice by voting Republican.

I have two other quick thoughts on Wallace. 1. I've never heard such disrespect of a former president, regardless of party, by another would-be reporter. Unreal. 2. At various points in the interview, it almost sounds as if Wallace is working for the Bush White House, as he challenges Clinton, with a dismissive smirk on his face, about "launching cruise missiles" to get bin Laden. I'm sure Wallace is a legend at Fox News now, or should I say ITAR-TASS.

I urge everyone to take the time to examine the issues thoroughly from a variety of sources to really make an informed decision. I'm reasonably confident that most, if they've done any homework at all, will make the wise choice, and that's to kick the idiots out of office who have done nothing but politicize the war on terror since September 12, 2001.

Go get 'em, Bill. Our country is lucky to have you.

Update: YouTube has been pulling off the video clips of the interview because evidentally FoxNews has been bitching and complaining that they are being posted without permission. There seems to be a tug of war going on - some of these clips get pulled down, then people repost them to YouTube, so hopefully the three that I link to stay up, but just in case they aren't available when you click on them, here's the complete transcript of the interview. Yes, it's long, but in lieu of being able to see the real thing, trust me, it's worth the read. I will keep trying to repost the videos if these one's get pulled. The transcript follows...

MR. WALLACE: I'm Chris Wallace. U.S. intelligence has said the Iraq war has spawned new terrorists. Next on "Fox News Sunday," the interview everyone will be talking about: former President Bill Clinton in a combative discussion about his attempts to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. He says his right-wing critics are giving President Bush a free pass.

Our interview with former president Bill Clinton. This week he hosted his second-annual Global Initiative Forum in New York. More than $7 billion was pledged to tackle some of the worst problems in developing countries, such as poverty, disease and climate change. As part of the conference, Mr. Clinton agreed to his first one-on-one interview ever on "Fox News Sunday."
The ground rules were simple: 15 minutes for our sit-down, split evenly between the global initiative and anything else we wanted to ask. But as you'll see now in the full, unedited interview, that's not how it turned out.

MR. WALLACE: Mr. President, welcome to "Fox News Sunday."

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thanks.

MR. WALLACE: In a recent issue of The New Yorker, you say, quote, "I'm 60 years old, and I damn near died and I'm worried about how many lives I can save before I do die." Is that what drives you in your efforts to help in these developing countries?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yes. I really -- but I don't mean -- that sounds sort of morbid when you say it like that.

MR. WALLACE: No, you said it.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I actually -- but yeah -- but the way I said it, the tone in which I said it was actually almost whimsical and humorous, that is. This is what I love to do. It is what I think I should do. That is, I have had a wonderful life. I got to be president. And I got to live the life of my dreams. I dodged a bullet with that heart problem. And I really think I should -- I think I owe it to my fellow countrymen and people throughout the world to spend time saving lives, solving problems, helping people see the future.

But as it happens, I love it. I mean, I feel that it's a great gift. So it's a rewarding way to spend my life.

MR. WALLACE: Someone asked you -- and again, I don't want to be too morbid -- but this is what you said: He asked you if could wind up doing more good as a former president --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yeah.

MR. WALLACE: -- than as a president. And you said, "Only if I live a long time."

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Yeah, that's true.

MR. WALLACE: How do you rate, compare, the powers of being in office as president and what you can do out of office as a former president?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, when you are president you can operate on a much broader scope. So, for example, you can simultaneously be trying to stop a genocide in Kosovo, you know, make peace in the Middle East, pass a budget that gives millions of kids a chance to have after-school programs and has a huge increase in college aid at home. In other words, you've got a lot of different moving parts, and you can move them all at once.

But you're also more at the mercy of events. That is, President Bush did not run for president to deal with 9/11, but once it happened, it wasn't as if he had an option. Once I looked at the economic -- I'll give you a much more mundane example. Once I looked at the economic data, the new data, after I won the election, I realized that I would have to work much harder to reduce the deficit and therefore would have less money in my first year to invest in things I wanted to invest in.

MR. WALLACE: So, what is it that you can do as a former president?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: So what you can do as a former president is, you don't have the wide range of power, so you have to concentrate on a few things. But you are less at the mercy of unfolding events. So, if I say, look, we're going to work on the economic empowerment of poor people on fighting AIDS and other diseases, on trying to bridge the religious and political differences between people, and on trying, you know, to avoid the worst calamities of climate change and help to revitalize the economy in the process, I can actually do that.

I mean, because tomorrow when I get up if there's a bad headline in the paper, it's President Bush's responsibility, not mine. That's the joy of being a former president. And it is true that if you live long enough, and you really have great discipline in the way you do this, like this CGI, you might be able to affect as many lives or more for the good as you did as president.

MR. WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on "Fox News Sunday," I got a lot of e-mail from viewers. And I've got to say, I was surprised. Most of them wanted me to ask you this question: Why didn't you do more to put bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business when you were president? There's a new book, I suspect you're already read, called "The Looming Tower." And it talks about the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, bin Laden said, "I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of U.S troops." Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa, and the attack on the Cole.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Okay, let's just go through it.

MR. WALLACE: Let me -- may I just finish the question, sir? And after the attack, the book says that bin Laden separated his leaders, spread them around because he expected an attack, and there was no response. I understand that hindsight is always 20/20 --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Let's talk about it.

MR. WALLACE: -- but the question is, why didn't you do more, connect the dots and put him out of business?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: All right, let's talk about it. I will answer all those things on the merits. But first, I want to talk about the context in which this arises. I'm being asked this on the Fox network. ABC just had a right-wing conservative running their little "Pathway [sic] to 9/11," falsely claiming it was based on the 9/11 commission report, with three things asserted against me directly contradicting the 9/11 commission report.

And I think it's very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say I didn't do enough claim that I was too obsessed with bin Laden. All of President Bush's neocons thought I was too obsessed with bin Laden. They had no meetings on bin Laden for nine months after I left office -- all the right-wingers who now say I didn't do enough said I did too much, same people. They were all trying to get me to withdraw from Somalia in 1993, the next day after we were involved in Black Hawk Down. And I refused to do it, and stayed six months, and had an orderly transfer to the United Nations.

Okay, now let's look at the all the criticisms. Black Hawk Down, Somalia: There is not a living soul in the world who thought Osama bin Laden had anything to do with Black Hawk Down, or was paying any attention to it, or even knew al Qaeda was a growing concern in October '93.

MR. WALLACE: I understand that. And I --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, wait. No wait. No wait. Don't tell me -- you ask me why I didn't do more to bin Laden. There was not a living soul -- all the people who now criticize me wanted to leave the next day. You brought this up, so you get an answer. But you can't --

MR. WALLACE: I'm perfectly happy to -- (inaudible).

PRESIDENT CLINTON: All right, secondly --

MR. WALLACE: Bin Laden says --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: But bin Laden may have said --

MR. WALLACE: Bin Laden said that it showed the weakness of the United States.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: But it didn't. It would have shown the weakness if we had left right away. But he wasn't involved in that. That's just a bunch of bull. That was about Mohamed Aidid, a Muslim warlord murdering 22 Pakistani Muslim troops. We were all there on a humanitarian mission, and we had no mission -- none -- to establish a certain kind of Somali government or keep anybody out. He was not a religious fanatic --

MR. WALLACE: But Mr. President --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: There was no al Qaeda --

MR. WALLACE: With respect, if I may. Instead of going through '93 and --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, no. You ask it. You brought it up.

MR. WALLACE: May I ask a general question --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: You brought it up.

MR. WALLACE: And then you can answer? The 9/11 commission, which you talk about -- and this is what they did say, not what ABC pretended they said.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: What do they say?

MR. WALLACE: They said about you and President Bush, and I quote, "The U.S. government took the threat seriously, but not in the sense of mustering anything like the kind of effort that would be gathered to confront an enemy of the first, second, or even third rank."

PRESIDENT CLINTON: First of all, that's not true with us and bin Laden.

MR. WALLACE: Well, I'm talking about the 9/11 commission.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: All right, let's look at what Richard Clarke said. You think Richard Clarke has a vigorous attitude about bin Laden?

MR. WALLACE: Yes, I do.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: You do, don't you?

MR. WALLACE: Yes, he has a variety of opinions and loyalties, but yes.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: That's right. He has a variety of opinions and loyalties now, but let's look at the facts. He worked for Ronald Reagan; he was loyal to him. He worked for George H.W. Bush; he was loyal to him. He worked for me, and he was loyal to me. He worked for President Bush; he was loyal to him. They downgraded him in the terrorist operation. Now, look what he said. Read his book and read his factual assertions -- not opinions; assertions.
He said we took vigorous action after the African embassies. We probably nearly got bin Laden. I authorized -- now, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. Now, wait a minute.

MR. WALLACE: You fought to use cruise missiles.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, no. I authorized the CIA to get groups together to try to kill him. The CIA was run by George Tenet, that President Bush gave the Medal of Freedom; he said he did a good job setting up all these counterterrorism things. The country never had a comprehensive anti-terror operation until I came there. And if you want to criticize me for one thing, you can criticize me for this: After the Cole, I had battle plans drawn to go into Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban and launch a full-scale attack to search for bin Laden. But we needed basing rights in Uzbekistan, which we got after 9/11. The CIA and the FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible. While I was there, they refused to certify. So that meant I would have had to send a few hundred Special Forces in, in helicopters and refuel at night. Even the 9/11 commission didn't do that.

Now, the 9/11 commission was a political document, too. All I'm asking you is, anybody who wants to say I didn't do enough, you read Richard Clarke's book --

MR. WALLACE: Do you think you did enough, sir?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, because I didn't get him.

MR. WALLACE: Right.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti-terrorist strategy, and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke, who got demoted.

So, you did Fox's bidding on this show. You did your nice, little conservative hit job on me.

MR. WALLACE: But --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: What I want to know --

MR. WALLACE: But wait a minute, sir. I'm going to ask a question. You don't think that's a legitimate question?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question. But I want to know, how many people in the Bush administration you ask this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you ask, why didn't you do anything about the Cole? I want to know how many people you ask, why did you fire Dick Clarke? I want to know how many people you ask about this.

MR. WALLACE: We ask, we ask -- have you ever watched "Fox News Sunday," sir?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don't believe you ask them that.

MR. WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: You didn't ask that, did you? Tell the truth, Chris.

MR. WALLACE: On the USS Cole?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Tell the truth, Chris.

MR. WALLACE: With Iraq and Afghanistan, there's plenty of stuff to ask, sir.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Tell the truth, Chris. Did you ever ask that? You set this meeting up because you're going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch's supporting my work on climate change. And you came here on false pretenses and said that you'd spend half the time talking about --

MR. WALLACE: I --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: About -- you said you'd spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7 billion plus, in three days, from 215 different commitments, and you don't care.

MR. WALLACE: I -- President Clinton, if you look at the questions --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I thought you'd (have an audience here ?).

MR. WALLACE: You'll see half the questions about it. I didn't think this was going to set you off on such a tear.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: You launched into it. It set off on a tear because you didn't formulate it in an honest way, and because you people ask me questions you don't ask the other side.

MR. WALLACE: Sir, that's not so.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: And Richard Clarke --

MR. WALLACE: That is not true.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Richard Clarke made it clear in his testimony --

MR. WALLACE: Would you like to talk about the Clinton Global Initiative?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, I want to finish this thing.

MR. WALLACE: All right.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: All I'm saying is, you falsely accuse me of giving aid and comfort to bin Laden because of what happened in Somalia. No one knew al Qaeda existed then.

MR. WALLACE: But did they know --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Now, wait. Wait.

MR. WALLACE: -- in 1996 when he declared war on the U.S.? Did they know in 1998 --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Absolutely.

MR. WALLACE: When he bombed the two embassies?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: And who talked about it?

MR. WALLACE: Did they know in 2000 when he hit the Cole?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: What did I do? I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to kill him than anybody's gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there, trying to kill him. Now, I've never criticized President Bush, and I don't think this is useful. But, you know, we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only one-seventh as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive thing, when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke's book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror.

And you've got that little smirk on your face. You think you're so clever. But I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it. But I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could. The entire military was against sending Special Forces into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter. And no one thought we got do it otherwise because we could not get the CIA and the FBI that al Qaeda was responsible while I was president. And so, I left office. And yet, I get asked about this all the time.

They had three times as much time to deal with it, and no one ever asked them about it. I think that's strange.

MR. WALLACE: Can I ask you about the Clinton Global Initiative?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: You can.

MR. WALLACE: I always intended to, sir.

PRESIDENT CLINTON. No, you intended, though, to move your bones by doing this first, which is perfectly fine. But I don't mind people asking -- I actually talked to the 9/11 commission for four hours, Chris. And I told them the mistakes I thought I made. And I urged them to make those mistakes public, because I thought none of us had been perfect. But instead of anybody talking about those things, I always get these clever little political deals, where they ask me one set of questions and the others guys another set. And it always comes from one source. And so --

MR. WALLACE: I want to ask you about the Clinton Global Initiative, but what's the source? I mean, you seem upset, and I --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I am upset, because I --

MR. WALLACE: And all I can tell you is, I'm asking you this in good faith, because it's on people's minds, sir.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, there's a reason it's on people's minds. That's the point I'm trying to make. There's a reason it's on people's minds, because there's been a serious disinformation campaign to create that impression. This country only has one person who's worked on this terror. From the terrorist centers under Reagan, to the terrorist centers from 9/11 -- only one, Richard Clarke. And all I can say to anybody is, do you want to know what we did wrong or right? Or anybody else did? Read his book. The people on my political right who say I didn't do enough spent the whole time I was president saying, why is he so obsessed with bin Laden; that was "wag the dog" when he tried to kill him.

My Republican Secretary of Defense -- and I think I'm the only president since World War II to have a Secretary of Defense of the opposite party -- Richard Clarke and all the intelligence people said that I ordered a vigorous attempt to get bin Laden, and came closer, apparently, to anybody that has since.

MR. WALLACE: All right.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: And you guys try to create the opposite impression, when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke's findings, and you know it's not true. It's just not true. And all this business about Somalia, the same people that criticize me about Somalia, were demanding I leave the next day -- the same exact crowd.

So, if you're going to do this, for God sakes, follow the same standards for everybody --

MR. WALLACE: I think we do, sir.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: And be flat, and fair --

MR. WALLACE: I think we do.

MR. WALLACE: One of the main parts of the global initiative this year is religion and reconciliation. President Bush says that the fight against Islamic extremism is the central conflict of this century. And his answer is promoting democracy and reform. Do you think he has that right?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Sure. To advance, advocate democracy and reform in the Muslim world? Absolutely. I think the question is, what's the best way to do it? I think also the question is, how to educate people about democracy? Democracy is about way more than majority rule. Democracy is about minority rights, individual rights, restraints on power. And there's more than one way to advance democracy.

But do I think, on balance, that in the end, after several bouts with instability -- look how long it took us to build toward democracy. Do I think on balance it would be better if we had more freedom and democracy? Sure I do. And do I think specifically the president has a right to do? Sure I do. But I don't think that's all we can do in the Muslim world. I think they have to see us as trying to get a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

I think they have to see us as willing to talk to people who see the world differently than we do.

MR. WALLACE: Last year, at this conference, you got $2.5 billion dollars in commitments, pledges. How did you do this year?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, this year we had 7.3 billion [dollars] as of this morning.

MR. WALLACE: Excuse me, 7 --

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Point three billion [dollars] as of this morning. But 3 billion [dollars] of that is -- now this is over a multi-year. This is up to 10-year commitments. But 3 billion [dollars] of that came from Richard Branson's commitments to give all of his transportation profits for a decade to clean energy investments. But still, that's -- the rest is over 4 billion [dollars].

And we will have another 100 commitments come in, maybe more, and we'll probably raise another -- I would say at least another $1 billion probably before it's over. We've got a lot of commitments still in process.

MR. WALLACE: When you look at the 3 billion [dollars] from Branson, and, plus the billions that Bill Gates is giving in his own program, and now Warren Buffett, what do you make of this new age of philanthropy?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: I think that -- for one thing, really rich people have always given money away. I mean, you know, they've endowed libraries and things like that. The unique thing about this age is, first of all, you have a lot of people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who are interested in issues at home and around the world that grow out of the nature of the 21st century and its inequalities. The income inequalities, the health care inequalities, the education inequalities. And you get a guy like Gates who, you know, build Microsoft, who actually believes that he can help overcome a lot of the health disparities in the world. And that's the first thing.

The second thing that ought to be credited is that there are a lot of people of average incomes who are joining them because of the Internet. Like in the tsunami, for example, we had $1.2 billion given by Americans; 30 percent of our households gave money, over half of them over the Internet.
And then the third thing is you've got all these -- in more countries you've got all these nongovernmental groups that a guy like Gates can partner with, along with the governments. So all these things together mean that people with real money want to give it away in ways that help people that before would have been seen only as the object of government grants or loans.

MR. WALLACE: Let's talk some politics. In that same New Yorker article, you say that you are tired of Karl Rove's B.S., though I'm cleaning up what you said.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: But I do -- but I also say, I'm not tired of Karl Rove. I don't blame Karl Rove. He -- if you've got a deal that works, you just keep on doing it.

MR. WALLACE: So what is the B.S.?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, every even-numbered year, right before an election, they come up with some security issue. In 2002, our party supported them in taking weapons inspections in Iraq, and was 100 percent for what happened in Afghanistan, and they didn't have any way to make us look like we didn't care about terror. And so, they decided they would be for the homeland security bill that they had opposed, and they put a poison pill in it that we wouldn't pass, like taking the job rights away from 170,000 people, and then say that we were weak on terror if we weren't for it. They just ran that out.

This year, I think they wanted to make the questions of prisoner treatment and intercepted communications the same sort of issues, until John Warner and John McCain and Lindsey Graham got in there, and it turns out there were some Republicans that believed in the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, and had their own ideas about how best to fight terror. The Democrats, as long as the American people believe that we take this seriously, and we have our own approaches, and we may have differences over Iraq, I think we'll do fine in this election.

But even if they agree with us about the Iraq war, we could be hurt by Karl Rove's new foray if we just don't make it clear that we too care about the security of the country. But we want to implement the 9/11 commission recommendations which they haven't for four years. We want to intensify our efforts in Afghanistan against bin Laden. We want to make America more energy independent. And then they can all, if they differ on Iraq, they say whatever they want on Iraq.

But Rove is good. And I honor him. I've always been amused at how good he is, in a way. But on the other hand, this is perfectly predictable. We're going to win a lot of seats if the American people aren't afraid. If they're afraid and we get divided again, then we may only win a few seats.

MR. WALLACE: And the White House, the Republicans want to make the American people afraid?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Of course they do. Of course they do. They want us to be -- they want another homeland security deal. And they want to make it about, not about Iraq, but about some other security issue where, if we disagree with them, we are, by definition, imperiling the security of the country. And it's a big load of hooey. We've got nine Iraq war veterans running for the House seats. We've got President Reagan's secretary of the Navy as the Democratic candidate for the Senate in Virginia. A three-star admiral who was on my National Security Council staff, who also fought terror, by the way, is running for the seat of Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania.

We've got a huge military presence here in this campaign, and we just can't let them have some rhetorical device that puts us in a box we don't belong in. That's their job. Their job is to beat us. I like that about Rove. But our job is not to let him get away with it. And if they don't we will do fine.

MR. WALLACE: Mr. President, thanks for one of the more unusual interviews.

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Thanks.

Hillary speaks out on bin Laden

Here's a short clip of Hillary on Wolf Blitzer Reports taking on the perception that President Clinton didn't do enough to get bin Laden while he was president. Right on, Hillary. She sounds an awfully lot like a candidate for president, and not a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Only time will tell.

Clinton on Meet the Press

Unlike the interview above, this one isn't quite so inflammatory, but it's a pretty good interview of Clinton on this past Sunday's Meet the Press. Take a listen - he's got some pretty poignant things to say about the current state of affairs on U.S. politics.

President Bush - Iraqi bloodshed "just a comma." Did he mean "coma"?

President Bush recently stated that the bloodshed in Iraq is "just a comma."

Even by Bush's amazingly low standards, it was a shocking statement for a U.S. President to make. The misguided War in Iraq has claimed the lives of over 2,700 American soldiers and seriously injured over 20,000 more. This total disaster has increased the threat of terror against Americans, not decreased it. This misadventure has cost us hundreds of billions of dollars, to fight a war sold to the American public with lies, and mismanaged with an almost child-like incompetence.

Bush has had the opportunity to explain himself, time and time again, yet all the American public (and the world) gets is that dismissive smirk that should outrage us all.

I wonder if Bush wasn't simply mispronouncing "coma." But, I could be wrong - he's never mispronunciated anything before, so why should he start now?

Someone needs to stick an exclamation mark up his cologne. Oops. Colon. I need the Hooked on Phonics course of Bushisms.

Ben-Veniste on "The Path to 9-11"

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I don't mean to be hitting you on the head with YouTube clips, but I'm catching up with a backlog of things I've been meaning to get to.

This one is a clip of Richard Ben-Veniste, a member of the 9-11 Commission (a commission that the Bush administration fought tooth and nail to not even have formed in the first place, but that's another blog entry) who appeared on Countdown with Keith Olberman.

Ben-Veniste rightly points out that it's a free country and that people have the right to creative freedom. Bravo and right on. But, he also correctly points out that if a movie is being made on 9-11 and it claims that it's based on that commissoin, then it should be accurate.

Truer words were never spoken.

A few quick points about the movie:

1. Awfully interesting that Olberman points out the movie was distributed to right wing pundits pre-release for examination, critiques and analysis, but not to liberals or members of the Clinton administration, many of the latter portrayed in the film. There's a surprise.

2. Has anyone considered that this movie and its portrayal of the Clinton administration is more than accidental? ABC is owned by the Disney Corporation, and its no mystery figuring out where its loyalties fall on the political spectrum - just take a look at its campaign contributions over the last 10-15 years. I'll save you the legwork - it's to the GOP, of course. Don't believe me? Look it up yourself.

3. Shame on Tom Kean. He's a model American, and a Republican I've always respected and listened to. Now - not so much. As a paid consultant and the 9-11 Commission Chairman, he owns America more than this. He owes it to all Americans that a project of this scope, seen by millions of people, be as accurate as possible. That hasn't happened. And that's a shame, because far too many people get their news (and their history) from movies and pop culture these days.

This movie is a borderline criminal rewriting of history.

The Hugo dustup - anyone ever heard of "sticks 'n stones"?

I got a big kick out of the whole dustup that resulted from Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's remarks at the United Nations last week about President Bush. Here is what he said:

"And the devil came here yesterday," said Chávez, referring to President Bush, who delivered a speech from the same podium the previous day. "And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of."

Okay, Hugo's a dick. This is not in doubt. But, it's also not in doubt that this is America, and people are free to say what they want to say.

However, the biggest entertainment about the whole incident didn't come from Chávez, it came from the Republican right. What a surprise. How DARE you criticize our president!

Anyway, I found a pretty good piece by Jeff Cohen of Alternet about the whole comedy. He sums it up a whole lot better than I can. Get the whole article Here. An excerpt of what Cohen had to say - pretty poignant prose:

Across the U.S. political and media spectrum, there was wide agreement yesterday: Name-calling and personal attacks are bad for national and global dialogue. Prompting the unity were Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' comments that President Bush was the devil incarnate, "El Diablo."

Among those exercised (and exorcized) about Chavez' name-calling were some of the loudest name-callers in American media today -- including Rush Limbaugh and other rightwing talk hosts. Limbaugh tried to equate Chavez' remarks with the alleged Bush-bashing that comes from top U.S. Democrats. In case you've forgotten, it was Limbaugh who ridiculed Chelsea Clinton, then 13, as the "White House dog."

It was Limbaugh in 2001 who routinely referred to Democratic leader Tom Daschle, literally, as "El Diablo." Along with "Devil in a Blue Dress" theme music, Limbaugh would carry on at length about how Daschle may well be Satan in soft-spoken disguise.

Well said, Mr. Cohen.

The reference to Limbaugh had me laughing about him, as usual. I think God for people like him - he does quite little to advance the Republican cause. I found this funny parody of him on the 'Net - just had to share...

One last thing - here's what the self-righteous Rush had to say about illicit drug use/addiction in October 1995: "Too many whites are getting away with drug use...the answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river too."

Well said, windbag. Yea, I'm a name caller, too. It's my right as an American, and it's one of the main tenets this country was founded on. In a free and open society, we have to put up with language we don't like - even if it's from Hugo Chávez.

Happy 40th, big brother

Today, in 1966, my big brother, Thomas Todd Corby, was born. Happy 40th, bro! My oh my, how time slips away.

I took the above picture at Todd's surprise party on Saturday. I think he was feigning surprise party more than anything - he has three daughters, and his oldest could work for CNN.

Anyway, I hope you have a good birthday, brother. And many more. ...

Love you.

Bush Flip Flops: Where was this in '04, Kerry?

How does Bush Flip Flop? The best example is the decision to invade Iraq:

-First, it was WMD - he was a threat, an imminent threat, and we needed to take care of him. On, what the hell - let's roll some tape...



I hesitate to post this one, because I so despise people's use of Nazi Germany to prove their points. It's the most trite way to get a point across. However, in this case, it's a pretty poignant quote. The best part about this clip is how these morons can't hide from the video tapes and the lies, specifically Dick, Condi & Bush. Sounds like a law firm from the yellow pages.

Anyway, you get the idea - Bush is no better, in fact worse, than just about everyone that Karl Rove paints as being a "flip flopper." I can only pray that the chickens come home to roost this November 7, because our country is headed in one wrong direction. We'll soon see.

Oh, Crikey - a lowbrow video game

This is about as wrong as it gets! I laughed, then cringed, then felt guilty for laughing. I feel bad that crazy Steve Irwin is dead, but you know what? He tempted fate every time he went out into the wild to tackle crocs and such. Like I heard on the radio right after it happened, I have to agree - he was in the death-defying business, and sooner or later, you're luck is going to run out when that's your vocation. It just took awhile for Steve's to run out, and I'm sorry that it did.

As crazy (and yes, as stupid) as I think Irwin was, I'll say this about him - he died doing what he loved, and how many people, when their lives end, have it end that way? Not many at all. I don't want to trash the guy, either, but any guy with two young children should have been a little more responsible in doing what he did. Crikey, Steve!

My latest obsessions

Just thought I would do this for fun, again. I made up an obsession list a few months ago on here when I felt like writing, and I've got a few minutes this morning. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an incurable tech whore. I just like my gadgets. In the end, I know they are just things and don't mean nothin', but I do enjoy them. Anyway, on to the current list, in no particular order...

-TiVo! Vandra, it's your fault - you got my hooked. We now have three in the house, and yes, they will all get a workout. We each have our own - to record things that the other may or may not like, but that we definitely do. The one downstairs is for shows we watch at a particular time - when we first get home. Lots of Judge Judy and Seinfeld on that one.

My 60 GB iPod. Aside from my photography equipment, it's the best money I've ever spent on technology. If I were stranded on a desert island and could only bring three luxury items with me, this would be one.

My health. Turning 35 sucks!

Teaching. I'm constantly trying to improve, and I do get a bit of stage fright before class, but that's rapidly diminishing.

Photo albums. I'm months behind, but I'm catching up pretty rapidly, thanks to my Canon printer and lots of ink and photo paper. Yes, we will have wedding prints out to everyone shortly - next week at the very latest.

Fantasy Football. Yes, I'm a geek - the stereotypical guy that most women complain about this time of year. But, it's fun, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love playing GM of my two fantasy teams. For those of you who are curious, both my teams stand at 1-1 on the season, and I've got a decent shot to win both games this weekend. Patience is finally paying off for me, specifically in my dynasty league (a league where you keep almost all of your same players, year to year). Run, Reggie Bush, run!

Hey, if it's good for no other reason, fantasy football helps me stay in touch with my friends.

My car. I'm constantly fretting about it - the Camry's taking a horrific beating every week. I travel, just for my job to Kutztown University, about 800 miles a week. I pray it holds together, but so far, so good *Knocks on wood*

Global warming. It's here to stay, folks, and so is this obsession of mine.

The war in Iraq and W. Both suck, and hopefully both will be over, soon. Hey, I mean his presidency - not making a threat, Secret Service!

Jaws. Our cat is a whole lot less curious about me than I am about him. But, we are getting along much better now. I give him his space, and he gives me mine, mostly, but he can be a pest, specifically around feeding time, and late at night when he wants attention. He craves attention like no other cat I've every heard of - he's like owning a dog that meows.

I love him to pieces - my favorite pet, ever, and that's saying something. Yet another way that Vandra has changed me for the better - I'm now an unabashed cat lover. He's only hissed at me once since we've been back from Mexico, and that particular time, I didn't care. I hit him with some canned air because he would not leave us alone. Vandra was even on my side that time.

Hockey & football. Enough said. It's one of my favorite forms of escapism in life.

Reading. Always has been an obsession, always will be.

Thank you notes. We've got many to write, beginning tomorrow. And I have a lot of wedding CDs I still have to burn. I'm quite happy to do both, it's just been finding the time to do it!

My blog. Duh. I love blogger! A new version has been rolled out, but I'm a bit hesitant to use it, because once you convert over to the new look, you can't go back. So, RJs Journey may have a new look soon, but I haven't decided yet. I may start up a new pseudo-blog just to check out the new format, and if I like it, I'll switch.

Book/Movie reviews. I have two book reviews in the can I still need to bring to you on the blog. And, one big movie review I have to write. They'll happen soon enough.

Photography. 2007 will be the year I get uber-serious about it. I'd like to start selling my work next summer. We'll see. Oh, and I love my new Canon EOS! I'll bring you some pictures tomorrow.

Freelance writing - again, something I want to get serious about again next year.

Our marriage. (Should be at the top, and it is, but I told you this list was in no particular order, and it's not.) Of course, it's #1.

Related to my marriage on this list are my new in-laws. I like to tell everyone that I hit the jackpot with my new parents and family, and I sure did. I wish I got to see everyone more, but that will happen soon enough. I'm very happy Kathy & Ralph are coming for Christmas.

Our condos. Will the roof issues ever end? Being a homeowner is a bear sometimes, but we're very lucky, and we know it. Like I tell Vandra when we get down about housing issues - we have it better than over 99% of the people in the world, and she always readily agrees. In the overall scheme of things, we don't have problems, and we know it. It can get frustrating, though.

Postcards. I'm behind, but I'll be sending out a bunch soon. I've custom designed one that I think many of you will get a laugh at.

Magazines. God, I subscribe to too damn many, but I do eventually get around to reading them all. I can't get over how cheap subscriptions are these days. Like I tell Vandra, I want to be/need to be up on current events to be an effective professor, but even if I weren't teaching, it's still something I would do. It's me, to a T.

Red Bull/Caffeine. Yea, I need to cut back, and I'm working on it, but it's proving easier said than done with a 1.5 hour commute to work, each way, five days a week.

California. I can't wait to be there, permanently. It'll happen, soon enough, Ralph & Kathy.

YouTube! One of the coolest Websites goin'.

Comedy. We had so much fun seeing Colin Quinn, David James and another comic (I'm embarrassed I can't remember his name!), but all three were great. Hey, third guy whose name I can't remember - we've got your picture, and at least I'll post that soon! Helium Comedy Club in Philly is the best- we are going back to see Greg Giraldo for Vandra's birthday in early October. Double G is amazingly funny!!

The upcoming elections. That includes 2006 and 2008. Another one for the "Duh" column. Any readers of this blog know where I'm comin' from. It will be interesting, and hopefully, successful, in kicking out the bums who are taking us down the road to ruin.

Okay, I must get in the shower - my big brother Todd turns 40 on Tuesday, and we are driving to the Poconos to wish him a *Surprise!* happy birthday today.

Talk with you again soon - lots more to write about tomorrow.

Our wedding present - Installed!

Well, our wedding present to ourselves is finally here, and installed! I couldn't be more excited, and I know Vandra is pretty happy, too, although this is her second tour of duty with Direct TV. It's my first, and I've never been able to see every Cowboys game in a season before, even during their Super Bowl years. Well, we are now hooked in! Woo Hoo! We've been waiting a whole year for this, and the wait is over.

The journey wasn't easy to get it installed, either. As it turns out, Direct TV contracts out its installs. We went to Best Buy, bought our three satellite TiVos, signed up, and waited for the installation company (Ironwood Communications) to come out. Well, when the day came for Ironwood to come out, it was a rainy, nasty day.

The two losers who showed up clearly didn't want to do the work. They muttered something about needing permission from the landlord, and I explained to them that we own, not rent. Then they came up with a few other excuses to not do the work, and I told them we wanted it done. Without saying a word, they left our condo, went downstairs, and left. I didn't say anything because I thought they were going to get their tools. When I figured out that they had left, I was full hot.

I was about ready to give up and take the TiVo boxes back to Best Buy, but we decided to give it another try. Vandra made almost a dozen calls, after I tried unsuccessfully a few times, and Direct TV sent a different installation company back. (No way were we going to let the assholes from Ironwood Communications back into our condo.)

Well, yesterday the job was finished, and we are all set to enjoy lots of football tomorrow. Direct TV has a great deal going right now, too. If you get the premium package, which is what is needed to get Sunday Ticket, it's only $69.99 for the first three months, and you get every movie channel. So, we're pretty excited. Our three TiVos will get quite a workout. Yes, we have a problem, I know - three TiVos! But, we both record quite a bit, and plus I record a lot of sporting events, and they are hours long at a time. But, we love TiVo, and we love our shows.

Figures, too. The first weekend we have it, the Broncos are nationally televised Sunday night, and the Cowboys are on a bye. Oh well, we'll be ready to go next week!

Go Cowboys! Oh, okay Vandra - go Broncos, too. :o)

I love the NFL, and I love our wedding present to ourselves. However, when does hockey season start? Of course I'm getting NHL Center Ice again this year - it's the best thing about winter. So, most of all, go Oilers!

O-Dub is full of hot air. Gas, perhaps?

Watch this first, then read.

Done? Okay, rant coming. ... What a hilarious quote by Oprah. I've always had a special admiration for her - she came from nothing, and is completely self made. People who overcome what she has to become a millionaire hundreds of times over deserve lots of praise and respect, and I'm giving her both now.

But, having said that, she makes herself sound like a total moron in this video. Nothing is worse than a celebrity whining about gas prices, much less one who is worth about $750 million, or more. Oprah complaining about a $125 gas bill is akin to Bill Gates bitching about a rise in airline prices. Oh-Dub is alienating the very people who made her what she is today - John & Joan Q. Everyperson.

I can't stand it when wealthy celebs bitch about prices. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric are two other people who do it. When you're pulling in a cool 10 mil a year or more, stop it already. I commute 150 miles a day; gas prices, when they are high, really affect my life and our budget. You know how gas prices affect Oprah? She has a little less lint in her pockets, or her couch. Maybe Stedman should bitch - his allowance probably gets lowered when gas hits three bucks per.

Take a walk, Queen of Talk.

Nice wheels!

I wanted to take a minute to wish a hearty congrats to my father-in-law, Ralph, who just got himself one nice set of wheels - a BMW Z4!

I like the color and I sure like the car, Ralph. I'm a bit suprised that it's not Bronco orange, though. My only question is, where is Vandra going to ride on the way to the shooting range when we come out to visit? Just kidding, honey!

ABC = All But Caving? (To right wingers)

Predictably, this is a story that's not going away anytime soon. Former Clinton administration officials are pissed, as they should be. Many people are deriding ABC for "interpreting" and "dramatizing" events on 9-11. As if 9-11 requires dramatizing.

Clinton's staff fired off a letter to ABC demanding certain portions of the movie be changed, including one scene depicting Clinton as being too distracted by the Lewinsky scandal to go after Islamic terrorists who blew up embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Clinton's former National Security Advisor, Sandy Berger, and former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke are similarly outraged.

To wit, Clarke's response:

1. Contrary to the movie, no US military or CIA personnel were on the ground in Afghanistan and saw bin Laden.

2. Contrary to the movie, the head of the Northern Alliance, Masood, was nowhere near the alleged bin Laden camp and did not see UBL (that's Usama bin Laden, as Clarke refers to him - RJ).

3. Contrary to the movie, the CIA Director actually said that he could not recommend a strike on the camp because the information was single sourced and we would have no way to know if bin Laden was in the target area by the time a cruise missile hit it.

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There you have it, from Clarke, who was counterterrorism chief under Bush I, Clinton and Bush II until shortly after 9-11, when he quit in disgust.

Another amusing anecdote, this one from Tucker Carleson, a conservative that I normally admire (I occasionally watch his show on MSNBC). As reported in Media Matters today, Tucker wants this argument both ways. Well, he can't have it.

Here's what Media Matters had to say:
During a discussion with Media Matters for America president and CEO David Brock on the September 7 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson falsely claimed that when CBS chose not to air the 2003 biopic, The Reagans, he had "sort of agreed" that the move constituted "censorship," just as he now argues that it will be "censorship" if ABC is pressured into not running The Path to 9/11. In fact, in 2003, Carlson specifically denied that CBS' decision to pull The Reagans was "censorship," saying that the use of the word in the context of CBS' Reagan movie "devalue[d] the term" and defending CBS' decision to pull the film because it was "inaccurate."

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What the fuck, Tuck?!? You're better than that.

Oh, and one more thing - yesterday I wrote of the urban legend that persists that Clinton could have had bin Laden. The source of this bullshit is Fateh Erwa, a known liar. The Washington Times, one of the most radical right-wing papers in the country, had this to say about Erwa and his allegations:

"No one should believe these allegations" from "Fateh Erwa, a Sudanese intelligence officer known for his penchant to deceive, that there was an offer to hand bin Laden over to the United States."

Folks, if the Washington Times is saying it, trust it, because that paper never, EVER misses an opportunity to make Clinton look bad.

Enough said.

ABC needs to do the responsible thing, and pull or significantly alter this movie. My prediction? The network will puss out, because all of the major media outlets (excluding Fox News, for obvious reasons) are afraid of being labeled "liberal" and of getting attacked by the right wing distortion machine.

The movie's a disgrace, and so is Tom Kean for being involved in it.

Lies and distortions should be called out as lies and distortions, no matter when they happen. They can't just be bad when it's politically convenient, Mr. Carlson.

Clinton sodomized in 9-11 movie

I've been away for a while and haven't had much time to post much lately because of school and the craziness before, during and after the wedding (A good, but busy kind of craziness!). However, I do have a lot on my mind from my time away from the blog, and I do plan on at least partially catching up.

In the meantime, I laughed today when I clicked on a link of an article to The New York Post about the upcoming movie, The Path to 9-11, which will air on ABC this Sunday and Monday. Bill Clinton appears to be pretty pissed, and it looks like he has good reason to be. According to the article in the Post, part of the movie details how Clinton was too distracted by the Lewinsky scandal to deal with bin Laden. What a truckload of shit.

The accurate history of what happened the summer the embassies were bombed was that Clinton was busy going after bin Laden following the attacks, trying to do his job, despite a witch hunt out to get him. Unfortunately, this coincided with the growing momentum to impeach the president. Republicans in Congress accused the president of trying to distract the American public with a missile attack against bin Laden. Self-righteous Republicans didn't want to hear stories about bin Laden - they wanted to get the president. Fortunately, the American public wasn't fooled - nearly 3/4 of Americans didn't want to see Clinton removed from office, and he wasn't, much to the frustration of Republicans. However, when viewed through a post-9-11 lens, this paragraph all seems too unbelievable to be true, but it IS true.

Here's a thought - maybe if the FBI didn't have dozens (and I've read hundreds in some places) of agents investigating a blow job (along with the majority of Congress), maybe the agency could have been protecting America. The same goes for Congress at the time. Call me crazy.

And here's a few more thoughts on the movie and right-wing myths. 9-11 happened on Bush's watch, not Clinton's. Idiots on the far right suffer from amnesia about this. The Clinton administration handed over all sorts of information to the incoming Bush administration on bin Laden and the growing threat of terrorism, but to no avail. The Bush cabal was too busy trying to figure out a way to repay favors to people who put Bush in office. Part of this repayment included massive tax cuts for the rich (that we still can't afford), instead of taking part of that money and adequately funding anti-terrorism programs.

If this movie is depicted as discussed in the Post article, it is a massive distortion and a disservice to the dead of 9-11, and to all Americans. The latter all too often relies on movies and pop culture to get depictions of history, and this movie will unfortunately play a part. That's pathetic and sad.

ABC has already stated that some scenes were dramatized in the movie. Really? What a shock.

Two other quick points. I'm not one of those people who believe Bush knew about 9-11. No president would knowingly permit such a brutal, ghastly attack. I do believe that if the agencies, including the CIA, FBI and NSA, hadn't had its collective head up its ass, they may have been prevented. Bush deserves some blame, no doubt, but so does Clinton, Congress and a host of other people. This is a story that will continue to emerge for years if not decades. But, I also laugh derisively at people who buy into the urban legend making its way around the Internet that states bin Laden could have been handed over to the U.S., but Clinton refused to take him into custody. This absurd right-wing myth that persists, facts be damned, and it's laughable.

And Republicans were so obsessed with bin Laden in the late 1990s (a total fucking lie), they why haven't they captured his ass since then? They've only had nearly 6 years, and 5 since 9-11. But, don't worry, people. I'm sure bin Laden is somewhere in Iraq.

I don't know what's worse - the obsession with Clinton in the late 90s, or the travesty that continues in Iraq, each and every day. Bush has got us in a real quagmire. There, I said the Q word. His debacle in the Middle East will wear the Scarlet Q for years to come, all at the cost of American blood.

My other point? Rupert Murdoch is no doubt laughing his extremist-right-wing ass off today. He owns the Post.

**

Anyway, I will watch the movie this Sunday and Monday, and report back how I feel about it. We are also having our post-wedding celebration in the Poconos this weekend, so I will no doubt have many great pictures to share. Oh, and a teeny little league called the NFL starts tonight, and I'm definitely ready for some football. And I'm even more ready for the NHL season. So much to write about, so little time. All for now.

Tune back tomorrow for a highly scientific analysis of who will have a better season, my Dallas Cowboys, or my wife's (and in-laws') Denver Broncos. Part of this proof will be in pictures!