Posts from — September 2006

If The Path to 9/11 is a docudrama, then so is Gone with the Wind.

From Wikipedia’s entry on Docudrama:

Docudramas tend to follow a set of following guidelines…

* A strict focus on the facts of the event being treated, as they are known
* A tendency to avoid overt commentary or authorial editorializing
* The use of literary and narrative techniques to flesh out or render story-like the bare facts of an event in history.
* A tendency to eschew such literary techniques as regards the overt assertion of the creator’s own point of view or beliefs.

Docu-fiction, then, is distinct both from the main line of historical fiction, in which the historical setting is a mere backdrop for a plot that could be set in many periods, and from straight documentary or journalistic writing in its creation of a coherent narrative out of the materials of history.

Notice that first item, “A strict focus on the facts”, that means you can’t make it up as you go along.

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Okaloosa County Results: Only 28.4% of registered voters could be bothered to make it to the polls, worse, only 21.5% of Democrats made the effort as compared to 34.9% of Republicans.

The big reason for Republicans to go to the polls seemed to be the primary race for School Superintendent.

Cruella de Harris received almost as many votes in her primary in this county as Charlie Crist did for governor, not a good sign, as it reflects a dissatisfaction with the party. Remember the party regulars were pitching “anyone but Harris”.

Without the Superintendent’s race and tax proposal it would have been worse. A sad commentary on democracy.

Tropical Storm Florence is a big storm that has already swallowed some other local weather systems, and it has the potential to be a major hurricane, or nothing.

There is another disturbance about 800 miles away, and if the two storms approach each other they can disrupt any further development. At the moment nothing is certain.

It is primary day in Florida.

If you are a registered voter, even if you are not registered in a party, get to the polls and vote. While the party members are making their selections for the general election, there are always non-partisan offices on the ballot and usually a few referendums that they want to sneak by the crowd.

If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.

Local information available at Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections.

Update: Here’s the Florida Department of State official results web site.

Update2: The Republicans have selected Charlie Crist [governor], Tom Lee [CFO], and Cruella de Harris [comedy relief]. The Democrats have selected Jim Davis [governor] and ‘Skip’ Campbell [attorney general].

Locally the sales tax referendum crashed and burned.

This was not a comfortable night for incumbents, as many lost their jobs in local races.

Cat Daddy & Dr. Squeeky has a very fitting tribute to Steve Irwin.

Minou of French Tidbits has about had it with banking during the Wars on Nouns.

Cash seizures have led to the absurdity of the US v. $124,700 [PDF]: the assumption by courts that the only reason for large sums of cash is drug dealing.

Patrick at Fire Dog Lake is getting really tired of the national panic attack, which everything comes to a grinding halt because of the discovery of containers of H₂O and tubes containing H₂O₂ and NaHCO₃ [as in water bottles and toothpaste with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda].

[Those who have missed it, check out Count Floyd.]

The BBC had a segment this morning discussing the fact that the US has refused to talk directly with Iran. In opposing direct talks Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. of The Center for Security Policy immediately compared talking to Iran to the Chamberlain-Hilter meeting in Munich.

Apparently someone passed out the 3X5 card to cover for the disaster that is the Shrubbery’s foreign policy, and the only thing on it is the Munich meeting. Withdrawal from Iraq – Munich; talk to Iran – Munich.

It is probably not a coincidence that Gaffney, and others of his ilk, avoid fora where they would be required to provide citations for their claims, and examples of the success of their proposed policies.

CNN reports the capture of al Qaeda’s #2 in Iraq.

Al Qaeda would appear to have more #2’s than Eberhard Faber.

Scout of First Draft is more than slightly annoyed when, in defense of the Shrubbery, Jonah Goldberg writes:

And then there’s Hurricane Katrina. Yes, the federal government could have responded better. And of course there were real tragedies involved in that disaster. But you know what? Bad stuff happens during disasters, which is why we don’t call them tickle-parties.

I would have thought by now that everyone understood that the major problem with the Katrina response was not what they did, but what they didn’t do, as in they didn’t do anything for days, and they prevented others from doing anything.

Hurricane John just made its way up the Baja peninsula and the Mexican government made food and water drops by helicopter within hours, not days. Why is the Mexican government able to react more quickly than the US government?

Glenn Greenwald takes issue with Mark Steyn’s endorsement of the attitude of David Warren et al. regarding the kidnapped Fox News journalists.

General George Smith Patton, Jr. was not known as an appeaser, but was considered by many to be both personally brave and extremely bellicose.

Messieurs Steyn and Warren should study General Patton’s well-known quote:

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

The winner isn’t the first “martyr” buried, it’s the last man standing, but people whose biggest fear is a social snub would hardly be a position to understand that.

Jack Cluth over at The People’s Republic of Seabrook is one of the fossils of blogtopia™ ^{[skippy the bush kangaroo]}. Today he is celebrating his Fifth Blogiversary™ ^{[Talk Left]}, which is close to a era in blog years.

Go congratulate the relic.

If you have dipped a toe into the news stream you would have seen some of what James Wolcott describes in his post about rightwing media attempts to OD on testosterone over Iran.

Hollywood at its B picture worst [or best, if you like that sort of thing] never portrayed a “primitive tribe” in a longer or louder war drum sequence than is currently on display stage right. I don’t know if it’s the pleated chinos, tasseled loafers, or bowties that make it such a howl, but someone needs to drop by a poultry processing plant to get them some bones and feathers to add some “authenticity” to their war dance. I realize that they have a shortage of “technical consultants” since Jack Abramoff got busted, but make the effort.

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Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.

On September 2^nd, 1945, the formal ceremony ending World War II took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

It took the United States 1366 days to help end World War II after the attack at Pearl Harbor.

This is the 1263^rd day of the Iraq War.

It is time to invoke “Momma’s Rule for Meals”: you can’t go back for more, until you finish everything on your plate. Until Afghanistan and Iraq are over, don’t even think about Iran.

If they are going to act like whiny pre-schoolers, treat them like whiny pre-schoolers.