Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Meantime, here's a lovely photo I took while on vacation. There's no escaping BDS. Free signed copy of Unhinged to the first person who can guess where the pic was taken:

Joe. M - "I encounter those signs regularly in Massachusetts. Mostly in the Northampton area."

Leza - "This stop sign is on the corner of my street in Atlanta. (Or perhaps its clone?) I keep calling the City to get it cleaned up but so far no response. If you did visit, hope you had a great time!"

Glenn - "Is it in the people's republic of Maryland?"

Eric S. - "I'm gonna go with Dallas, TX as I've seen quite a few of those here,
unfortunately."

EiP - "Totally Seattle."

Ed - "I've seen several of these but this looks like one I pass from time to time in PA near Philly."

Ted K. - "I saw one like this in Phoenix, Arizona. So, this is my guess."

Sean - "That is something I see at least a dozen times a day in lovely Portland, Oregon, the capital of Bush Hatred for sure. Perhaps outside of Paris, anyway. There are more Kerry '04 bumper stickers on cars than there are cars, nearly."

Paul - "Just a guess but the trees made me think of the Northeast, maybe Massachusetts or eastern Pennsylvania."

Carolann - "Has to be the Hamptons. Growing up on Long Island and knowing the people, it's my best guess."

JC - "Outside of Clinton's home."

Hah. Several nominations for Crawford, Texas.

And there were scores of votes for Santa Cruz, San Diego, Hollywood, and San Francisco. Right state.

And the winner is...Chris H., who was first with the most precise guess: Berkeley Hills.

This theory occurred to me not long ago at an off-the-record luncheon with Bush and a hundred or so of his supporters. I was the guest of a guest, and welcomed the opportunity to observe the president in his natural habitat.

What I witnessed was revealing. Not only was the man fluent in the English language and intellectually agile, he was knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects raised during a 90-minute Q&A. Someone apparently had been slipping intellectual-curiosity tablets into Bush's cola.

Toward the end, one of the guests said, "Mr. President, I think if Americans could hear you speak the way you have today, you'd have a 95 percent approval rating.''

I think that's almost true. Not 95 percent, obviously, but he'd surely have a higher than 30 percent approval rating were he better able to explain what he's thinking. Bush does know; he just can't seem to say.

I had the opportunity this afternoon to be part of a relatively small group who heard President Bush talk, extemporaneously, for around forty minutes. It was an absolutely riveting experience. It was the best I’ve ever seen him. Not only that; it may have been the best I’ve ever seen any politician. If I summarized what he said, it would all sound familiar: the difficult times we live in; the threat from Islamic fascism–the phrase drew an enthusiastic round of applause–the universal yearning for freedom; the need to confront evil now, with all the tools at our disposal, so that our children and grandchildren can live in a better and safer world. As he often does, the President structured his comments loosely around a tour of the Oval Office. But the digressions and interpolations were priceless.

Jimmie: I can't believe this is the same car.
The Wolf: Well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet.

"And my mission was very simple. I wanted to thank President Bush for the millions of FEMA trailers that were brought down there. They gave roofs over people's head. People had the chance to have baths, air condition. We have TV, we have toiletry, we have things that are necessities that we can live upon.

But now, I wanted to remind the President that the job's not done, and he knows that. And I just don't want the government and President Bush to forget about us. And I just wish the President could have another term in Washington."

Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!