INT: Girl Fren sits behind an announcer’s desk, finger pressing right ear, listens.  Announces excitedly.

“THIS JUST IN. With President Dubya’s approval rating sliding toward Zero, presently near the 29 spot today,  “the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll [...] shows a 15-year low on whether Americans think the country is on the right track, and an all-time low in President Bush’s approval rating.“ 

pan to Girl Fren; face shows surprise.   “So many scandals; so little time.”  That raises more questions than an Enron retirement program. (Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that when this news broke back in ‘01 and surely would have shown Americans what we were in for should Dubya be bold enough to run again, all of a sudden every major newspaper was blanketed with the awful scandal that Martha Stewart took some tee-time advice from her friend/broker. Off with her head! She must be imprisoned for this ghastly act.)

Today, only 3% of Republicans would call themselves “Bush Republicans,” a dark day indeed.

The good news: The Franklin Mint is coming out with a beautiful set of commemorative plates, per the ad on the Bill Maher Show, cementing in the public’s mind for all time highlights of President Bush’s eight years in office.  Whether for your own collection or as gifts, these lovely plates will provide a pictorial reminder of The Enron Coverup, The Patriot Act, Finding Ben Laudin, followed by Gitmo, Walter Reed, and Wiretapping Private Citizens, plus many, many more.

Ohmigod, BREAKING NEWS***THERE’S MORE: Scooter Libby, former Chief of Staff to VP Dick (now there’s a well-named man) Cheney–after being sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison in the CIA leak case–plans to go back to court today and ask the Judge  to put his sentence on hold while he appeals his perjury and obstruction conviction.  How’s this for irony:  Libby’s appeal to be allowed free on bond cites the precedent…..wait for it…MARTHA STEWART was allowed such freedom for the same purpose.  I feel faint.  I’ll be up in my rooms for a while.

Like This? Then Show Some Love:

In a recent issue of THE VILLAGE VOICE   Maria Luisa Tucker reports covering a sizeable White Supremacist rally in New York.   It seems that several white supremacist groups called for a ‘Patriot’ get-together over the three-day holiday.  They were to include the usual Memorial Day stuff, no doubt, barbecues, plenty of beer, picnics and, the customary visit on Sunday to “the incomparable Metropolitan Museum of (White) Art.”  Now, I don’t know about you, but what family get together is complete without a museum visit, especially if we can count on the art having been created by white guys.

New York native, Jamie Kelso, a former Mensa member was in charge of the charming Sunday outing. In a pre-outing phone interview, he was asked how we might expect to see people dressed (One supposes there would be a dress code for such a gathering. After all, girlfriends, we wouldn’t want to wear khaki Bermuda shorts, Docksiders & pink Tommy Hilfiger shirts to be embarrassed at–what–underdressing, should other attendees be wearing Olive Drab uniforms, small black moustaches, or frocks from Springmaid.)    Kelso’s reply was that many preferred wearing “silly costumes” but there was no intention to “incite hate.”

Guys who are “man” enough to call themselves Copperhead, EuroWarrior14 or LongKnife are, no doubt, good old boys.  They proclaim their democratic leanings and patriotism, in fact, saying, “People want to think that we’re weird,” Kelso said. “We are the only normal ones, actually. We are the ones that see that the ship is sinking.”  He goes on to defend one specific group as, ”a legitimate force in American society, a sort of NAACP for white people.”

 This is good news, indeed. To think that I could have thought they were vicious, hate-mongering lazy-assed, sexist racists–who sat in their bunkers discussing Mein Kampf and Internet gun buys–while intent on destroying the fibre of “freedom and justice for all.” 

Like This? Then Show Some Love:

Some of you will have colorful, funny replies to that question. Stop. It’s rhetoric.If you don’t count George Clooney and a few select others, I’ve only loved one man in my life. One was enough. Everybody’s nice guy turned out to be a part-time pain in the…well, you know. I couldn’t figure it out. One day my eyes were the most beautiful, my cooking the nectar of the Gods…then the quiet began…not sulking…just disconnected.

Like This? Then Show Some Love:

After spending a few days decompressing between the US and a small village in central Scotland, I finally got dressed and went for a little walk – wanted to buy some biscuits (without chocolate–poor me) and stretch my legs. I walked up to the main street and turned right. After a couple of blocks I saw a sign which read “Kirk Wood”. In Scotland, Kirks are churches, of course, and do have yards; I didn’t know they also had woods.Walking down the lane, a man walking a liver-and-white Springer and an older woman walking a Westie, approached. As is my habit, I spoke. That’s all they needed to break into conversation. He introduced himself as John; she is Missrez Mack-knot-ton(her pronunciation.) Oddly, they also introduced their dogs. Mrs. MacNaughton offered to show me the Kirk Woods, so we were off, to our left, down recently hacked and bulldozed 12-foot wide road through the woods. They explained that someone was going to build four houses in here, near the highway.

Like This? Then Show Some Love:

I grew up in my Grandfather’s house, for the most part, with short periods of living with Mom and her husbands du jour. My Grandma died within three years of her beloved Walter. I was in my twenties, had a husband and children of my own. We lived in another State, had no money, and I missed her last years as well as her funeral.

If there is someone or something you would like to get off your heart or your shoulders, wherever you carry your burdens, trust me: it is never too late.

Like This? Then Show Some Love: