Random poll

Does anyone who reads this blog actually know someone who isn't completely fed up with the current White House administration? Or anyone who doesn't see most of its members as dishonest, blatantly partisan, self-serving, egotistical blowhards with no regard for the Constitution and utter contempt for the American people?

Mainly, I'm trying to determine how approval ratings are still in the 30s. Thanks in advance.

Song lyric of the day:
"The President's driving Air Force One
His daddy gave him the keys and he's drunk
The governor with brothers from Texas is next to his Lexus
It runs on tax incentives, oil and misdirection"
- Nathan Asher and the Infantry, The Last Election

"...But I'm not a hypocrite"

Um, hate to break it to you Newt, but, yes, yes you are a hypocrite. And no, no you don't have any shot of winning the GOP nomination for President. And yes, yes the majority of the American people are tired of hearing from you. And no, no you're not relevant anymore.

Honestly, I admit that I applaud your honesty about your extramarital affair. And I also fully acknowledge that your "Democrat lynching machine" (a term I just made up but like) probably would have switched operation modes if Bill Clinton had been equally honest about his indiscretions. I agree with you about the personal lives. But let's face it, if you did get the GOP nom, you would be blitzing your opponent with probes into their personal lives and pasts. But, of course, you won't get that nomination. Your time has passed. Why aren't you enjoying your dotage instead of annoying us?

Song lyric of the day:
"The remainder of a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke down little car
Before we had made a wish"
- Modest Mouse, Little Motel

Vanderbilt 77, George Washington 44

When I was 12 and 13, I used to go to GW basketball games with my friends on occasion, so I admit my loyalties were slightly torn in this game. But only slightly - I still wanted a Vanderbilt victory, but I hoped for a close game and some serious competition from the Colonials. Obviously, that didn't happen. Now I'm just hoping the Dores didn't blow their wad in game one.

Also, with apologies to Billy Gates, I can't say I'm disappointed with this outcome. Given my general, mostly unexplained dislike of the Blue Devils, it's almost amazing to think I almost went there instead of Vandy.

Oh well. My bracket is totally hosed, but it's shaping up to be yet another exciting March Madness that I may watch 15 total minutes of.

Song lyric of the day (in honor of St. Patrick's Day):
"Now I'm aiming for heaven, but probably wind up down in hell
Where upon this altar I will hang my guilt-ridden head
But it's time I'll take before I begin
Three sheets to the wind, three sheets to the wind"
- Flogging Molly, Rebels of the Sacred Heart

Just when you thought our national drug policy couldn't be more backward...

I've argued before that our national drug policy causes more deaths than it saves lives. Now, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is trying to make that fact a matter of legal record.

If you didn't laugh, hysterically, until you got the hiccups, you'd cry.

Song lyric of the day:
"Stupid, you could call it that..."
- the Long Winters, Stupid

Welcome to the Jar

Taking a break from the quasi-concept album I've been working on, I took a little time today to finish up a song I'd had in the back of my mind off and on for a while. Not much to say about it, except that if you can't guess who it's about, you've probably never met the person (I guess that would be about one-fourth of my known readership). Anyway, enjoy and give feedback.

"Welcome to the Jar"

Now you’ve helped her come so far
Welcome to the jar
She’ll never wonder where you are
While you’re inside the jar
She keeps it on a shelf
While she’s out with someone else
And you start running out of air

No one else is up to par
That’s why you’re in the jar
She lets you out to mend her scars
Then it’s right back in the jar
She’ll poke some holes inside the lid
Forgetting everything you did
She takes for granted you’ll be there

You know that you could be the one
But she’s always on the run
And no one ever said it’d be this hard
So welcome to the jar

And I hoped that you’d go to the dark side
To finally find out how the other half lives
She says it’s not you, but does she know you that well?

And I tell you to cash in on the free ride
It’s not greed when there’s nothing left you can give
And she owes you something for the decades of Hell

While you’re searching you’re still blind
And then suddenly you find
And it’s never really what you had in mind

And she cries about her fate
But it's too little too late
How long did she really think that you would wait?

So you break free from the jar
And stop chasing shooting stars
Now you’ll never wonder where you are

Greatest movie monologues?

Following this link will take you to one person's list of the top 10 movie monologues of all time (including the film clips themselves). I find little room for disagreement, except toward the end. I'm not familiar with the film Withnail & I, but it seems to me that a monologue taken from Hamlet should be attributed to, I dunno, Hamlet. And while we're on the subject of Shakespeare, I would argue (and I suspect at least one person would agree) that Kenneth Branagh's version of the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V should trump Mel Gibson's speech in Braveheart, although the latter's far greater renown may be a contributing factor to its inclusion.

But also, what's missing? Immediately springing to my mind is the president's speech in The American President. Of course, it seems unfair to include Michael Douglas twice on one list, but c'mon, that was a great speech. And what of the president's speech in Independence Day? Cheesy? Cliche? Sure, but I saw that movie on opening night and recall when the audience stood up and cheered.

Anyone else care to contribute to this one-man discussion?

Song lyric of the day:
"So when're you gonna realize
Those are not your wrongs to right?
Have another life, have another drink
I am a martyr, I just need a motive
I am a martyr, I just need a cause"
- Bloc Party, Uniform

Dead soldiers glad lives were not "wasted"; still disappointed to be dead

In a statement released Thursday, over 3000 dead American soldiers unanimously expressed dismay at statements by Senators John McCain and Barack Obama that their lives were "wasted" in the Iraq War.

"We resent the notion that our lives were 'wasted' in fighting to protect our great country," the statement read. "While we appreciate Senators McCain and Obama correcting these egregious errors, we formally ask that future political comments use more accurate terms such as 'sacrificed', as McCain suggests. For as we all know, when you change a single word, you change the reality. Consider: our Department of Defense used to be called the Department of War. We changed the name and poof! all of a sudden we devote our nation's military resources to defense instead of attack. But we digress."

The statement also addressed concerns that, regardless of whether the lives of the troops were "sacrificed", "wasted", or merely "lost", the soldiers are still, in fact, dead.

"There's no denying that we'd much rather be alive right now," the statement continued. "Then we too could be engaging in completely pointless debates about wording that completely ignore the larger picture that our country is, in fact, less safe now than it was in 2002."

The statement concluded with the following question: "By the way, how's it going in the country actually somewhat marginally responsible for the 9/11 attacks? What's it called again? Something-istan, right? It's been so long since we've heard about it, we can't even remember."

So it goes. Times 3000, and counting.

Song lyric of the day:
"Take a shower and shine your shoes
You've got no time to lose
You are young men, you must be living
Go now, you are forgiven"
- Dispatch, The General