Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Raymond v. George

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In the Manchurian Candidate remake topic on the Well, Ben Bacon posted what I thought was one of the funniest Top Ten Lists I’d read in a while, so I asked him for permission to reprint it here:

TOP TEN DIFFERENCES between RAYMOND SHAW (redux) and GEORGE W. BUSH
by Ben Bacon

10. Raymond Shaw was elected.
9. Raymond Shaw fought for his country.
8. People remember serving with Sergeant Shaw.
7. Nobody laughs when Raymond Shaw is addressed by rank.
6. When Raymond Shaw kills you, he looks you in the eye.
5. Raymond Shaw doesn’t know he’s doing the bidding of sinister multinational corporations.
4. Raymond Shaw has a chip in his head. Bush has Dick Cheney.
3. Raymond Shaw is dominated by his fanatical obsessed ideologue mother. Bush is — never mind.
2. Raymond Shaw puts his country’s interests ahead of his own and his
party’s.

And the #1 difference:

1. Raymond Shaw is probably qualified to be Vice President.

Preschool call lists

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I have a quick question for those of you out there with kids in preschool (particularly in California): do your preschools send home call lists from the kid’s class?

Sophia’s and Simon’s won’t. They said it’s against the law (or something—gotta ask them again what the rationale was). However, Sophia’s school in LA not only sent home call lists, they sent them home whenever the class roster changed, which in preschool is quite often. The current school recommended that I put one together for the class. Yes, I am Little Miss Organized; I’ll run right out and do that. (Needless to say: haven’t yet.)

We have two weeks off of school. I have a few other kids’ phone numbers, but Sophia always asks, “What about So-and-so?” And it’s always someone whose number I don’t have yet.

Two weeks. Sob. I could really use a call list.

Define “scandal-free,” please

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I think I’ve discovered the new VRWC meme going around: the Bush administration is “scandal-free.” I’m reading Susan over at Suburban Guerilla this morning, and she goes off on George Will for saying:

George Will on C-SPAN this morning: “There have been remarkably few scandals in this administration, compared to others.”

Then Avedon at The Sideshow points me to the article “Ire To The Chief” from The Washington Post, which contains this:

Bush’s administration is free of scandals.

Huh. Really?

Well, the next time you hear this meme, let loose with Suburban Guerilla’s handy off-the-top-of-her-head guy to W’s “scandal-free” administration (and feel free to add more in comments, with links to an article or webpage, please):

1) Iraq and the non-connection to 9/11. Many, many dead soldiers and Iraqi civilians as a result.
2) The missing WMDs.
3) Halliburton.
4) Outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
5) Abu Ghraib.
6) Supreme Court appointment of Bush to the presidency.
7) Cheney’s secret energy task force meetings.
8) Patriot Act abuses.
9) Ahmed Chalabi.
10) Sibel Edmunds.
11) Political purging of Florida’s voting rolls.
12) Illegal executive order dismantling the Presidential Records Act – thus shielding Reagan, Bush I and Bush II records from the public eye.