Pres. Bush's Polling Numbers Soar

Bush's Support Jumps After a Long Decline

More Americans Upbeat on Iraq, Economy

The world is tumbling down around his shoulders, with new revelations every day about some new sleazy policy, an executive shortcut, or an Administration misadventure . And nothing happens to this Teflon Don. We've read about his depression, chaos in his personal life, heartbreaking departures of old friends, and treachery, fear, and backstabbing in the West Wing. It's been a brutal six months for The President. Then about three days after some of the spookiest revelations have popped up...the ones about domestic spying. . .the latest polling numbers come out. The numbers caught a rising bubble. The numbers from next week may tell another tale entirely. We can think pretty thoughts, can't we?

Yes, the President's approval ratings have surged in recent weeks, reversing an extended period where they hovered directly over the toilet bowl. POTUS's overall approval rating rose to a stunning, depressing, and absolutely amazing 47 percent, from 39 percent in early November. This huge bump seems to be attributable to the shoddy two-week media blitz the White House launched recently based mainly on the new mantra:

Victory
Victory
Victory
Victory!

As my friend Jeff Clinton said in an email earlier today: "If one of these things doesn't stick soon I'm gonna go crazy."

The Think Progress blog today revealed the president speaking three years ago (could this be the impeachable lie some extremists are talking about)?:

"Secondly, there are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."

---o0o---

Manhattan Nightmare - The Transit Strike Is A Go/Remembering The 1980 Strike

Contract talks broke off between New York transit and union negotiators last night without an agreement (just before the midnight strike deadline). 34,000 workers have gone on strike. Seven million people a day need to find another way to get around.

A friendly subway conductor

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a "comprehensive emergency plan" to help mitigate the effects of the strike with more ferry service, only car pools allowed into Manhattan, several major streets, including Fifth Avenue, clear of all traffic except buses and emergency vehicles. I believe taxis are also required to pool riders (as they did in 1980).



We lived in Manhattan during the 1980 strike. It started on April Fool's Day and lasted 12 days.

According to nycsubway.org, the absentee rate during the strike was around 15-20%. That may be true, but those of us who actually showed up for work didn't make it in until very late, and everyone left early. It was basically a circus atmosphere all over town. Employers were glad to have us show up for even a few hours a day. Even the most skinflint of employers (and that would include mine, Carl Fischer music publishers) paid people to share cabs in to work. The cab ride from the Upper West Side to the East Village took about two hours...barely faster than walking. It was a total zoo, with gridlock everywhere, and thousands of cops on traffic duty to contain the honking, chaos, and (literally) millions of pedestrians.


Heading to work on The Brooklyn Bridge

I don't remember road rage, or riots, or people being particularly angry. In fact, it was like anytime things went wrong: New Yorkers pulled together; they griped and kavetched, and they lived with it, and had a pretty good time doing it. I remember the endless commutes, schlepping back and forth from uptown to downstown. I remember sharing cab rides with Arthur Cohn (the cranky, funny composer and conductor known for his books on contemporary music, The Collector's 20th-Century Music in the Western Hemisphere and 20th-Century Music in Europe), Susan Lurie, a friend and excellent flautist, and at least one other person, possibly Pinky Rawsthorne. . .although if she was in the cab I think I would have remembered it, because there would have been a lot more laughter.

The New York Post Transit Survival

Guide - Click to enlarge

In 1980, the subways were dirty, dangerous, smelled, tended to catch on fire at times, had no air conditioning, and were covered with tags and graffiti. And boy, did we miss them. After returning home at night, you stayed in your neighborhood, or within walking distance anyhow. Somehow they settled it all in a couple of weeks. Good luck New York!

Kevin and Pete -- give us a report on how it is working... /jack
---o0o---

The FBI And Others Spied On Activist Groups

According to the New York Times today, "counterterrorism agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly, groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show."

One F.B.I. document indicates the Feebs wanted to conduct surveillance of a "Vegan Community Project." Another document discusses the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic ideology." Yet another document outlines the bureau's interest in a protest over llama fur planned by P.E.T.A. Greenpeace's name also appears in the documents. "Semi-communistic ideology" is the sort of phrase that makes you wonder if perhaps the Ghost Of J. Edgar Hoover isn't back in charge?

Click on the title of this post to read the sordid story in the New York Times.
---o0o---

President Bush Says We're Winning The Iraqi War

President Bush, in a speech from the Oval Office Sunday night, told us we are winning the war. Click here for details on the speech.

None of us are getting any younger, I'll admit. The President has been relentlesly hammered by the public, Democrats, Allies, and Press for a long time now and seems to have aged ten years overnight. We've seen this happen often before. It happens to every President, except maybe Gerald Ford, who didn't seem to age a day in his short term in office. And, of course, William Henry Harrison, who only lasted a month in office.
---o0o---

Alien Lore 55 - Bob Dylan And The Greys

"The 60s was like a UFO landing. A lot of people heard about it, but very few actually saw it."

- Bob Dylan

Where do Bob Dylan's elliptical, prophetic, and lyrical songs come from? Sean Casteel published an article: "Bob Dylan And A Possible UFO Connection." He speculates that Bob's lyrics have a connection to The Greys through his contact with aliens, or because Dylan was actually abducted. Click on the links to read the short article.

Casteel's web site offers a couple of his (interesting looking) books for sale.
---o0o---

One Hundred And Forty Years Ago Today, Slavery Was Abolished (More Or Less)

On December 18, 1865, after three-quarters of the states had finally ratified it, the 13th Amendment was adopted into the U.S. Constitution, saying that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

President Lincolin and other members of the anti-slavery Republican Party did not even try to abolish slavery--they just wanted to stop its extension into new states in the West.

Even this was unacceptable to Southern politicians, who believed the free states would turn against them. After Lincoln's election in November1860, many souther states seceded from the U.S., and just after Lincoln's inauguration in, the Civil War began.
---o0o---

Poem: [It's the Lee Harvey Oswald smile]

It's the Lee Harvey Oswald smile
With a touch of Mona Lisa
That makes my neckhairs stand up

His eyes sweep like searchlights
He glares with a mixture of sorrow and rage
And sundered dreams

It's there in his eyes
The last sanctuary evaporates
He can't take it in his head anymore

His fingers clutch the ancient pistol
He fires and again again
Again again again

When I hear the sixth shot
I know I'm God's boy tonight.
Amen.
---o0o---

Bush: Eavesdropping Saves U.S. Lives

President Bush delivers his live radio address in the Roosevelt
Room at the White House, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Facing angry criticism, challenges to his authority in Congress, and national outrage, President Bush defended his right to conduct secret spying in the United States as "saving American lives."

"Often appearing angry in an eight-minute address, the president made clear he has no intention of halting his authorizations of the monitoring activities and said public disclosure of the program by the news media had endangered Americans." [Associated Press]

How many lives had been saved since this domestic spying operation was deployed? So far, no one is saying.

All This Is That came up with a short (and by no means comprehensive) list of other possibilities for saving American lives.

- Revoke the Seond Amendment.
- Ban gasoline-based cars. Allow hybrids temporarily.
- Bolster Medicaid for the poor and aging.
- Require cars that sustain impacts greater than five MPH.
- Put another liberal on the Supreme Court.
- Mandate more rigorous drug testing standards by the F.D.A.
- Ban capital punishment.
- Increase medical research into AIDS.
- Increase enforcement of existing seat-belt laws.
- Withdraw all American troops from Iraq.
- Eliminate the sales of tobacco.
- Revoking the licenses of all D.U.I. drivers permanently.
- Crank up the E.P.A.'s act.
- Increase entitlements for needy children.
- Mandate national health care.
- Enact a national speed limit of fifty miles per hour.
- Ban skydiving, mountain climbing, hang-gliding, and car races.
- Eliminate motorcycles from public highways.
- Rebuild the levee system in New Orleans.
- Eliminate building in flood zones.
- More closely monitor the activities of hate groups.
- Disband the Republican party.
- Enact compulsory national conscription with no deferments.
---o0o---

Taracotra - Del Brummet's Latest Movie Script

Del Brummet has completed another movie script. This one will be filmed during a film production class.

For details on Taracotra, visit Del's blog. You can download or stream the trailer he put together here.

---o0o---

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight Is Back: Patriot Act Filibustered To Death; New Spying Revelations by the NYT; Frist Under The Gun Once Again

It's been a good week at The White House. . .for the Democrats.

The President, after his aggressive round of speechmaking, got a bump in the approval polls...back up to near 40%. But then, the wheels came off the Patriot Act renewal; it was revealed that since October 2001, the National Security Agency has eavesdropped on phone calls and e-mails inside the United States without the normally required court approved warrants (All with the President's approval); Four Republicans sided with the Democrats in the filibuster; and yesterday, it was revealed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AIDS charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, a revelation that does not bode well for his Presidenial bid.

As for spying on thousands of Americans, the voters don't seem to cotton to this much. A few citizens expressed their approval ratings for The President to our roving photographer.

- Click images to enlarge -



---o0o---

All This Is That

Click to enlarge

---o0o---

Presidents to appear on dollar coins

Click images to enlarge...


In 2007, the U.S. Mint will begin minting new dollar coins featuring the pictures of dead presidents for the first time in decades. It's been a little short on Presidential dollars, with only Ike and JFk starring so far. . .

Four coins will be issued each year, beginning with The Father Of Our Country.

---o0o---