The Arnold factor and our pending name change

So, I’ve discovered the silver-lining in Arnold: his liberal social politics are at direct odds with the Bush administration and much of the ultra right-wing GOP which Bush has aligned himself with. Arnie’s pro-choice, and believes gay couples should be allowed to adopt. When Bush was asked about homosexuality, he astutely replied: “I am mindful that we’re all sinners, and I caution those who may try to take the speck out of their neighbor’s eye when they got a log in their own.” Whatever the fuck that means you coke-snorting boozer. Point being this could cause some serious rifts in the GOP given that California is the world’s 5th largest economy and Arnold isn’t rank-and-file GOP.
I did enjoy Arianna’s display on Friday: every reporter within 500 miles showed up at the Santa Monica records office where Arnold was to file his papers to run. Arianna also showed up, butting her way in front of Arnold and knocking down a microphone stand to give herself some attention. Smart girl. It’s really sad — she gave a full 30 minutes of interviews while Arnold was inside with Skeletina filing his papers, and not one second of that made it on TV — and she actually answered the questions she was asked! It seems the outcome of this short race is inevitable, given the 1987 repeal of the “equal-time” law. Even though I think this recall is wrong, it would be nice if Arianna got some attention — sorta like My Big Fat Greek Election. She’s obnoxious enough to do whatever it takes, so don’t count her out…
Meanwhile, it looks like AOL Time Warner is going back to just being Time Warner, now that the “crown jewel” (I knew that title would come back to bite them in the ass) is not the shining star it was once. In all honesty, AOL could survive on it’s own, as it did from 1985 to 2000, but a spin-off or selling of the unit at this point would give the street too much of a “I told you so” satisfaction. I doubt this will do much to save things, as the idioticy that infects the company festers in full bloom on a daily basis, but who knows… point is, I could really care less.

An Austrian, a crippled smut king, and a midget walk into a bar…

Well, perhaps not a bar, but they’re trying to make their way into the California governor’s mansion.
Terminator and sexual harasser Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the race today, joining the likes of Larry Flynt, porn star “Angelyne,” Gary Coleman, and Gallagher — yes, he of watermelon-smashing fame.
Political pundit Arianna Huffington and her gay ex-husband Michael have both thrown their hats in the ring, but Diane Feinstein has declined — perhaps wisely considering a single vote for governor could be spent on any one of 350+ candidates.
Well, at least the whole world won’t be laughing at us… *cough*

Angry Ann Scam

I caught a segment on CNN last night with Ann Coulter, the lawyer, political pundit and author of Slander and the just-released Treason. If you’re not familiar with Ann, she’s a trash-talking ultra right-winger who blames Democrats for the Cold War, considers Joseph McCarthy an American “hero,” and believes liberals are traitors to our country. After 9/11, she purported the solution to terrorism was to “invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” She’s never met a TV camera she hasn’t liked, and tarts-up her skeletal thin body and long blonde hair — presumably to distract any reasonable thought from the fat white man usually providing her a soapbox. Amazingly adept at spinning together half-truths and questionable sources to float her outlandish arguments, reaction to her is at times knee-jerk and extreme.
Political views aside, Ann is one of the things I hate most: a self-made character created to promote herself and fatten up her wallet. This is nothing new, but it sure is irritating. She knows she’s incendiary and she knows that sells lots of books, but I highly doubt she believes the crap that spews out of her mouth. (Last night, she was lamenting her #2 position on the NYT Best Sellers to Hillary, presumably unaware of the fact she’s been knocked down to #4 with Hillary retaining the top position.) With Hillary’s book, she was at least writing about her life and events. Ann has done nothing interesting with her own life (defending Paula Jones? um, NO), so she’s decided to make a life out of attacking others — not because she’s passionate about “liberal treachery,” but because it will buy a pair of Manola Blahniks for every day of the week. What a disgusting scam.
And don’t even get me started on Pat Robertson and his Operation Supreme Court Freedom.

The Bushwhacking of America

An excerpt of former U.N. Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter’s book, Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America, is available online [PDF]. The 28-page excerpt includes the foreward and chapter 1, “The West Texas Lynch Mob.” Interesting read.
This AP story has a good summary. In reference to “Operation Iraqi Freedom”:

The truth of the matter is that the Bush administration has lied about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqi links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda. The Bush administration worked the lynch mob up into a murderous frenzy by fabricating evidence and misrepresenting facts. In lying to the American people, the United States Congress, and the international community, the Bush adminstration has demonstrated flagrant disregard for the rule of the law and the very virtues of American society. As a result of this perfidy, we Americans face a critical moment in our nation’s history.

Presidental Candidate does Blogging

Democratic presidental candidate Howard Dean will be the guest blogger at author and Standard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig’s site starting next week while the professor is on vacation.
Why he doesn’t start his own is beyond me, but it’s interesting none the less. I’m not expecting the usual fare of techno-babble and personal misery that fill most blogs, but I’ll suffer through a little stumping for the novelty factor alone.
Meanwhile, Bush has finally gotten himself in good mess over those little white lies during the State of the Union address. (Perhaps if he hadn’t of repeated them several dozen times.)

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